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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Situation at work....AIBU?

195 replies

se7enthings · 19/01/2018 10:10

Hello!
I work in a pub 10 hours a week whilst at university, the pay is crap but the hours fit in.

I am the youngest behind the bar age 23 and I feel as though I’m getting mugged off. I work with a 60 year old lady who knows everyone and constantly looks for conspiracy in the workplace, aka, someone’s stealing etc.

I am the only person out of both of us to clear up the glasses and lifting a heavy crate 70+ times a night has started taking its toll and I am suffering with what feels like an injury to my spine. I have asked several times for my colleague to help me and she does it once or twice then stops. She’ll stand next to me talking about how someone pissed her off and watch me clean up everyone’s glasses. She tells me to “hurry up as she wants to leave at 12:30” but stands talking to customers whilst I clean the bar, she moans she has a bad back and is under impression she does everything. Landlady not much use as only cares about profit not staff wellbeing.

Anyway, I don’t get sick pay, at all, and I’ve checked the rota and I won’t be able to take one of my holidays as others are off. I can’t cope with the pain, I’ve missed a day of uni and I’ve been up all night with it, AIBU to get a sick note for 2 weeks?

OP posts:
NordicNobody · 19/01/2018 10:52

I had a similar job once that involved a lot of heavy lifting without proper training, and I now have permanent back problems. There are easier ways to earn extra money while at uni! Look for call centre work. It's boring as hell but the shifts are brilliantly flexible, and it's all sitting down. But seriously, quit, you'll need your back for a long time yet!

CheesyWeez · 19/01/2018 10:54

Go to your doctor or a physio/osteopath and get the back checked out. My DD only noticed her back problem when she was asked to lift stuff and mop the floor regularly at her uni café job. It turned out to be a slight scoliosis which had been missed while she was growing up, only found after an X-ray which shows it clearly, and she needs regular special exercises to stay pain-free.
Ask your colleague to help you with the crate EVERY TIME until you leave.
A sick note will mean you can leave immediately. Good luck OP! Ask for job in the su where your colleagues will be the same age as you and not think they are the boss.

LemonShark · 19/01/2018 10:55

Frouby "And if you can't manage a crate of full bottles a couple of times a shift at 23 years old then you probably either have an injury/illness in your back or you are hopelessly unfit."

Did you even bother reading the OP where she says it's 70+ times per night? Hmm or did you skim read it to more quickly jump to getting a dig into her?

OP as others have said, your colleague is expected to do the same work as you for the same pay or should not be working there, at the very least she should be making up for it elsewhere if she can't lift things but she sounds lazy. And as it stands you can't lift things either so nor should you have to! It's either get accommodated by work not to have to like your older workmate has or leave. Your bosses sound like they're being ageist expecting you to do more work due to your age so I wouldn't rely on them to sort this out, I'd just be leaving.

I don't know why so many people are jumping to be a dick to you, probably they've had some of their own issues in the workplace not being allowed to coast due to being older and they're bitter about it and taking it out on 'kids these days'. it's easy to fuck your back at any age, you're not a machine and it doesn't mean you're doing the lifting wrong (though you might be). You have a human body and you can't put that much stress on it so often without damage. If you were doing 35 a night and her the other 35 I wonder if it'd be so bad? I fucked my back up just moving house a few years ago at 26 lifting all my possessions down and up from one top floor flat to another, it took a year to heal and that's without doing anything to continue exacerbating it.

It might be worth one last shot going to GP and getting a fit note saying you can't do heavy lifting and see what work put in place, though only do this if you're ready and willing to lose the job as smaller businesses often have dodgy employment practices and especially if it's casual they might suddenly 'not have any hours'. Do you drive? I did pizza delivery for a chain during uni which was a perfect side job evenings and weekends.

When I went to uni so many of the students didn't bother working and just used their overdrafts instead or handouts from their parents, what I read here is someone trying to get an education and getting off their arse at the same time to support themselves for a better future than bar work, and people are calling you entitled for not wanting to be made to do something that's physically damaging you when colleagues don't have to? Give me a break. I'm glad our labour laws aren't written by those people, I'm sure they'd be telling people with near broken backs working down mines to suck it up buttercup too.

whifflesqueak · 19/01/2018 10:57

I don’t understand the system here. What exactly are you lifting? Is it empty glasses? And are you lifting them into a glass wash? If so it must be a very busy pub to require so many loads so you should probably have another bartender? We staff our small pub with 3 bartenders on very busy shifts. 1 to watch the bar, 1 to keep on top of glasses and 1 to make drinks for the restaurant.

