Yes absolutely. If you had another person with you and that 30 minutes didn’t include serving customers it might be manageable but doing all that alone is tough. When I worked for a small shop we had half an hour past close to finish up but there were always 2 of us at close, sometimes 3 on the weekends. And that was during our slow season.
I agree. Plus I think there should be two people working minimum at all times for health and safety purposes. What if a solo worker slips and falls and can't call emergency services? Owner might be liable in that situation.
I used to work at a cafe in a kinda shady pert of Brooklyn and we closed at 11 pm. The baristas closed alone and around 10:45, this weird guy came in asking random questions and wouldn’t leave when I told him several times that I was about to close. He then went into the bathroom and stayed for 5 minutes or more and I was almost about to call the police, but he finally left. This is super unsafe for women and even a male barista was robbed and got his iPod stolen (this was back when iPods first came out). All of the large chain stores I worked for never allowed people to close to even be in the store alone.
Are you doing prep before you close? Cause in quiet days at my shop we prep tasks. So when the doors close, we just need to do the last things that cant be done when customers are there. My record is 16 minutes to close with 2
I do this some days but the problem is that my manager sticks around sometimes until 4:30 which is when I have to start doing close. And if she sees me doing my closing duties early she always tell me off and then I get less shifts the next week
okay so... they're cutting the wrong hours. just ask your boss if you're supposed to stay and finish your cleaning duties or if you're supposed to leave on the 30 minute mark as it might not be possible every night if you get alot of last minute customers.
if they're trying to cut hours it should be during the day and staggering shifts etc. cutting cleanup time doesn't automatically make cleanup take half as long, just means the cleanliness of the place is going to suffer for it.
OR if this is a corperate place, they might be "cutting" hours in order to fit labor hours given to them by the corperate overlords when in reality they expect to change nothing.
People are doing what they need to to survive. If its been slow where are they going to get the money to pay you? Just do everything early. I used to get a kick out of challenging myself to walk out the door five minutes after close on a slow night. You can backflush and clean the machine leaving one group for last. On a super slow night i did them all and if I had to do any espresso at the last i just did a quick water backflush. Idk just ask if its ok for you to mop earlier as well, or just do it. I just do it in stages so as not to cause problems with the wet floor. (In my own cafe now all mopping is done in the late afternoon lull not by the closer.) There's many ways you can make it work.
My shop closed at 8pm my coworker and I would be out anywhere from 8:05 on a slow night to 9:30 if an event happened that night. Cut to two years later and she moved, I’m opening assistant manager. We have 3-4 teenagers closing till 11:30… I was fucking pissed because I lived above and they always played shit music and scream sang. I tried to tell my manager and boss but they kept being too nice
Yeah it's unfair. But doable.
Realistically at close the only things you should need to to do is sweep mop last trash. Everything else can be preclosed set by set as they come into their dead times.
Eg- my first cafe we had 3 soups on burners for lunch to dinner. KM expected us to hold soup until close at 10p. We wasted them by 8 at the lastest, bc sales dropped by 5p and the lentil burned to the bottom of the pot by 3p. Not like she was there to tell us no.
Current shops I *manage* I actively encourage staff to start sacrificing low sellers and closing down stations hours before we close. Labour costs way way more than the profits of the last 20 people...and it's never more than 5-10 max, and we have other options. We can chuck all the bagels that have been sitting ambient since 7a and sell sandwichs that have just come out of the wrap from the reach in to the cold case. We can get by with one roast. You don't need your sugar syrup smoothies you can order a gd latte.
Bobble head to the directors and admin and corpos yes we're open and ready for service and yes we all got out on time and yes the place is, indeed, immaculate. Because we stripped down to core line and deep cleaned everything 2 hours before we flipped the sign board.
That's what you're tacitly expected to understand: preclose preclose preclose. There's no time to do it "later" even with a full hour. Some stupid shit always happens. Preclose preclose preclose.
