Is it normal to have such tasks as a bellman

5 Comments

So, I graduated high school and while I am waiting for the university to start, I decided to start working in a hotel to get some experience and work on the two foreign languages I know by interacting with guests. I got hired as a bellman in a three star hotel. Here comes the weird thing. During my time here, I've started questioning my duties as a bellman. The guests here never want help with their luggage, but that is a personal choice. My duties here demand from me to provide IT help to the guests if they have problems with their internet, personal laptops and such. To wait for the owner of the hotel every day shift from 12 to 2 and welcome him, you never know when exactly and I have to not let anyone park or stay at the ramp because of his fear of car bombs. In the morning I have to go to the police department with a printed out list of guests, so I miss the breakfast here and can not eat until 2pm, we begin work at 7:30am. I have to move tables and chairs from the conference halls sometimes. I have to deliver mails and documents everyday. I was taught how to operate with the software at the parking barrier man workplace because we are sometimes asked to switch them for 30 minutes. Me and the maid during the night shifts often get sent to clean rooms and add stuff like soap, towels and unfold the sofa into a third bed for additional guests because the main maid from the day shift forgot to do it. I also get called to be a living google translate because of my fluency in English and Russian. Once it is finally 2PM, I can finally eat and most of the dishes for workers are gone and eaten already. I am told that during the winters the bellmen have to clean the ramp from the snow with shovels no matter how much time its going to take. In the night shift they turn off the warm water from our sinks to "save" money. I am requires during the night shift to patrol around the hotel from outside at midnight, then patrol through each floor (19th to 1st) and go to the rooms given to me at the reception desk to stop the AC if they suspect its turned on. I have to load the cart with empty boxes after a finished conference and throw them away, and then go back and clean the hall with the maid before placing the chairs back to their places. Sometimes I am told to go do room service to guests because the waiters in the hotel are busy. All this with 12hr shifts 2 days work and 2 days rest for 500euro. Am I just bitching or this is exploitation of the workers? It's my first job, so I have no idea.

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Comments ( 5 )
  • CountessDouche
    4 years ago

    I don't live in the UK, so I can't comment as to what's expected there, but everything you've posted seems pretty normal. The only things that stick out to me are you not being able to eat at a reasonable time & the fact that you are expected to do security shit (you aren't trained 4 that & if could be dangerous)...these are issues that you could speak with your boss/manager about with/out being out of line.

    Everything else seems pretty normal. Jobs usually require...you know...working...& doing shit you don't like.

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    • DogNo
      4 years ago

      Yes, but I got hired as a bellman, yet I am forced to do the work of a maid, waiter, security, mailman(that is not really bad I guess), IT specialist, technician, labourer and a walking google translate - all in one. That is my main concern, is it like this everywhere? I am able to do all of that because of my background, but from what I see, almost all of my colleagues threaten to leave and nobody new comes here.

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      • CountessDouche
        4 years ago

        When you're working an entry level job, especially nights, it's pretty normal to get asked to fill in for other people. If you honestly believe that you are going above & beyond the job requirements & are providing valuable services that would otherwise require them to hire additional/more qualified employees...then you should do it anyways & keep a record of all of your additional tasks & then do some research about how much it would cost the company to hire other people who were trained to do said tasks & then ask for a raise.

        It would be a risk to do so, but it might be worth your while.

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  • dimwitted
    4 years ago

    In today's job environment we all have to wear many hats.

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  • Boojum
    4 years ago

    It sounds like "bellman" is just a title. Since few guests actually want help with their luggage, the management has decided they don't want to pay you to just stand around looking impressive, so they'll use you to fill in wherever another body is needed.

    I have no idea if your pay is reasonable for the work you perform. Most places have some sort of going-rate for a particular sort of work, but you don't say where you live, and even if you had specified that, I'd have no idea what would be considered fair there. €500 would be a pittance if you live in Paris or Berlin, but it could be a reasonable wage if you live some place where costs of living are lower.

    As for you missing breakfast, yeah, it's unfair that you aren't able to take advantage of what other staff are offered and it's annoying that you rarely get a proper lunch, but you're an adult, I imagine you can figure out ways to deal with this, and it's probably highly unlikely you're going to starve to death.

    You're clearly not going to make a fortune out of this pre-university job. If you think that trying to find a different, better-paid job would be a hassle, then maybe you should consider just trying to maintain a positive attitude and take what you can from the experience. If you pay attention to what's going on around you rather than falling into the trap of bitching about what you're asked to do and wishing you were somewhere else, it's possible you could learn things about people, business management and team-work. Even if it's only what you'd never do and how you'd never treat staff if you were in charge.

    If nothing else, you'll probably come away from the experience with more respect for what hotel service staff have to put up with from guests and management.

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