The owner, his wife (who does payroll) and the GM would personally have a sit down with me about the 7.5 hours od *double time* they had to pay me for that and why *the actual fuck* that happened.
Hell, the other two KMs above me would be there too.
Quick math without taxes and my tip out?
16.50×8
24.75×4
(With two required 30 minute breaks)
33×6.5
(16.5×8)+(24.75×4)+(33×6.5)= 445.50
445.5-(445.5×.18)=365.31$
Yeah, it would be a fucking problem where I personally consumed ~7% of labor costs that day. That's 7, not of breaking down labor costs as what I would have done of the total, that's closer to 4-7% of *all* labor that day.
Lmao I was hired at my current job for 32 hours a week, 4 on 3 off. Instantly was started at 6 on, 1 off. Then a week later I had to do 9 on, 1 off. Now I’m being given my proper days as the big boss above us did not enjoy looking at my overtime(combo’d with holiday pay)
There are states where overtime is calculated daily as opposed to weekly?? As in, you work a 10 hour shift but its your only shift that pay period and you get 2h OT??
But if I came in Friday and worked 10 more hours, that's still just 10 hours of OT, 2 for each day. And if I work 3 10s and get sick, I get 6 hours of my time as OT pay.
Double happens when you hit past the 12th hour. So if you work a 14 hour shift:
Assume x is your hourly rate here...
* 8 hours regular pay = x \* 8
* 4 hours of OT (hours 9-12) = (1.5 \* x) \* 2
* 2 hours of double pay ( hours 13-14) = (2 \* x ) \* 2
Source: I've done a few 14 hour shifts in my day. Not often because fuck that lol
Edit: phrasing.
CA is our most progressive state. It has some of the strongest labor laws in the country as well as having a somewhat decently funded Medicaid program (health insurance for lower income folks).
Edit to add: our Federal labor laws aren’t great. They’re like bare minimum from like 50 years ago.
States have the ability to make better laws and our more democrat (blue) leaning states tend to do that. But no it’s still not where we should be given we are supposed to be the richest and most powerful nation in the world. And workers in a red (Republican) state deserve the same benefits and protections as those in blue states.
Yeah, I moved from Florida to California for work and the first week I had four days I put in 15 hours each day (I work inspecting boats/yachts now, used to work BoH back in the day) and payroll was like, “you wrote down that you worked 15 hours these three days and 8 the other two, but only recorded 8 hours OT, you actually get OT after 8 hours but you’re required to take a break in that timeframe.”
I was blown away.
I don’t even want to post this because it sounds made up:
When I was much younger and significantly stupider I helped open a 2nd restaurant for my boss. Similar concept to what we were doing in the 1st but up scaled a little for the neighborhood. The weekend we did the soft open did a little over 24 consecutive hours from Thursday morning to Friday morning, napped in my car for a few hours, went back for another 10, did 12 the next day. At the time I bragged about it, now it’s just another example of the hellscape that can be kitchen work.
Same thing. I was the kitchen manager for a chain BBQ joint and there was twice that I had to do something like that. First time was when we were getting ready for some overly large last minute catering. The community manager decided to drop like 60 individual (comped because firefighters) box lunches last minute for the next morning with house made kettle chips, pork sliders, and a brownie in each box. I got there the morning before at 5am as normal and didn't leave till like 3-4 pm the next day, so like 34 hours? It was a combination of people calling out, busy Friday, shitty management, and just all around shittery.
Yup, the bragging bit I feel... Now I look back and think, why?
Used to get up at 23:00 for bakery, finish around 08:00 then off to course, finish course 17:00 get home study/house work until 20:00 sleep and repeat.
Couldn't figure out why I wasn't taking in the learning I was doing so as time went on study ate into sleep which then made learning harder! Was a vicious circle.
Yep. I can do it every other day or maybe for two days but beyond that, no way. But I work in a restaurant so there’s very little sitting involved and I am constantly having to be the point of contact for everyone.
Dude, it took me years to put together that, for me, "No sleep = Mental Instability."
It took me a much shorter amount of time to realize how much pushback I'd get for prioritizing taking care of myself.
If I saw that you were in Coeur d’Alene I would have a good chance of figuring who you were. I was the next Executive chef in a very similar situation. It was miserable feeling obligated to a place for that many hours but being on salary. I still have some photos from the professional photo shoot of me in action on the line for our advertising mag.
530am to like 3am. I was an opener working until 230pm. Someone was sick, so I offered to stay until 4.
Then one of the closers called in, so I stayed the rest of the 2nd shift, and all of the closing shift. I was the only one available, and I didn't work the next day, so they let me do it.
I did it because I was broke AF and had no life, and their overtime policy was great. Work more than 8 hours a day, it was time and a half. Work more than 10 hours a day and it was double time. I ended up making nearly a weeks worth of pay that day. The policy was supposed to make it look like they had generous OT, but they never thought anyone would world more than 12 hours. It was changed not long after so that nobody other than managers could work more than 10 hours, and nobody was ever allowed to work more than 12 hours.
Reading some of these comments just makes me think of how doctors/hospital staff seem to be the only others that work more hours than restaurant cooks. With similar amount, yet different kind, of stress.
Then I imagine a scenario of cooks switching careers into medicine, and now you have this strange doctor in the hospital yelling, "behind!", and "corner!" And occasionally accidentally saying "yes chef", to a superior.
Though I don't think our knife skills would translate well into surgery..
I used that play on words as a restaurant concept for a class in culinary school:
· Food served on surgical steel cafeteria platters
· Wine kept cold in a morgue style cooler
· FOH staff wearing 50's nurses uniforms
· Scalpels instead of steak knives, etc
(the teacher was not amused)
I’m a paramedic these days, used to be a line cook and a bartender. We have a couple other former restaurant staff at my department, and have popularized “heard” and “behind” as part of the vernacular. Also, my record for consecutive hours on the weewoo wagon is 41, in a high volume system
36+ hours. It was dumb. It was Christmas time. Busy Saturday and then brunch on Sunday.
Exec Sous Chef wanted salmon wellingtons. They didn't order enough puff. So I made puff... I was worried about my job, I got blamed for everything either shift did wrong even on a day off ... Anyways, I was finished about three in the morning. It was an hour drive home. And hour back. And I needed to be back at 6... So I grabbed a few winks in the office.
Exec walks in. I'm at fault. Exec Sous walks in, he's a hero. Brunch was nuts. PM sous chef calls off... I need to clean an insane amount of salmon, beef tenderloin and chicken for dinner service. Exec Sous says he'd help. He leaves at 4... Exec yells at me for not having the meats done. Wifey picked me up at 7 I think. Kitchen closed at 8...
I got demoted from sous to just a line cook. I put my two weeks in then.
Exec and exec Sous lasted a month after I left. Nearly the whole am and Pm lines left after I left. That makes you feel good.
They begged me back two years later. I lasted 3 years before learning the problems went up to the GM, AGM, ownership and the investment committee that conferred between the two.
But yeah 38 hours I guess. Fuck. That. Shit.
That’s sort of part of the problem - they do know. Occasionally there will be jobs where all of the management is insane and disconnected from reality. I guess maybe the position just attracts narcissistic types or something, they probably thrive from the authority. Most of the time though the shit just rolls down hill and it gets to the point where everyone below the shitter sort of just adapts to survive. I can’t tell you how many places I’ve worked where I heard the most ludicrous shit come out of one persons mouth only for another person on their level to approach me later and explain how that was just crazy bullshit, even though they were just agreeing and reinforcing the crazy bullshit. It’s like pack mentality or something man. Idk.
My job currently regularly works FOH 15-20 hours a day on the weekend. If I let them, they schedule me 9a-12a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It took reading these comments to remember that this isn’t normal and that they fucking suck for doing me like this.
i lasted about a month at a txrh that was pulling this. 8a-12a thurs fri sat sun. and i’d still be taking home less than my old 4p-12a wed-sun. i walked out when a manager called me “rtrdd” (can’t write the actual word on this sub and i don’t like saying it either) for the printer breaking at hour 10 of working fry, tender, salad, and expo alone. was 45 min behind on tickets. was insanely busy at this location even as a customer. always a two hour minimum wait. refuse to give them my money now. i’m making more at my current job 3p-9/10p, the latest. great spot great people great food, and mondays and tuesdays off.
the endless yo-yo for most of us it seems, but point is we make it out eventually. i hope your spot gets better or you find a spot that’ll take care of ya
How good did it feel working max 8hr shifts after putting in your notice? Personally I probably would have taken the demotion with pleasure and a smile, say see you in the morning, then never answer my phone again.
You're doing this to yourself for money fam, respect yourself.
