Panera Bread reviews and complaints 1
View all 1522 complaintsPanera Bread - discrimination / illegal job practices
Do not work for Panera - they care NOTHING for their employees. They care even less for their customers. Panera sells themselves to prospective employees as a "family company" - HAH!
My husband started with Chicago Bread's small (non-corp) franchise in Illinois in February 2010, hired by Vince Ancona as a General Manager - basically, he was brought in as a 'hired gun' to 'clean up' Vince's district (Libertyville/Riverwoods/Lake Bluff, etc) because the general managers at these stores are Clueless and cannot manage their people or stores (See Norm or Holly in Riverwoods). Accolades up and down about my husband and his background - since he came from the corporate restaurant industry - and he did exceptional through training and transition and everyone was excited to have him aboard, including Vince Ancona. After his training in Libertyville, he was moved to Vince's worst store in Riverwoods; when my husband moved stores, several of the associates in Libertyville requested a move to Riverwoods because they loved him and his management abilities.
At Riverwoods for 2 weeks, my husband started having problems with his knee - which is to be expected since Panera makes their GM's work six days a week, 12 hours a day and do not allow them to take breaks or even sit down (tell me how that's legal?) - anyone would have knee problems under those conditions. He worked through it for a month, but one day he just couldn't even walk, so he called in sick. For the next two days the current GM in Riverwoods keeps calling my husband and asking "Can you walk today? We need a cashier. Why can't you come in? Will you be able to walk in a few hours?" - seriously? My husband lives 20 miles from Riverwoods and he can't even drive - it's his right knee. Two, three days later - he still cannot walk and goes to the doctor. His boss - this Vince Ancona - never told him that if he's absent more than 2 days, he has to apply for a leave of absence. The doctor orders my husband to stay off his feet, and to be off of work for the next week as his knee is just getting worse, could be a torn meniscus. He notified the appropriate people, and Vince Ancona asks "how can your knee get any worse? I don't understand why you can't work" - like he's a doctor. Still did not mention the leave of absence application, the benefits coordinator in the GA home office contacts my husband to fill out the leave forms - which he did and submitted; new doctor's request is to be out an additional week. At the end of this second week, at 4:30pm on a friday, my husband gets a Voicemail that he is "not meeting requirements" and he is to turn in key.
Requirements? What requirements? He is an awesome manager and runs circles around Panera's current GMs - we were very perplexed as to why he was fired. My husband called this jerk back minutes later, and he will not pick up the phone. Many many emails & phone calls later...It's been 3 days - no one has picked up a phone to explain, and we still do not have an explanation as to why he was fired. I understand that Illinois is an 'at-will' state - but ANY employer will give you a reason - or if you're a poor worker, then you know the reason. It wasn't his work ethic. Could it be that he's being discriminated against because he had to take two weeks off because he couldn't walk? Probably... that IS illegal to fire someone on medical leave.
If Panera actually Cared about their employees and their families - they wouldn't fire people because of two-week injury - they would work with the employee. It's not like the store was short-staffed and the shifts suffered because he wasn't there... Riverwoods actually has TOO many managers and not enough associates.
Do NOT grace the doorstep of any Panera - other stores are even worse. They pay very little money and work their workers to death - making them take on 2 or more positions and yelling when they can't get it all done. The company is more concerned about 'checklists' then making the customer happy, or even moving customers faster through the lines and filling their orders: A dim or broken light bulb is more of a concern to the district managers then making customers happy. If you happen to be in Riverwoods, Libertyville or Lake Bluff - make sure you file a complaint against your visit.
Good luck cleaning up your stores Vince Ancona. Hope the name Panera goes down in flames - and you with it - considering you are part owner.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
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When I was called in for my interview at Panera, I was very hopeful. I'd found out that I was pregnant not long before and I was looking for a job that offered better pay, as well as benefits. My first interview was going well, so I admitted to the manager that I was pregnant. She told me outright that she didn't see any problem with that, but I very likely wouldn't get the job if she shared this information with the general manager. Therefore, she didn't. I was told during both interviews and after starting at the establishment that I would be filling a fulltime position and I would qualify for benefits. During the first week of my employment, my pregnancy became a known topic. I had confided into one of the employees who was also expecting a child and he took that information to our GM. The next day I went back to work, everyone looked at me differently and the manager who'd advised me to keep my pregnancy a secret until I'd been hired told me our GM was angry & regretted hiring me. The way it was explained to me was that our GM expected me to be terrible at my job and incapable of doing the most average tasks. This was very upsetting for me. I cried for an hour after I left work and was so disappointed. A couple of weeks later, my hours took a plunge. I think I worked full time hours for exactly three weeks and then my hours were cut in half, meaning I no longer qualified for benefits. I was told by several employees how unhappy my GM was about hiring someone who is pregnant. Of course, she never voiced this to me, but she very clearly and unprofessionally let the rest of the staff know it. I began working for Panera three months ago and every few weeks, my hours have gotten cut more and more. This week I was scheduled a single five hour shift and when I went in for it, I'd been marked off of the schedule and my shift was given to someone else without anyone even letting me know this. To top it off, I'm not even on the schedule for next week. How ridiculous is that? I have never been treated so badly as I have been during my pregnancy. This company has treated me like I'm worthless. I ask all the time for more hours, I've stated that I want to work until I'm due, and I have absolutely no restrictions from my doctor. I never complain that work is too much for me, nor have I missed work even once. I thought that this job at Panera was going to be great for me. As an expectant mother, I NEED this job to support my child. I wonder how my employers would feel if they were facing being a single parent at barely twenty years old with no substantial income. Maybe then they wouldn't be so quick to decide that I'm of no good to them.
You have to remember that each Panera is a part of a franchise. Apparently, each franchise is run differently. As an employee at the West Bend, Wisconsin store (which is part of the Carlon Corp.-owned franchise), I have to say that I am shocked to hear that this kind of thing would happen at a store carrying the Panera name. I have worked at Panera Bread for 6 months, and in that time, I have never had a conflict with any of my managers or co-workers and I know if I did, I would have no difficulty being heard. Perhaps I just happen to work in a stellar store, but I know for a fact that my managers do not deny people their breaks, do not break child labor laws (often to the chagrin of minor employees who do not want to take the mandatory 30 min break in their 6+ hour shift), our store is clean for customers and kept very sanitary in the back-of-house. Our food safety documents are not faked or doctored, which cannot be said of many other fast-food and fast-casual restaurants. I say these things as a pretty strong anti-capitalist agitator and anarchist college kid, too. The only reason I came on to defend my employer is because I feel like the store I work at runs pretty well and does not mistreat their employees(at least, any more than minimum wage, at-will employment is exploitative in general) or dupe our customers into thinking they're paying for more than they're getting. I personally wish more stores could be run like the one I work at. I'm sorry for anybody who has had bad experiences with the Panera brand.
It is a terrible place to work.
I love Grace Kelly! And I love Panera salads! yum yum