Either way your colleague should be sharing the workload.

whifflesqueak · 19/01/2018 10:59

Sorry op I know that’s not super helpful given you’re not in charge of staffing the place and your boss sounds a bit disinterested.

BoffinMum · 19/01/2018 11:00

Quite frankly I'd resign. And I would make sure they knew why.
Babysitting is easier on the back and pays much better.

DonkeyPunch88 · 19/01/2018 11:00

You have two options.

Either leave and find something more suited to you.

Or pull your colleague up on her laziness. If she's standing around when you're doing all the work then say something to her! ' Are you just going to stand there chatting whilst I do everything then?' Might work?

Also look up Love Your Load, it's the techniques used to lift things safely. Basically, bend knees, keep back straight, keep load close to your chest, lift from knees Smile simple.

Bar work isn't just pouring pints though, I've worked in pubs/clubs for 15 years on and off, you are expected to do a lot of cleaning too, most places we had to do the toilets and dance floors etc unless it was a big company who had their own cleaners. It's quite a physical job and people underestimate that.
Good luck

SlothMama · 19/01/2018 11:00

OP this job really isn't worth causing permanent damage to your back, you need to find other work. If you are living in a University city there's a lot of bar work or other casual work.

If she's refusing to help you then bugger her and if the landlord doesn't care bugger them also and leave!

Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:00

No it’s absolutely right there should be more staff on. We start at 8 and clean up the glasses left behind from previous shifts which adds the load.

I can drive so will definitely look into that :)

OP posts:
Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:02

Stripping is an option at this point lol

OP posts:
whifflesqueak · 19/01/2018 11:03

Donkeypunch is right, I probably do as much cleaning as I do actually serving customers.

Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:05

I am happy to do it, as long as it’s not all just put on me. We are allowed to keep tips, and my colleague is obsessed by them, so she won’t substitute her tips for helping me

OP posts:
Fairyflaps · 19/01/2018 11:06

Sorry, it looks like your best bet is to get another job. Most employers comply with their health and safety obligations regarding manual handling, but your manager, by telling you to fill the crates up is clearly indifferent. This is the HSE guidance to small businesses

I expect you want to get a reference off them, so you may not want to push this point.

Please find a new job before you do any more damage to your back. And be careful when you lift, not to twist your back.

Blackteadrinker77 · 19/01/2018 11:07

You need to teach yourself how to lift.

Google kinetic lifting.

claralaraloo · 19/01/2018 11:07

But its not up to you to decide which bits you should do and which bit she should do. You are supposed to do as you are told, and if you are told you are to lift and she is to serve, then that is what you do.

whifflesqueak · 19/01/2018 11:07

That pisses me off. Tips should be shared between every staff member on shift. Otherwise, as you know, a lot of very hard work goes unrewarded. Our kp works like a ox, but no one sees so no one would tip him directly.

Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:08

I can lift, I know how to lift. I struggle with the crates as they are on a mid level and there isn’t enough space to fully bend my knees, that’s where the issue is

OP posts:
Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:08

We’re not told to do anything

OP posts:
claralaraloo · 19/01/2018 11:08

Did you even bother reading the OP where she says it's 70+ times per night?

That's not actually true though is it? It's not the worlds busiest pub.

claralaraloo · 19/01/2018 11:09

We’re not told to do anything

So why are you moving stuff at all if no-one has told you to do it?

Narnia72 · 19/01/2018 11:09

If it's a bar small enough to only need 2 bar staff, the simplest way for you to resolve this (if you want to) is for you to leave her to to pull the pints (therefore she can't slack off) and you walk round without a tray and just collect the empties you can carry in your hands and take them back to the dishwasher.

That's how we collected glasses back in the day. We went round each empty table with a cloth and cleared one by one. Then we took the empties off the occupied tables. No heavy lifting required!

Roughly how many people do you get through the door each shift? 100?

Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:09

I know exactly how often I lift, it’s leftover stuff as well.

OP posts:
whifflesqueak · 19/01/2018 11:10

Is staff turnover at this pub quite high, by any chance?

Original poster
se7enthings · 19/01/2018 11:10

whifflesqueak, ridiculously high

OP posts:
CheapSausagesAndSpam · 19/01/2018 11:11

OP....if you're liftinhg 70crates in one shift then that must be ALL you're doing.