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?

Tbh I imagine the parents got a bit sick of their dc ringing at 11.30 saying we'll be out by 12, leaving the house then sitting waiting in the car until 12.20 when they probably want to be in bed as much as you

But the answer isn't inconveniencing someone else.

Op you need to be firm.

The reality is no one is valuing your time, they all rather inconvenience you than themselves.

If they are worried about waiting outside they need to organise their lifts better (get a taxi/drive/get lift to be there on time)

Stop being so wet. Lock up and go.

I would see if you can always give them a set end time, say 11.30 at which time they need to clock off and leave the pub while you do the final bits clearing away. You are still inside if they really need you but if they have to sit outside to wait it might make their lifts come sooner. You might have a few more tasks to do on your own but presumably you can claim for that time before you finally clock off rather than doing all the tasks first and then all waiting around outside.

They believe their parents time is more precious than yours.
As a mum of someone of a similar age, I appreciate you looking out for them. However, I would also be sure to get there on time.

Surely lockdown and cashing up takes about half an hour so the girls can call their parents then so you're not waiting half an hour extra?
Or send them home 10 minutes early if it means less hanging around

They need to have a set finishing time and if that's after lock up then someone waits with them and that is also that person's finishing time.

You need to leave them. Nothing will change until you do.
Next shift tell them this is the last time you will be waiting and they are taking the piss.
Then, the next time - leave. Tell them during the shift that you won't be staying and they will have to wait outside. Give them the usual half hour notice and tell them again that you won't be waiting. Then at the end of your shift you lock up and go and you tell them that you warned them several times and they knew exactly what would happen.

That way they cannot say you did not give them plenty of warnings and they know they can't just ignore what you say because you'll wait anyway.

I bet this is a teenage problem.
My teens, with mobile phones just think every thing happens instantly. Call, and me or the poster above will be instantly be on their way.
I have explained this isn't always an option but after 15years of school, these first few years are hard breaking the 'i'm the centre of the universe' problems.
It takes a village to raise a child and all that - read the teens the riot act on this one. The parents care enough to pick up, I bet they are blissfully unaware you are waiting.

My 19 year old DD is often the one on the closing shift and locking up from her part time job so maybe you need to adjust your thinking on the staff members ages.

In reality, at the moment you are taking responsibility for the situation. Stop. Lock up and leave. It will force the girls to deal with their own work situation in one of two ways - speak to whoever does the rota so they have a known finish time or to their lifts to ensure they are there waiting to collect when they finish. At the moment you are providing the solution to a problem which is absolutely nothing to do with you.

I’ve worked a hospitality job like this before, it’s really not easy to predict what time you’ll finish within the hour.

You’re not leaving the girls alone, they are stood together. It’s likely whichever lift arrives first will wait for the other one.

They are 19, you cannot involve their parents.

Id lock up and tell them I’ve booked my taxi. Then proceed to all stand outside together and wait. Pub shut. They’ll get fed up of standing in the cold and make better arrangements.

This isn’t really how bar work works. Cleandown takes as long as it takes and is hugely dependent on how busy you’ve been and how messy the customers have been. If it’s been quiet you might get loads done before shutting, but if not you still have a list of cleaning tasks to do, far more glasses to put away and more restocking that needs done. In my bar days I’ve seen me shut at 12 and be done by twenty past, or shut at 12 and be done at 2am

🎯

I would be anxious too, however there is 2 of them and you say its a safe place to wait. I would wager that if you leave them there, their parents will be more prompt !

Just go home OP! They’ll get their act together.

How can it be so unsafe outside the pub but fine to work inside it all night? You need to tell them shifts over so I'm locking up now. If they moan, just say I'm sorry, the boss won't let us stay after hours, even for a few minutes. Then next time they'll know to get their lifts at the right time. Can they not split the cost of a taxi? Either way it's not your responsibility. It's costing you money and that's not on.

When I was that age, I used to start some shifts at 06:30, so i was out and about by 05:30 waiting for 2 buses.

There was no question of my parents taking me to work.
One of the factors that you take into account when you accept a job offer is the commute.
And relying on Mum and Dad is a bit daft.

My sister and mother in law is like this with my niece, who's now 18.
My in-laws were at my house, recently, but had to rush back 'in case Elsie* phoned'.

*Not her real name.

You are behaving with due diligence and with concern for safety of these vulnerable young women late at night. You are an amazing team leader, not wet!

Call a team meeting letting them know that it’s no longer practical and that lifts need to be there waiting when they leave for their own safety. They need to sort out waiting with each other if their lift is late as you need to go.
Any problems with this, make alternative arrangements.

Good luck op, I’d be glad that my (adult) kid were working with you.

You or the manager need to tell them that their parents need to make sure they are there to collect them straight away as you are no longer able to wait with them. If their lift isn’t there when they finish then they will have to wait alone - they are grown adults after all. Whilst I wouldn’t want my 19yo daughter waiting alone late at night, I would make sure I’m there on time to pick her up so that didn’t happen!

I would have been mortified to have someone waiting with me at 19. They aren't children!!

If you are also a woman why do you think they are MORE at risk than you on their own?

This.

You need not sacrifice your life to theirs. As long as you continue to accommodate them, they won't change.

They are adults who need to sort the situation or find a different employer.

Is your pub in a central location? When I was the same age as your colleagues I befriended the receptionists at a hotel a couple of doors down from the pub and waited in the foyer for my parents.

The parents need to arrive earlier or the 'girls' need to find another solution. It's not fair to make you wait.

Slightly different because my DD is younger but I always aim to be 10 mins late picking her up from anything (or tell her to be ready 10 mins earlier than i plan yo be there) because she faffs about so much and I hate sitting in the car waiting.

This is very very simple. If they don't want to wait outside then they need to communicate with their parents in a timely way.
If the parents don't want them to wait then they can arrive on time.

If they are intentionally staging things so parents dint have to wait then they are valuing their time over yours. This won't stop unless you set a boundary.

Easy way is to say early in the evening 'heads up girls, I will be leaving on the dot tonight as I have to get back quickly. If they question why then they are being rude. Just repeat , I will be leaving immediately after finishing so you'll have to wait outside tonight.

They'll either arrange it so they are not having to wait or they will wait. If god forbid anything happens, that's on them and their parents not you.

Sorry, I wasn't clear - I saw that but I'm unsure if the 'always seems to be a delay' is a delay in calling the parents or a delay with the parents arriving.

OP made it clear that the end of day staff can't have a set finish time as it depends how much clear up and work needs to be done after the last patrons have gone.