Restaurant manager of 12 years plans to quit over pay cut, 'my husband says I should stick it out.' AITA?
"AITA for quitting my job when my boss just told me my salary is being cut in 1/2?"
I run a small restaurant that has not been doing great over the last 2 years. I have tried my best to do everything within my power to boost sales and get new customers, but the ownership refuses to advertise or to use social media appropriately (make a TikTok, engage users, make events for specials).
They also do not replace broken equipment. The ice machine has mold growing in it. The cooler doors fall off a few times a shift. One AC unit in the kitchen just doesn't work so it's always hot and uncomfortable for the cooks.
I have been working there for 12 years and I love my job 90% of the time, but yesterday I was told that my salary would be cut in half starting next pay period and they wanted ME to pick what my remaining responsibilities would be...keep in mind, I am the only manager and there is no chef.
I manage all orders (beer, liquor, wine and food), I plan special events (Thanksgiving dinners, beer specials, etc), I cook when a kitchen guy is out sick, I bartend when no one can cover a shift, I am the electrician/plumber/HVAC/janitor/therapist. I make all the schedules, do all the training, created the training program, pay the bills, the list goes on...
The owners take extravagant trips yearly like going to the Paris Olympics or Scotland for a week. They spent 3 months in Europe two summers ago...while I ran their business. Now that the business is not doing so hot and I am the only salary employee, I have to give up half of my pay.
I would go from $1800 per week to $900 and be forced to bartend to supplement my income...which means my bartenders will make less money and have fewer shifts while I have to work more hours to get my other responsibilities taken care of.
So I want to tell them that I do not accept the pay cut because I know I will still be responsible for all of the things ownership is going to neglect or forget to do...which I assume will mean I am fired/quit. Does that make me a selfish ahole? My husband says I should stick it out because I need the insurance, but I am tired of feeling like I have been taken advantage of.
Here's what people had to say about this one:
ToastetteEgg said:
NTA. Think of it this way: You can stay at a sinking restaurant at half pay, or you can get a job at half pay in a thriving restaurant and work that pay up. You owe your employer nothing after what they did. They sure as hell aren’t taking a 50% pay cut.
_shiftah_ said:
What your employer is doing is called “constructive dismissal”. It’s a legal term where your boss purposely and drastically changes your employment contract in hopes of getting rid of you.
grayblue_grrl said
I am sure that with your skills and experience you can get another job. Meanwhile that job is dying. It is going to end one way or another. You can be ahead of the rush. You don't want to go down with that ship. They are rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic and making you captain. Abandon that ship. There is no guarantee that they are still even paying the insurance. NTA.
pwettynut said:
NTA. Your first priority is yourself, not their failing business.
WaryScientist said:
NTA, but it’s definitely easier to find a new job when you have a job…it may be worth just sucking it up while you actively search for a new job and then quit when you have one.
IanDOsmond said:
If you stay in that job at that pay, you are screwing everybody over. You are pulling down the wages of every single person in the restaurant industry in your area. If they can't afford to run the restaurant, they can't afford to run the restaurant, and it needs to close.
If you owned the place, you could put your life's blood into it, because you could have a chance of getting it back later; as it is, all you have is the money they pay you, and that's not enough. If you don't demand a fair price for your labor, you depress the income of everybody in the same industry. You would be an asshole for staying. NTA.