6 ms·
Good. Here's my story from the industry I was a part of for a better part of a decade: One time while I was a line cook, I was cleaning a meat slicer and slice
by moate 5y ago
Good.
Here's my story from the industry I was a part of for a better part of a decade: One time while I was a line cook, I was cleaning a meat slicer and sliced 3/4ths of the way through the tip of my thumb (just the meaty part at the end, not bone or anything). I realized I had 2 options: Leave work, go to the ER, miss my shift/pay, and incur a bunch of medical debt I could barely afford OR; leave work, go to the CVS around the corner, buy a bottle of superglue, and patch myself back up. My boss even told me if I just needed to run to CVS, I wouldn't need to clock out, what a great guy! This was at an upscale Italian place on the Asbury Park boardwalk that was doing millions of dollars in sales every year.
When I left the industry to go into tech, I never looked back. I will always have a love/hate relationship with the industry. I love the creativity, the people, the experience of dining. I hate everything about the exploitative labor practices. I wish everyone leaving the industry good luck on their new, hopefully better paths. I wish every manager crying poor and bemoaning that nobody wants their poverty wages in a physically crushing industry a very fuck you.
- himinlomax 5y agoThis is the most incredible thing about the US. Employers should be responsible for workplace safety and pay for it.
- sigstoat 5y agohis employer surely had workers comp insurance, and big signs about it in the breakroom, which are required by law.
- moate 5y agoOf course they do! I was like 24 and just out of culinary school. The courses of action I talked about were the ones I was told I had by my boss (who probably didn't want a claim.) 10+ years late I'm much more aware of labor laws/practices but at the time I had no clue.
- PragmaticPulp 5y ago> Employers should be responsible for workplace safety and pay for it. In the US, employers are responsible for workplace safety and there are serious repercussions for violations like this. Some small businesses rely on employees being too fearful to report incidents, but that’s not unique to the US. Worker’s compensation would have covered the injury mentioned above, and any employer interfering with that would face serious consequences up to and including loss of business license and closure of the restaurant.
- throwawayboise 5y agoWorkers comp insurance would have/should have paid for your ER bill, worst case you hire a personal injury attorney who would love the chance to sue a multi-million dollar business for a claim like that.
- thatguy0900 5y agoDo you not have workers comp? I sliced my thumb open working at a Kroger deli, never got even a hint of a bill. Workers comp covered everything.