After working at various events and locations for grind, numerous integral problems have come to my attention. Treatment of staff is totally inexcusable; new starters are expected to work long arduous hours, with no standard minimum breaks. As such, there would be numerous shifts where staff would not be fed, or allowed to even sit down, or at times use the bathroom. Perhaps this is due to understaffing, or maybe the managers get a power trip out of it. This would likely come under the umbrella of bad localised management (i.e of each respective branch), however it does seem to have been an issue with many of my colleagues at other branches as well. If the company had set rules and regulations in place for this, I'm sure it wouldn't have been an issue.
Unfortunately, the HR department at grind would be of little assistance regarding these issues also. There are a variety of times which spring to mind, when the HR department have done little to nothing in supporting myself or others in a plethora of different cases. On a very basic level, there was little to no opportunity for advancement within Grind, leaving staff feeling confused as to where their hard work is being paid out. On a more worrying level, often management staff would be homophobic, or sexist towards both staff and customers, often of course, unbeknown to the victim. Furthermore, there were numerous occasions where members of staff would comment on a customers appearance, even at times going so far as to find said customers on social media, in order to contact them in the future, without their consent. I believe that this issue speaks for itself.
Grind as a company seems to pride style over substance, which is a common critique featured in many customer, as well as staff complaints. Whilst the company is happy to charge premium prices for its products, it is not so happy to pay their staff appropriately, often comprising staff service charge (tronc) for unbeknown reasons. Whilst the pay is often advertised as £9 per hour, Grind chooses to pay you minimum wage, topped up with tips from the tronc system. This may not be a legal issue (though I am under the impression that it is), but it certainly is a moral issue. Having worked in various other hospitality establishments since my time at Grind I have realised that this is simply not normal. Considering the 12.5% service charge on every table, I would appreciate knowing where my tips and service charge has been spent. Though this issue had been raised on a number of times during my time at Grind, I was simply patronised, and told that 'I did not understand the system'. That, unfortunately for Grind, is not the case. Simple mathematics reveals that it's simply impossible for all of the tips to go to staff, and arguably, even if we were to suppose that staff tips were in fact used for staff uses such as parties, or drinks, or meals, or pay, there would still be an obvious issue; tips are tips, not a way to make up for your shortfallings as a company. They should unequivocally be given to staff as they were intended by the customer, and that, is as tips.
Finally, I must note that after finishing two years working for Grind, upon requesting to book a table at my former restaurant, I was denied service. After leaving on what I thought was a good note considering everything noted above, I was told I was unable to book a table with that restaurant. As a former staff member and now a customer, this is utterly despicable and hurtful behaviour. After this specific incident, upon returning to Grind to see my friends, I was met with hostility and was essentially verbally abused by said member of management. This embarrassing incident can only be understood as such, an utter embarrassment of a company I had already lost respect for.
As is evident from this review, cons truly are plentiful for anyone working at Grind.
Blessed are the meek.
