Walked out of my job tonight

mrwhimwham

I work in the fast food industry and tonight I just couldn't hack the workload and decided to walk out. It was a rash decision but with various different people shouting at me for various different things I just couldn't stick it anymore.

I've never done anything like this before and I've never so much as gotten anything near a warning in work.

Does anyone know if what I did tonight could warrant the employer terminating my contract without notice?

king size mars bar

Yea I,d say your finished there. But if you were that unhappy in it then you had to do what you had to do. Did it myself years ago on a job.

Guy:Incognito

mrwhimwham wrote: »

I just couldn't hack the workload and decided to walk out.

Probably don't mention that in future interviews.:)

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

I'd say there's probably no going back. Don't worry, no job is worth the sh1te and stress you must have felt before you walked out the door.

gugleguy

Go to your local citizens advice bureau asap. Ask your citizens advice bureau how you should approach social welfare.

Dowl88

Boss might be sympathetic. Tell him you were going through issues with GF, relative ill or something along those lines.

How can you find fast food restaurant stressfull?

mrwhimwham

Dowl88 wrote: »

Boss might be sympathetic. Tell him you were going through issues with GF, relative ill or something along those lines.

How can you find fast food restaurant stressfull?

Clearly you have never worked in that industry...

hfallada

gugleguy wrote: »

Go to your local citizens advice bureau asap. Ask your citizens advice bureau how you should approach social welfare.

AFAIK you cant claim welfare if you quit your job. Which OP basically just done. Even with a heavy work load and people shouting at you, walking out was not the logically thing to do. I worked in a shop at Christmas that had 45 mins wait for the till(I was the only cashier) and got constant abuse from the customers. But I sucked it up and got on with my job.

Retail and other customer service jobs are stressful, but its what is expected in the industry

helimachoptor

mrwhimwham wrote: »

Clearly you have never worked in that industry...

Sorry to be ****ty but how stressful can it be really? Stick something in the deep fat fryier take it it out put salt/lettuce/cheese etc on it .

If that's what your struggling with op you need to get a thicker skin .

Dowl88

mrwhimwham wrote: »

Clearly you have never worked in that industry...

Its fast food, take an order and hand it out. Not exactly stressful

jill_valentine

Dowl88 wrote: »

Its fast food, take an order and hand it out. Not exactly stressful

Have a think about the clientele in a fast food place at night though.

Any industry where you're dealing with the public is stressful, dealing with food doubly so, and dealing with drunk public who want food beats all. Heat of the kitchen and all that.

Bepolite

helimachoptor wrote: »

Sorry to be ****ty but how stressful can it be really? Stick something in the deep fat fryier take it it out put salt/lettuce/cheese etc on it .

If that's what your struggling with op you need to get a thicker skin .

LOL sure all a lawyer has to do is stand up speak and look things up, and brain surgeons just cut things.

Working in the service industry is stressful because of people like you frankly. As for fast food this time of night...

shruikan2553

People seem to be mixing up difficult as in skill level and difficult as in stress etc. It doesnt take a lot to do but you have to time everything and work with strict procedures. Plus you have the whole thing with people thinking they are better than them and treating them as such.

I never worked in the area and it may be a job that anyone can do straight out of school but it doesnt make it easy.


Edit: Remembered that it would be quite warm back there. Leaves people short tempered.

Dowl88

jill_valentine wrote: »

Have a think about the clientele in a fast food place at night though.

Any industry where you're dealing with the public is stressful, dealing with food doubly so, and dealing with drunk public who want food beats all. Heat of the kitchen and all that.

Are you serious? I wouldnt call that stress. Your serving food behind a counter. You need to toughen up OP.

Every job has a level of stress. Theres no cushy number unless you win the lotto. You work for your money.

Bepolite

Dowl88 wrote: »

Are you serious? I wouldnt call that stress. Your serving food behind a counter. You need to toughen up OP.

Ironically enough I don't think there should be any more feeding for you

TheQuietFella

Dowl88 wrote: »

Its fast food, take an order and hand it out. Not exactly stressful

And have you had experience in this industry?

