Hostel Management: Communication Issues and Unresolved Conflicts

The French night staff's repeated request for cutlery led to internal conflicts and delayed wages, prompting the assistant to consider quitting.

### Challenges Faced by a Hostel Employee in Australia
* 💰 Due to the weekly payment system in Australia, the employee faced **significant financial challenges** when the hostel delayed their wages for **two weeks** without providing a **clear explanation**.
* 🕰 The employee's wages were delayed due to a mistake in manually clocking in and out of the break time, which should have been **corrected by the manager**.
* 🔄 The manager changed the employee's work schedule without notifying them, and the employee had to **discover the change by checking the schedule on their own**.
* 👩 The manager, who was only one year older than the employee, was perceived to be **avoiding the French night staff** and was **reluctant to handle important tasks**.
* 🎂 The employee faced a difficult situation when two guests had their food discarded due to a mistake by a new cleaning staff member, and the manager **refused to refund the guests' money**.
* 👭 The manager showed favoritism towards a Japanese female employee, changed the employee's shifts to give the Japanese employee **more busy days**, and neglected work to **spend time with her**.
* ❌ The employee's attempt to joke about the plumber's playful comment that he might **flirt with her** when he came to repair the restroom was met with **discomfort** by the manager.
* The employee learned to be cautious with Australian people, as someone had **secretly stolen underwear** from the hostel.

Now, after being officially hired, I received the keys and started working on the second day. It was already time for me to leave, so I was just about to close when one of the night staff was coming. But during the time I worked, everyone except one night staff had quit. This friend who was the night staff here was a French guy, and he got really angry. He asked, Have you still not bought the cutlery? Normally, in backpacker hostels like this, you cook and do the dishes in the kitchen yourself. You can use all the dishes, forks, knives, spoons, etc. available in the hostel. But apparently, the cutlery had been missing for a long time. He was asking if it still hadn't been bought. I suddenly didn't understand what he meant and asked, What do you mean?

He says he has already told his manager several times to buy new cutlery because they lack it, but for several months, they haven't bought it. Meanwhile, they don't explain exactly why there is a delay and just keep ignoring him. Even if he keeps talking about it in the group chat or reports it, his messages are completely ignored now. The reason his friend got so angry is that he lives there after all, especially in a hostel where many people come and go at night. So, if the guests have complaints about the cutlery, they come to him and keep talking. He was really surprised at first and thought, Who is this person? and now that work has started.

I don't know, but I'll pass it on to the manager like this, and that friend went away angry. Since it's just the beginning for me, when it's time to leave work, I usually call and ask. So, I have to report on various things, but the night staff asked me to relay a message to order cutlery. I said something like this. But honestly, I didn't mention anything about who was at fault or what the exact situation was because I didn't know well, so I just said, Please order more cutlery, and they said, Okay, got it, and hung up. But a couple of hours after hanging up, the manager suddenly called both branch employees in that group.

When you snipe at the night staff in the chat, I won't tolerate you throwing my name. Don't mention my name from behind. If you keep doing that, preparing and bringing cutlery, there are reasons for the delays. Don't speak like that without even knowing. Suddenly, the two of them start fighting in the group chat. They fight fiercely, and now the French friend says, Let's talk face to face. Let's talk when you come to work. This is how it ends up a bit smoothly. I wonder if all this happened because of my previous request for cutlery. But then, coincidentally, I had to call the hostel for another issue at that time. So, I ended up talking with the manager on the phone, but I wonder if the fight in the group chat was because of that.

It's not like that when I tried to convey it. Oh, the manager said not to worry. Originally, that French guy, if he's a weird guy, he really likes talking behind people's backs. The French employee talked behind the manager's back, but the employee who stopped it told me to stop believing what he says altogether. He said everything that guy says is a lie, so don't believe anything he says. It was a bit extreme, so I thought it was a bit too much, but I don't know the history between those two, so I just thought, Okay, let's just stay out of this issue as much as possible. I just thought, Well, it's not good to get involved, and moved on. But now, after that, the French night staff seems to want to talk directly to the manager face to face.

