2 Weeks Notice

[thebighat]

You're going to hear, and be able to discern, all manner of bs over the years in the food business. Lines like" Work here for a year and you can get a job anywhere....." BS, as far as I'm concerned. Ditto with what this guy is pulling..."You'll never work in this town again. I'm badmouthing you all over the continent."
He's nothing if not grandiose. Nothing comes to stay, it all comes to pass, and so will the next two weeks. If you continue to go to work, and they pull something funny, call the labor board in your state, tell them on the way out you'll see them at the unemployment hearing. I always thought the amount of notice given was equal to your pay period, at certain levels, and restaurant cooks are not, in spite of what we all dream, quite at the level where one is required to give 6-8 weeks so that management can start a global search for a line cook. They can tell you they don't need you anymore, and I don't know if I'd sweat the references either. Most chefs know if you know what you're doing a fraction of the way into your first shift on a new job. Your skills, your talent, your creativity, your personality, would land you a better job faster than any letter from this maroon.


An oh yeah,..Nick.shu...leave? You mean like vacation?

[Nick.Shu]

yeah in Aus it pretty much customary to give about 4 weeks notice. I had judged that on how much annual leave given in the standard job (vis a vis "vacation"), as the notice period generally matches the amount of vacation given in one year.

Casual labour is or can be the exception, as it is a contract of labour renewed by period of pay by period of pay.

"In most Industrial Instruments (awards) casual staff do not have access to notices of termination, severance pays, annual leave, payment in lieu of notice of termination, personal leave rights, parental leave and public holiday. Because the employee is hired by the hour, notices and dispensation of hire are also by the hour. The basis of hourly notice is in effect negated by the calculation of 1/38 of a standard weekly pay appended with a 20% loading, designed to offset any disadvantage. However, the application of a definition of a casual is certain to change due to the over emphasis of their use. The trades union movement is pushing to have the casual status of a worker redefined. This means that the current practice of using casuals to completely control labour costs maybe subject to stricter controls.

Historically, the casual worker arose out of a need for an hourly type of worker, for short-term work, which arose due to short-term work requirements out of emergencies (a good example is emergency dock work) and a short fall in man power (incomplete rosters due to sickness etc)."

[SemperChef]

Here is some good news: all is not lost. Even though it is customary and desirable to work out your notice, you can still have a great career if you leave this guy in the dust. I know this has to hurt, though. I can just imagine all the hard work you put into this, and then to feel betrayed by the Chef's actions! But he appears to lack integrity.

Here is my reasoning:

I am gathering this Chef is good. Very good. And also that he is a bit of a prima donna. And he is obviously well known. So if he is all of these things, there is a big chance that most other chefs around him know this.

It means they also know that if you can work a year for him, then you are worth something. You know something, and you can stand pressure and rapid pacing. I had an employee come to me giving his 2 weeks notice. He went to go work for a Chef at the Ritz. He hired my employee on the spot and waived the interviews - told him that if he could work for me, he could work for anyone. He had worked for me for 1.5 years. Other Chefs will see this on your resume also - you can do the job.

And if they don't know him, his recommendation or lack of it won't mean a thing.

Professionalism is important, please don't get me wrong. But from being on the hiring end for at least 10+ years, let me tell you that if I needed a decent cook who could handle pressure and had some basic understanding of high end cuisine, and I knew they had lasted in a place with a good reputation more than a few months, I would hire them.

I am typing fast, I hope this came out right.
Laurie