To tell you the truth, it was frustrating at the time, but everything was frustrating because I was a teenager and predisposed to assume that everything was personal and emotionally driven. It took me an entire year after I left that job to realize what the manager wasn't telling me: They tended to divide the genders between the grill and the cash registers, giving the men more grill time and the women more register time, because the men complained less about being burned by grease and coming home stinking of meat, and the women were generally more ingratiating to the customers at the register.
If anyone confronted them about what they were doing they would surely have denied it, and it would have been difficult to prove in court, as well as risky for whatever employee attempted it - not that it would have gone that far because of the arbitration clause we all signed.
I am divided on my feelings about this. On the one hand, the way management tended to divide the sexes was based in statistical fact. The women generally DID do better than the men at the counter. The men generally DID care less about the grease and heat at the grill. On the other hand, it could be argued that by setting the stations this way by default, it was unequal work for equal pay. (I couldn't say who had it worse, since dealing with impatient, irate, or lecherous customers could be even more uncomfortable than working the grill.)
But what I'm willing to bet on is, if a manager told you to work the grill that day, and you said, "I refuse - it's the register or nothing," the manager would start leaving you out of the schedule and your work hours would dry up. If you tried to negotiate some swap with other employees and one of them complained, you'd be out for sure. You can get laid off or fired for being a pain in the ass to management. And you know what; now that I've been in a couple managerial positions, I think that's an acceptable outcome.
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If anyone confronted them about what they were doing they would surely have denied it, and it would have been difficult to prove in court, as well as risky for whatever employee attempted it - not that it would have gone that far because of the arbitration clause we all signed.
I am divided on my feelings about this. On the one hand, the way management tended to divide the sexes was based in statistical fact. The women generally DID do better than the men at the counter. The men generally DID care less about the grease and heat at the grill. On the other hand, it could be argued that by setting the stations this way by default, it was unequal work for equal pay. (I couldn't say who had it worse, since dealing with impatient, irate, or lecherous customers could be even more uncomfortable than working the grill.)
But what I'm willing to bet on is, if a manager told you to work the grill that day, and you said, "I refuse - it's the register or nothing," the manager would start leaving you out of the schedule and your work hours would dry up. If you tried to negotiate some swap with other employees and one of them complained, you'd be out for sure. You can get laid off or fired for being a pain in the ass to management. And you know what; now that I've been in a couple managerial positions, I think that's an acceptable outcome.