Mr Simpson

helimachoptor wrote: »

Sorry to be ****ty but how stressful can it be really? Stick something in the deep fat fryier take it it out put salt/lettuce/cheese etc on it .

If that's what your struggling with op you need to get a thicker skin .

In fairness, I've worked in that industry in the past. Between the crap hours, crap money, abuse from customers and generally clueless and ignorant owners/managers, it can be surprisingly stressfull.

hfallada

hfallada wrote: »

AFAIK you cant claim welfare if you quit your job. Which OP basically just done. Even with a heavy work load and people shouting at you, walking out was not the logically thing to do. I worked in a shop at Christmas that had 45 mins wait for the till(I was the only cashier) and got constant abuse from the customers. But I sucked it up and got on with my job.

Retail and other customer service jobs are stressful, but its what is expected in the industry

You can get jobseekers, however they make you wait 12 weeks for it. I walked out of a job 2 years ago.the boss was a bully/ tyrant who would only let us use the toilets at lunchtime, he would keep the key in his office until 1-2. A pregnant girl had to leave as well for this reason. We also were not allowed leave at lunch and we were shouted out and demeaned by this one bully at every opportunity. I had a breakdown one day when he called me a ****ing retard in front of my colleagues, I left crying, signed on and was told I had to wait 3months since I left voluntarily

Dowl88

TheQuietFella wrote: »

And have you had experience in this industry?

Its whats wrong with the country, people dont want to work. I have a friend who works in a big chain store fast food joint. Loads in on weekends, never complained, well just about the hours.

TireeTerror

Deleted User wrote: »

You can get jobseekers, however they make you wait 12 weeks for it. I walked out of a job 2 years ago.the boss was a bully/ tyrant who would only let us use the toilets at lunchtime, he would keep the key in his office until 1-2. A pregnant girl had to leave as well for this reason. We also were not allowed leave at lunch and we were shouted out and demeaned by this one bully at every opportunity. I had a breakdown one day when he called me a ****ing retard in front of my colleagues, I left crying, signed on and was told I had to wait 3months since I left voluntarily

I would have sued him, plain and simple.

Bepolite

Deleted User wrote: »

You can get jobseekers, however they make you wait 12 weeks for it. I walked out of a job 2 years ago.the boss was a bully/ tyrant who would only let us use the toilets at lunchtime, he would keep the key in his office until 1-2. A pregnant girl had to leave as well for this reason. We also were not allowed leave at lunch and we were shouted out and demeaned by this one bully at every opportunity. I had a breakdown one day when he called me a ****ing retard in front of my colleagues, I left crying, signed on and was told I had to wait 3months since I left voluntarily

Explain to the welfare they have a degree of latitude to be fair.

I completely understand that not everyone is a 6'2" tall 18stone bloke who spent the better part of his youth being shouted at by hairy reservists who had watched Full Metal Jacket one too many times but the best way to deal with a bully is call them out. Take the moral high ground initially, "John can we have a word"... as soon as they refuse and start shout the the odds I find a loudly spoken "Who the hell do you think you are speaking too" works wonders. Most people haven't a clue what's hit them.

OP I was in retail for 15 years part of that I did a side job as security, I did rough pubs, nice pubs and even a gay pub (a very rough one oddly enough) the very worst place I was ever on the door of was the Abrakebabra in Portmarnock - and that was a quiet one. One lad on a city centre store was killed when a punter walked up to him and stabbed him for no reason.

OP more tales to bore you to sleep but I had what can be described as a 'bad break-up' with a business I was working for. I was out for almost a year. I was very successful and earned a reasonable salary, more than my wife at the time who has a degree and masters from Trinity and a PhD. from UCD. I'm lucky enough to be now retraining as a lawyer. I can assure you that losing a job/being unemployed is a lot scarier than it actually is in reality.

In answer (after going round the houses quite a bit) no they can't terminate you for walking off. They would need to hold a disciplinary and it's unlikely to be gross misconduct. If you're in there less than a year though they may just let you go and there is little you can do.

Ask yourself though: Is it worth going back?

(it might be to get fired if you think the social are going to be being difficult.)

TireeTerror

TireeTerror wrote: »

I would have sued him, plain and simple.

