'You know what? Keep the schedule. I quit': Pizzeria manager cuts employee's hours because he took one break, employee stands up to him and quits

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Sep 21, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

Most managers with an authority complex end up flexing their muscles when they absolutely have other tasks they should be prioritizing. Perhaps they understand that truth deep down, and as their coping mechanism, it's far easier for them to assert dominance over their employees rather than focus on what they're doing wrong as bosses and why things aren't running smoothly. 

That is certainly the case with this manager, who decided to cut an employee's hours significantly as a semi-punishment for getting overwhelmed and taking a short break during a work shift the previous week. First of all, it doesn't matter if you work at a bank or a pizzeria, breaks are helpful and necessary for any employee to catch their breath and return to work ready to do a good job. If this manager cannot understand that, they will have a lot of trouble with future employees down the road as well. This Redditor decided it was not worth it to argue with their manager any further and just up and quit instead. Hopefully, this will be a teachable moment for the manager moving forward, or else he is likely to experience more of the same.

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions in the comments section. For more stories like this, check out this post about an employee's payback after he was told he wasn't working hard enough.

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  • 01
    Wood - "Well that's how the || schedule's gonna be
    via Louis Hansel
  • 02
    Font - I sat down for 10 minutes on a busy Thursday and got my hours reduced. So I quit. pizzeria. I worked at a really Opay,Obenefits. I was a shift manager, and we had gotten a new store manager about a month ago.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 03
    Font - The store manager was awful and got consistently worse. Last Thursday, a football day (in Texas!) he scheduled 2 drivers outside of their availability. I let the first go because she asked to, and because I had another coming in.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 04
    Font - Turned out the one replacing her was also outside his availability so he went home too--without clearing it with me. I also had two cooks, one was 30 minutes late, the other two hours late. I don't know why the second hadn't been fired yet either, he was consistently late. I had another driver who was doing videos because the DM told him he needed them done ASAP. I was cutting pizzas with maybe 4 people in the store total and I was getting overwhelmed so I sat down for 10 minutes because
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 05
    Font - Today I see the schedule for this week posted (because SM is chronically late about posting it). I've been scheduled for only 20 hours, and not working Thursday at all apparently. I asked him why.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 06
    Font - He said because I sat down for 5 minutes, he's reducing my hours and I'm no longer working Thursdays (which is such a good idea and definitely won't make labor worse on Thursday, O). He said "well that's how the schedule's gonna be" when I explained we were understaffed due to his poor scheduling and chronic lack of communication. I'm tired. I'm sick of dealing with him, all for 11.50 an hour. I tell him--you know what? Keep the schedule. I quit.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 07
    Font - Yeah I could've threatened him more. Gone through with the week of...230$, maybe. Or waited to be fired and filed for unemployment-- if I would even have made enough to get it. But honestly, I feel more relieved than I've felt in a long while.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 08
    Font - pegasusCK 14 hr. ago Cutting someone's hours to make them quit let's you claim unemployment. It's called "constructive dismissal". You can look it up. Employers do this all the time to try to get people to quit so they won't have to pay unemployment and it actually works most of the time because people don't know it counts as constructive dismissal to get the other person to quit. If you have proof your hours were cut you can apply for unemployment. 1.7k Reply Share
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 09
    Font - thefinalgoat OP. 14 hr. ago I have his texts, yes. I'm specifically not deleting them because I figure they'd make good evidence. 843 Reply Share
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 10
    Font - Highlandgoblin. 12 hr. ago Take Screenshots! 313 Reply Share thefinalgoat OP. 12 hr. ago Already on it! 283 Reply Sha
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 11
    Font - MisScillaneous 14 hr. ago Not sure what it's like in other states but I'm pretty sure you're allowed a 10 minute paid break. I have had to do this exact thing and just let the team handle it while I go scream in the alley. File for unemployment. Watch the others trickle out of there soon after. Good luck! 204 Reply Share
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 12
    Font - thefinalgoat OP. 14 hr. ago I'm in Texas, and breaks--even lunch breaks--aren't legally required. Texas C workers. And yeah I'm filing right now. Thank you! 307 Reply Share
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 13
    Font - ragingpotato98 - 14 hr. ago Contact your franchisee's corporate office. I used to work corporate for businesses like these. It's very hard to know what's actually happening on the ground on each store when you're overseeing the finances of 250+ stores.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 14
    Font - Sometimes all we know is that a store is underperforming and digging into why is a tedious process that is mostly not worth the time of the expensive analytics team for a single store.
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 15
    Font - If you think the store is underperforming because of poor management, I'm sure the finance team would love to hear. I assure you it's very likely that the finance won't value the manager's position higher than yours. At that level of analysis, you and your manager are both just ID codes. With your evidence, there's a remote but non-zero chance you could take his job if you make it clear you can do better. 127 Reply Share
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 16
    Rectangle - thefinalgoat OP. 13 hr. ago I have had coworkers try to convince me to actually take on his job as SM...
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 17
    Font - ragingpotato98. 13 hr. ago Give it a shot, at this point what do you have to lose. Do you happen to know if the guy who owned your store was a small franchisee or a large holder?
    via u/thefinalgoat
  • 18
    Rectangle - thefinalgoat OP. 13 hr. ago Small franchisee based in Texas. I can DM it to you, I don't wanna publicize it too much.
    via u/thefinalgoat

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