People Don't Like Working At TGI Fridays And We Think We Know Why
Places like TGI Fridays are perfect for the weekend as you celebrate that another hectic week has come and gone. And perhaps it's the perfect place for meeting a new face or two, too. In fact, according to the brand's website, TGI Fridays was opened back in 1965 by its founder, Alan Stillman in New York so that he could meet single "stewardesses" nearby. (Yes, really.) The actual name of the chain is believed to have been inspired by Stillman's frustration with his friend who beat him while skiing. Stillman reacted by saying, "Thank Goodness it's Friday!" and the name has stuck.
Although the brand is perceived to be fun and vibrant, working for the restaurant apparently isn't the most pleasant experience. As per several testimonials from former employees, the restaurant's work environment is reportedly less than ideal. The brand has a 3.4 rating on Glassdoor and a high turnover rate, as per an ex-employee. Read on for more details on why employees don't enjoy working at TGI Fridays.
Minimal tips, unpaid labor, and demanding hours make working at TGI Fridays difficult
A blogger and a former waiter, Darron Cardosa aka The B***hy Waiter wrote about how awful it can be to work at TGI Fridays whenever there is a promotion on offer. For example, he described the "Endless Appetizers" promotion and wrote that he could easily predict what would happen once the promotion was available. As per Cardosa, the servers are the worst affected in such a scenario because they have to cater to unreasonable demands for hours with minimal tips. Ruminating over the post, a Reddit user wrote, "I feel like i should go and take advantage of this deal, then tip crazy well to offset all the expected dead beats."
Another commentator expressed their sympathy for the servers and wrote, "Every time I see this commercial, my heart dies a little for those servers. Before reading the article, I didn't really fully grasp what cheap people would do with a deal like this."
Plus, TGI Fridays has even gotten into legal trouble in 2014 and was accused of overlooking labor laws and not providing overtime pay to their employees for extra hours and forcing them to begin work before serving customers. Clearly, there's room for improvement.