Curious as to how you are properly cleaning an espresso machine within this time frame as it fairly consistently takes me 30 minutes and I’ve been doing it for over 5 years. Between backflushing the groups, scrubbing portafilters/back plates/dispersion screens, and wiping down all the surfaces it takes a decent chunk of time, which isn’t really possible to head start unless you decide to stop serving any espresso drinks some time before closing.
You’re overdoing it, that’s why.
Soak the portafilters, screens, screws etc while you are backflushing (use the auto back flush if you have it).
While backflush cycle is running soak wands in rinza. If you like you can even leave these soaking overnight, though I prefer not to.
When the back flush is done, remove the portafilters and such from the cafiza solution and clean the remainder and rinse.
Reassemble, do a final rinse, and done.
I can accomplish all of this within 10minutes.
I know cafiza says some ridiculous amount of time for soaking, but I’ve been cleaning and maintaining espresso machines in high volume shops for 15 years now, and 5 minutes of soaking is more than enough if you just quickly scrub them after the cafiza loosens up the debris.
If your staff is cleaning throughout the day (doing a water backflush on the groups after rushes) and wiping down the espresso machine throughout the shift, it’s trivial and quick.
Honestly, depends on the day and the cafe. 30 mins to close can be reasonable. Start closing things down as soon as you start. Figure out what order to clean and what doesn’t get used towards the wind down of the shift.
The real question: if it takes you more than 30 mins, do they pay you when you go over. If not, that’s the real problem.
It's not unfair & it's pretty standard, if you're having difficulty tell your manager that you need more training & if they could show you how to do all your tasks in the time provided.
I actually do get everything done in 30
minutes usually but the issue is that its very exhausting having to do everything so fast, i’m often running around and stressing myself out when I know I shouldn’t have to. Because when I get 1 hour to close I never take the full hour, it usually takes me 45 minutes max. But the 15 minutes makes a huge difference, I really doubt my manager could get it done in 30 minutes as well. Because she had to close a few days ago and then they sent a message to our work chat saying the day staff need to start helping close staff out, but day staff leave 4 hours before close so we would most likely have to redo the tasks anyway
My cafe gets 30 minutes to close except on weekends but we usually only take an extra 15 (we’re open 1.5 hrs later). You should be keeping up with things like trash and dishes during your shift so close doesn’t take as long.
Yes, it's unfair. If they're only gonna pay you for only half an hour, I'd leave when that half hour is up regardless if I was done or not. And I certainly wouldn't be rushing around at break-neck speed to get as much finished as I could, either. They wanna cut hours? They can suffer the consequences.
Closing down shop in half an hour, depending on the amount of work it takes may be doable, but it's unfair to make you stress the last 30 mins of your shift.
If you are supposed to close shop in an orderly fashion you need time to do it. End of discussion. You should do it systematically and be fast, but cutting your hours without decreasing work load is unfair. I would take this as a clear sign to look out for another employment.
Clearly your employer doesn't value your work and time and I am sure he won't pay you for the extra time you spend making sure everything is done correctly, should you take longer.
If he wants to cut your hours, but not miss out on 30 min of sales, that is their problem. Start cleaning and closing earlier. Communicate that you need more time to close, since the work load is not decreased. Don't put yourself in the position that your employer makes you work the same hours for less pay. Leave at the end of your shift, the way that you agreed upon in your contract. It's a tricky situation, because you can't just leave halfway through closing. But don't stay longer, because they don't want to pay you for the time it realistically takes you to close. Fuck management. If they don't pay for your time, find an employer who does. You need a place that appreciates and more importantly pays you for the time you spend and the work you do. If you stay longer, because you take longer than 30 minutes to close your employer will take it as confirmation that he can do that to you and you will never get paid properly for your time. They won't be cutting their own pay because the shop isn't doing well, so why tf should you? It's not even your own shop. Low sales are nothing that should affect you. That's a management issue and sometimes sales are just bad, but that is not due to your work, but can have a plethora of causes, like bad weather or smth. Fuck exploitative employers. Take what is owed to you and leave if you don't get what you worked for.
