Pros
Flexible if you are not a Team Leader
Cons
Expected to be on call all the time with no additional pay. The pay is very low for the role. You’re only paid £1 more than other staff, so in addition to managing the day-to-day running of the site, you’re expected to do a lot of admin work too. However, you’re expected to complete this extra work while on site, meaning no extra pay for the additional admin tasks, while other staff sit around doing far less. Hard work isn’t recognised or rewarded. Staff are treated as disposable, and management shows no concern for their wellbeing. There’s a high turnover rate for front-line staff. The role is zero hours, so you never truly know how much you’ll be paid. On top of that, I know the company is trying to make cutbacks, so staff are losing many hours. Some shifts are as short as two hours, and if you say you’re available to work on a certain day, you’re still expected to work the short shift, even if travel to and from the site costs as much as you’ll be paid. If you agree to do a shift—say, a six-hour shift, for example—it can be extended or shortened (often without your knowledge or approval), and you’re still expected to stay late or get paid less, even though you might not have accepted the shift had you known the hours in advance. Sometimes, even when you agree to shifts weeks in advance, bookings can be cancelled last minute, and your shift would be cancelled extremely late. Some managers still allow you to claim the hours when cancelled at the last minute, but I’ve spoken to staff at other sites who say some managers expect you not to claim it. The company relies heavily on you using your phone on the job; you’re on your phone throughout the entire shift managing bookings, etc., through the company website, yet you don’t receive an allowance for this. Some sites do have site phones, but even though these phones have smart capabilities, they are extremely cheap, slow, and unsuitable for what you need to do. They are often damaged and in poor condition. Some customers are extremely rude and abusive towards staff. I’ve seen staff cry from the way customers treat them. When reported to management, often nothing happens, and the customers are allowed to return time and time again. Because the money customers pay is more valuable to the company than the staff’s wellbeing and health. I once reported a similar issue where I was verbally and racially abused by a customer (who paid a lot for their weekly booking). Every week, this customer would scream and shout at me as I told them they weren’t allowed to do certain things—I was just doing my job. Nothing happened, and I was never kept up to date about what, if anything, would be done. However, I did speak to someone who works in HR at a different company, and they put me in touch with an employment lawyer as I may be entitled to compensation due to this issue causing me some psychological harm. The company failed to provide me with a safe working environment. The lawyer offers a no-win, no-fee service, so if you’ve been through a similar situation, you should do the same. I’ve been told I have a strong case, especially because I still have all the texts and messages about what I experienced, which were sent directly to management who took no action. If you tell customers to clean up after themselves and they refuse, management doesn’t care, and you’re expected to clean up after them, including the toilets. I will say, if you’re lucky enough to work at a not-so-busy site, then it can be worth it as you won’t be expected to do much for the little pay you get. However, it’s very unfair that the pay remains the same whether your site does £50 a month in business or £50,000. It doesn’t matter if you have to work 20 times harder than others doing the same job—you’ll still receive the same pay. It’s also sad that you don’t get paid the living wage. Some staff work at a rare few sites that require the company to pay them the living wage. As a result, supervisors at these sites get paid more than Team Leaders at other sites. The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how committed you are or how hard you work—you’re not valued, you’re disposable, and your hours can be cut in an instant with no repercussions. Do not give your all to this company because it won’t be appreciated.