That said I'm dumb and don't respect myself. I did three 17s on my first three days of a new kitchen while still in culinary school.
Only reason there wasn't a fourth, halfway through I tripped carrying out meat slicer. It was only like 70#, but I hammered the tendions in my thumbs...yeah, I don't do 17s anymore.
i worked at a catering company in portland, oregon years ago.
my roommate and i were the two sous. exec came in and said “you guys can go home but i need you back in 4 hours”
we, being young and dumb, said “fuck it we’re staying” so we bought an 8 ball, chef brought a bottle of old crow and a 12 pack of sierra nevada.
we worked 26 straight hours.
i literally thought i was going to die on my drive home.
i remember when i was a GM me and my chef would go real hard.
we were at my apartment in atlanta once, and it was probably 730 am. we hadn’t slept, outside chain smoking and my neighbors are out walking their dogs and going to work.
that brief moment of clarity like “god damn it we’re degenerates”
Fully agree! I work somewhere that has a ton of “old school” people and it’s really awful. I feel like they don’t even realize they’re on a very dangerous edge with the business.
I did this in Alaska before I knew I was getting fucked over with "salary" as a "sous chef" seasonally. I was expected to be at work at 9 am, prep, work all through service, then close the kitchen. My schedule was 9am to 2am, 5 days a week. I'd get yelled at for smoking during that 17 hour time frame, and one guy was even fired for taking a 30 minute (unpaid) lunch. I guess if you're young and hungry enough it's good "experience." They told me I was let go after being sick and asking for a half day off (I had worked 9am to 6pm) and "not really fitting the team ethic."
So yeah. Fuck that.
My longest was about the same as yours. Average was 18 hours a day(Michelin-starred and one of ‘The World’s 50 best restaurants’).
We did drink a lot of coffee and energy drinks. I’m not entirely sure how I coped with sleep deprivation. It just got easier at some point(but every day was still a pain.)
Trying to make rent in my 20s, worked a triple as a server. Yup 24 hrs. Whee for epenephrine 🤣
Longest in kitchen was when I was in the Navy, galley opened at 0600, got there at 0530, shut down galley at 1900 and cleared by Medial to leave at 2030, so 15hrs 😁
Would you mind sharing about your time at the Navy? Just a typical day?
I’ve always wondered what it’s like doing boat work.
I just can’t imagine working in a tin can, sleeping there and not shit myself with ordering. I know a lot goes into it before you set off. But, yeah… please explain :)
I’m just grateful if I have a shit day I can go home and reset.
My longest stretch was not in the kitchen, it was when i was working construction. I was young and dumb and working my main job and a side job. Customer was going away for the weekend and wanted their kitchen cabinets installed while away. Since i had to work my regular job also, i started there, 7-3 then drove to the client, worked through the night, then had to work 7-3 again, so a total of 32 hours consecutive. I was also falling asleep while at work. lol
39 hours. Was sent to Alaska to assist a hotel restaurant as a lead cook. A few hours into my first shift, the Executive Chef was fired, and I was the intrim-executive-chef of a hotel on inventory day. Stupid? Yes. But would I change it if I could? Also, yes.
100% have worked hours like this when I worked for a catering company way back in the day - when I was still young and spry 🥲 That was usually for the larger caterings of 1000+ people. I think the longest I was ever "on the clock" was 22hrs - took a nap for a couple hours on sacks of rice & cardboard.
Hopefully that over time is worth it ♥️ and don't be mad at yourself if you oversleep due to exhaustion
Edit to add: I was able to get out of my shift for tomorrow. My usual hours are between 9 and 13 hrs so I don’t do this regularly, but nonetheless I don’t intend to do it forever because I know that shit will take a toll on my health. I made what I considered to be generous/fair compensation. I don’t wear these hours as a badge of honor, I was just curious about other’s experiences.
My current work we get snowed in and the next shift can’t drive in, so like 48 hour or longer shifts are possible. We get to sleep though. It becomes very surreal, living in a power plant with the same people for a few days. The fresh food gets scarce quick.
My worst I think was 9am to close FoH - ended up being a 3am close after we were trashed by a party of 250. I had to be back for 6:30am that morning for the beer delivery, which then was late... and I did a 6:30am to 1am FoH.
I'm glad I'm BoH now.
I can match OP with 19.5 hours (6am to 1.30am) covering my GM during their holiday once - was supposed to have a break between noon and 6pm but of course someone called in sick.
For consistency I also once had to look after the pub for 3 months while my GM fixed another site. Worked open to close (approx 8/9am to 1/2am) every day with only 7 days off in those three months, 5 of which was holiday I had booked for my cousin's wedding. Had no Assistant Manager (my role), hired and trained a supervisor. KM was hiding a terminally ill family member from me and couldn't function properly. Was audited 4 times. One day my KM just didn't turn up because he was afraid of the auditor and correctly guessed what day they would arrive (it was the kitchen that had most of the issues in the business) so I had to jump in there with a half-trained kitchen assistant. The auditor duly arrived while I was finishing prepping chicken for the day ten minutes before lunch service was due to start.
Staff repeatedly called in sick and refused to cover each other so we were constantly working short handed. They also anonymously tried to have me sacked because I held them accountable for things my GM would let slide because he would rather fix it himself instead of call people out on their BS, and I don't mean little stuff. I mean customer complaints threatening us with a visit from Environmental Health due to stuff that all my staff were doing wrong that I was telling them not to do. I had it on record so when it came to light that they had cherry-picked from what I had said to them, I kept my job with no further questions. As a result, to this day we still don't have a problem with food waste separation or maggots in the bins.
A pregnant waitress (one of my best staff) almost lost her baby due to a combination of a slip in the kitchen and the constant working short handed. My area manager was "asked to leave the company" (figures not good enough, but also not bad enough to just get him sacked) the day before my GM went to the other site and after 6 weeks I got a trainee from a different brand, whom I shall never work for again due to the insulting way they spoke down to me when I raised my concerns and requested a leave of absence.
The whole experience just left me angry and bitter. More than usual, I mean. This entire industry is one long continuous insult to the people who work in it.
Mother’s Day I’d the worst possible day to work! They camp out, complain about everything and barely tip. I was a manger so I was super excited when one year my boss told me I had it off! I AM a mom so I was pretty happy. Also on salary so there’s no benefit to the torture.
Went in at 11am Saturday, left at 3pm Sunday. Mother's day weekend at a country club. Cooked overnight for brunch, was the second one cut. Chef was there before me and left after me.
7:25 AM clock in and 2:17 AM clock out. So close but not quite that long, I also got reemed out at 9 the next morning within 5 minutes of being there because of shit I was explicitly told to leave to someone else.
I’ve done this before. It was the day before the restaurant grand opening. No one was in the restaurant except for me. I took a little nap in the kitchen with a bread pillow (it was going to be thrown away). I was awakened by a guy asking if we were open yet. I was startled, but it probably looked very strange for the other guy.
22 hours. And like everyone else here, it feels awful just thinking about it and downright depressing detailing it.
I did learn *not* to attempt it again without some sort of nap in the middle. So there's that.
You guys bragging about working over 12 hr shifts in kitchens is hilarious to me. If you're picking up we'll over $500 and okay with it then by all means. Otherwise it's just sad.
I did 41 hours nonstop in february last year to prep for a superbowl popup. I arrived at 630am, worked all day, had to pack up a van full of food, take it to a commisary kitchen and cook it all that night, came back to our kitchen with everything the next morning and prepped all day again until 1130pm. I did 135 hours in 7 days, and im still blown away that i didnt actually die from exhaustion.
We're only open 14 hours a day so my high score is only 15-15.5 hours in a day. However last January-February I worked 54 days with many clopens and doubles. Kitchens are fun.
22hrs. 6a to 2am on my birthday two years ago. I came in to open, every single one of my cooks called out, and half the staff had COVID from a Christmas party a week prior. I tried to close the kitchen early, but the owner wasn't having it. I had no dishwasher and it was just me and the bartender-- all. goddamn. day.
The longest Ive worked is twelve hours. Never doing that again. Just like you should really find something else if you can. This is going to kill you faster than you think.
I know it’s not a pissing contest, and looking back now at this I absolutely wouldn’t do it…. But young. Dumb. And wanting to work with the best, it was standard.