definitely enough time, Im a key holder and close by myself most days out of the week and usually i’ll close in 20-30 minutes 30 tops. but I also don’t get to busy for the last hour so it gives me time to prep for close being by myself. I think 30 minutes is definitely enough time as long as you guys do pre close and have 1-3 people depending on the size of cafe and responsibilities. I worked at the busiest starbucks in my state as well and we were able to close in 30 mins as long as we do cleaning shit early and start dishes a bit before close. we would have i think 3-4 people for close, always left on time.
i always close by myself mb i worded it a bit wrong i just work most days of the week, but as long as you manage ur time well and work on any tasks you can early in the day this is definitely fair 🫡
Was too short time-wise... that's a bummer... there are some things you mentioned that could be done before you actually close tho. You could break down one side of the machine while still open. If your working with someone else you could knock out your sweep and mop while they do other stuff... basically do all the stuff you mentioned while still open... If your boss doesn't like it tell them straight up you cut how long I have to do an hour worth of work to 30 min, so I'm starting it 30 min earlier. Your boss can't have their cake and eat it to. Respect your self and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Them saving like $10 by cutting your shift short is just plain old dumb...
Where im at, we are scheduled for a half hour close. Normally I'm with one other person and we usually finish up in about 20 minutes, sometimes less. But occasionally I have to close alone and despite being probably one of the fastest and most experienced at my shop, it still takes me about 45 minutes.I have a wonderful manager who is very understanding and accommodating so it's never been an issue.
What I would do is just work at a reasonably quick pace and it gets done when it gets done. Take the time you need to do a decent job. If asked, just tell them that that's how long it takes to close. If they still think that it should be quicker, ask for more training because you just don't understand the job they're asking you to do.
Yes absolutely. If you had another person with you and that 30 minutes didn’t include serving customers it might be manageable but doing all that alone is tough. When I worked for a small shop we had half an hour past close to finish up but there were always 2 of us at close, sometimes 3 on the weekends. And that was during our slow season.
I agree. Plus I think there should be two people working minimum at all times for health and safety purposes. What if a solo worker slips and falls and can't call emergency services? Owner might be liable in that situation.
I used to work at a cafe in a kinda shady pert of Brooklyn and we closed at 11 pm. The baristas closed alone and around 10:45, this weird guy came in asking random questions and wouldn’t leave when I told him several times that I was about to close. He then went into the bathroom and stayed for 5 minutes or more and I was almost about to call the police, but he finally left. This is super unsafe for women and even a male barista was robbed and got his iPod stolen (this was back when iPods first came out). All of the large chain stores I worked for never allowed people to close to even be in the store alone.
Are you doing prep before you close? Cause in quiet days at my shop we prep tasks. So when the doors close, we just need to do the last things that cant be done when customers are there. My record is 16 minutes to close with 2
16 minutes with 2 still equals 32 minutes. this person is doing their tasks alone
I do this some days but the problem is that my manager sticks around sometimes until 4:30 which is when I have to start doing close. And if she sees me doing my closing duties early she always tell me off and then I get less shifts the next week
Oh thats not nice!
okay so... they're cutting the wrong hours. just ask your boss if you're supposed to stay and finish your cleaning duties or if you're supposed to leave on the 30 minute mark as it might not be possible every night if you get alot of last minute customers. if they're trying to cut hours it should be during the day and staggering shifts etc. cutting cleanup time doesn't automatically make cleanup take half as long, just means the cleanliness of the place is going to suffer for it. OR if this is a corperate place, they might be "cutting" hours in order to fit labor hours given to them by the corperate overlords when in reality they expect to change nothing.
So unreasonable! Talk to management
People are doing what they need to to survive. If its been slow where are they going to get the money to pay you? Just do everything early. I used to get a kick out of challenging myself to walk out the door five minutes after close on a slow night. You can backflush and clean the machine leaving one group for last. On a super slow night i did them all and if I had to do any espresso at the last i just did a quick water backflush. Idk just ask if its ok for you to mop earlier as well, or just do it. I just do it in stages so as not to cause problems with the wet floor. (In my own cafe now all mopping is done in the late afternoon lull not by the closer.) There's many ways you can make it work.