I look back now and regret being so submissive, I'm ashamed of myself for putting up with it. But I did learn from it and don't take Crap from anyone anymore

jill_valentine

Dowl88 wrote: »

Are you serious? I wouldnt call that stress. Your serving food behind a counter. You need to toughen up OP.

Every job has a level of stress. Theres no cushy number unless you win the lotto. You work for your money.

I haven't found this to be true, tbh.

I got minimum wage when I worked with the public. It was hard work, incredibly long hours, ****ty conditions, and back in the morning after for 9. Atmosphere were horrible, customers aggressive and obnoxious, and the staff turnover was huge. Practically every member of staff had a cry at one stage or another.

Fast forward to my current industry. It's an office job - there are deadlines, and meetings and the occasional shouting-your-head-off conversation, and in theory, a LOT more money involved if something goes wrong. But still, stress wise, to me? There's no comparison, and the pay is far, far better.

It's crazy to me, but that's how it seems to be. People who get paid more for more prestigious jobs like to think they're special, but I can honestly say I'm doing half the work now than I was doing for 8 euro something an hour back in the day. And I get to do it in a comfy chair with a coffee in one hand, and a mild expression of disbelief.

Don't underestimate the human factor.

obplayer

jill_valentine wrote: »

I haven't found this to be true, tbh.

I got minimum wage when I worked with the public. It was hard work, incredibly long hours, ****ty conditions, and back in the morning after for 9. Atmosphere were horrible, customers aggressive and obnoxious, and the staff turnover was huge. Practically every member of staff had a cry at one stage or another.

Fast forward to my current industry. It's an office job - there are deadlines, and meetings and the occasional shouting-your-head-off conversation, and in theory, a LOT more money involved if something goes wrong. But still, stress wise, to me? There's no comparison, and the pay is far, far better.

It's crazy to me, but that's how it seems to be. People who get paid more for more prestigious jobs like to think they're special, but I can honestly say I'm doing half the work now than I was doing for 8 euro something an hour back in the day. And I get to do it in a comfy chair with a coffee in one hand, and a mild expression of disbelief.

Don't underestimate the human factor.

Dealing with the public can be incredibly stressful simply because you are subjected to so much aggression.

helimachoptor

Bepolite wrote: »

LOL sure all a lawyer has to do is stand up speak and look things up, and brain surgeons just cut things.

Working in the service industry is stressful because of people like you frankly. As for fast food this time of night...

7.5 years in a supermarket, 3 years in a call centre, I've done my time.
It's not rocket science, you give the punter what they want and they leave .

Also op posted at 11pm. Big difference in fast food joints between 11pm and 1am

jill_valentine

obplayer wrote: »

Dealing with the public can be incredibly stressful simply because you are subjected to so much aggression.

Yup. You wouldn't believe it if you'd not experienced it, how unreasonable human beings can be.

A big part of it too comes from the fact that jobs where you deal with the public tend to be the ones where you can get promoted just by hanging around long enough, rather than being particularly well suited to the task in hand.

The result is a LOT of managers who just aren't actually equipped to manage people or respond to new problems very well, so you get a lot of tiny tyrant types with an unerring capacity for making things worse.

obplayer

mrwhimwham wrote: »

I work in the fast food industry and tonight I just couldn't hack the workload and decided to walk out. It was a rash decision but with various different people shouting at me for various different things I just couldn't stick it anymore.

I've never done anything like this before and I've never so much as gotten anything near a warning in work.

Does anyone know if what I did tonight could warrant the employer terminating my contract without notice?

I would advise apologising to your manager and hoping he / she will take you back. Then look for a way you can get out without being classed by the welfare people as intentionally unemployed or whatever way they put it.

zetalambda

hfallada wrote: »

AFAIK you cant claim welfare if you quit your job. Which OP basically just done. Even with a heavy work load and people shouting at you, walking out was not the logically thing to do. I worked in a shop at Christmas that had 45 mins wait for the till(I was the only cashier) and got constant abuse from the customers. But I sucked it up and got on with my job.