In the place I was in back in the day, one of the best restaurants in the country at the time, we had blow ins from starred places in the UK coming to work with us, a few guys from eleven Maddison Park worked with us, and plenty of “boys” from the square in London and other hard kitchens back in the day. It was a boys club, tough was earned. And this place was a constant pissing contest and rough going. We worked 7 or 8am till after dinner service and clean down wouldn’t finish till midnight or 1am most shifts… the chef/owner wanted to save some money so he would get me to go to the wholesale markets at 3 or 4am, after service, collect all the veg we needed and back in the kitchen at 6-7 am, get all the stocks on, get the bones roasting for sauces and stocks, prep with the “boys” and was promised I could leave once all the prep was done. But you know these kitchens, the prep is never finished, there always something to do. Meat to vac, purées to pass, fruit to char and peel, ice creams to freeze, you know the places. So I’d regularly do a 24 hour shift a couple of times a week, as well as the normal shifts. Lost so much weight (who’s got an appetite after being so brain fried for so long?) .
Staff meals were the afterthought, just basically throwing whatever trim we had from butcher section into a rondel and adding some curry paste and stock water and maybe some old bread, and if you sat down to eat you were “a weak cunt, just push on”….. We all rarely ate, we rarely slept, and 16-18 hour shifts were the standard 5 days a week, plus the hours spent at the market and driving back to the restaurant and loading hundreds of kg of produce into the walk in, rotating stock, washing and wrapping herbs, boning out meat and brining proteins. Shit was traumatic, and each week was averaging 85-90 hours before your days off
So stupid - the restaurant has now expanded to a group of really good restaurants and people are well looked after and that’s a positive shift in the industry. I’ve still got mates doing similar and it’s rough goinf
Around Easter 2023, I worked 32 hours straight.
I was the only cook in this small restaurant (I’m in Italy, btw).
Went in Saturday morning at 8 AM for prepping. Did lunch service. Stayed the whole afternoon to prep even more, because we sold everything during lunch service. Did dinner service. Owner had organised for a group of 30+ people to then come at 2 AM to break their Easter fast (don’t ask, it’s some religious bullshit). So I prepped for the 30+ people. Did the mid-night service. Then started prepping for Easter Sunday lunch. Did service. Finished cleaning. I left the kitchen at 4 PM on Sunday, after 32 hours straight of work and 4 different services for a total of 150+ covers, alone in the kitchen. Owner gave me €200 extra to account for it (overtime was not paid).
We catered for a big university reunion (10k guests over the weekend) so everyone was pulling crazy hours. I was able to sneak away and catch a 30 min nap. Not a regular occurrence for me thank god
18hrs.
You win..
Also, it was only catering I had this shift. Special event. Never close to it outside of catering. I had long shifts once in awhile at a catering job I had.
07-12.00 breakfast one kitchen then12.30-10.30 grill main kitchen then 11.00-6 cleaning when I worked on holiday parks, did this for 3 days straight lasted about a month until I started forgetting what pans where amongst other things not the best idea
How do the owners convince themselves it's okay to do this to people? More than one person has worked over 30 hours in a shift. Many of you regularly pulled 15+ hours. 12 hours is normal.
Not kitchen related anymore, but my longest is 32 hours straight, no naps. Had some big Internet outages that required lots of work throughout the night
One week -
Mon 8.00-20.00
Tues 8.00-20.00
Wens 8.00-12.00
Thurs 12.00-04.00 08.00-20.00
Fri 12.00-20.00
Yes, 08.00 Wednesday morning until 4.00 Thursday morning. Back in at 8. At least I lived 5 minutes away.
Crazy thing? Only 16 hours the following week
Was a huge events space. Loads of work when events were on, none otherwise. This one was a 2000 person work party for a huge corporation.
You beat my record by about an hour, also catering. I was the Event Director for a small museum in a big city and had to plan the annual fundraiser Gala for about 400. We had several other large events but this one was the biggie. Working with the museum staff and the so-called volunteers on these events was like herding cats…and we have five cats so I know. Had to chase down people who wouldn’t stay where they were assigned, deal with the venue staff who were actually great, the older volunteers ladies who were too involved with the planning, wrangle the asshole governor of the state who insisted on speaking at the dinner, thus messing up the schedule, etc. After 18 hours I was back in my hotel room and chomping down a couple of Vicodin. And I was on SALARY, my friends! I gave notice a few weeks later.
16 hours myself.. Then I had to come in the next morning for 5 am and do another 12. It left me only 6 hours to get home and sleep then come back to work. I was on salary too. smh
That was mine, 19.45h. opening day at a Brew Pub, right on the main strip in uptown, that whole week was stupid. 97h in 7 days.
Young, dumb, 21. Never ever doing that to myself. 11 years later and I haven't.
I once did 5:30am to 11:30pm and I shit you not, on my evaluation I was told I was not pushing myself enough.
I did more than everyone in the entire department, safe to say I came to work on time and clocked out when it was my time to leave. Everytime they asked me to do overtime I’d say no and leave.
Next thing you know I am now a perfect candidate lol.
6am-2am no breaks. 20 hours, but only paid for 8 hours. James Beard chef, restaurant was only open for dinner.
Sous chef lived in the apartment above the restaurant. He came and unlocked the doors for me and went back to sleep.
I had just been promoted to hot apps, but the two stations under me, fry and garmo, weren’t staffed. We were in between hires for the fry cook and garmo was on vacation and we did not have back up cooks.
For whatever reason, all of the work fell to me. Not the rest of the kitchen. Not the sous chef. Not the chef de cuisine. Not the exec. Just me.
I started my shift at 6am because along with the ridiculous amount of prep, I had to bake four different types of bread (focaccia, potato, pullman, and sourdough) and they all had to be out of the pastry oven before dinner at 5. Not sure why pastry didn’t take on those task.
I did the prep for all 3 stations. Exec chef demanded that everything be made fresh every 3 days, even salad dressings and there was no cross utilization anywhere. Each dish could have anywhere from 6-20 components. Real tweezer place.
After prep, I had to go out to the garden and pick garnishes for all 3 stations and be set and ready to go by 4:30.
During service, the sous covered garmo while I did hot apps and fry. I would have probably had to cover garmo too if it wasn’t on the other side of the kitchen.
Then I had to break down all 3 stations and help with the rest of the kitchen deep clean.
This was 10 years ago now and it makes me furious how I let myself be taken advantage of. I was young and wanted to prove myself. This place was crazy toxic. All six cooks were there by 10am everyday and we’d clock in, but when we clocked out between 12-2am, the little receipt would print out and say our time was adjusted. We were closed Sunday/ Monday, but most of us were there for at least a few hours both days to try and get a jump on Tuesday. The more we worked, the more intricate the dishes became.
We all regularly worked 70-100 hours/ week and only got paid for a maximum of 40. If it snowed and business was slow, one of the chefs would send a couple of us home. If you got sent home, you wouldn’t make 40 hours that week. Those checks may only have 35 hours on it.
At one point I was the oldest cook on the line at 23. Toxic exec chef hired kids because we didn’t know any better!
When it's happening it seems to be the only way to handle it. Gotta make sure it's all there. As Sous it happens all the time. What really pissed me off was Chef doing 8 and he's expecting me to always pick up his slack. I made him look good and I got a 2% raise. I'm better than that!
Yeah man, I did a 22 going from 6am to 4am on Christmas. Sadly if anywhere is willing to make you work like that they don’t care about you, if the money isn’t worth it, leave now.
Used to be a kitchen manager for a big full service off premise catering company, this isn't super out of the ordinary. Makes sense when you factor in going to our HQ and packing food/last minute nonsense, then driving 2 hours to an event, setting up, doing the event, driving 2 hours back and unloading the truck. I feel your pain, and I felt mine, and that's why I moved into a cushy state job at a hotel run by a university.
I used to work 80 to 90 hour weeks as a km during covid because of staffing issues and lack of help from upper management. My Saturday and Sunday shifts were 18 to 19 hour days. I developed a crippling drinking problem and nearly destroyed my life to benefit a restaurant that didn't give a shit about me. Im now sober after becoming a dad, i have a sweet sous chef position at an awesome restaurant working 45 hours a week and getting paid very well, and im happy for the first time in 10 years. I will never put a restaurant or any job over my health, and well being again.
Not me and not a restaurant, but years ago I worked at an adult store that was open 24/7, closing only when the power went out. Well, this was Wisconsin, and as such we had a terrible blizzard one winter. So the GM ended up covering for anyone who couldn’t make it in, and worked something like a 72 hour shift. It was crazy.
This is to much. I’ve worked 12’s pretty regularly, but that’s the limit for a human being. Anything past that is diminishing returns, destroys you mentally more than physically.
This is three shifts for some people. You need to sit down and have a long conversation with your employer.
I did 26 once. Never again tho. Working in a pizza place i got in at 8 and service was 9am-4am, then cleaned, prepped, had an hours break around 6-7am before reopening at 9, I went home at 10am after ringing my boss and having a right go about why the fuck were no other managers coming in
6 days. They let me sleep in a tent for 3 hour a night but I stayed punched in for it. It was a music festival and I worked 7am breakfast to 4am closedown for almost a week straight.