The staff's main job is working in construction, and at the hostel, it's just about solving accommodations. So, when my French friend finishes work in construction and comes back, it's around the time I finish work, like around 1 o'clock. But at the beginning when I first started working, the manager used to come often. However, the manager always leaves around 5 o'clock because they have something to do, so they leave first. They would say, You work alone for the remaining one or two hours and then leave. I would just say, Okay, and the manager would leave. Then, when my French friend finishes work in construction and comes back all energetic, if the manager is not around, he would be like, Where's the manager? or something like that. I would reply, He left after you finished work. I've seen that happen many times. But as this kept repeating, my French friend thought that the manager was intentionally avoiding him because he was scared.

As she was talking like that, honestly, back then, I was like, Hmm, but still, even though she's the manager, I was scared of the employee, so I didn't say I wanted to avoid it, but I thought so in my mind. But that was really correct, I think. So eventually, one day, my French friend left work early, and in the end, the two of us sat down and had a real conversation. But the manager, who had been so aggressive in the group chat, when faced in person, was like, Oh, I think I might have been wrong. I'm sorry. I'll pay more attention in the future. Just ended the conversation like that. So I was like, What's going on? I felt that the attitude was very different from when singling out someone in the group chat in front of others. But as we continued to work together, she really didn't handle the work well. When I first started working, I could.

There are problems that don't exist, right? Because of those things, when contacted, one should receive them and solve them. That's the manager's job. At first, the communication was good, and that friend also had two days off a week, and on the other 5 days, they would go back and forth between Hwain and here, Ports Point, at least going to work at one place. It seemed like it was the friend's job to check if there were any problems. But now, gradually, they don't even come out to the hostel, they don't even go to work. Because the owners don't come to the hostel, they don't know if the manager went to work or not. So gradually, now they don't even go to work, and even if there are important things, they don't answer the phone when called. So, if you leave a message, they might not answer the phone, or they might reply three days later. And at our reception, we always write down the check-out list, check-in list, and all the important things that happened today, 30 minutes before leaving.

There was a formality that I had to report, there were things that only concerned the manager, and now all those things are written in that report form. If I post it on the group chat, it was just ignored. And in cases where I have to talk to the guests, I tell the employees to speak very firmly. But when it comes to them, they just handle it easily. What I mean is, there was a really absurd incident once. Two British girls came to play. I think they were around 19 years old. They said they were traveling as friends. But that day, I was working at the reception, and they came to me saying they had put a cake in the fridge, but it was gone. What happened was, two days before, during the cleaning...

We selected three employees. One of the tasks that must be done in the cleaning team is to check the shared refrigerator once a week. If there is no name label attached or even if there is a name label but the person is not on the current guest list, all the food is thrown away. The reason for this is that when guests check out, they either take their food from the shared refrigerator or dispose of it. However, many people just leave it there without taking care of it. This leads to food piling up continuously. Therefore, every week, the cleaning team prints out a list of current guests and throws away any food items with names not on the list. The new cleaning staff made a mistake when printing this list because there are two ways to print it. Usually, friends or couples come together, so one reservation is made for two people.

When you just extract a regular list, only the names of the reservation holders appear, so there is a separate list that can be used to extract the names of the actual people staying. However, a new cleaning staff member did not know about this. Two British girls, one friend A and one friend B, came. Friend A made the reservation for both A and B, but B wrote their own name and put a cake in the fridge. Since B's name was not on the list of reservation holders, the cleaning staff member threw it away. So, not only these friends but also many people had their food discarded like this. Probably, at that time, one of the knife staff members heard about this from the guest, so we checked it internally. It turned out to be the mistake of the new cleaning staff member, so at that point, all the staff were aware of the situation. The British friends came, but

I was really angry, but I could see that he was toning it down and suppressing his anger while talking. Oh, one of them had a birthday, so they bought a cake that cost around $10 or so. In Korean currency, it's only about 10,000 won, so it's not a huge amount of money, actually. But what their friends said was, We have just become adults, and we are travelers now. While for some people, this may not be a significant amount of money, for me, it's a considerable sum and an important issue. They expressed that they would like to receive compensation in the form of a refund for this. I was already aware that our cleaning team had discarded it like that, and I thought it might be right for us to refund it. However, as a receptionist, I can only bring in money; I can't spend it. It's my dilemma to refund or compensate for anything like this.

