J D Wetherspoon Reviews

Cons

Weekends, long shifts. Hard to keep sleeping pattern

Cons

- very stressful on the floor - they put 16 year olds on their own running food during rushes and expect perfection - get shouted at for the slightest thing being wrong, even if it’s not your fault - they try to put you on either the very minimum hours possible or as many as possible (no consistency, could have 4 hours one week and then 20 the week after) - they purposely put you on 3.75 hour shifts so they don’t have to give you a break - the managers are against helping on food and will just “organise” it instead - customers will range from lovely to abusive - been sexually harassed at work and told that it’s “just part of working in a pub” and that I’ll just “get used to it eventually” - customers try to fight you over their food or drinks or anything that they’re generally annoyed about in life - floor staff get shouted at if food times are too long despite the kitchen taking too long to make them - homophobia, transphobia and racism are major problems with staff and aren’t cared about by any level of management

Cons

Management/Pub dependant the dynamic and atmosphere can change. Many managers are not empathetic or understanding - sometimes working as "knowledge is power" instead of working to share the knowledge. In my opinion there are sometimes issues with staffing based on cutting hours, especially with new starters. Training to start with, depending on which pub you're in, can be difficult. In the bigger, busier pubs this is easier because their sales allow for more staff, but smaller pubs struggle to invest the time to train initially. This isn't the case for ALL pubs mind - just an experience I've had in some.

Cons

being in the kitchen is horrible the longer you work at spoons. the working conditions weren't great, like ACs not working during the hot summer months, whilst working fully during the winter months?? microwaves and other kitchen appliances breaking every other day but still being forced to serve at full capacity cuz god forbid the sales are low. sharp edges EVERYWHERE, you'd be lucky to go home without a new injury. management does not prioritise the employee. barely any encouragement or feedback about your work ethic. "employee of the month" was based on how many extra shifts you picked up a month, rather than if you did your job well. people being put on rota's for 12 days straight, for long shifts. promoting employees to team leader when they're skillsets did not match the job role WHATSOEVER. even if you wanted to move up the chain in customer service, the number of responsibilities do not match the pay rise, in my opinion. everyone who moved up to team leader (a level higher than associate) was absolutely livid about it. micro-aggressions towards women in the kitchen (the branch i worked at had more men in the kitchen than women). if you like sanity, don't work at spoons.

Cons

- awful managers - no work life balance - upper management has no respect for the staff - rota changed in the middle of the night with less than 12 hours until the beginning of the shift - given under contracted hours - expects 16 year olds to know everything about the entire pub within a couple of weeks of working there - no responses to emails - passive aggressive upper management - discriminatory managers encouraged by upper management - clear favouritism of men on shift, despite other people have more experience - men given the few promotions significantly more than women - men given raises when women aren’t for the same job - unresponsive, irresponsible upper management - ignorant upper manager who purposely ignores staff and the law in order to get a bonus - purely stressful, underpaid, tiring work - often don’t get breaks on shift, even if you legally have to have one - many laws broken every shift, from contracts to food hygiene

Cons

Dont work for them, it will be the single greatest mistake you will ever make in your life. Both management and staff have no respect for cleaners, not even the bare minimum. Expectations are too high for the amount of time you have. Constant breaching of your contract and employment law regarding hours etc. No support if you have a bad domestic situation that leads to mental ill health, just a wellbeing questionnaire and then find yourself sacked, thus placing you in more danger and cutting off a financial means of being able to leave. If i could give a minus rating, I would.

Cons

The staff have too much personal drama between them all… taking drugs, sleeping with each other, having screaming fits of anger. I had staff members who were 30 years my senior trying to harass me into going on dates with them. One staff member admitted to hiring staff based on how attractive they were. Another staff member gave my personal phone number to a gentleman at the bar, he was many years my senior and had suggested he was interested in me - this caused lots of problems. I would have stayed working there if it hadn’t been so toxic as a work environment. There is too much cutting corners and as a new member of staff it becomes a fit in or leave kind of situation. If you can avoid the drama though - the work, pay and benefits are worth it!

Cons

chronically understaffed. absolutely no regard for employees being human. if they could replace everyone with robots they would. get a job in another bar, it's really not worth the 50p over minimum wage they pay. since i left my mental health has been the best it's been for years. cliquey and toxic. turns lovely people into nasty people. Used to be genuinely good before COVID but now they're trying to make up for lost profit by underpaying and understaffing. Left because no-one had said a nice word to me for months. Also I never saw more than one bonus in my whole 4 years working there.

Cons

It can be quite demanding mentally

Cons

Customers are often abusive and you end up policing