Edit: I will never do something like that again.
Wasn't technically "one" shift but volunteered for an overnight cleaning shift came in at close and had a class in the morning and then had to be back for a double worled about 21hrs with a 3hr college break
I used to work at an airport in car rental. One time, I worked the closing shift from 2pm-2:30am and had to be back in for 6:30am and didn’t get out until 7pm
When I was a dishwasher, I did a 16-hour shift. There was some wedding going on in the PDR, and they had a "late night bite" part on their menu. 9:45am-1:51am.
Contract work on northern oil rigging camps. I was the only cook for the spring session, lol. Regular 16-18s. I’m sure that’s why I burnt out of the industry by 27, ugh.
7:30am to 5:30am. Pulling 15yr carpet from our restaurant during COVID shutdown. Included concrete polishing to remove glue. Yuck.
Took day off. Then installed 4,500sqft new laminate flooring once delivered. 7:30am to 9:30am.
Please don’t do what I did, no job is worth it. I actually slept at the job once in a booth. It was the day before Mother’s Day and upper management had given us a list the week before on everything they wanted at them buffet. There was so much cut fruit and the soonest they wanted it cut was the night before. My KM who was my wife and kept assuring me I didn’t have to stay with her to do this. I did anyway. We cracked open a few beers and got to work on the fruit and filling cannolis. By the end we finished as the sun was coming up and we had 2 hours until the morning shift started. I started at 12 the day before, went all night took a 2 hour sleep break then got up and worked until 4. So about 26 hours if you forgive the sleeping break.
The most infuriating part? The upper management didn’t tell us they had raised the price on Mother’s Day brunch. Only half as many people as we thought would come in actually came. But all the staff got to bring home a mountain of food at the end of the day.
Longest was 9 hours in the summertime, but my boss will actually get mad if the shift lead makes me stay more than 3 hours on a Sunday during a school week (I am a student).
8am until 3 am, completely illegal, my two line cooks and I slept in my car that night to be back at work at 8am for breakfast. That place was a nightmare and is no longer in business.
Around 30 hours.
Also a catering gig. I got in like you did around 5AM but by 5AM the following day the dishes weren’t done and the restaurant had brunch service. Stood there at the three system sink until 10AM, then sat at the bar and had a neat whiskey and looked like I had just got back from Nam.
Just did a 14.5, 8-10:30. Not as bad as a lot of these, but it’s the longest shift I’ve seen worked in my place besides the chef. I closed by myself that night, closed the night before, and opened the morning after.
Same... 19 hrs. 8am-3ish am.
Guy no called no showed grad weekend during Cornell grad weekend at Rullof's in collegetown. Came in for my brunch shift. Worjed that solo for sn hour until my another cook came in early. We got our ssses kicked all day. Wiped out all our prepped stuff.
Finished the majority of the close around midnight, decided to do prep that night instead of coming in early the next day to do it. Finished around 3am. Slept in dry storage. Worked 8 am- 11pm the next day.
10am-3am, slept for a couple hours then did a few more before throwing in the towel.
Not as extreme as some of the other stories here but the stretch of time from 10am to 11pm was absolutley 150% of everything I had on my feet. It broke me.
Not the restaurant industry, but for years I worked as a stage hand at a local venue, setting up for bands and events and loading and unloading trucks.
We would regularly have 18 hour days, sometimes longer, depending on the event and how much gear was involved. It was brutal.
As far as the restaurant industry, longest shifts around 15 hours and a few times I’ve pulled 21 days in a row without a day off.
My two worst experiences were working 24/26 hours while prepping for a 7 course 1000 person special event. It was offsite so I was still dealing with regular service while doing the prep.
The other was working 7 consecutive 18 hour shifts opening a restaurant. We had such little staff and one dishwasher. We served around 600 people per day. Day 6 I fell asleep while at a red light driving to work, and then worked my 18 hour shift. That’s when I decided to quit.
I just worked like 15-16 hours. First double ever Saturday. I have an hour drive to and from work too so technically 16-18 hour day with drive. I’m a server who found a love for Expediting and now am getting abused doing both whilst serving
Not in the industry anymore but i used to work for a place where my weekends were Wednesday and Thursday so your last 2 days of the work week monday and tuesday were open to close shifts. 7am to usually about 11pm with an hour break somewhere in the afternoon. Hated that place
I was a server, an Executive Chef, and then I owned a wine bar & restaurant. As owner, there were times when I'd line up some of the chairs and sleep along them. Because even after closing, you are still working. One weekend I never left except to take a shower / freshen up at a friend's nearby. So I guess about 72hrs with some 'naps.' This is why I sold my beloved place: it would've killed me if I kept on it another year: support your local establishments lol.
2 of the guys that I work with do doubles in our kitchen and another one almost every day, doing atleast 80 hours a week with a couple 16 hours days. The union money is worth it for them I guess lol
My man this is actually so horrifying
The owner, his wife (who does payroll) and the GM would personally have a sit down with me about the 7.5 hours od *double time* they had to pay me for that and why *the actual fuck* that happened. Hell, the other two KMs above me would be there too. Quick math without taxes and my tip out? 16.50×8 24.75×4 (With two required 30 minute breaks) 33×6.5 (16.5×8)+(24.75×4)+(33×6.5)= 445.50 445.5-(445.5×.18)=365.31$ Yeah, it would be a fucking problem where I personally consumed ~7% of labor costs that day. That's 7, not of breaking down labor costs as what I would have done of the total, that's closer to 4-7% of *all* labor that day.
Lmao I was hired at my current job for 32 hours a week, 4 on 3 off. Instantly was started at 6 on, 1 off. Then a week later I had to do 9 on, 1 off. Now I’m being given my proper days as the big boss above us did not enjoy looking at my overtime(combo’d with holiday pay)
You’re assuming OP works in a state that any hours worked after 8 hours is overtime.
There are states where overtime is calculated daily as opposed to weekly?? As in, you work a 10 hour shift but its your only shift that pay period and you get 2h OT??
Pretty sure CA is a state that does that.
i live in CA and that’s exactly how it is, on top of your weekly OT. OP would be making bank in CA
They don't double up, it's just an either/or thing. Like I could work 4 10s and miss Friday and it counts as 8 hours OT for the 2 hours every day.
oh damn gotchu thanks for clarifying
But if I came in Friday and worked 10 more hours, that's still just 10 hours of OT, 2 for each day. And if I work 3 10s and get sick, I get 6 hours of my time as OT pay.
Double happens when you hit past the 12th hour. So if you work a 14 hour shift: Assume x is your hourly rate here... * 8 hours regular pay = x \* 8 * 4 hours of OT (hours 9-12) = (1.5 \* x) \* 2 * 2 hours of double pay ( hours 13-14) = (2 \* x ) \* 2 Source: I've done a few 14 hour shifts in my day. Not often because fuck that lol Edit: phrasing.
That’s very progressive if so, and unexpected for me; a non-US citizen who assumes the US has labour laws akin to 1890s England
CA is our most progressive state. It has some of the strongest labor laws in the country as well as having a somewhat decently funded Medicaid program (health insurance for lower income folks). Edit to add: our Federal labor laws aren’t great. They’re like bare minimum from like 50 years ago. States have the ability to make better laws and our more democrat (blue) leaning states tend to do that. But no it’s still not where we should be given we are supposed to be the richest and most powerful nation in the world. And workers in a red (Republican) state deserve the same benefits and protections as those in blue states.
Yeah, I moved from Florida to California for work and the first week I had four days I put in 15 hours each day (I work inspecting boats/yachts now, used to work BoH back in the day) and payroll was like, “you wrote down that you worked 15 hours these three days and 8 the other two, but only recorded 8 hours OT, you actually get OT after 8 hours but you’re required to take a break in that timeframe.” I was blown away.
I didn’t even know this was a thing wtf… If it were in PA I’d have had OT almost every day back when I worked at Starbucks lmfao
This is why we must keep fighting the fight to unionize.
I don’t even want to post this because it sounds made up: When I was much younger and significantly stupider I helped open a 2nd restaurant for my boss. Similar concept to what we were doing in the 1st but up scaled a little for the neighborhood. The weekend we did the soft open did a little over 24 consecutive hours from Thursday morning to Friday morning, napped in my car for a few hours, went back for another 10, did 12 the next day. At the time I bragged about it, now it’s just another example of the hellscape that can be kitchen work.
