A former Wendy’s manager spoke out on TikTok about poor working conditions, being understaffed, and being underpaid for her labor.
“My former employer @wendys overworked me and underpaid me to put up with poor and hazardous working conditions, understaffed shifts, random new employees training, and then them quitting mid-shift,” user Rayshawn (@queenrayray888) wrote in the video’s caption.
In the clip, Rayshawn says she wanted it to be documented that only she and one other employee (who’s only trained to cook fries) were managing the entire fast food restaurant while trying to serve a wrap-around line of customers.
There were originally two other people working the shift with them, but they abruptly left.
@queenrayray888 My former employer @wendys overworked me and underpaid me to put up with poor and hazardous working conditions, understaffed shifts, random new employees training and then them quitting mid-shift. This place wouldn’t close until 1am, which meant we wouldn’t leave until like 2am and the ENTIRE closing shift would be all girls and maybe 1 older guy. Then I was blamed for a cash flow issue when they would bring in temporary managers to run shifts because the store mentioned in the video almost never had a GM until like the last 2 or 3 months I was employed there. I was paid $13/hr as a manager and started out having 2 days off a week, then it became 1 day off a week, then it became I was working everyday either before or after my college classes. I asked for a pay raise and was told I wouldn’t get it until my store stopped getting complaints during my shifts, but most of the complaints would be about how long the line would be because that store was a BUSY store for only having 3-4 employees during dinner rushes. This is only part of what I had to put up with at this place and I feel very wronged by the place and then to be let go for a simple, but stupid mistake aggravated me, but it was actually the most freeing feeling ever because my anxiety was crippling and I’d cry everyday. Now I have a job as a crew member making $15/hr. Moral of the story: PAY EMPLOYEES ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH, NOT JUST WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN AFFORD IN LABOR. #wendysoflasvegas #manager #trauma ♬ original sound – Rayshawn Session
“I have no clue where they went. Literally, they disappeared, not said a word to nobody. Just left,” she says.
Rayshawn adds that she did find out from a different worker that the other crew members left because they didn’t want to stay to help clean up.
“I don’t know what’s expected of me at this point to try and run an entire busy shift right now because it’s still a wrap-around right now with just one crew member that doesn’t know anything other than fries,” she concludes. “… This is frustrating.”
In the caption, Rayshawn added more context about her work situation, stating that general managers never lasted more than two or three months and she was blamed for cash flow issues during the times they would bring in temporary shift managers.
When she started off working at the Las Vegas Wendy’s, Rayshawn had two days off a week, then one day, and then she was working every day while also taking college classes.
Despite all of the turmoil, Rayshawn was only making $13 an hour and was denied a pay raise until her store got fewer complaints—even though the complaints had to do with the store being understaffed during rush hours.
“This is only part of what I had to put up with at this place and I feel very wronged by the place and then to be let go for a simple, but stupid mistake aggravated me, but it was actually the most freeing feeling ever because my anxiety was crippling and I’d cry every day,” Rayshawn says.
In a follow-up video, Rayshawn explains that the reason she didn’t up and quit her job was that she relied on her paycheck to pay off credit card debt, rent, and bills.
“Moral of the story: PAY EMPLOYEES ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH, NOT JUST WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN AFFORD IN LABOR,” Rayshawn said.
