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?

They need to be given a clear finish time which is non negotiable, or at least 30 minutes notice so they can sent a quick text to their parents and be off. Not 'you can finish now' and then they text them for a lift.

Parents should be ALREADY WAITING when the girls finish!

Don't talk to them but their parents (I know, not your duty to infantilise them, but the fastest way to solve the problem).

Say you have to get home on time for personal reasons. You don't need to specify what.

Ideally they would understand you just want to get home to rest after a long shift but that will probably give them leeway in their mind, so best to just draw a firm line with personal reasons.

Really go home on time – for that night, if you're worried, you can keep tabs on the girls through location sharing / texts / a call. After a few times waiting outside, either the girls or their parents will sort something out.

Or just do the above paragraph (going home on time) without talking to the parents which I feel is fine too.

Idk about duty but this is how it works in many places, especially large/reputable F&B employers. Perhaps not to fulfil a duty but as incentive for ugly hour workers. It is another option for the manager/employer to consider to keep staff happy/on board.

For future new employees make sure they know their finish time is not fixed and that you need them to be able to leave the premises as soon as the (not fixed time) is reached. You'll be less likely to get younger staff who are relying on their parents to collect them, but your employer will then need to pay more to hire older (more independent) staff.

The entitlement of expecting a set shift? Instead of 11am until finish, which varied between 8-12 depending on which area of the pub/ restaurant she was put to work in (which for some reason couldn’t be decided on before she started)?

Because customers don't leave at a set time, last orders/ no more drinks is set by the licence but there's no drinking up and be out time any more so people linger and there's certain things you can't do if you have customers in, cash up, hoover etc, they need to be done after close.

And as people don't book generally to go to a pub etc, and many people want to be spontaneous then you can't predict accurately how many are coming through the door at any given time, so how much needs to be done.

So finish times are fluid because it depends on the customers largely who'll leave when they're ready. So the choices are variable finish times for everyone so people get served until numbers dissipate or people finish when they're supposed to and customers leave then regardless, or they accept that people are to finish on time, service is reduced because there might only be one person left.

You can't have a fluid business that is customer orientated but also have rigid finish times for staff regardless of how many people are in or how long they take finishing drinks, visiting the loo, chatting and putting coats on.

They are adults, and you don't think it's dangerous.

Next time you just need to say 'I'm locking up now, you'll need to wait outside or call a taxi'

Your manager said to tell them to wait outside and then you go.
That's what you should do.
I wouldn't be putting up with this. They are 19 years old.
If they don't want to wait outside then they need to make other arrangements about being picked up, such as getting their parents to come a bit earlier. And if the parents can't come earlier they can get a taxi. Or they can just wait outside.

You have to put a stop to them waiting inside. Once you do this and make it absolutely clear that they can't wait inside because you are locking up and going home, they will soon find a solution to the problem.

OP, can you give more details about why it's not safe for two adult women to wait together for a lift - is the pub in a really dodgy area?

Fair enough. Most pubs near me have a set closing time and will start cleaning around you at a certain time after last orders if you haven't left. If you don't take the hint they tell you they're closing. I think that's perfectly reasonable. Just because there's no longer a legally enforcable 'drink up time' doesn't mean businesses can't close.

I can see the benefits for customers, but not having a set closing/ finish time just seems like a bit of a nightmare for staff and causes issues like OP's. I guess it's a business decision to weigh up.

@Tired75643 - I think you need to warn them that, from now on, you will be locking up and leaving when you finish, and that they need to get their lifts sorted so that they can leave at the same time, and if they don't, they will be waiting outside for their parents.

If you are giving them half an hour's notice of their leaving time, they should be able to sort out their lifts in that time.

The only way they will get more organised is if you leave them to wait on their own.

Once or twice I would have stayed but not beyond that. I've worked in catering, it's not that hard to send a text when it's close to the end of the shift. That or they share a taxi.

You don't have to wait. You choose to wait. Tell them you won't be waiting for their lifts anymore. They aren't your responsibility.

I think you are being too nice. Wouldn't happen in any other job. They and their parents need to sort this out.

