Good job for highschoolers - Tearista Savoy Tea Employee Review

Flexible scheduling, great coworkers, great bosses, fun work

packing out matcha can be messy

My coworkers at every Savoy location were amazing people, hardworking, enjoyable to be around, intelligent, and overall incredible human beings. They made dealing with some of the poor upper management/owner practices much easier and were always supportive and understanding. The managers at each store branch were also really great and they did not contribute to the issues that wage employees faced at the hands of the owners. The owners do a good job of sourcing incredible and unique products that this community would not have access to otherwise. Also, employee discount is 50% off of retail products and you get any free drink you want with each shift.

-Even after working for them for years, I was making minimum wage (at the time was $8.50)and there are zero benefits and opportunities for health insurance, bonuses, savings etc. Whereas baristas at Starbucks make $15 per hour and have options for benefits and health insurance. -While most employees in the food/retail industry rely on electronic tips for the bulk of their income, our sales system was outdated and customers were not able to tip when paying with card. This was an issue because the majority of our customers were not carrying cash on them to tip so we would make ~$5-10 in tips per eight hour shift. For the longest time, the upper management (store owners) refused to update the sales system to one that allowed us to receive tips electronically because it would have been “too difficult” to transfer all of the merchandise into another sales system. After years of employees asking for this all while getting paid a very unliveable wage (minimum wage), management finally switched to an updated sales system allowing employees to receive electronic tips. -During holidays we were so understaffed and it was so hectic that employees were quitting mid shift. I’ve worked numerous jobs in various industries and have completed higher level education degrees and a multitude of back breaking research projects thus I consider myself to do well in stressful environments and maintain a calm and focused demeanour when chaos erupts. But never in my life have I encountered a more stressful, overwhelming, and toxic work environment (due to owners and upper management) than at this company during the holidays. When our branch (Rogers) was severely understaffed and employees were working overtime in 12+ hour shifts during the Christmas season, we were pleading to the owners and upper management to come help us because the crowds were unmanageable and it was genuinely impossible to accommodate customers in a timely fashion. Instead of stepping in and aiding us during the rush hours, or providing us extra pay, or allowing us any input into making the operations easier, they did nothing. - Additionally, during busy periods and holiday seasons, we did not get our legally mandated breaks and lunch shifts. I cannot begin the imagine how many times my coworkers and I were forced to sacrifice our breaks and lunch periods because management and owners refused to accommodate our needs to have additional staff &/or extra help for the busy seasons, but believe me when I say that it was considerable enough to the point where some shifts left me in tears and please note that I am not the type of person easily rattled by stressful situations but these experiences were so overwhelming and their ability to induce immense stress in underpaid workers and deny employees their basic rights for breaks and protection rivals that of an unregulated US factory in the 1920’s. -The toxic corporate manipulation tactics of “we are all a family and we care about our employees” rhetoric was present and contributed to the mistreatment of employees by owners and upper management. This is a workplace, not a “family.” Though my coworkers, managers, and I went above and beyond in our jobs, expecting the employees to be okay with unliveable wages, terrible working conditions, no regard for labor laws, and no support during hectic seasons is not justified by the claim that this workplace is one big happy family and the expectation that we should go above and beyond and break our backs in the process because of this, frankly, is unhinged. -I worked at multiple branches and the branch managers are really wonderful people and also underpaid. Many difficult business tasks that keep the company running are placed on them yet the finances they bring in from their positions position them well below the poverty line in this state (and nationally, for that matter). When managers would complain of this mistreatment, the owners would threaten to fire them if they continued talking about it. -Additionally, most of the employees hired at the company were young women commonly in the process of getting their degrees. In my (and many other of my former coworkers’) opinion, the women at this company were given less opportunity for promotions into the warehouse/logistics side of the business and were often subject to misogynistic expectations to dress and act a certain way (i.e., getting dress coded for skater skirts because they’re “too short,” and were not allowed to complain about the terrible working conditions and mistreatment and if they did not stay positive and pleasant even in the midst of labor law violations, jobs were on the line). From my perspective, the couple of male coworkers I had were not subject to these same expectations. -The owners and upper management have a habit of attempting to discredit the stories of employees who were treated unfairly. Potential applicants please take note of this.