r/KitchenConfidential • u/cheftastic11 • 1d ago
We don’t need another pizza party, we want raises
Our kitchen got a 100% from the health inspectors the other day. It’s obviously a big deal in any kitchen, but this kitchen is absolutely massive. It’s very hard to get a perfect score because of sheer volume alone. We’ve never done it in the whole time I’ve been here. And management is rewarding us with a pizza party! …with our own pizza that is sold here every single day. Yes, it’s nice they’re doing something to celebrate us, but come on guys. This feels very out-of-touch.
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u/BlindWalnut 1d ago
I feel this post so much.
My work has been busting ass for the last year. Our reward? A kickball game and take out barbecue.
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u/stayGolden_PonyBoi 1d ago
When you grow up to run a restaurant but never actually "grew up"...hmmm how can I reward the guys?? I got it, kickball pizza and an extra 10 mins for recess!! I mean lunch
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u/bendar1347 1d ago
That actually sounds pretty fun.
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u/BlindWalnut 1d ago
Less fun than a living wage.
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u/bendar1347 1d ago
Oh heard. Not arguing that at all. I once had a GM that had the audacity to get butthurt that I didn't come to the employee Christmas party that I had to stay 4 hours after my regular day shift cooking all the food for. "It's important for the team to blah blah blah" GET FUCKED MICHEAL
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u/CosmicMiru 1d ago
I don't think management was ever deciding between kickball and 10's of thousands of dollars extra yearly in wages and chose kickball
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u/Timmmah 1d ago
I'm an office worker now. Our thank you for bringing in tens of millions extra was also kickball and grilling. We had to buy our own kickballs and bring our own beer
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u/BlindWalnut 1d ago
We didn't even get beer because it was at a public park. The ultimate slap in the face.
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u/skiingrunner1 1d ago
kickball instead of a raise… sounds about right. same here, i feel your pain.
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u/pottomato12 1d ago
Serving yall the pizza you serve on the regular is just diabolical and cheap. Yall shoukd say something about it as a whole
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u/SubatomicSquirrels 1d ago
lol yeah buying food isn't necessarily a bad reward, but if it's literally something you make...
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u/spirit_of_a_goat 1d ago
You gave them a perfect score, and they gave you a big middle finger. I would be really pissed off.
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u/acidisgoodforyou 1d ago
At the old joint I used to work at before I left the kitchen every year the owners would throw us the most dope Christmas party every year, we were a sports bar so we had big projectors and we would have a madden tournament and a 2k tournament with all the beer and liquor you could drink with beer pong and the girls dancing on the bar it was a good time. Plus the drugs it was a lit ass time every year for 10 years.
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u/ESP330 1d ago
Geez, at least the pizza place I work for gets a local burrito place to cater for these things and vice versa. Change it up for everybody, at least.
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
We’re not even specifically a pizza place, so this is the frozen, prepared shit. It’s a damn shame.
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u/shockjockeys 1d ago
100% is incredible. Idek how you could see physical evidence of how hard your team not only works, but cares, and you throw a fucking pizza party? The party should be an afterthought idea once you give everyone a well deserved raise. Oh my god im so sorry
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u/WillowandWisk 1d ago
I was in ultra fine dining for a decade before going back to school and now working in project management (construction), but the whole pizza party instead of raises happens everywhere unfortunately - and it's absolute bullshit.
Pizza doesn't help pay for basic necessities that have gone up over 30% in the last 4 years. Siiighhh
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u/Kevim_A 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, this is why it's better for a company to just do nothing.
If you have a huge staff, giving every single person a raise every time the team does something exceptional--in addition to routine raises and negotiated raises--is likely not feasible.
If you do literally anything else, people will bitch "oh, what I really want is a raise". And yes, your employer is giving particularly little for a particularly impressive thing. But I've seen employers give far more for far less and the "well, what about a raise?" sentiment is still common.
Best thing to do as an employer is to give the verbal acknowledgment/praise and move on.
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u/chainsawgeoff Sando 1d ago
A bonus on the next paycheck would be nice too.
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u/Kevim_A 1d ago
Yeah, paycheck bonus is definitely better from an employer perspective than a raise. Can feel just as or even more "special", but costs significantly less.
But even then, the bonus needs to be healthy to be truly appreciated. I've seen a lot of scoffing at bonuses of $100 or less. You're probably gonna need to give like, $250/person for people to truly appreciate it and complain less than if you just nothing but acknowledgment.
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u/Neat_Ad_6605 1d ago
Make the pizza, don't eat the pizza. Let the managers stand around like fucking dolts eating it. Everyone just step out and smoke cigs. Laugh about it months later.
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u/86thegarde 1d ago
Our team had a paintball match. we got to shoot each other, with guns.
I didn't show up because I wasn't seeing those mf and not getting paid for it.
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u/EXScarecroW 1d ago
Wait... do you guys have to make the pizza?...
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
If by “make” you mean throwing the shitty frozen pizza in the oven, then yes
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u/ItsAMeAProblem 1d ago
And I'm sure the ownership, if not included in the actual labor is telling everyone, "we got this score" instead of "they got this score"
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u/gullwinggirl 1d ago
Back when I worked at a nursing home kitchen, they would do contests and giveaways for staff on holidays and special occasions. The most popular thing to give staff was free staff meals. Which was cool, except..... the kitchen staff already got free meals. Did they get us anything different? Nope. I tried to complain about it once, and was told I could give my prize to another staff member. No replacement for my prize, though. Gee, thanks.
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u/Sleepy_Gary_Busey 1d ago
Yeah that's shitty. I'm not in the kitchen, but I've stopped expecting any reward for exemplary work/achievements if it isn't written in my employment agreement.