In this case, it was a situation where I had to talk to the manager no matter what, and the manager had to give approval. I understand your situation, but I don't have the authority. I will try my best to talk to the manager once and see if we can resolve it. I said this and let them know, and then I went back. So now I talked to the manager, but he said it absolutely cannot be done. He asked if there was any evidence that it was our fault. But a few days ago, there was a similar incident. When I mentioned that, they said, They don't know, do they? Do they have any evidence? Originally, according to the rules, we had to write down the guest's name, room number, bed number, and check-out date. Even if one of these is missing, it could have been taken by another guest, right? This is how it went.

They are saying to investigate thoroughly, but at the same time, they say they cannot give a refund. However, in reality, it is the manager's role to prevent money from going out. But when I think about it from the customer's perspective, Oh, shouldn't they return the money? Our mistake is clear, so when I conveyed what the manager said to those friends, they got really angry and asked if there was CCTV, requesting to check the CCTV. Then they asked to show it to them. So, when I talked to the manager about it, they said even if they check the CCTV, they should only do it in situations where they are not present and cannot show the CCTV under any circumstances. But actually, without their evidence, it's like, You don't have proof. So, it's a bit uncomfortable when they say they won't show our CCTV. Anyway, those friends were quite persistent. So, they kept coming back, talking continuously, and I ended up giving a refund.

I thought it was right and wanted to process the refund, but I didn't have the authority, so I kept doing that in the meantime. One day, they came back to the reception, and luckily, the manager had just arrived at work that day. So, I ended up talking to the manager directly. I said, Hey, I'm the manager here, and I've had this and that happen. Since I was there with them, I told the manager that we had talked several times to both them and other receptionists, but why haven't they processed the refund yet. When I said that, the person replied, Oh, I didn't know about this. This should be refunded from our lease. And then, right there, they took out cash from the safe and immediately gave the money. So, I was really surprised standing next to them, thinking, What's going on? There were many similar incidents like this. The manager is only one year older than me.

The cleaning staff or workers become close while working together. However, we feel that they are scared of facing customers. They were good at speaking firmly to those staff members, but now they feel a bit scared of speaking firmly to the customers. From our perspective, it's because there are people who cause big troubles, like using drugs, stealing things, or coming at night and making too much noise, leading to complaints from other guests sharing the same room. In such cases, we have to ask them to leave. We have to tell them, You can only stay until this time at the hostel, we won't extend your stay any further, or in serious cases, we have to ask them to leave by the next day. In the future, if there is a need to ban someone due to disrespect, only the manager can do that.

It was like that. In fact, the manager seemed reluctant to do things like that. But the two main reasons why I actually decided to quit are, first of all, in Australia, people usually get paid weekly. So, I also received my wages weekly at the hostel here. Also, there is an accountant I've seen once or twice separately. But that accountant makes all the transfers on Mondays. However, another difference in Australia is that when you send money, in Korea, if you send money, your friend next to you will say, I just sent money, and the friend's phone will ring right away, saying, I received money. But this varies depending on the bank. Australian banks don't process the money immediately, so it often takes 2-3 days. Therefore, here as well, the accountant always makes all the transfers on Mondays.

I heard that it is supposed to be on Wednesdays, but I always received it around Thursdays. However, if it falls on a public holiday, it gets delayed even more. Especially at the end of the year when it's busy, with many transactions, the bank gets busy too, so the transfers take even longer. It's really one of the things that I still haven't adapted to. Anyway, sometimes it comes in a day later than usual, so I just thought it was normal. But then, something happened. Suddenly, one week the money didn't come in. At first, I didn't think much about it even after a day or two, considering it was around the end of the year again. But as three or four days passed, I started to wonder if there was an issue, so I asked the manager. At that time, I only had the manager's contact information. When I asked the manager, he mentioned that originally, it takes a bit longer.

