Retail & Hospitality Compensation

Hey, just sharing. I was on the interview as Food and beverage manager. What an interview which I never had before, For an hour and half just on the interview. I felt like exhausted however I won the interv… more

I’ve been on vacation since last week, and now I’m heading back to work this Monday… not ready at all 😆. Can we please make “getting paid to stay home” a real thing? Lol

How do you deal with going bac… more

How do you make peace with the gap between what your team deserves and what corporate is willing to pay? Have you ever successfully pushed for better wages or bonus structures, and what actually worke… more

One of my coworkers just got hired and she is going around asking people their salary wages. I know we may be curious about how much our peers are making but it’s inappropriate in a professional setti… more

Processing a return for an item that has clearly been worn or damaged is one of the most awkward conflicts we have to navigate at the service desk. It is demoralizing to be forced to accept a blatant … more

There’s a professional heartbreak in seeing a perfect floor set dismantled by a customer searching for a size clearly on top. While we value accessibility, seeing our labor disregarded so quickly is e… more

Do you ever regret a job you worked in the past? I definitely do. I’ve worked at a few retail and non-retail places, but there’s one job I really wish I’d never taken and it was a thrift store. I thin… more

Do you all have annual reviews? Our store director wants to start doing them starting this year, for all employees. I've never had these before. What is it like, and does it involve any raises if … more

In hospitality, weekends are prime time, but pay doesn’t always reflect that. If you could redesign wage structures, would you push for weekend differentials or flexible time-off instead?

I’m debating on staying at my current job that pays less than the new job offer because of work/life balance. I prioritize having a healthy work hour week (28 hours a week) than working full time hour… more

One of my friends has been working at the same retail store for the past 10 years, and he just had his year-end review. Guess what his raise was? Only 70 cents an hour. How disappointing! He was pretty upset and … more

My husband’s company has been paying the same wages for the last five years, and now the employees are planning to go on strike since they have a union. They’ve been asking for a raise for quite a while, but ever… more

I know someone that got a job offer paying them higher as hybrid worker than working remotely. It seems like working remote is a thing in the past. As a homebody, I would gladly take the hybrid positi… more

I recently moved from fashion retail to boutique hospitality, and the pay philosophies are completely different. Retail rewards volume and hustle; hospitality seems to prize loyalty. Anyone else notic… more

Has it actually worked to say you plan to quit if your pay won't increase? I've had three conversations last year about a salary bump, but it's never been given enough thought by my manage… more

How do you personally navigate the guilt of not being able to pay your team what you know they deserve, especially when you’re stuck within corporate budgets? This feeling is bleeding into my personal… more

I applied to a remote position out of state and one requirement is that we come in once a month. The pay is great but I would have to fly every month for one weekend. Great thing is that the company i… more

I’ve seen everything from spa gift cards to “pick your weekend” bonuses thrown around to reward top performers. Honestly, some of them were way more motivating than a small cash bonus. What’s the most… more

Do you appreciate it or not when you get a bonus/acknowledgement from work in the form of gift cards? To make it worse, gift cards to the store you work for?? I guess it's a sweet gesture, but I d… more

I’ve noticed that people who quietly handle the emotional labour (calming guests, coordinating covers, smoothing over tension) rarely see that reflected in their pay. Have any of you successfully nego… more

I’ve worked places where free meals and travel perks almost made up for the lower salary and others where it was all cash, no extras. Lately, I’m rethinking what actually feels valuable. If you had to… more

Although, I am thankful for my annual raises within my company, it seems like my raises are not making a huge impact on my living situation due to the rise of inflation. Plus the job market is not the… more

My partner and I often talk about how unhappy we are with our pay and throw around ideas about getting a better-paying job or starting a side hustle. Most of the time, those talks turn into long rants about our c… more

I once got a pay bump after solving a problem no one asked me to fix, totally unplanned. It made me rethink how compensation really works in hospitality. Have you ever had a surprise raise or bonus th… more

I’ve been dealing with a lazy employee for the last month and tired of picking up her work assignments that she never finishes. I recently told my manager about situation but it seems like nothing has… more

Sometimes I think it’s just me, but whenever work feels overwhelming or I really don’t feel like working, I remind myself that the weekend is coming and I only have to get through a few more days. Somehow that li… more

I had a recruiter screen for a job that I'm pretty excited about last Friday. When discussing the salary range, they shared that the salary range posted was also inclusive of a variable bonus amount. Which is to say, the… more

Pretty sure the real org chart has nothing to do with the official one. There's an admin who's been here 20 years who has more actual power than most VPs. She knows everything, can make anythi… more

Our manager just rolled out a new, transparent tiered bonus. When the store hits monthly sales and NPS targets, everyone on the floor gets a guaranteed cash bonus, not just top sellers, and morale has… more

Other HMs over here, how long should you stay in one establishment? I can't tell if I'm too comfortable with my job or if I'm doing the right thing by putting in my years in one place. Wha… more

For those who’ve switched jobs recently, what was the moment that made you finally say, “okay, it’s time for a new job”? Was it one big thing or just a long over due time spent at your job? I knew it … more

I was away from work for just one week, and wow! my Outlook was completely flooded with emails 😅 updates, changes, case feedback… everything at once. I’m still trying to catch up, and honestly, it feels like the… more

Do any of you do under-the-table jobs on the side? I do, and there's always a part of me that feels a little guilty or under surveillance about it. I kinda just want to hear that there are others … more

I recently applied to a job offer that was significantly lower than what I wanted. This is one of my dream jobs but the pay isn’t what I wanted it to be. I negotiated the offer and it’s still not the … more

Sometimes I hypothetically wish there were no taxes and we could just take home our full gross pay, whatever that number is before deductions. It honestly hurts a little to see how much is left once the taxman st… more

I inherited a role and found emails from my predecessor having a breakdown in their draft folder. They never sent them but they're still there. I'm reading someone's private work crisis fr… more

I never realized how much of a difference it makes to add those extra minutes as overtime when calls go past my shift end. Working in customer service, sometimes a call that comes in right at the end of my shift … more

Did any of you get to ask for more or get paid more for making it to the store on these crazy snow days? To be honest, I'd even just take a word of thanks or appreciation, but when it's treate… more