Is this normal (working hours + stuff)?

[MC Morrado]

When I worked at Zehnder's (Michigan, U.S.A), arguably the best job I had in food service so far....

We all got one 30 minute break per shift, however the schedules were very wild and inconsistent (especially in the dish department). This constant fluctuation of schedule fucked up any semblance of a sleep schedule. Sometimes I was only there from 11am to 3pm, other times it was 3pm all the way to midnight, and a whole bunch of odd hours on top of mostly having two non-consecutive days off per week.

 

there was sick leave (unpaid only), meaning I wouldn't get fired if I called in sick. A lot of times during shifts the place was actively understaffed; think of it as skeleton crew minus 2, and a whole big pile of dishes to go through a giant dishwashing machine. Sometimes I was doing the job of 3 people at once.

 

"Profit Sharing" as it's called by HR at Zehnder's only applied to the top supervisors of each department who have to cut as many hours as humanly possible by working within a budget of total working hours given to receive an annual bonus sometimes exceeding $7,500..... They drive very nice-looking and expensive cars while I rode my bicycle or walked to work, the cars of my co-workers were eaten up by road salts in Michigan and/or looking like they were beaters falling apart. Most of my co-workers usually drove to Zehnder's from Saginaw because Frankenmuth is way too expensive for most people (including me).

[Blue4130]

On 11/15/2025 at 7:21 AM, MC.Morrado said:

When I worked at Zehnder's (Michigan, U.S.A), arguably the best job I had in food service so far....

We all got one 30 minute break per shift, however the schedules were very wild and inconsistent (especially in the dish department). This constant fluctuation of schedule fucked up any semblance of a sleep schedule. Sometimes I was only there from 11am to 3pm, other times it was 3pm all the way to midnight, and a whole bunch of odd hours on top of mostly having two non-consecutive days off per week.

 

there was sick leave (unpaid only), meaning I wouldn't get fired if I called in sick. A lot of times during shifts the place was actively understaffed; think of it as skeleton crew minus 2, and a whole big pile of dishes to go through a giant dishwashing machine. Sometimes I was doing the job of 3 people at once.

 

"Profit Sharing" as it's called by HR at Zehnder's only applied to the top supervisors of each department who have to cut as many hours as humanly possible by working within a budget of total working hours given to receive an annual bonus sometimes exceeding $7,500..... They drive very nice-looking and expensive cars while I rode my bicycle or walked to work, the cars of my co-workers were eaten up by road salts in Michigan and/or looking like they were beaters falling apart. Most of my co-workers usually drove to Zehnder's from Saginaw because Frankenmuth is way too expensive for most people (including me).

For low end kitchen jobs like the dish pit, yes this is normal.