There were delays, and since it's the end of the year, there are delays. If you turn on the TV once a day, you'll get it. So I waited a bit, thinking, Oh, is that so? I waited a bit more, but since it still didn't come, I sent another text. From then on, they ignored my texts. On the days I went to work, the manager didn't show up. They didn't respond, and in Australia, they get paid weekly. So, when a week passes, it's time for the next week's pay. When it was almost time for the next pay, I contacted them again. They didn't explain the issue, but in fact, the problem was resolved. Tomorrow, the accountant will transfer two weeks' worth of pay, last week's and this week's, all at once. So, they are asking me to wait. I thought, Oh, I see, and waited again. The next night, almost.

Around midnight, suddenly, a text came in saying that your payment will be delayed further. So, I asked what the problem was, why is this happening all of a sudden. Even if I tried to talk about it, they just said it would be resolved if I waited quietly. They didn't explain the reason like that. So I asked when roughly I could receive it, but they didn't even answer that. But I had to pay the monthly rent at that time. But since the money didn't come in, I couldn't pay the rent. Because my weekly pay was delayed like this, if I had known I couldn't pay the rent, I would have withdrawn the money from my Korean account earlier. But even sending money from a Korean account to an Australian account via wire transfer, even if it's as fast as one hour, it takes 3, 4, 5 days at the longest. They kept saying it will come soon, it will come soon to me.

I waited, but I knew that my rent wouldn't come in until tomorrow. If I had known that earlier, I would have transferred money from my Korean account five days ago. Even if I explain the situation, can you at least roughly tell me when it will come in, even if there's a delay? When I asked, they didn't tell me, so in the end, my rent was greatly delayed. So, my rent was delayed for a long time, and finally, I had to call my friend's friend, who is Italian. So, when that boss told me, it turns out that the system for clocking in and out had changed. As I mentioned in the previous video, in Australia, if you work for more than 6 hours, you must take a 30-minute break. So, when I went out to take my 30-minute break after working, I clocked out, took a 30-minute break, and when I came back, I clocked back in to leave.

I have to smile again. However, originally, since the 30-minute break time was fixed, the clock-out was set by the manager to automatically happen at any time during the break time. So, actually, I only needed to clock in when I arrived at work and clock out when I left. But suddenly, the system changed, and I had to manually clock in and out during the break time. Since it changed to manual, on the first day, I missed doing this because it wasn't a habit for me. I don't have the authority to fix what I missed, so I had to talk to the manager. I told the manager that I missed it and asked if they could fix it for me. They said okay and made the adjustment. So, I thought, Ah, they must have fixed it.

I noticed that he just didn't make the correction. Why didn't he make the correction? He just didn't do everything like this all the time. It's not because there is a special reason, he just forgot and didn't do it. It seems like Eto in Australia is a strong organization that collects taxes. Even paying employees' salaries must be reported to Eto. What went wrong is that in the system, although I actually worked from 9 to 6 that day, because I took a break and didn't clock out properly, it was recorded that I only worked for three to four hours that day. So when I have to report A2a, they say, On the system, you only worked for three to four hours that day, why are you paying for the full 9 to 6 hours? That's why you have to use caution. When you look into why this happened, they say it causes a delay. Then the boss told me to do everything.

The manager did not explain this to me while being very surprised. It's been over a week since the CEO told the manager to convey that this happened like this to me and Genie. So, the reason my wages were delayed for two weeks is that I missed the fact that the Klein clock-out system was manually changed. Actually, the manager should have fixed that, but because the manager didn't fix it, my wages were delayed. But since it was their fault, they didn't explain the reason to me. So, I had no idea about the reason. At that time, I was actually working as a TFN, and everyone else was working as an ABN. So, the CEOs also wanted me to change to ABN. Oh, I kept resisting changing to ABN, and now I'm thinking, should I just quit? I'm starting to have thoughts that if I keep resisting, there might be more delays happening.

What if I speak and they don't pay me my salary and fire me? That's so worrisome. So, at that time, the Italian boss called the manager, scolded him a lot, then called me back. He asked if I could organize various issues that the manager has and write them formally to send via email. But I felt uncomfortable because I have to keep seeing the manager, so I didn't send it. Now, the manager is already upset with me because I directly called the boss. But luckily, before I arrived here, I heard multiple times about a woman who used to work here. Now, she worked here for about six months, then went to a farm area to pick strawberries. Now, she finished picking strawberries at the farm and is back for season 2.

