As I am busy in other areas of my life I will keep it short (hurray, you’ll say!) BUT… there are new rewiews and one I’d like to highlight…and it’s looong!
But again, I can underline this review.
On Indeed, Link: Disappointed
Full text (I don’t make any corrections and leave it in their own words):
Start quote:
“With previous barista/ management experience I was excited to start work at Pret. I had interview and trial shift and then was offered barista job.While on the job I understood that certain management have their
favourites giving them favours and allowing them to work less then
others.
If you had any problem with work or coworker, managers encouraged you not to speak out, but if you complained they do nothing.
They like to sweep thing under the carpet. If you complain to head
office, they will promise you support, but really do nothing about it.
Pay, they pay above minimum wage but not allowing you to accept tips. They promise you bonus which is good in quieter shops, but If you work in busy place like station, you always loose the bonus as it’s too busy to
keep shop clean and immaculate at all times. So you better of working In
quieter Pret, because you work less and get paid more.
you to remember 10 drinks at the time. After few months of bashing out
the drinks non stop I have developed triggered finger. It took five months for my finger to heal after leaving this job, but in some cases it requires a surgery to get triggered finger back to normal according to NHS. They ask baristas to be very outgoing and entertaining, to create the buzz. So if you have a quieter more introverted personality you might struggle, as you are required to put on a show all day every day, they call it Pret behaviour.
Strange thing was that Pret ask you to read and sign a lot of training programmes with their standards, but in reality staff and managers don’t follow the standards (especially the hygiene standards such as washing hands), they only follow standards when area manager is around.
Managers always messed
up with the pay, mostly underpaying you. So if you work for Pret, keep
track of the hours. You end up chasing your pay afterwards. Also keep track of the pension contribution they pay you, I had to chase them to pay all the amount they deducted from my pay. They did pay in the end months later.
Some manager crossed the line by using phrase like ’work my slaves’ and on several occasions manager was casually pinching staffs bottoms as if it was ok, but it is not ok.
Another annoying thing was that they promote use of foreign languages, so if you only speak English you might struggle, as most people speak foreign languages and they don’t care that some people feel isolated and left out, since most employees are foreign. If you mentioned that to manager, you get reply ‘Are you paranoid that they talking about you?’
Now the good things: you get paid break and free lunch. You also get paid, not always correct amount but at least get paid every week. And you getholiday pay, but then law requires them to pay you. Also you can take
all sandwiches home after finished work. Another good thing is that you
can have unlimited coffees, so if you like coffee like I do that’s a bonus.
It is almost like Pret once was a great company but then became too big to keep control and order, as they have everything on the paper, but very little in reality.
Personally I would not recommend to work for Pret to a friend. But that’s just my observation based on working in two different Pret shops.”
End Quote
I worked at Pret A Manger and survived systemic workplace bullying during bereavement that involved HR, the top leadership, HQ and even the now “retired” former CEO Clive Schlee. I declined 4 settlement offers if I am silent about my ordeal. But I rather starve and speak out to help others. For an overview of important blog entries of my experience with Pret, please visit “My Ordeal with Pret A Manger”. The little arrow to the right next to each heading will lead directly to the post.
I tell my story for the first time verbally in below audio player interview on a podcast by The Adam Paradox, and wrote an article in the
Scottish Left Review.
Thank you for reading/listening.
Interview:
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Bullied during bereavement in Pret A Manger 