Retail and other customer service jobs are stressful, but its what is expected in the industry

I've quit multiple jobs and signed straight on the dole. You'll have to give them an explanation and I've always said that it was because of a high stress job, heavy workload, long hours, asshole supervisors, etc. and that I was using all of my holidays to de-stress and ringing in sick increasingly due to stress (all of which was true). Office work was the type of job I was in and I knew that there was a pretty good chance that the person examining my claim (who is also an office worker) will have experienced similar and would therefore understand to some degree. They will however need a letter from your doctor to say that you have no serious illness and are capable of work.

mrwhimwham

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I just want to clear things up in saying that I don't hate the job I'm in nor do I hate the people I work with, but when you have to constantly deal with people looking down their noses at you each day, the Sahara like heat conditions, the sh1te hours and pay and the simple fact of having no social life come the summer as it's so busy( I only work night shifts mostly), things were bound to come to a head like this.

Going to go in and have a chat with the boss in the morning and see if I can sort things out and hope I didn't do any irreparable damage.

obplayer

mrwhimwham wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I just want to clear things up in saying that I don't hate the job I'm in nor do I hate the people I work with, but when you have to constantly deal with people looking down their noses at you each day, the Sahara like heat conditions, the sh1te hours and pay and the simple fact of having no social life come the summer as it's so busy( I only work night shifts mostly), things were bound to come to a head like this.

Going to go in and have a chat with the boss in the morning and see if I can sort things out and hope I didn't do any irreparable damage.

Genuinely the best of luck.

ardle1

Dowl88 wrote: »

Boss might be sympathetic. Tell him you were going through issues with GF, relative ill or something along those lines.

How can you find fast food restaurant stressfull?

Don't tell him that, tell him the truth.
And if anyone talks to you like that again, tell him your gonna fcuk them up big shytle :cool:

zetalambda

mrwhimwham wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I just want to clear things up in saying that I don't hate the job I'm in nor do I hate the people I work with, but when you have to constantly deal with people looking down their noses at you each day, the Sahara like heat conditions, the sh1te hours and pay and the simple fact of having no social life come the summer as it's so busy( I only work night shifts mostly), things were bound to come to a head like this.

Going to go in and have a chat with the boss in the morning and see if I can sort things out and hope I didn't do any irreparable damage.

If you end up going to the social, don't give this as the explanation.

obplayer

ardle1 wrote: »

Don't tell him that, tell him the truth.
And if anyone talks to you like that again, tell him your gonna fcuk them up big shytle :cool:

Nice idea but sadly "the customer is always right":(

Maximus Alexander

Yeah I'd say you're more than likely finished there OP, but don't worry about it. You're not going to look back in ten years and say "I really wish I hadn't walked out of that fast food job that time". It's the first day of a new chapter in your life. Yay!

K4t

helimachoptor wrote: »

7.5 years in a supermarket, 3 years in a call centre, I've done my time.

Congratulations. But of absolutely no relevance to the thread.

helimachoptor wrote: »

It's not rocket science, you give the punter what they want and they leave.

Nobody said it was. And again of no relevance to the Op other than further revealing your condescending attitude towards him/her.

helimachoptor wrote: »

Also op posted at 11pm. Big difference in fast food joints between 11pm and 1am

Well done, telling the time has been your most relevant contribution to the thread.


Best of luck, Op. You have a good work record as mentioned and obviously just had a really bad night. It happens (in all walks of life). If you want to keep the job I'd apologise to your boss, promise that it won't happen again but explain clearly the stress you were under and propose that maybe you need a few days off before returning to work. Odds are you won't be working there forever so just try and relax and not let the job/customers etc. consume you. I know it seems tough now but this really isn't a big deal and you'll look back on it in years and wonder why you let it get to you so much. Best of luck whatever decision you make.

obplayer

And the public at it's most confusing and funniest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oneMk-q_U0

Bepolite

helimachoptor wrote: »

7.5 years in a supermarket, 3 years in a call centre, I've done my time.
It's not rocket science, you give the punter what they want and they leave .

Also op posted at 11pm. Big difference in fast food joints between 11pm and 1am

It does not seem to have taught you humility to be honest. Your attitude smacks of looking down your nose. OP walked out this evening, I'm assuming after a period of this building up rather than having started today.