I came back and started working at the hostel again. At that time, the manager started to dislike me, and the reason was that a Japanese girl came back at the same time. But they seem to be very close friends, so they hang out together all the time, posting on Instagram. Now that she's back, she is even more neglecting her work to hang out with her. So, I told her once that there is a very important task that must be done by today, but she said she's busy. She said, Oh, I will definitely handle it by a certain time today, but as the time approaches, she hasn't done it. Then, as soon as I got on the bus to go home, I checked Instagram, and she had posted a picture of herself busking in the city with that Japanese girl. So, I pressed the like button there.

Then the notification popped up, so I went straight into the system and took care of what I had been talking about. Actually, it wasn't a difficult task. When the manager goes into the app, it immediately shows up on their app, something easy to modify. So, really, since that Japanese girl came back, the manager started slacking off on work. Every time they didn't handle the work, I would check on Instagram to see what they were up to. They were really just hanging out with the Japanese girl. So, I would go there, press like, and then go back and forth to the system to make corrections. This kind of thing happened several times, and then one day, the manager suddenly canceled my shift limit. So, even when I asked later, it was like, Oh, it's nothing, I'll cover your shift at the hostel next time.

I'll talk to you when we meet face to face, but you don't talk to me like that. But you know when I go to work. You know when I go to work, but you don't show up. So, we never had a chance to meet. But now, I've become close to the cleaning staff, especially the night staff. There's a French friend I've become close with, and I've become friends with people here and there, so I hear a lot. But it turns out, that Japanese girl keeps saying she's Japanese. It's a bit strange, but I can't reveal her real name. Anyway, she said her friend suddenly needed money. But where would she get the money from? You have to work to earn money. So, since she's her friend, she wants to give her more shifts. But I'm already working five days a week. So, even a penny more

I was working to earn money, and they canceled my one-day shift, making me work for four days. The busiest days at the hostel are Friday to Sunday, and before and after that, it's busy because of payday. So, out of the seven days a week, they are giving me a four-day shift, giving me Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Friday to Monday is the busiest, but they want to give Tuesday to Thursday to a Japanese girl, which is really unfair. So, I expressed my dissatisfaction a bit. But you know that Saturday and Sunday are the busiest, followed by Friday and Monday. The hourly wage is the same, but the busiest days are the best.

It seems a bit unfair to give me all the busy days. Suddenly reducing my shift from 5 days to 4 days without properly explaining it to me doesn't seem right. Giving me only the busiest days is not fair. I think I should have one day off during the weekend and one day off in the middle of the month. Can you schedule it like that? I sent a message like this, but there was no reply. They clearly said to me that the schedule would change from next week, but even until the next week's shift, they didn't notify me of the schedule change. I was starting to feel a bit anxious, so I searched through the app that the staff uses here and there, and there I found my shift changed. As I searched around, I found it here and there. Even though they changed it, they should have informed me about the change.

It's not going to work. So, if I didn't look into that and skipped work on the day I was supposed to go to work, what would happen? In that case, it's actually their responsibility, but what was really funny to me, even thinking about it now, it's quite funny. What I remember from that time is that the restroom on the second floor was broken, so we had to call a plumber. It was the first time I had to call a plumber after I started working. When something like this happened to me, I just had to call the plumber's number on our office phone and talk to them. So, my colleague said, You try it this time, so I made the plumber call and scheduled the repair. But then, he kind of, like, jokingly said he's a bit of a playboy and might flirt with me when he comes. He was talking in a very fun way, so I just

Oh, that's how it was, but a few days later, when I ate with a friend, there was nothing like that at all. In fact, I forgot about it and didn't think much about it. I just did it like this, and that person did their own thing and left. But now, when the manager came to work, he asked me, When you came the day before yesterday, did he not flirt with you? How did it go? So I told him that there was nothing like that, and I just acted normally with me. When I said that, he flirts with everyone, but he flirts with every woman. So, I just tried to brush it off as a joke, like, Maybe he doesn't have an Asian preference. That's what I said earlier about that Japanese girl. There was something that happened before she came back. There was a Japanese girl I used to work with here, and he flirted with her too.

