Many families tend to go out to dinner for an enjoyable night out. However, things happen behind the kitchen doors that many people don't know about. A study showed that 90% of women and 70% of men have been harassed or mistreated at work at a minimum, once in their life. This is a reoccurring problem that has been happening for decades, and it's time to finally take a stance.
Hostility is easily fixable; all we need to do is acknowledge what is taking place. Strengthening anti-harassment training, following fair labor practices, and encouraging safety and mental health in the workplace are some ways to start improving this industry.
You may think to yourself, "But doesn't every workplace already implement anti-harassment training in their hiring procedure?" That's what it may seem like, however, the information being taught isn't taken seriously in most cases. According to Serendib Law Firm, harassment prevention programs lack real-world relevance and hands-on activities. It becomes hard for people to learn the material when the information is uninteresting and presented on a computer screen. Companies main focus is making sure their employees get the training done, not whether they comprehended it in the right manner.
Coming from personal experience: When I started working at a new company, it was required to complete computer training that came to about three hours of my time. Looking back, I couldn't recite any of the information that was taught on the computer screen. This is due to poor training techniques and a lack of hands-on experiences. This will cause individuals to not take a serious approach to this important matter.
Having experienced multiple food industry jobs, I've had a fair share of harassment; whether it was from colleagues, customers, or my boss. This happens every day, whether it's due to race, gender, age, religion etc. Coming from previous work as a waitress, I've had instances where my boss informed me to get certain people out of his dining room - them all being African Americans. This harassment became a normal occurrence. Problems like this could have never occurred if stronger anti-harassment training was being set in stone.
Not only will strengthening anti harassment reduce hostility in the workplace, so will following fair labor practices. Simply just treating every employee with respect will increase the positivity in that environment. In many instances, food workers are stuck inside with fumes and grease during scorching summers. They're not getting paid enough, and are forced to work regardless of how high the temperature is inside the kitchen. A
manager at McDonalds and her coworkers were forced to continue working inside even when the thermostat hit over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. They were dizzy, had headaches, exhausted, and even throwing up, but were still forced to keep working. These conditions should never be illegally enforced by anyone in the workplace; they're not suitable.
"Technically, no one is actually forced to work in these conditions," you might think to yourself. However, over
58% of employees who see or experience unfair treatment at work never report it. This leaves over half of people working in these conditions struggling in silence due to their job being on the line if they speak up. Along with that, child labor laws are constantly being abused. According to the
Pennsylvania Child Labor Law, no minor is allowed to work more than 5 hours without a 30 minute break. At the age of 16, my boss asked me to work a nine and a half hour shift. I did not get breaks, nor was I receiving minimum wage. Along with that, at least
16 states have bills that
weaken child labor laws. This is just an irresponsible way of responding to a workforce shortage. This will just lead teens to burnout, but enforcing to follow these simple labor laws will decrease the hostile environment that these workers face.
Mental health is a topic that is stressed worldwide, but in the food industry it is most essential. 70% of chefs were proven to have anxiety from working in restaurants - this is not a surprising statistic. Not feeling safe in your own workplace is something no one should ever have to go through.
Most of the time, orders are flooding, and it becomes hard to handle, without even taking into consideration the personal problems workers are also dealing with. Many of these factors lead to substance abuse and sleep disorders.
Working in the food industry is a very fast paced and demanding environment. Dealing with hot objects and wet floors can lead to injuries which may cause days away from work, which some people just might not be able to afford.
If the mental health of workers was prioritized, they would come into work with a positive outlook which would make their overall satisfaction with the job much better. According to
Mental Health America, the restaurant and food industry is the worst place to work for your psychological well-being. You're going to deal with upset customers, but working in a safe and inclusive environment - whether it's made by your manager or your coworkers - will make those problems seem less of a burden. Mental health is a problem that may never go away, but the first step we can do to improve it in the food industry is simply talking about it.
In the end, these problems are not going to be solved on their own. This is a step that U.S. Americans as a community need to make together. These hostile environments in the food industry are major problems - but if we strengthen anti-harassment training, follow fair labor practices, and prioritize mental health in this industry, it's a huge leap to a better America.
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