Restaurant cut a 'solid' worker from 48 to 32 hours in favor of the owner’s nephews. Then they begged for weekend help — after he’d landed another job
'There's more going on in the background'
One restaurant’s management made a huge mistake by taking a hardworking employee for granted in favor of promoting their own nephews. At first, they slashed the worker’s hours, forcing them to find a second job. Just when the employee got busy, the lazy nephews floundered and couldn’t do the heavy lifting during busy hours. As a result, the management crawled back and started begging the employee to offer additional hours. When they refused, the management took disciplinary action and called a meeting. In a September 2, 2026, Reddit post, which has since garnered 4,000 upvotes, the employee (u/Vast-Ad8337) detailed the entire episode.
Cut my hours for their lazy nephews, now they're mad I won't work weekends to save their sinking ship
by u/Vast-Ad8337 in work
Taken for granted
The diligent employee had been working in the restaurant for the past four years. But over the past three months, ever since the owners’ nephews joined the management, they had been messing around with the employee’s schedule. At one point, they cut the worker’s hours from 45-48 to just 32. While the pay was reduced, the bills didn’t magically drop. So the employee was compelled to find a second job to make up for the lack of pay. With the help of their cousin, they found a new job, which offered better pay per hour and had a fixed schedule.
'I'm locked in on those days'
The weekends were packed, sometimes for 8-14 hours. Just when the worker had crafted a perfect routine for themselves, one of the owners approached them and requested that they help out on the weekends. "I'm only getting 32 hours here, so I had to get another job to pay my bills. I'm locked in on those days," the worker bluntly replied. The management responded insolently by calling them for a meeting to have a discussion on the matter.
“They stripped my hours for them, and now they're mad I'm not sitting around on standby waiting to bail them out. I already know I'm not changing my schedule for them. If they fire me, whatever, screw them. They lose a good worker,” the employee vented, adding that one of their "feet is already out the door."
Nepotism damages trust
A study of 501 restaurant employees, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, reported that nepotism is the “most critical organizational issue in hospitality settings.” Often, it has a significant effect on employees’ psychological experiences and weakens workplace dignity, triggering psychological detachment and heightening identity threat. Unfortunately, it is more far-reaching in organizations these days than ever before. For instance, a survey of 1,030 people by KickResume concluded that nine in 10 people (90%) have witnessed nepotism influencing hiring decisions in their workplace at least once.
'Just say no'
Reddit readers suspected that the owner would try to lure them into offering extra working hours by saying that they’re family and advised the author not to fall into the trap. u/sxixs commented, “Whatever you do, do not quit your other job. These kinds of people will just use you and throw you away when they want. They might guarantee you better hours or pay, but I bet they don’t honor their promises long, if at all.” u/Adventurous_Bad_4011 remarked, “Nepotism sucks!”
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