I don't think Asians are not into eggplanting. So, without much thought, I said something like, Oh, am I not good-looking enough? When I said that as a joke, suddenly he was like, Why are you saying things like that? Saying, Don't talk about your appearance like that. Don't think that way. Don't say things like that. So, I just said it as a joke without any ill intentions, but I felt a bit uneasy. I remember seeing something like that on the internet before, where someone was joking around with friends in class, and while they were saying, Oh, you look so good, jokingly, one of their friends from the side said, Hey, even if they say you're not good-looking, you have to endure it. It made them feel bad because of that person's comment. I had a similar feeling.

I didn't mean to say that I'm ugly. I just said it as a joke. When someone talks like that next to you, don't say things like, Am I really that ugly? That's a bit too much. But the reason I stopped earlier, there were two decisive reasons. Do you remember what I said? The second reason was actually because of a fact. Be careful with Australian people. They might be watching this season. Men, be careful too. They say someone stole underwear. They came to the reception secretly and took a bunch of them.

내가 일했던 모든 호주 직장들에게…🇦🇺 Ep.5 임금체불?

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Jiny in Sydney 지니

Workplace Drama: The Tale of the Missing Cutlery

After multiple ignored requests, a night staff member at a hostel gets into a heated argument in a group chat over the delay in purchasing cutlery.

The situation escalates as the staff member and the manager engage in a fierce fight, leading to a face-to-face confrontation being proposed.

The new employee, caught in the middle of the drama, tries to stay out of the conflict while the night staff seeks a direct conversation with the manager.

Strained Relations and Responsibilities at the Hostel

The manager's presence at the hostel has decreased, leading to communication and responsibility issues.

The manager's avoidance of work has resulted in neglect of important tasks and a lack of response to staff and guest needs.

A specific incident with the cleaning staff's mistake caused tension with guests, highlighting the overall dysfunction at the hostel.

A Dispute Over a Thrown Away Cake Leads to a Refund

A cleaning staff member mistakenly threw away a cake belonging to a guest whose name was not on the reservation holder list, leading to a dispute.

The receptionist, unable to make the decision alone, struggled with whether to refund the guests.

Despite the manager's initial refusal and lack of evidence, the persistent demands of the guests ultimately led to a refund being given.

Challenges Faced while Working at a Hostel in Australia

Struggles to process refunds without the necessary authority led to customer dissatisfaction and confusion.

The discrepancy in the timing of wage transfers between Australia and Korea caused financial uncertainty and frustration for the employee.

Delays in wage payments, especially during busy periods and public holidays, made it difficult for the employee to adapt to the Australian banking system.

Payment for two weeks' worth of work is being delayed, causing a rent payment delay and frustration.

The delay is due to a change in the clock-in and out system at work, leading to confusion and missed breaks.

The employee's attempts to resolve the payment issue and get a clear timeline for the pay are being ignored, impacting their financial situation.

Work Issues and Managerial Challenges at a Hostel

Employee's wages were delayed due to a mistake in the Klein clock-out system, which the manager failed to fix, causing frustration and a lack of explanation.

The employee is also facing pressure to switch from TFN to ABN and is considering quitting due to ongoing delays and concerns about not being paid.

Tension with the manager is further exacerbated by the manager's close relationship with another employee, who is neglecting tasks to spend time with a friend.

Work Schedule Dispute and Unfair Treatment at the Hostel

The manager at the hostel has been giving the speaker unfair treatment by reducing their shifts and giving the busiest days to another employee.

The speaker has tried to communicate their dissatisfaction and request a more reasonable schedule, but has been ignored by the manager.

The speaker feels anxious and mistreated due to the lack of communication and unfair scheduling practices.

Misunderstood Jokes and Uncomfortable Work Encounters

A plumber made a lighthearted comment about flirting, which made the speaker uneasy.

The speaker's lighthearted joke about their appearance led to discomfort in the workplace.

The speaker felt uneasy after being told to endure comments about their looks and recalled a similar uncomfortable experience.