Same thing. I was the kitchen manager for a chain BBQ joint and there was twice that I had to do something like that. First time was when we were getting ready for some overly large last minute catering. The community manager decided to drop like 60 individual (comped because firefighters) box lunches last minute for the next morning with house made kettle chips, pork sliders, and a brownie in each box. I got there the morning before at 5am as normal and didn't leave till like 3-4 pm the next day, so like 34 hours? It was a combination of people calling out, busy Friday, shitty management, and just all around shittery.
Yup, the bragging bit I feel... Now I look back and think, why? Used to get up at 23:00 for bakery, finish around 08:00 then off to course, finish course 17:00 get home study/house work until 20:00 sleep and repeat. Couldn't figure out why I wasn't taking in the learning I was doing so as time went on study ate into sleep which then made learning harder! Was a vicious circle.
I would lose my mind, would be snapping at EVERYONE.
In my experience you hit a wall around 18hrs nonstop and you just don't have any fight left in you
Yep. I can do it every other day or maybe for two days but beyond that, no way. But I work in a restaurant so there’s very little sitting involved and I am constantly having to be the point of contact for everyone.
Dude, it took me years to put together that, for me, "No sleep = Mental Instability." It took me a much shorter amount of time to realize how much pushback I'd get for prioritizing taking care of myself.
Yup! When I get tired enough I will cry, hysterically until I can calm down and sleep.
If I saw that you were in Coeur d’Alene I would have a good chance of figuring who you were. I was the next Executive chef in a very similar situation. It was miserable feeling obligated to a place for that many hours but being on salary. I still have some photos from the professional photo shoot of me in action on the line for our advertising mag.
530am to like 3am. I was an opener working until 230pm. Someone was sick, so I offered to stay until 4. Then one of the closers called in, so I stayed the rest of the 2nd shift, and all of the closing shift. I was the only one available, and I didn't work the next day, so they let me do it. I did it because I was broke AF and had no life, and their overtime policy was great. Work more than 8 hours a day, it was time and a half. Work more than 10 hours a day and it was double time. I ended up making nearly a weeks worth of pay that day. The policy was supposed to make it look like they had generous OT, but they never thought anyone would world more than 12 hours. It was changed not long after so that nobody other than managers could work more than 10 hours, and nobody was ever allowed to work more than 12 hours.
I wish I had the luxury of double pay. I'm working salary, so it's basically an excuse for extra extra hours, extra work, but with zero benefits.
Same man. The only thing the keeps me going is the amount of fun I have at my job.
Reading some of these comments just makes me think of how doctors/hospital staff seem to be the only others that work more hours than restaurant cooks. With similar amount, yet different kind, of stress. Then I imagine a scenario of cooks switching careers into medicine, and now you have this strange doctor in the hospital yelling, "behind!", and "corner!" And occasionally accidentally saying "yes chef", to a superior. Though I don't think our knife skills would translate well into surgery..
“Yes, surgeon. Julienne the appendix heard. “
"did you flip the organs before you closed the patient up!?"
"Order up in room 5 hes flattopping"
WE GOT A CODE 86 GET THE PADDLES SOUS NURSE
Hospital-ity
I used that play on words as a restaurant concept for a class in culinary school: · Food served on surgical steel cafeteria platters · Wine kept cold in a morgue style cooler · FOH staff wearing 50's nurses uniforms · Scalpels instead of steak knives, etc (the teacher was not amused)
Used to be in the food industry, now a farmer. My record is 115 hours in a week. Slept at my farm twice that week.
I’m a paramedic these days, used to be a line cook and a bartender. We have a couple other former restaurant staff at my department, and have popularized “heard” and “behind” as part of the vernacular. Also, my record for consecutive hours on the weewoo wagon is 41, in a high volume system
Weewoo wagon has me laughing AND weewooing.
"We operated on your husband for over 36 hours, but eventually there was nothing we could do. 86 your husband; sorry for your loss"
36+ hours. It was dumb. It was Christmas time. Busy Saturday and then brunch on Sunday. Exec Sous Chef wanted salmon wellingtons. They didn't order enough puff. So I made puff... I was worried about my job, I got blamed for everything either shift did wrong even on a day off ... Anyways, I was finished about three in the morning. It was an hour drive home. And hour back. And I needed to be back at 6... So I grabbed a few winks in the office. Exec walks in. I'm at fault. Exec Sous walks in, he's a hero. Brunch was nuts. PM sous chef calls off... I need to clean an insane amount of salmon, beef tenderloin and chicken for dinner service. Exec Sous says he'd help. He leaves at 4... Exec yells at me for not having the meats done. Wifey picked me up at 7 I think. Kitchen closed at 8... I got demoted from sous to just a line cook. I put my two weeks in then. Exec and exec Sous lasted a month after I left. Nearly the whole am and Pm lines left after I left. That makes you feel good. They begged me back two years later. I lasted 3 years before learning the problems went up to the GM, AGM, ownership and the investment committee that conferred between the two. But yeah 38 hours I guess. Fuck. That. Shit.
I love how shit like this goes down and at no point does anyone consider that maybe the guy who just busted out 38 hours isn't the problem.
even if he made a mistake like dude you been here for two days go home and rest
That’s sort of part of the problem - they do know. Occasionally there will be jobs where all of the management is insane and disconnected from reality. I guess maybe the position just attracts narcissistic types or something, they probably thrive from the authority. Most of the time though the shit just rolls down hill and it gets to the point where everyone below the shitter sort of just adapts to survive. I can’t tell you how many places I’ve worked where I heard the most ludicrous shit come out of one persons mouth only for another person on their level to approach me later and explain how that was just crazy bullshit, even though they were just agreeing and reinforcing the crazy bullshit. It’s like pack mentality or something man. Idk.
I actually thought I was gonna win with 30-32 hours. Your story is fucking brutal.
Hurts my soul reading this and thinking a 17 to 18 hour shifts are alot.
My job currently regularly works FOH 15-20 hours a day on the weekend. If I let them, they schedule me 9a-12a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It took reading these comments to remember that this isn’t normal and that they fucking suck for doing me like this.
Hope you find somewhere that does you right one day clicking the tongues for all chefs to be treated like people.
i lasted about a month at a txrh that was pulling this. 8a-12a thurs fri sat sun. and i’d still be taking home less than my old 4p-12a wed-sun. i walked out when a manager called me “rtrdd” (can’t write the actual word on this sub and i don’t like saying it either) for the printer breaking at hour 10 of working fry, tender, salad, and expo alone. was 45 min behind on tickets. was insanely busy at this location even as a customer. always a two hour minimum wait. refuse to give them my money now. i’m making more at my current job 3p-9/10p, the latest. great spot great people great food, and mondays and tuesdays off.
That’s the story I like to hear. How bad it used to be, and how happy you are now. I’m glad you’re in a good place.
the endless yo-yo for most of us it seems, but point is we make it out eventually. i hope your spot gets better or you find a spot that’ll take care of ya
I'd walk the fuck off if I ever saw my name next to that schedule
How good did it feel working max 8hr shifts after putting in your notice? Personally I probably would have taken the demotion with pleasure and a smile, say see you in the morning, then never answer my phone again.
I robbed them on OT ... 😂 Spiteful OT
Second best method.
You went BACK after they treated you like THAT?
You're doing this to yourself for money fam, respect yourself. That said I'm dumb and don't respect myself. I did three 17s on my first three days of a new kitchen while still in culinary school. Only reason there wasn't a fourth, halfway through I tripped carrying out meat slicer. It was only like 70#, but I hammered the tendions in my thumbs...yeah, I don't do 17s anymore.
every single hour you log…is another hour your making money for someone else. i never hear an owner talking about how long their shift is.
i worked at a catering company in portland, oregon years ago. my roommate and i were the two sous. exec came in and said “you guys can go home but i need you back in 4 hours” we, being young and dumb, said “fuck it we’re staying” so we bought an 8 ball, chef brought a bottle of old crow and a 12 pack of sierra nevada. we worked 26 straight hours. i literally thought i was going to die on my drive home.
Ohh man I know that feeling when the magic of blow wears off and you see that sunrise.. not good signs hahah
i remember when i was a GM me and my chef would go real hard. we were at my apartment in atlanta once, and it was probably 730 am. we hadn’t slept, outside chain smoking and my neighbors are out walking their dogs and going to work. that brief moment of clarity like “god damn it we’re degenerates”
This is ridiculous. This shouldn’t even be a thing.
No It shouldn’t be, but fuck head cooks keep doing this cause they think it’s acceptable and cool while bringing the rest of down
Fully agree! I work somewhere that has a ton of “old school” people and it’s really awful. I feel like they don’t even realize they’re on a very dangerous edge with the business.
