unfair of manager to take away staff meals?

turbostratos79

I work in a restaurant where we 're allowed to eat one free meal per day - anything off the menu. two staff members have been taking more than one meal a few times so when our manager found out, he took staff meals away for everyone (there's 4 of us). We're now only allowed a soup or sandwich. He says he should take them away altogether cos our shifts are only max7 hours. He still eats whatever he wants though cos he 'dudnt break the rules'. I thi.k its a really good way to bring down morale.

tatli_lokma

It really depends on your contract.

First of all, do you have contracts? because you should. If you don't that is a whole other issue to be addressed.

If you do have a contract, then check what it says about meals. If they are part of your contract, then they cannot be taken away in this manner. If they are not in your contract and something given as a matter of goodwill then it is at his discretion if he wants to give them or not.

You are still getting a meal, which in a 7 hour shift, a soup and sandwich is pretty reasonable IMO.

In fairness to your boss, 50% of the workforce were taking the piss. It is them you should be blaming first off., it is their actions that led to the situation so they are responsible for the lowering of morale. You are still getting a free meal, its just that now he is specifying what you can have to ensure that no one takes advantage in future. I think that is a fair compromise given the situation.

As to him eating what he wants - he's the boss, it's essentially coming out of his own pocket, so he can chose to eat as much/little as he wishes.

turbostratos79

It's not in the contract - he did it to be nice, and by 'boss' I mean manager so he isn't really paying for it but he's the one who makes the rules so it's likely OK with the owner.

riffmongous

Sorry OP but I don't think there is much you can do about it

We had a similar situation in a place I used to work and you are right, every time something happened with the food it really crushed the morale of the staff. While it might sound reasonable to be getting a soup or sandwich in a lot of places getting to eat off the menu is to make up for crappy wages. It got to the point when we started being served 'staff' food (usually some pasta or rice dish) that most of the experienced staff left to get better terms elsewhere.

No Pants

If he is still getting the meal, but four others are not, then that doesn't appear to be fair.