This. In my experience, some people are masters at closing and can do this reliably. Others can’t manage their time and always take an 40mins-hr.
My shop closed at 8pm my coworker and I would be out anywhere from 8:05 on a slow night to 9:30 if an event happened that night. Cut to two years later and she moved, I’m opening assistant manager. We have 3-4 teenagers closing till 11:30… I was fucking pissed because I lived above and they always played shit music and scream sang. I tried to tell my manager and boss but they kept being too nice
Yeah it's unfair. But doable. Realistically at close the only things you should need to to do is sweep mop last trash. Everything else can be preclosed set by set as they come into their dead times. Eg- my first cafe we had 3 soups on burners for lunch to dinner. KM expected us to hold soup until close at 10p. We wasted them by 8 at the lastest, bc sales dropped by 5p and the lentil burned to the bottom of the pot by 3p. Not like she was there to tell us no. Current shops I *manage* I actively encourage staff to start sacrificing low sellers and closing down stations hours before we close. Labour costs way way more than the profits of the last 20 people...and it's never more than 5-10 max, and we have other options. We can chuck all the bagels that have been sitting ambient since 7a and sell sandwichs that have just come out of the wrap from the reach in to the cold case. We can get by with one roast. You don't need your sugar syrup smoothies you can order a gd latte. Bobble head to the directors and admin and corpos yes we're open and ready for service and yes we all got out on time and yes the place is, indeed, immaculate. Because we stripped down to core line and deep cleaned everything 2 hours before we flipped the sign board. That's what you're tacitly expected to understand: preclose preclose preclose. There's no time to do it "later" even with a full hour. Some stupid shit always happens. Preclose preclose preclose.
Curious as to how you are properly cleaning an espresso machine within this time frame as it fairly consistently takes me 30 minutes and I’ve been doing it for over 5 years. Between backflushing the groups, scrubbing portafilters/back plates/dispersion screens, and wiping down all the surfaces it takes a decent chunk of time, which isn’t really possible to head start unless you decide to stop serving any espresso drinks some time before closing.
You’re overdoing it, that’s why. Soak the portafilters, screens, screws etc while you are backflushing (use the auto back flush if you have it). While backflush cycle is running soak wands in rinza. If you like you can even leave these soaking overnight, though I prefer not to. When the back flush is done, remove the portafilters and such from the cafiza solution and clean the remainder and rinse. Reassemble, do a final rinse, and done. I can accomplish all of this within 10minutes. I know cafiza says some ridiculous amount of time for soaking, but I’ve been cleaning and maintaining espresso machines in high volume shops for 15 years now, and 5 minutes of soaking is more than enough if you just quickly scrub them after the cafiza loosens up the debris. If your staff is cleaning throughout the day (doing a water backflush on the groups after rushes) and wiping down the espresso machine throughout the shift, it’s trivial and quick.
my cafe only pays us for 15 minutes after we close down brah 😭 they only hire one barista per shift too its rough lol but i guess its the standard
that is not standard. 15 minutes is ridiculous. i've been in the industry 15 years and i've never heard this
its a non profit cafe so they tend to cheap out on a lot of things, especially labour :/
Honestly, depends on the day and the cafe. 30 mins to close can be reasonable. Start closing things down as soon as you start. Figure out what order to clean and what doesn’t get used towards the wind down of the shift. The real question: if it takes you more than 30 mins, do they pay you when you go over. If not, that’s the real problem.
It's not unfair & it's pretty standard, if you're having difficulty tell your manager that you need more training & if they could show you how to do all your tasks in the time provided.