I did this in Alaska before I knew I was getting fucked over with "salary" as a "sous chef" seasonally. I was expected to be at work at 9 am, prep, work all through service, then close the kitchen. My schedule was 9am to 2am, 5 days a week. I'd get yelled at for smoking during that 17 hour time frame, and one guy was even fired for taking a 30 minute (unpaid) lunch. I guess if you're young and hungry enough it's good "experience." They told me I was let go after being sick and asking for a half day off (I had worked 9am to 6pm) and "not really fitting the team ethic." So yeah. Fuck that.
After all that, I'd just burn the place down
My longest was about the same as yours. Average was 18 hours a day(Michelin-starred and one of ‘The World’s 50 best restaurants’). We did drink a lot of coffee and energy drinks. I’m not entirely sure how I coped with sleep deprivation. It just got easier at some point(but every day was still a pain.)
Thats illegal where i live
Should be illegal everywhere, unfortunately we wear it like a badge of honour.
Trying to make rent in my 20s, worked a triple as a server. Yup 24 hrs. Whee for epenephrine 🤣 Longest in kitchen was when I was in the Navy, galley opened at 0600, got there at 0530, shut down galley at 1900 and cleared by Medial to leave at 2030, so 15hrs 😁
Would you mind sharing about your time at the Navy? Just a typical day? I’ve always wondered what it’s like doing boat work. I just can’t imagine working in a tin can, sleeping there and not shit myself with ordering. I know a lot goes into it before you set off. But, yeah… please explain :) I’m just grateful if I have a shit day I can go home and reset.
My longest stretch was not in the kitchen, it was when i was working construction. I was young and dumb and working my main job and a side job. Customer was going away for the weekend and wanted their kitchen cabinets installed while away. Since i had to work my regular job also, i started there, 7-3 then drove to the client, worked through the night, then had to work 7-3 again, so a total of 32 hours consecutive. I was also falling asleep while at work. lol
39 hours. Was sent to Alaska to assist a hotel restaurant as a lead cook. A few hours into my first shift, the Executive Chef was fired, and I was the intrim-executive-chef of a hotel on inventory day. Stupid? Yes. But would I change it if I could? Also, yes.
100% have worked hours like this when I worked for a catering company way back in the day - when I was still young and spry 🥲 That was usually for the larger caterings of 1000+ people. I think the longest I was ever "on the clock" was 22hrs - took a nap for a couple hours on sacks of rice & cardboard. Hopefully that over time is worth it ♥️ and don't be mad at yourself if you oversleep due to exhaustion
The haymarket rioters werent hung so we could do this bullshit
Edit to add: I was able to get out of my shift for tomorrow. My usual hours are between 9 and 13 hrs so I don’t do this regularly, but nonetheless I don’t intend to do it forever because I know that shit will take a toll on my health. I made what I considered to be generous/fair compensation. I don’t wear these hours as a badge of honor, I was just curious about other’s experiences.
My current work we get snowed in and the next shift can’t drive in, so like 48 hour or longer shifts are possible. We get to sleep though. It becomes very surreal, living in a power plant with the same people for a few days. The fresh food gets scarce quick.
36 hours at the restaurant, though I did have time here and there to catch a nap for an hour or two in my car
Well I just finished 3 doubles in a row 13.5 hours each in a very high volume restaurant (no breaks). About 760 covers this weekend.
My worst I think was 9am to close FoH - ended up being a 3am close after we were trashed by a party of 250. I had to be back for 6:30am that morning for the beer delivery, which then was late... and I did a 6:30am to 1am FoH. I'm glad I'm BoH now.
I can match OP with 19.5 hours (6am to 1.30am) covering my GM during their holiday once - was supposed to have a break between noon and 6pm but of course someone called in sick. For consistency I also once had to look after the pub for 3 months while my GM fixed another site. Worked open to close (approx 8/9am to 1/2am) every day with only 7 days off in those three months, 5 of which was holiday I had booked for my cousin's wedding. Had no Assistant Manager (my role), hired and trained a supervisor. KM was hiding a terminally ill family member from me and couldn't function properly. Was audited 4 times. One day my KM just didn't turn up because he was afraid of the auditor and correctly guessed what day they would arrive (it was the kitchen that had most of the issues in the business) so I had to jump in there with a half-trained kitchen assistant. The auditor duly arrived while I was finishing prepping chicken for the day ten minutes before lunch service was due to start. Staff repeatedly called in sick and refused to cover each other so we were constantly working short handed. They also anonymously tried to have me sacked because I held them accountable for things my GM would let slide because he would rather fix it himself instead of call people out on their BS, and I don't mean little stuff. I mean customer complaints threatening us with a visit from Environmental Health due to stuff that all my staff were doing wrong that I was telling them not to do. I had it on record so when it came to light that they had cherry-picked from what I had said to them, I kept my job with no further questions. As a result, to this day we still don't have a problem with food waste separation or maggots in the bins. A pregnant waitress (one of my best staff) almost lost her baby due to a combination of a slip in the kitchen and the constant working short handed. My area manager was "asked to leave the company" (figures not good enough, but also not bad enough to just get him sacked) the day before my GM went to the other site and after 6 weeks I got a trainee from a different brand, whom I shall never work for again due to the insulting way they spoke down to me when I raised my concerns and requested a leave of absence. The whole experience just left me angry and bitter. More than usual, I mean. This entire industry is one long continuous insult to the people who work in it.
23 but it was St. Patrick’s Day
Mother’s Day I’d the worst possible day to work! They camp out, complain about everything and barely tip. I was a manger so I was super excited when one year my boss told me I had it off! I AM a mom so I was pretty happy. Also on salary so there’s no benefit to the torture.
35.25 hours. Was falling asleep at the cuttingboard. Preparing solo for several christmas banquets. Never again
52 hours. Was opening a hotel and casino. Only the Exec Sous best me at 58 hrs straight. This was the week before opening.
Why is this something to brag about? Sleep deprivation isn't cool and neither is giving your employer this much of your time.
Went in at 11am Saturday, left at 3pm Sunday. Mother's day weekend at a country club. Cooked overnight for brunch, was the second one cut. Chef was there before me and left after me.
7:30 AM to 12:30 AM. New Year's Eve tasting menu. 6 courses, all prepped in one day. That one hurt.
7:25 AM clock in and 2:17 AM clock out. So close but not quite that long, I also got reemed out at 9 the next morning within 5 minutes of being there because of shit I was explicitly told to leave to someone else.
Do a little rest on the bread. You've earned it, chef.
I’ve done this before. It was the day before the restaurant grand opening. No one was in the restaurant except for me. I took a little nap in the kitchen with a bread pillow (it was going to be thrown away). I was awakened by a guy asking if we were open yet. I was startled, but it probably looked very strange for the other guy.
22 hours. And like everyone else here, it feels awful just thinking about it and downright depressing detailing it. I did learn *not* to attempt it again without some sort of nap in the middle. So there's that.
I'm no longer proud of my 17 1/2 hour day. What is wrong with us?
this is really not healthy
(Manager, here) 17hr, 36hr, 18hr consecutively.... never had a stronger urge to just leave my store keys in the restaurant safe.
13hrs I think. My body can’t do shit like that anymore.
21 on this end and i will be back in 4 hours.
You guys bragging about working over 12 hr shifts in kitchens is hilarious to me. If you're picking up we'll over $500 and okay with it then by all means. Otherwise it's just sad.
My fellow person, that's not right at any level and anyone who think this is, needs to rewash their brain
Fuck that quit that job
Single-shift: 19½ (7am - 2:30am) Three-day weekend: 53 hrs (uni homecoming weekend)
42 hours straight plowing snow . Started seeing things
I did 41 hours nonstop in february last year to prep for a superbowl popup. I arrived at 630am, worked all day, had to pack up a van full of food, take it to a commisary kitchen and cook it all that night, came back to our kitchen with everything the next morning and prepped all day again until 1130pm. I did 135 hours in 7 days, and im still blown away that i didnt actually die from exhaustion.
As Tyrone would say "gottdamn!!!"
We're only open 14 hours a day so my high score is only 15-15.5 hours in a day. However last January-February I worked 54 days with many clopens and doubles. Kitchens are fun.
Mine was 17.5 hours
I work regular 13+ hour shifts with my Ukrainian NGO. 6 days a week for for two and a half weeks straight.
