We encountered a disease I called “lackitipitis” that often occurred on days when restaurant covers were going to be low or their were minimal check ins or checkouts. This disease afflicts tipped employees and results in understaffing and callouts on days when people feel they aren’t going to make enough money.
Some of the methods we used to combat “lackitipitis”
— purposely understaffed to begin with to allow maximum tips for those who were there
— tracked trends for who would call out on these low turn days to identify a pattern
— cross-trained staff from other departments to work front of the house or as a bellman/valet to combat days where there was a “lackitipitis” outbreak.