Having to wait for everyone's lifts after work

[Tired75643]

I'm a team leader in a pub, I regularly work the evening shifts and have to set the alarm and lock up once everyone has finished and left. Generally it'll be me and one other member of staff at the end of the night finishing, some drive home, some (like me) get taxis and wait at the back of the pub.
Recently we've had a couple of new staff start who rely on lifts from parents when they finish, the problem is they are waiting about 20-30 minutes for them once we're finished. Both are younger girls who don't feel safe waiting outside alone, which is understandable. I obviously can't lock the door until they're outside so I have to wait with them but this is adding half an hour onto my shift when I just want to get home and go to bed, my taxi only usually takes 5 minutes to get there.
I talked to the manager about it and his answer was just tell them to wait outside and go....but I really don't want to leave 19 year old girls on their own late at night when they don't feel safe. I also don't want to be waiting at work longer than I need to, unpaid, after a long shift.
I've tried telling them when it looks like they're half an hour away from finishing so they can call their lifts but there always seems to be a delay, and there's no guarantee what time we will finish so they can't set a specific time.
AIBU to ask my manager to either sort
something out with the staff members
or let me stay clocked in until I can actually lock up and find some extra tasks so I'm at least being paid to be there?

I can see all sides really - grew up in pubs

Waiting outside isn't great in the dark, because it is a possibility that the place could be targeted with them there, and often pubs are in the middle of nowhere
I used to be more worried at 17 coming home from a night out to the pub at 2am and having to unlock etc than I was in town at 2am because there was nobody about

My dad would never have let anyone wait outside alone as a manager and often organised lifts or took someone home himself whether that was a customer or staff

But he also wouldn't have expected another member of staff to hang about and would be cross that the parents don't seem to be turning up when it's time to collect them

When you've been told from age 5 that if someone asks for the safe keys you give them the safe keys and where they are, and also where to hide, and overheard the stories of people being tied up or shot, it kind of focuses you on what can happen

So would OP be waiting on 2 separate days?

I’d advise these young women to look out for their safety, maybe a self defence course but to arm themselves with what info they need. Because it won’t be the first time they’re in this situation.

Ask the manager to install good lighting at the front of the pub.
Possibly on a timer.
This may make them feel safer.

You seem to have read something very different into my comment to what I actually wrote.

The hospitality industry is really crying out for staff and it is unreasonable not to give staff a finish time before their shift starts!

The employer needs to either set a later fin I sh time and risk having to pay for staff time not needed or set a later finish time for the supervisor to finish off.The employer is putting the financial risk onto the employees!

Sorry miss! 🤣🤣

I’d advise these young women to look out for their safety, maybe a self defence course but to arm themselves with what info they need. Because it won’t be the first time they’re in this situation.

I would just tell them to tell their parents to turn up on time. That means arriving at the earliest time they might finish, and hanging around a bit if needsbe.

It really isn't difficult. So if the earliest they finish is 11.15, they get there for 11.15.

To answer the pp who asked if the UK is really this dangerous - no it isn't, but there's a tendency now when something goes wrong, not (just) to blame the perpetrator, but find other people to blame. So the OP would be to blame because she locked up and left the girls waiting.

It's the same in retail though. When I had a Saturday job in a shop I was paid until the shop closed at 5.30 but we never got away before 5.40. But my dad used to collect me, and guess what, he got there at 5.30 and waited outside for me!

Making sure the parents know pick up time is the girls' responsibility.

Making sure the girls understand is probably more down to the employee who wants to get away on time.

Shouldn't have to be the case but it looks like the OP is asking opinions, no?

What happens when they go for a night out? How do they get home? What's the difference here? This is not your problem. Nor is it the manager's problem.

I agree with this actually. Being firm that you won't be hanging around for 20/30 mins will mean they will have to get their lifts timed better.

This thread is bonkers in places.

So many people infantilising these women (they are not 'girls') and talking about discussing the situation with their parents. 😳

Is this the same MN where 15/16 yo kids absolutely must be allowed to shag their bf/gf one-night-stand at home in their parents' house because they're 'all grown up' at that age?

What a place MN is. 😂

Why on earth would you "just" tell these women's parents anything?

They are adults!

And would you be happy to be told to leave at 11pm while finishing your drinks you got at 10.55? When you want to visit the toilet, get your coat on, finish the drink you've paid for? Because the staff have to finish on time.

Or being refused a drink at 10pm because the staff need to finish at 11pm and they already have an hours clean down to do so they will be late if you have those drinks? Because the staff have to finish on time.

Not get a dessert because the chefs have an hour clean down, finish at 10pm and waiting for you to finish your mains, decide what you want and order it will take them past 10pm? Because the staff have to finish on time.

Because that's how it would have to work if everyone in hospitality has a set finish time, because it's customer led and insisting everyone has a set finish time means the service changes.

Or places just don't employ people who can't drive themselves and so no younger staff, no bar/waiting jobs for teens, higher staff costs, higher prices for the customers.

Quite often people are happy to have staff waiting around for them, someone else's daughter without a second thought but if it's them that's impacted then suddenly it all needs to change.

I was thinking the same.

Or the people who justify parents charging rent to a barely 18-year-old "because they're an adult now!"

Speak with him . How would he feel if you decided to take an extra 2 hours or 3 a week ? Probably not happy so he shouldn’t expect you to work without pay for it either

One in particular has been very vocal about not feeling safe waiting outside, the last time I really pushed and said I need to lock and go she looked really worried and started talking about different scenarios and safety issues etc.

this is what she should be saying to the person who collects her, not you. And you need to be much clearer about how much of an inconvenience it is. Tell her what your hourly rate is as a "babysitter".

She's old enough to work in a bar, she is old enough to get a grip when someone (you) is doing her a massive favour

If they can’t get home in a way that is convenient they should look for other jobs. You are not responsible for them once their shift ends.

Yes, if you're old enough to work in a pub, you're old enough to wait for your lift.

you know what time closing time is. Then you should allow a bit of clearing up time and then collect your daughter. Not outsource her safety to another adult.

The most obvious solution is for the business to provide a taxi home in unsociable hours.

You're not being unreasonable.

But I wouldn't feel safe leaving somewhere at that time alone, either, and I'm in my 30s. I definitely wouldn't expect a teenager to do it. Anyone suggesting they should put up with it are forgetting that for girls and women there's additional stress around getting home safely.

That doesn't mean it's fair on you, at all. Perhaps they need to be looking at this as a company and ensuring those who are in this situation either finish with a set time or ensuring it's different people finishing with them so it's not always on you to do this.

The obvious solution is for the workers to arrange that the people providing their lifts arrive early, and wait as necessary.

Or for the workers to pay for their own taxis.

I had a similar situation and arrived at the venue a set time after the finishing time (add on 30mins or so). I waited in a designated safe place. Easy.

No it isn't...