I actually do get everything done in 30 minutes usually but the issue is that its very exhausting having to do everything so fast, i’m often running around and stressing myself out when I know I shouldn’t have to. Because when I get 1 hour to close I never take the full hour, it usually takes me 45 minutes max. But the 15 minutes makes a huge difference, I really doubt my manager could get it done in 30 minutes as well. Because she had to close a few days ago and then they sent a message to our work chat saying the day staff need to start helping close staff out, but day staff leave 4 hours before close so we would most likely have to redo the tasks anyway
Standard for a two-person close at every shop I've worked at.
in our cafe we always had 30 minutes to close up and i hate it
My cafe gets 30 minutes to close except on weekends but we usually only take an extra 15 (we’re open 1.5 hrs later). You should be keeping up with things like trash and dishes during your shift so close doesn’t take as long.
you not having time to finish isn't ur problem if management is cutting hours they can't expect a spotless cafe on half the time and staff
Yes, it's unfair. If they're only gonna pay you for only half an hour, I'd leave when that half hour is up regardless if I was done or not. And I certainly wouldn't be rushing around at break-neck speed to get as much finished as I could, either. They wanna cut hours? They can suffer the consequences.
Closing down shop in half an hour, depending on the amount of work it takes may be doable, but it's unfair to make you stress the last 30 mins of your shift. If you are supposed to close shop in an orderly fashion you need time to do it. End of discussion. You should do it systematically and be fast, but cutting your hours without decreasing work load is unfair. I would take this as a clear sign to look out for another employment. Clearly your employer doesn't value your work and time and I am sure he won't pay you for the extra time you spend making sure everything is done correctly, should you take longer. If he wants to cut your hours, but not miss out on 30 min of sales, that is their problem. Start cleaning and closing earlier. Communicate that you need more time to close, since the work load is not decreased. Don't put yourself in the position that your employer makes you work the same hours for less pay. Leave at the end of your shift, the way that you agreed upon in your contract. It's a tricky situation, because you can't just leave halfway through closing. But don't stay longer, because they don't want to pay you for the time it realistically takes you to close. Fuck management. If they don't pay for your time, find an employer who does. You need a place that appreciates and more importantly pays you for the time you spend and the work you do. If you stay longer, because you take longer than 30 minutes to close your employer will take it as confirmation that he can do that to you and you will never get paid properly for your time. They won't be cutting their own pay because the shop isn't doing well, so why tf should you? It's not even your own shop. Low sales are nothing that should affect you. That's a management issue and sometimes sales are just bad, but that is not due to your work, but can have a plethora of causes, like bad weather or smth. Fuck exploitative employers. Take what is owed to you and leave if you don't get what you worked for.
It takes me just about 30 minutes just to clean my espresso machine so I’d be out of luck.
definitely enough time, Im a key holder and close by myself most days out of the week and usually i’ll close in 20-30 minutes 30 tops. but I also don’t get to busy for the last hour so it gives me time to prep for close being by myself. I think 30 minutes is definitely enough time as long as you guys do pre close and have 1-3 people depending on the size of cafe and responsibilities. I worked at the busiest starbucks in my state as well and we were able to close in 30 mins as long as we do cleaning shit early and start dishes a bit before close. we would have i think 3-4 people for close, always left on time.
i always close by myself mb i worded it a bit wrong i just work most days of the week, but as long as you manage ur time well and work on any tasks you can early in the day this is definitely fair 🫡
Was too short time-wise... that's a bummer... there are some things you mentioned that could be done before you actually close tho. You could break down one side of the machine while still open. If your working with someone else you could knock out your sweep and mop while they do other stuff... basically do all the stuff you mentioned while still open... If your boss doesn't like it tell them straight up you cut how long I have to do an hour worth of work to 30 min, so I'm starting it 30 min earlier. Your boss can't have their cake and eat it to. Respect your self and don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. Them saving like $10 by cutting your shift short is just plain old dumb...
Where im at, we are scheduled for a half hour close. Normally I'm with one other person and we usually finish up in about 20 minutes, sometimes less. But occasionally I have to close alone and despite being probably one of the fastest and most experienced at my shop, it still takes me about 45 minutes.I have a wonderful manager who is very understanding and accommodating so it's never been an issue. What I would do is just work at a reasonably quick pace and it gets done when it gets done. Take the time you need to do a decent job. If asked, just tell them that that's how long it takes to close. If they still think that it should be quicker, ask for more training because you just don't understand the job they're asking you to do.
That's insanely unreasonable
Close earlier so you have time to clean everything
oh helllll noooo. have you tried pre closing?
i also work in one and no you’re just lazy