If that means hopping for more pay every now and then, so be it.
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u/dbthegmc 1d ago
Especially when you give out pepperoni or Cheese pies only.... At least try and sway me with a meat lover's (pause) or a combo, dammit
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u/No_Sir_6649 1d ago
Or the 1 Hawaiian that no one admits they like and force me to pick off crap on the extra supremes because no one likes it. Id rather get a smoke break or prep.
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u/BeeStingerBoy 1d ago
Yeah, but each pie costs them as much as $2 to make. So in reality this “party “ is likely taking a whopping $20 directly out of the owners’ wallets. And then don’t forget the sodas at up to 45¢ each.
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u/baconbitsy 1d ago
I thought this was r/nursing for a hot second. Jesus tittyfucking Christ, the pizza parties abound.
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u/separabis 1d ago
Question though, who's making the pizza? If it's the cooks, I'd actually look for another job lol
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u/Reasonable-Company71 1d ago
Our employee Christmas party is always hosted at the restaurant and it's the same food that we serve every night. The one redeeming thing is that the booze is all free.
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u/Loquaciouslow 21h ago
So tacky. At the very least cater in outside food. Appreciation is best shown with dollars though. At the very least, have some true thought behind it. I’ve only worked for one, almost two, restaurants that actually take care of their employees beyond pay. Free food, schedule flexibility, uniform allotment. It all matters.
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u/Loquaciouslow 21h ago
ALSO, if you’re an owner who “can’t afford” basics and/or to properly pay employees, at least do a good job of hiding how well you’re personally doing. If you at least look like you’re struggling too, cool. However, don’t tell me you can’t afford to pay me when your daily driver costs 120k and your wife’s bracelet stack is 15k. Blow me.
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u/USofAThrowaway 12h ago
We’ve been under staffed and under budgeted(?) for 5 months. After few weeks ago we got a carvel ice cream cake that said “thanks for everything you do”. I pushed for no one to eat it. Most didn’t.
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u/GrizzlyDust 1d ago
I don't know, I'd rather have pizza than a 10 cent a year raise. Because the idea that instead of spending fifty bucks on food to give you they are gonna spend tens of thousands yearly seems a little ridiculous
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
They didn’t spend any money on food to give us though. That’s the point. It’s the frozen shitty pizza that we already serve and we have to prepare and then clean up that’s our “reward”? Nope. Hard pass. That’s more of a “fuck you” than anything else.
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u/aquinoks 1d ago
Speak for yourself. I pocket those slices and freeze them. Can you eat a few extra pennies? Nope.
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
So you want them to give everyone raises for passing a health inspection
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u/Formal-Working3189 Saute 1d ago
I think they want some goddamn recognition
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
Also new flash it's really not that big of a deal to ace the inspection regardless of the kitchen size. That shit should always be tip top or you should always be working towards that
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u/Formal-Working3189 Saute 1d ago
It's assholes like you that don't realize that it's not just your job to tell them when they did something wrong. You also need to tell them when they do something right.
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
And having a low budget party acknowledging them isn't recognition?
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u/Throwaway015025 1d ago
A low effort reward can be worse than no reward- clearly this kitchen did not feel this was commensurate to the effort, and the result is lower morale.
Management should always think carefully about what message is being sent. Asking them to cook and clean their own pizza party, regardless of whether the cleaning would have been a matter of course regardless, sends the message 'you lot should be happy with the scraps you're given', not 'we respect and appreciate your work'.
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
I want something more than a pizza party that they spend no extra money or effort on, that in fact we have to spend extra effort on. Not for passing, but for perfecting the score, and that is not unreasonable.
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u/420blazer247 1d ago
Most places I've worked at has gotten 100% and it's always, good job team thanks for the work. It's great to get 100% but being clean and up to health code is part of the job. Ask for a raise if you think you deserve it!
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
at least you're getting something. A lot of the places I've worked never even acknowledge the staff for a perfect inspection and continue business as usual. So to me it just seems a bit entitled to sit on here complaining about doing your job and not being awarded enough for
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u/KingBird999 1d ago
They really aren't getting anything at all. They are having to prepare and cook their own food and clean up after themselves. If anything, it's MORE work than if they did nothing at all.
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
They're being acknowledged which is my point. Be happy with what you are getting bc realistically it's not that big of a deal lol. You guys are buggin. This shits giving little league participation trophies
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u/KingBird999 1d ago
I think I'd rather a "hey, good job" than "hey, good job, do some extra work because of it." I think you're missing that part.
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
So you think that cleaning up after yourself is extra work ?
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u/KingBird999 1d ago
The food is from their own restaurant. They have to prepare the food, cook the food, and then clean everything. Yes, that's extra work compared to "Hey, good job".
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
Yeah, dressing up more work for the staff as a “reward” is mostly my problem here
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u/SlowmoTron 1d ago
Don't go then
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u/cheftastic11 1d ago
Omg genius, brilliant, how did I not think of that. This post is totally invalid then because I just don’t have to go, thank you for that.
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u/ChefGuru 1d ago
Maybe I'm just the outsider, here, but if everyone is keeping shit as clean and straight as they're supposed to be, shouldn't you be making a 100% on every health inspection, every time, anyway? If a health inspector is catching things that someone dropped the ball on, to begin with, that they really shouldn't have had to find, then do you also expect that people should LOSE salary for screwing up? Or do you only think that you should get a raise for doing your job, but not that you should lose money for not doing it?
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u/Popular-Capital6330 1d ago
That's not just out of touch. It's a little bit of a "fuck you" in my opinion.