Whats socially acceptable

So the BIG question of the day.
Is it socially acceptable to be on time for a job or be late every single day?
Is a business owner asking to much for their employees to be on time, or should we just bend over and play the “oh its ok game”?.. Are we having to high of standards & just be grateful we even have employees show up for work even though they show up 5-10 minutes late ever single day ?? Whats everyone’s opinion on this matter
As i was told that i have high standards for a pizza shop & to just get over myself and be grateful i even have employees who show up regardless they are 5-10 minutes late everyday…

Here’s my two cents on the whole “on time vs. late” thing.

Being consistently 5-10 minutes late isn’t exactly “socially acceptable” in a professional setting, at least not in my experience. It can be frustrating for both you and your employees.

Here’s the thing: You’re running a business and punctuality is part of the job. It shows respect for your time, your customers’ time and the overall flow of the kitchen. Think about it - a late prep crew throws off the whole night’s rhythm!

On the other hand, nobody’s perfect. There’s a difference between the occasional late night due to car trouble and someone who rolls in fashionably late every day.

Maybe have a chat with your crew? Explain that while you appreciate them showing up, being on time is important. See if there’s anything you can do to help them be more punctual, like a little buffer built into the start times to account for unexpected delays.

But ultimately, chronic lateness isn’t “playing the oh it’s okay game.” It disrupts the business. There’s a middle ground between having crazy high standards and just letting everyone slide.

Yup Im 100% with you on this…

Its only 1 person, not my whole crew & its every single day, rolling in 5-10 minutes late every single day. I have already spoke to this person and explained that they are laying the ground for new kids coming into the work force & you need to lead by example. Living only 2 minutes away & rolling in late every day is not acceptable, & not only that rolling in late & not having your shit together & asking to run down to the smoke shop to grab an energy drink UGH…
I told the whole crew from now on i have a rule on this
1: verbal written warning
2. Write up, last chance
3. Last write up & sent home for the day

Labor issues with current generation is the reason i sold out last year. Got sick of the entitled attitude

Had a similar situation so my solution was to force my employee to understand how it feels. We do payroll on Weds so when this employee came to get his check, I told him it was not ready and they could come back later and grab it. Did this again the following week and gave him some lame excuse that I ran out of ink in my printer. The 3rd week he flipped out and said this was ridiculous and I told him that now he understands how I feel when he’s always late. It did not solve the problem but it proved a point that def helped with how often he comes in late…

Yup… Im seriously getting ready to sell out as well. Its sad that it comes down to this. Its either my sanity or nothing & after 40+ yrs Im just feed up with this labor force & entitlement crap. Ive got 1 yr to make the major decision as my lease is up for renewal in 12 months. Honestly just not sure where to start to even take the leap. Ive already talked to 1 guy to sell, it would be to just close the shop and he would reopened as a totally different new pizza shop

We have a similar circumstance with an employee that lives close to our shop (and has been with us for over 30 years!) and is still consistently 5 -10 minutes late. We tried scheduling him in a 3:55pm instead of 4:00pm and other silly things, but what finally worked involved a yellow and a pink highlighter-style marker and our weekly posted schedule. If someone was on time, their shift on the schedule was highlighted pink, and if someone was late their shift was highlighted in yellow. At the end of the week, if the schedule was all pink everyone received a $5 per person “team” bonus. And if there was any yellow, then no bonus to anyone. Once explained and implemented, the problem pretty much took care of itself. The solution involved a modest cost, but it helped establish a culture in our organization where being on time was both important and valued. If someone is late, it puts stress on everyone else working that shift, so flipping that back to the person coming in late and holding them responsible works well for us.

Love that idea, will take into consideration

Daisy, if you can do it without the problem employee, fire him. I know that him coming in late everyday is probably one of many things you cant stand.

Its clear the employee thinks he is above working in a pizza place. He is a cancer. The other employees will see and use him coming in late as an excuse whenever they can.

If you cant fire him, hopefully you can soon. As soon as you can- let him go. You can try to set him aside and have a talk about your expectations it may work for a week maybe two but soon enough they will be late regularly again forcing you to have another talk with them, and who has time for that. How a employee does anything is how they do everything.

We had a system going where if you were late you weren’t included in the front counter tips that night(usually about $25 per night) this system was thought of by the employees to make sure everyone was on time. It worked ok for about 2 weeks.

-The problem employee would call to let us know they were going to be late. Thinking hey I let them know I was going to be late so im good I should be included in tips.

-The problem employee would be late coming back from break, all the on time employees would have a fuss about that. If I condoned that once and included the late employee in tips all the other employees think they’re owed one too.

-If the problem employee knows they are going to be late and not included in the end of night tips they will be EXTRA late

-Also the late employee also conveniently forgets to clock in if theyre late then will lie and say they were on time.