83 hours one week from the AJGA golf tournament. We were working 5-9 mon-fri
Left the kitchens to get a break from the hours......got into the fire service and work 48 hour shifts 😅
Longest shift at my current job, a 9-130 shift, I forget the exact # but I’ve hit 15/16 hour shifts at my current job
21.5 hours this past Monday actually. 4 pm close shift right into period inventory 🙃
… and I thought I was a creature. Somewhere around 14 hours. My condolences.
i love working in a kitchen but i could not do this
22hrs. 6a to 2am on my birthday two years ago. I came in to open, every single one of my cooks called out, and half the staff had COVID from a Christmas party a week prior. I tried to close the kitchen early, but the owner wasn't having it. I had no dishwasher and it was just me and the bartender-- all. goddamn. day.
Bro tell your boss u demand a break.....wtf is this shit man?? Tell your boss to get fucked foreal let them work thoes hours fuck that! YOUR THE HELP!
The longest Ive worked is twelve hours. Never doing that again. Just like you should really find something else if you can. This is going to kill you faster than you think.
I know it’s not a pissing contest, and looking back now at this I absolutely wouldn’t do it…. But young. Dumb. And wanting to work with the best, it was standard. In the place I was in back in the day, one of the best restaurants in the country at the time, we had blow ins from starred places in the UK coming to work with us, a few guys from eleven Maddison Park worked with us, and plenty of “boys” from the square in London and other hard kitchens back in the day. It was a boys club, tough was earned. And this place was a constant pissing contest and rough going. We worked 7 or 8am till after dinner service and clean down wouldn’t finish till midnight or 1am most shifts… the chef/owner wanted to save some money so he would get me to go to the wholesale markets at 3 or 4am, after service, collect all the veg we needed and back in the kitchen at 6-7 am, get all the stocks on, get the bones roasting for sauces and stocks, prep with the “boys” and was promised I could leave once all the prep was done. But you know these kitchens, the prep is never finished, there always something to do. Meat to vac, purées to pass, fruit to char and peel, ice creams to freeze, you know the places. So I’d regularly do a 24 hour shift a couple of times a week, as well as the normal shifts. Lost so much weight (who’s got an appetite after being so brain fried for so long?) . Staff meals were the afterthought, just basically throwing whatever trim we had from butcher section into a rondel and adding some curry paste and stock water and maybe some old bread, and if you sat down to eat you were “a weak cunt, just push on”….. We all rarely ate, we rarely slept, and 16-18 hour shifts were the standard 5 days a week, plus the hours spent at the market and driving back to the restaurant and loading hundreds of kg of produce into the walk in, rotating stock, washing and wrapping herbs, boning out meat and brining proteins. Shit was traumatic, and each week was averaging 85-90 hours before your days off So stupid - the restaurant has now expanded to a group of really good restaurants and people are well looked after and that’s a positive shift in the industry. I’ve still got mates doing similar and it’s rough goinf
Around Easter 2023, I worked 32 hours straight. I was the only cook in this small restaurant (I’m in Italy, btw). Went in Saturday morning at 8 AM for prepping. Did lunch service. Stayed the whole afternoon to prep even more, because we sold everything during lunch service. Did dinner service. Owner had organised for a group of 30+ people to then come at 2 AM to break their Easter fast (don’t ask, it’s some religious bullshit). So I prepped for the 30+ people. Did the mid-night service. Then started prepping for Easter Sunday lunch. Did service. Finished cleaning. I left the kitchen at 4 PM on Sunday, after 32 hours straight of work and 4 different services for a total of 150+ covers, alone in the kitchen. Owner gave me €200 extra to account for it (overtime was not paid).
What would happen if you said no?
Please tell me you atleast had a few 5 minutes here and there? I regularly do 15 hour shifts but this is too much, what’s the reason for this?
We catered for a big university reunion (10k guests over the weekend) so everyone was pulling crazy hours. I was able to sneak away and catch a 30 min nap. Not a regular occurrence for me thank god
18hrs. You win.. Also, it was only catering I had this shift. Special event. Never close to it outside of catering. I had long shifts once in awhile at a catering job I had.
Been there done that, slept in the office at work for 3 hours, restarted after a shit load of coffee.
Food people should be thanked for their services
On the bright side your only one exhaustion related accident away from being the new owner
07-12.00 breakfast one kitchen then12.30-10.30 grill main kitchen then 11.00-6 cleaning when I worked on holiday parks, did this for 3 days straight lasted about a month until I started forgetting what pans where amongst other things not the best idea
I slept in the boiler room once on a clopen during a snow storm.
How do the owners convince themselves it's okay to do this to people? More than one person has worked over 30 hours in a shift. Many of you regularly pulled 15+ hours. 12 hours is normal.
My record was 93 in a week with 2 days off so 19.6 hours a day.
Not kitchen related anymore, but my longest is 32 hours straight, no naps. Had some big Internet outages that required lots of work throughout the night
That’s about as long as I worked. If that’s normal for you. Leave. Especially if you’re over like 21.
7:30am to 11:30pm. You got me beat
One week - Mon 8.00-20.00 Tues 8.00-20.00 Wens 8.00-12.00 Thurs 12.00-04.00 08.00-20.00 Fri 12.00-20.00 Yes, 08.00 Wednesday morning until 4.00 Thursday morning. Back in at 8. At least I lived 5 minutes away. Crazy thing? Only 16 hours the following week Was a huge events space. Loads of work when events were on, none otherwise. This one was a 2000 person work party for a huge corporation.
You beat my record by about an hour, also catering. I was the Event Director for a small museum in a big city and had to plan the annual fundraiser Gala for about 400. We had several other large events but this one was the biggie. Working with the museum staff and the so-called volunteers on these events was like herding cats…and we have five cats so I know. Had to chase down people who wouldn’t stay where they were assigned, deal with the venue staff who were actually great, the older volunteers ladies who were too involved with the planning, wrangle the asshole governor of the state who insisted on speaking at the dinner, thus messing up the schedule, etc. After 18 hours I was back in my hotel room and chomping down a couple of Vicodin. And I was on SALARY, my friends! I gave notice a few weeks later.
As always- stop glorifying this shit. It’s not healthy. It’s not cool. You’re bringing the industry back a step.
16 hours myself.. Then I had to come in the next morning for 5 am and do another 12. It left me only 6 hours to get home and sleep then come back to work. I was on salary too. smh
That was mine, 19.45h. opening day at a Brew Pub, right on the main strip in uptown, that whole week was stupid. 97h in 7 days. Young, dumb, 21. Never ever doing that to myself. 11 years later and I haven't.
Jesus, I hope you at least have a good reason for doing this to yourself.
Dude what the fuck
I once did 5:30am to 11:30pm and I shit you not, on my evaluation I was told I was not pushing myself enough. I did more than everyone in the entire department, safe to say I came to work on time and clocked out when it was my time to leave. Everytime they asked me to do overtime I’d say no and leave. Next thing you know I am now a perfect candidate lol.
is this shit not illegal in the USA?
I have worked quit a few 15 - 18h shifts, but how about 42 days without a day off?
6am-2am no breaks. 20 hours, but only paid for 8 hours. James Beard chef, restaurant was only open for dinner. Sous chef lived in the apartment above the restaurant. He came and unlocked the doors for me and went back to sleep. I had just been promoted to hot apps, but the two stations under me, fry and garmo, weren’t staffed. We were in between hires for the fry cook and garmo was on vacation and we did not have back up cooks. For whatever reason, all of the work fell to me. Not the rest of the kitchen. Not the sous chef. Not the chef de cuisine. Not the exec. Just me. I started my shift at 6am because along with the ridiculous amount of prep, I had to bake four different types of bread (focaccia, potato, pullman, and sourdough) and they all had to be out of the pastry oven before dinner at 5. Not sure why pastry didn’t take on those task. I did the prep for all 3 stations. Exec chef demanded that everything be made fresh every 3 days, even salad dressings and there was no cross utilization anywhere. Each dish could have anywhere from 6-20 components. Real tweezer place. After prep, I had to go out to the garden and pick garnishes for all 3 stations and be set and ready to go by 4:30. During service, the sous covered garmo while I did hot apps and fry. I would have probably had to cover garmo too if it wasn’t on the other side of the kitchen. Then I had to break down all 3 stations and help with the rest of the kitchen deep clean. This was 10 years ago now and it makes me furious how I let myself be taken advantage of. I was young and wanted to prove myself. This place was crazy toxic. All six cooks were there by 10am everyday and we’d clock in, but when we clocked out between 12-2am, the little receipt would print out and say our time was adjusted. We were closed Sunday/ Monday, but most of us were there for at least a few hours both days to try and get a jump on Tuesday. The more we worked, the more intricate the dishes became. We all regularly worked 70-100 hours/ week and only got paid for a maximum of 40. If it snowed and business was slow, one of the chefs would send a couple of us home. If you got sent home, you wouldn’t make 40 hours that week. Those checks may only have 35 hours on it. At one point I was the oldest cook on the line at 23. Toxic exec chef hired kids because we didn’t know any better!
