The job: for the MINIMUM wage, they expect to you work the hardest ever, wear ridiculous outfit, they make button up your shirt all the way in 104 degrees. It is written down what kind of make up and jewelry to wear, how to make your hair and what color to dye it to etc... To sum it up,while at work, you are not allowed to make ANY decision about yourself. You are completely a corporate tool for a very poor salary. They treat you as a machine that helps to operate the park.
On a daily basis, they keep threatening you that they fire you, send you home, and they easily find somebody else for your place who will happily do this job. I worked in 2 restaurants during the season, we were not allowed to eat any of the food that was supposed to go to the garbage,they made us throw out and waste the whole amount of food instead of giving some to us. At the same time, the managers were allowed to eat anything out of the fresh food and enjoy it right in front of us while we were all hungry.
When we were slow, they forced us to go on break, they said it is a rule (so they don't have to pay for that half an hour), and right after getting back we were sent home. However, when the park was busy, we had to work 12-14 hours a day, without getting a break, and I saw the area manager still filling out our break times. So basically, they covered up themselves from getting in trouble.
It was the managers favorite word, if you dare to speak a word with your coworker, you are in trouble, if you dare to sit down for a minute, you are in trouble, if you drink your water for too long you are in trouble etc.. You are only allowed to work and shut up,this is the rule. When I didn't want to go out with my manager, he made me bleach the chairs in the restaurant for days, and when I stood up for myself I got extra days bleaching. This is just so horrible. I almost only have bad experience but I don't want to make it way too long. Just to add, the think the international students are all desperate that is why they are there and they even more rude to them.
We did earn minimum wage, but at the beginning, we did not even get that amount. They paid us $1 less for an hour,and you only got that "extra" dollar per hour (which completed the minimum wage) if you worked the whole season and didn't get in any trouble. It is so not fair. We worked for that money hard whether we quit or got fired because of these circumstances.
They do give the paychecks late, and even though you go to the bank and open an account for yourself ,you have like 3 more runs to get the transfer done, they just forget to do it, So you have to get to the bank more times to actually have your money on your account,and on your one day off per week it is almost impossible to fix anytime soon.
The housing: they provide housing, kind of cheap, but there are problems with that too. The ones close to the park are unbearable, feels and looks like jail. It was an oven during the whole summer. It was impossible to sleep through the night. When we were not in the room, they secretly went in there and made check-ups about our staff. None of the rooms have refrigerator, there is not even possibility to rent one for that 3-4 months period, if you don't want your food to boil up in your room you have to buy one for yourself. For a housing like this, where thousands of employees come from abroad, I would say this is basic. We get home after 12 hour shift and we don't have anything to eat because it would just go bad. And we have one day off a week so not much chance to buy something that lasts till the next day off. The other housing is better, but it is farther, and for foreigners the bus is the only possibility to get to work.
So the bus: they provide it for free for the workers, but! They even try to save money on that one. It comes very rarely, and if the driver decides he doesn't let more people get on the bus then you have to wait for the next, which can be an hour. And it is still not sure that you are getting on the bus. The driver decides who he lets in first. So even though you leave home in time you might not get to work. And if you are late,you get bad points. I think, no surprise, it doesn't take many to get fired. They do not care if you are sick, or for whatever reason you would like a day off. It is impossible.
The bus does take employees to the stores and the mall. But it also gives you a ticket which tells you what time you MUST go back, and if you can't make it, you are on your own, they don't care. So even though they provide transportation it is rather a joke.
They do have a club, but compared to how many people work there, it is ridiculously small. And they like to play hard on you, sometimes they just enjoy not letting you in for whatever reason.
They have an own police team, and they look for you all day and night and if they try to interact with you, you are in TROUBLE! Somebody got fired for walking to her room drunk.