I understand why you want to stay with them but you’re already seeing that it’s not feasible.

Can’t they just go at their set finish times, and you/the ones with their own transport stay for whatever 30 mins work needs to be done at the end? You get paid for it anyway and surely it’s not a tonne of work, just last minute clean ups?

If not, they can just wait outside honestly. They’ll have each other and maybe they’ll start liftsharing/having one parent do pick ups each week. They could also split a taxi.

It’s on them and their parents to prevent them waiting around if they don’t feel safe, not you. I would tell them I can’t wait around and then just go, then next shift tell them explicitly “you’ll be finishing in half an hour, I’m telling you now so you can call your parents now and you won’t have to wait around alone”. PPs suggestion of speaking directly to the parents might work but the girls are old enough to work in a pub so should really be sorting these things out for themselves. Plus, if the parents thought they were genuinely unsafe presumably they’d get there a bit quicker? I wouldn’t be waiting any longer than I’ve been paid for when there’s no expectation from management and a simple solution

Well it is a bit of a nightmare, but it's also the nature of hospitality and that's customer demand driven.

If you go into hospitality then it should be with the clear expectation that it's customer led, so your start & finish times, and even work times are not set in stone because it's needs driven. That should be made clear to anyone starting and the expectation laid out, you don't have set start and finish times because that's not how it works in hospitality.

The industry needs change because they're struggling for workers, and this is one of the reasons, customer expectations alongside low pay and poor conditions. Businesses are having to pay more for the flexibility, therefore the customer pays more for the flexibility, if people want that kind of service, and evidently they do, then people need to be available to provide it and that means responding to the customer demands at the time.

There's a bit of cognitive dissonance generally where things like this are concerned, people want to be spontaneous and fluid when having leisure time, but also don't think it's fair that people have to provide the service and be fluid around it and not have set finish times - especially when it's them or someone they care about doing the providing.

They are young adults not children and after their shift getting home is their responsibility not yours.

If it was a one off yes, I'd do the same.

Be clear the doors are locked at x o'clock and they will need to wait outside. Tell them they are to arrange their pick up
For this time or before.

Then lock up.

Currently they have no pressure to organise getting home earlier. Once you change it and lock up promptly they will be getting mum or dad to arrive earlier. If they live more than 30 mins drive away it might not be the best to have a late night finish anyway. Maybe an earlier shift for them might work better.

You are being too kind. Make it their problem to sort instead.

I agree, they will only wait once and their parents will be there on time in future.

I'd just say you can't wait with them for lifts after work , they are adults they'll have to sort it out.
I used to regularly wait 20-30 minutes for my daughter to finish at night , she was only 16 though.

@Maverickess Yeah, I get what you're saying.

But as a frequent pub customer I would never mind being told that it's closing time.

The people who kick up a fuss about it are mostly the unpleasant clientele that you don't particularly like having there anyway.

I just think it's perfectly reasonable to say you close at X time and kick people out at that time.

Make them wait outside. I guarantee after doing this once their parents will get better at picking them up on time/they will get better at calling the lift on time, whichever is the issue.

Currently you are the one who cares most about them not having to wait alone, and are therefore the person who is modifying their behaviour to avoid it.

Trying to catch up with all the comments but I'm glad to see I'm not wrong to be fed up with it.
My post wasn't very clear, apologies, its two different women but on different days so it would be one waiting alone.
I think on my days off the other team leader locking up drives so she gives them a lift. I suspect parents may have been lead to believe they would be able to get lift some more often.
Its tricky because I've wanted to balance welcoming new team and being friendly etc but I've obviously been a but too nice about it.
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. Rightly pointing out that any creeps she may have served could hang around for leaving time etc, young women have it drilled into them that it isn't safe to be alone at night which is why I haven't wanted to force the issue, it just isn't my issue to solve.

As some have pointed out unfortunately with bar work there just isn't a set time, most days it is around the safe time frame but if you've got 10 tables left at kick out time it is going to take longer.
I think I'm going to send them both a message and let them know from next week I won't be waiting to lock up, I'll wait outside with them for my taxi, but then I'll be off and fingers crossed they won't try and push it