Furthermore things have changed since the death of the Celtic tiger, places had a lot more staff a few years back and many where carried. Having worked in retail, call centres (call centres are a doddle) and food, fast food/catering is way worse than even supermarkets (the arse end of retail to be fair). Working in food is back breaking labour in the worst of conditions. I lasted three months working for one of the better chain food places.

Bepolite

obplayer wrote: »

And the public at it's most confusing and funniest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oneMk-q_U0

A customer with a sense of humour and a bit of criac goes a looooongway! People would be surprised how much more you get for your money when you're savvy and not an arsehat with it.

Ronin247

Bepolite wrote: »

Explain to the welfare they have a degree of latitude to be fair.

I completely understand that not everyone is a 6'2" tall 18stone bloke who spent the better part of his youth being shouted at by hairy reservists who had watched Full Metal Jacket one too many times but the best way to deal with a bully is call them out. Take the moral high ground initially, "John can we have a word"... as soon as they refuse and start shout the the odds I find a loudly spoken "Who the hell do you think you are speaking too" works wonders. Most people haven't a clue what's hit them.

OP I was in retail for 15 years part of that I did a side job as security, I did rough pubs, nice pubs and even a gay pub (a very rough one oddly enough) the very worst place I was ever on the door of was the Abrakebabra in Portmarnock - and that was a quiet one. One lad on a city centre store was killed when a punter walked up to him and stabbed him for no reason.

OP more tales to bore you to sleep but I had what can be described as a 'bad break-up' with a business I was working for. I was out for almost a year. I was very successful and earned a reasonable salary, more than my wife at the time who has a degree and masters from Trinity and a PhD. from UCD. I'm lucky enough to be now retraining as a lawyer. I can assure you that losing a job/being unemployed is a lot scarier than it actually is in reality.

In answer (after going round the houses quite a bit) no they can't terminate you for walking off. They would need to hold a disciplinary and it's unlikely to be gross misconduct. If you're in there less than a year though they may just let you go and there is little you can do.

Ask yourself though: Is it worth going back?

(it might be to get fired if you think the social are going to be being difficult.)

Go back and explain what happened, apologise and insist that you want to keep your job so that they either a) keep you or b) fire you, you will then qualify for social welfare immediately. DO NOT QUIT or not go back

Mrs OBumble

I sympathise, OP ... almost did it myself one night, and if I had a nasty bitch of a store manager would have worn a tray of burgers on my way out the door!

Didn't in the end though, sucked it up and glad: the reference I got from there helped me get a far cushier job later on. And I did learn heaps of useful information about the way the world works.

TheBeach

I wouldn't be overly concerned about Social Welfare. The most they can withhold your payment for is 12 weeks. But this is totally discretionary. If you tell them you were subjected to awful working conditions I'd imagine they would waver this 12 weeks and give you your Social Welfare as normal. It'll totally depend on the officer who decides your claim.

At the end of the day if you look at it like this. Your job is now available. It is likely that someone who is currently in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance will take the post. And you in turn will receive social welfare. So really it doesn't make any difference in that respect. Ying and yang...

Svalbard

Take it easy on the OP. Any job which involves interacting with joe public can be very stressful, and fast food service has its own particular kinds of hell.

I really think those posters saying a job in fast food couldn't possibly be stressful really just look down on people in such jobs. I'd like to see them try it sometime.

My current occupation involves quite a bit of responsibility and risk, and the training involved working in environments most people would regard as intensely stressful and demanding.

However, as I student, I worked in 2 well-known fast food restaurants and I can still clearly remember the stress I felt in those jobs - not the same stress as in my current job, but not less either.
Treated like crap, demeaned, looked down on, over worked, underpaid, bullied......I never walked out, but others did, and I didn't blame them.

Lots of people walk out on their jobs at some point and carry on with their lives without it ever affecting them. I'm not trying to say walking out is a good thing to do, just that at the end of the day you weren't the first, you won't be the last, and it won't affect your longer term prospects.

Mongfinder General

I worked for more than 10 years in a fast food place. I saw it all in there. The one thing I learned quickly is that most of the public are oblivious as to how much manual labour it takes to get a meal together. When it gets busy and **** starts going wrong, it can be horrible. If you get a load of booze hounds slobbering things can get messy as all you want is them out the door asap. It can be stressful at times.

