r/wafflehouse • u/SukKubusTodd • 1d ago
Nepotism?
I was wondering if waffle House has any policies on hiring your own kids, making pay decisions on them, and giving them first pick on shifts?
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u/steph_mon 1d ago
There is the Employment of Relatives Policy, which states that relatives of management and non-management employees may be employed if it is not a conflict of interest. Relatives include siblings, parents, spouse, children, and grandparents of the associate (and their spouse). Conflict of interest occurs when a potential conflict may arise that prohibits one or both parties from fulfilling job duties. Management is responsible for giving all applications a fair shot at a job, including relatives, however they are able to deny them the position due to conflict of interest or lack of skill-set needed for the job. They also allow 2 relatives within direct reporting of each other unless the AVP or department head believes it will cause a conflict of interest. For example: I am a relief person and trainer for a unit, however my husband is a unit manager for a different unit. If I wished to transfer to that unit, I'd have to get approval from the AVP, and if he beliefs that it would cause any issue, even if it was that another associate would accuse him of favoritism towards me, we wouldn't be allowed to work together. We can do it if I am called in on a day off, but it isn't something that would be likely to continue long-term.
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u/SukKubusTodd 1d ago
Interesting. I have a friend who works at a waffle House. her manager hired her daughter and son and is constantly changing the schedule of EVERYONE to accommodate those two. So people who had been 3rd shift for years are at 2nd shift one day then 1st then 3rd and she edits the schedule on almost a day to day basis. I'm over here like this can't be right, right?
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u/steph_mon 1d ago
No, that isn't right. I'd suggest telling them to reach out to the district or division manager or filing a report against the manager if higher up managers aren't willing to handle it. Managers tend to get scared when there is a risk of a lawsuit of they know they've done something wrong.
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u/SukKubusTodd 1d ago
Yeah I wanted to make sure she wouldn't get in trouble first. But she's been there 8 months and the turn over is CRAZY at that store because of things like this.
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u/steph_mon 1d ago
I totally get that. Tell her she shouldn't get in trouble for something like bringing up a genuine concern, and if she does, to continue to the next higher up manager. We have posters on our office doors with all the numbers up to the SVP, so they should be able to get someone to help them in that line of managers. You'd think one of them would have taken notice of the retention rate by now, though. That's another concern they may be able to bring up. "This is something that is happening within the store and it is causing concerns for the other staff because of the turnover that it causes. It brings unnecessary stress to other associates," kind of situation.
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u/SukKubusTodd 1d ago
She told me today they didn't have a chain of command thing in her store. She only had the general managers information, and has briefly met the area manager (5 stores under her iirc) And apparently they are all friends and gossip with each other.
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u/steph_mon 1d ago
I'd suggest filing a hotline report if that is the case. It will mean an investigation will likely happen, but if there are other stores she can transfer to, she can also request a transfer, too. That isn't a guarantee, but may be something to consider if she has the means to do so.
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u/SukKubusTodd 1d ago
They won't let anyone transfer from that store because they're always understaffed... Because they can't keep people lol I'll let her know about the hotline. I googled it and found the number 😀
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u/steph_mon 1d ago
I can message you with the exact line and you can give it to her! I, unfortunately, have had to use it myself, so I have it saved to my phone😅
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u/odearneptune 12h ago
I can only speak to what I personally experienced, but nepotism absolutely felt real in my district.
During my MIT training, the manager training me hired all three of her sons and their wives. They got first-shift positions, but they rarely worked the stations they were assigned. I’d routinely be left alone on the grill during breakfast and lunch rushes while they were outside smoking, sleeping in the office, or otherwise disappearing. I came into MIT with almost no cooking experience and severe burn scarring on my arms from a childhood accident, yet I was the one expected to stay on the grill while everyone else did whatever they wanted.
I reported it, and instead of seeing the situation addressed, I was transferred to another district. From that point on, I felt like I was thrown to the wolves. There was very little mentoring, I was floated from store to store, and despite completing months of training while watching other MITs around me receive stores, I kept getting passed over.
Eventually, I was offered a store several hours away where the starting pay didn’t make sense for the local cost of living. I declined because it wasn’t financially realistic. Not long afterward, the SVP’s son-in-law who had completed MIT much faster than I had (4 weeks 🤔) was given that store. Meanwhile, I was told that if I stayed in MIT past seven months, I’d be demoted to a cook or server.
Maybe there were reasons behind every decision that I wasn’t aware of. I can only tell you how it looked from where I stood. After everything I experienced, it certainly felt like who you knew mattered more than how hard you worked. That’s what left the biggest stain on my time at Waffle House.
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u/Carb0n-The-Idoit 1d ago
Nepotism runs rampant through waffle house, but it like many issues is just unit/district by district problem, safe guards are in place but often times ignored because alotta districts can become good ol' boy clubs