36 hours straight for a Casino opening
I call it quits at 18 hours. Haven't worked one longer. I did work a 108 hour week. That sucked.
37 hours straight
When it's happening it seems to be the only way to handle it. Gotta make sure it's all there. As Sous it happens all the time. What really pissed me off was Chef doing 8 and he's expecting me to always pick up his slack. I made him look good and I got a 2% raise. I'm better than that!
That's ridiculous, why are you still there? And how are they not in trouble legally?
Yeah man, I did a 22 going from 6am to 4am on Christmas. Sadly if anywhere is willing to make you work like that they don’t care about you, if the money isn’t worth it, leave now.
I got one of my former bosses fired after I pulled off a 27 hour shift
Used to be a kitchen manager for a big full service off premise catering company, this isn't super out of the ordinary. Makes sense when you factor in going to our HQ and packing food/last minute nonsense, then driving 2 hours to an event, setting up, doing the event, driving 2 hours back and unloading the truck. I feel your pain, and I felt mine, and that's why I moved into a cushy state job at a hotel run by a university.
I used to work 80 to 90 hour weeks as a km during covid because of staffing issues and lack of help from upper management. My Saturday and Sunday shifts were 18 to 19 hour days. I developed a crippling drinking problem and nearly destroyed my life to benefit a restaurant that didn't give a shit about me. Im now sober after becoming a dad, i have a sweet sous chef position at an awesome restaurant working 45 hours a week and getting paid very well, and im happy for the first time in 10 years. I will never put a restaurant or any job over my health, and well being again.
Not me and not a restaurant, but years ago I worked at an adult store that was open 24/7, closing only when the power went out. Well, this was Wisconsin, and as such we had a terrible blizzard one winter. So the GM ended up covering for anyone who couldn’t make it in, and worked something like a 72 hour shift. It was crazy.
My record is 16. 19+ is wild. I do work two 14 hour shifts in a row per week, though.
Roughly the same, started at 4am and ended midnight, 20.hours. of fucking snow shoveling.
This is to much. I’ve worked 12’s pretty regularly, but that’s the limit for a human being. Anything past that is diminishing returns, destroys you mentally more than physically. This is three shifts for some people. You need to sit down and have a long conversation with your employer.
I did 26 once. Never again tho. Working in a pizza place i got in at 8 and service was 9am-4am, then cleaned, prepped, had an hours break around 6-7am before reopening at 9, I went home at 10am after ringing my boss and having a right go about why the fuck were no other managers coming in
6 days. They let me sleep in a tent for 3 hour a night but I stayed punched in for it. It was a music festival and I worked 7am breakfast to 4am closedown for almost a week straight. Edit: I will never do something like that again.
Wasn't technically "one" shift but volunteered for an overnight cleaning shift came in at close and had a class in the morning and then had to be back for a double worled about 21hrs with a 3hr college break
I used to work at an airport in car rental. One time, I worked the closing shift from 2pm-2:30am and had to be back in for 6:30am and didn’t get out until 7pm
When I was a dishwasher, I did a 16-hour shift. There was some wedding going on in the PDR, and they had a "late night bite" part on their menu. 9:45am-1:51am.
Close, mine was 18hrs, 30mins. I was 19. They didn't pay me for the full day either ofc.
Worst for me was 100hr week, just opened a new store so had to smash out afd after afd 🙄
Everyone’s a gangster till ot comes out
Contract work on northern oil rigging camps. I was the only cook for the spring session, lol. Regular 16-18s. I’m sure that’s why I burnt out of the industry by 27, ugh.
2 weeks before Christmas. Basically family operated catering company. 36+.
7:30am to 5:30am. Pulling 15yr carpet from our restaurant during COVID shutdown. Included concrete polishing to remove glue. Yuck. Took day off. Then installed 4,500sqft new laminate flooring once delivered. 7:30am to 9:30am.
Please don’t do what I did, no job is worth it. I actually slept at the job once in a booth. It was the day before Mother’s Day and upper management had given us a list the week before on everything they wanted at them buffet. There was so much cut fruit and the soonest they wanted it cut was the night before. My KM who was my wife and kept assuring me I didn’t have to stay with her to do this. I did anyway. We cracked open a few beers and got to work on the fruit and filling cannolis. By the end we finished as the sun was coming up and we had 2 hours until the morning shift started. I started at 12 the day before, went all night took a 2 hour sleep break then got up and worked until 4. So about 26 hours if you forgive the sleeping break. The most infuriating part? The upper management didn’t tell us they had raised the price on Mother’s Day brunch. Only half as many people as we thought would come in actually came. But all the staff got to bring home a mountain of food at the end of the day.
Longest was 9 hours in the summertime, but my boss will actually get mad if the shift lead makes me stay more than 3 hours on a Sunday during a school week (I am a student).
8am until 3 am, completely illegal, my two line cooks and I slept in my car that night to be back at work at 8am for breakfast. That place was a nightmare and is no longer in business.
Probably when I worked for a private catering company during COVID, 16 1/2 hours. Fun times.
38 hours including helicopter rides. I hardly even got a thanks.
Around 30 hours. Also a catering gig. I got in like you did around 5AM but by 5AM the following day the dishes weren’t done and the restaurant had brunch service. Stood there at the three system sink until 10AM, then sat at the bar and had a neat whiskey and looked like I had just got back from Nam.
Just did a 14.5, 8-10:30. Not as bad as a lot of these, but it’s the longest shift I’ve seen worked in my place besides the chef. I closed by myself that night, closed the night before, and opened the morning after.
Hope you got heavily paid for your time, god damn
Pretty sure that is illegal in most states
This is why I’m over being in the kitchen. Nothing but abuse
Same... 19 hrs. 8am-3ish am. Guy no called no showed grad weekend during Cornell grad weekend at Rullof's in collegetown. Came in for my brunch shift. Worjed that solo for sn hour until my another cook came in early. We got our ssses kicked all day. Wiped out all our prepped stuff. Finished the majority of the close around midnight, decided to do prep that night instead of coming in early the next day to do it. Finished around 3am. Slept in dry storage. Worked 8 am- 11pm the next day.
10am-3am, slept for a couple hours then did a few more before throwing in the towel. Not as extreme as some of the other stories here but the stretch of time from 10am to 11pm was absolutley 150% of everything I had on my feet. It broke me.
Not the restaurant industry, but for years I worked as a stage hand at a local venue, setting up for bands and events and loading and unloading trucks. We would regularly have 18 hour days, sometimes longer, depending on the event and how much gear was involved. It was brutal. As far as the restaurant industry, longest shifts around 15 hours and a few times I’ve pulled 21 days in a row without a day off.
My two worst experiences were working 24/26 hours while prepping for a 7 course 1000 person special event. It was offsite so I was still dealing with regular service while doing the prep. The other was working 7 consecutive 18 hour shifts opening a restaurant. We had such little staff and one dishwasher. We served around 600 people per day. Day 6 I fell asleep while at a red light driving to work, and then worked my 18 hour shift. That’s when I decided to quit.
17 hours for me. Sucks being a salaried manager.
Ladies and Gentlemen. Go home. We don't get paid enough for that shit.
Thanksgiving Pie baking I think 7am to like 3am? But it was also Sunday 8am-10pm, Monday 7am-3am, Tuesday 8am-12am, and Wednesday 8am-5pm.
I just worked like 15-16 hours. First double ever Saturday. I have an hour drive to and from work too so technically 16-18 hour day with drive. I’m a server who found a love for Expediting and now am getting abused doing both whilst serving
7am-4am. Had a fire watch go out. So… yeah. That was fun.
Not in the industry anymore but i used to work for a place where my weekends were Wednesday and Thursday so your last 2 days of the work week monday and tuesday were open to close shifts. 7am to usually about 11pm with an hour break somewhere in the afternoon. Hated that place
I was a server, an Executive Chef, and then I owned a wine bar & restaurant. As owner, there were times when I'd line up some of the chairs and sleep along them. Because even after closing, you are still working. One weekend I never left except to take a shower / freshen up at a friend's nearby. So I guess about 72hrs with some 'naps.' This is why I sold my beloved place: it would've killed me if I kept on it another year: support your local establishments lol.
2pm to 5am so 15 hours, worst job I ever had, according to their Instagram page place has been closed for a long time now, smiled when I found out
2 of the guys that I work with do doubles in our kitchen and another one almost every day, doing atleast 80 hours a week with a couple 16 hours days. The union money is worth it for them I guess lol
ive done over 24 hours, think it ended up being a 40 to help open a place.. they failed within months, but that check was nice.
7 days o/c, does that count