I remember one time a guy I worked with in the kitchen lost it. It might have been a Paddy's day. The reason why he lost it was not something that would normally cause a reaction so freaky. The place was packed, people lining up out the door. Orders coming in to the kitchen super fast. This guy appears at the top of the line with a supermac's paper cup in his hand. The guy I was working with lost it. He called him a fat beardy **** and to get out. All because he felt that the beardy guy had eaten already so therefore shouldn't be annoying him by being greedy and lining up for more in a different restaurant!

FishingLife

I worked a summer in a big chain fastfood joint in college.
The manager who was later sacked for pillfering was a mong of the highest order.
Most of us staff were in college.
If she didnt like you didnt get hours simple as that.
Her assisatant manager was a horrible little bully too.
Be told to go home early because it was not busy.
Told to not leave the premises for your break as might be needed if it got busy.
The staff room was tiny and half the crew smoked was horrible 1997.
I used do a job that normally two people did but still got treated like ****.
Being a broke student away from home i put up with it till i flipped one day after verbal abuse on front of a regional manager.
A wave of relief left me as i walked out for the last time.
The comradery can be good but can see how someone full time could lose all hope.

padser

K4t wrote: »

Congratulations. But of absolutely no relevance to the thread.

Hold on. There is debate going on in this thread about whether a job in fast food is stressful. A lot of posters are saying "it's stressful because you deal with the public". To answer that another poster started out by saying "I've worked with the public for over a decade and....". It's completely on topic and relevant to the discussion.

The harsh reality OP is that some people feel "stress" in loads of different situations and it's generally more to do with the person feeling the stress then the situation. Working with the public has challenges (I worked in retail for about a decade through school / university) and it can be frustrating etc, but if it leads you to have meltdown to the point where you break down and walk away.....it says more about you and your frame of mind than anything else.

Incidentally, to everyone who mentioned it here, quitting a paying job because it's stressful to go onto the social welfare is something our social welfare system shouldn't accommodate.

OldNotWIse

Dowl88 wrote: »

Its fast food, take an order and hand it out. Not exactly stressful

Have you actually worked in a fast food restaurant?

Maximus Alexander

padser wrote: »

Incidentally, to everyone who mentioned it here, quitting a paying job because it's stressful to go onto the social welfare is something our social welfare system shouldn't accommodate.

If providing relief in the interim between two jobs isn't something it should accommodate, then what should it accommodate?

bmc58

On the Social welfare side you could be in trouble there after "walking" out.
Did you tell anyone you had had enough?
Chance going back in today and tell your manager you felt really ill and just had to go home.Then say you are fine again(it was a 24 hour bug or something)and you are ready to work again.
if he/she tells you that they don't want you anymore this might mean that you have been sacked.This will mean that you were willing to work but let go from your job.Then if you need to look for social welfare help you would be in a better position.

Mrs OBumble

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

If providing relief in the interim between two jobs isn't something it should accommodate, then what should it accommodate?

Providing relief in the interim between two jobs when the first one ends due to factors outside your control.

Maximus Alexander

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Providing relief in the interim between two jobs when the first one ends due to factors outside your control.

So if, for example, your mental or physical health were suffering due to the stress of a job, should you not leave that job? Should you wait until your health deteriorates to the point that a doctor declares you unfit to work? Or until your performance suffers to the point that you are let go?

I'm not saying this is the case with the OP, just examining where this line of reasoning might lead us.

Mrs OBumble

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

So if, for example, your mental or physical health were suffering due to the stress of a job, should you not leave that job? Should you wait until your health deteriorates to the point that a doctor declares you unfit to work? Or until your performance suffers to the point that you are let go?

I'm not saying this is the case with the OP, just examining where this line of reasoning might lead us.

It's pretty clear that your health suffering because of the effects of a job is a factor outside your control.

Yes, there's a bit of a balancing act when it comes to things like stress: the type of stress that causes your health to suffer unacceptably does need to be determined by a doctor, not just by yourself.

But the dole is absolutely not for anyone who just doesn't feel like working for a while.