cook

food service worker

server

sous chef

dishwasher

Unidine

A good solid company to work for when starting out,but when it comes time to move up(i.e. cook, to sous, to executive).No room to move up,in accounts in the south.in order to move up in the company, u have to internship in accounts up north.job life/home life is low,but that comes with the territory being in service industry.hourly pay is midway,but a lot depends on experience,but 401k is nice,with medical and dental and eyecare.Advancement is low as stated above.management is low due to some cases u have inexperienced people in experienced positions.job culture is midway due to the fact; culinary is not for everyone,it will either make u or break u.
A typical day for me as a night chef (11-730),would consist of making a pizza for the grill cook on retail.laying pans of white and wheat rolls and pizza doughs for the upcoming week.Assist the AM chef on the patient line and cook backups for AM grill on retail.afterwards,prep food for retail and patient line two days in advance.Take 30 minute break at 2 o'clock.come back at 2:30 and proceed to check and make a list for what u have and what u need.Prepare what is needed and continue Ticketswith prep list.Check low boy to see what meats and vegetables are needed,refill low boy.First ticket waves come in at 330.Cook,prepare,and garnish plates for service.Hand over to expo to put in hotbox to go upstairs.Tickets come in 30 min. waves,330,4,430,5,530.When last wave is served,call for emergency department to see how many and cook standardized menu for ED for the day.After ED is finished,prepare and cook 3 meals for both doctors lounge and overnight trays.Cutoff point for late trays is 630,after that time break down patient line.Save what can be and trash goes in buckets to be weighed as waste.clean flat-top grill,clean char-broil grill,clean fryers,wash and sanitize prep tables,and wash pots in pot sink,wipe out steamers and cut off convection oven.Double check prep list and see what is needed for the next day and restock lowboy.Record sanitizer ppm for pot sink.Record temps for walk-in cooler,reach-in cooler,freezer 1 and 2.Shut off lights and hood system before walking out.

I have been fortunate to have moved up about as far as I can within the company and specific location, but it's not where I want to me and they don't seem to care enough to help me get to where I want. They seem to go for candidates who look good on paper and aren't so good in real life. A perfect example is that I was passed over for a management position even though many people felt I would have done an excellent job at it with my experience, personality and leadership skills and ability. They need a complete management over  haul and their major problems start right at the top. They are severely lacking in good leadership and even fail to do anything about it. I know because I have tried multiple times. They allow people to take advantage of the system and basically do what they want and they are not truly disciplined properly, for they keep getting away with it. They "discipline" for and over the less important things and more so if someone cries enough about it. I know of some people who have been nothing but an awesome and extremely hard-working employee, who ended up showing late once and were written up for it , while others call in frequently and basically just get a slap on the wrist. When you approach management about it all you hear is that they are going by the book as closely as they can. What book are they using!? These people should be out on the street looking for a new job! Management here keeps doing things that keeps driving good employees away. I know because I have seen it multiple times. They keep giving the same excuses about various things you bring to their attention, and then you start to feel as tho it's pointless to even say anything. It's quite stressful at times because people don't seem to notice or care about the little things and are just there for a paycheck and management doesn't seem to care either way. The way things are, they will keep going downhill. They don't have the management that cares enough, and especially the leadership needed to strive. You are welcome to join and see for yourself, for it may not be so bad to and for you, but I won't be recommending this company to anyone - I've seen too much.

I took this job because the hours allowed for me to carry a full time position while being able to attend college at night.  The woman who held the position previously also trained me.  I should have realized something was wrong with this place when she told me that she was taking a lower paying and more hazardous job manufacturing car batteries.  The Sous Chef never wanted to do any work and would pawn off anything she could onto myself and the other cook.  Both the Kitchen Manager and Sous Chef would constantly call out sick or leave work early.  I don't think I ever worked an entire week without someone missing a significant amount of work.  The Sous Chef would constantly bicker about being under paid to our customers, which I found to be extremely embarrassing.  Also, if you asked her for help with something she would just start an argument with you in front of our customers, which was also very embarrassing and unprofessional.  There was no real concept of "team work" with these people, with the exception of one other cook and myself.  After three years of working here, I began to look for other jobs.  After months of no luck, I soon found out that I was getting bad references from the manager while I was still employed there.  I found this to be odd as I always received excellent performance reviews (even though I never received any significant pay increase) and always got positive feedback from our customers.  The only positive thing I have to say about this job is that the people we served daily were awesome.  This was a business dining operation and the people who worked for our client were absolutely amazing. However, I still would not recommend this company to anyone unless they were absolutely desperate for a job. On the other hand, if you can nail a management position here, I say take it because apparently you make around 35-40K per year for sitting on your butt all day.      

What to say about Unidine. I was hired in by an incompetent Dining Director. Who yelled continuously at all of his employees infront of their clients, when you didn't do as he wanted, when he wanted. They use a whole bunch of different rules to follow, but no one follows any of their own values. I was a dietary aide, always short staffed, and forced to work doubles almost three times a week. Was promised raise after raise, but unfortunately I didn't get anything I was promised. Trained as a Lead Supervisor on night shifts, and had title stripped because they continued to hire new leads every month. Promised new employees advancement due to taking college courses and never follow through. Turn over was super high, I watched over 80 employees come and go in less then 6 months. They can't keep management In the three years I was with Unidine.. We've gone through 6-7 executive chefs, three directors, and three patient service managers.Hired people in promising them advancement in the company. No one got anything they were promised. I wouldn't work for a company who doesn't follow their own values. 


Bunch Of Lies:
OUR VALUES
Whether we are responding to the needs of our partners, or one of our own team members, our values outline a commitment to transparency and respect in everything we do.  By setting clear expectations and living up to them, we hope to differentiate our services through a focus on hospitality that extends far beyond the kitchen.

The Unidine Way is communicated to everyone and guides all dealings.
We make commitments we can live up to and do what we say we will.
We pay attention to details in everything.
We respect all team members, give them responsibilities and empower them to grow.
We are guided by honesty and integrity in everything we do.
There is a sense of urgency in all matters relating to customers. We respond to them and are driven by them.
We give all our effort, take risks, make good mistakes, not bad mistakes, and reward success.

Where do I begin?

Job Work/Life Balance:
There is no such a thing with Unidine. They expect you to be at work every day, 365. If you have children who are sick or if you get sick yourself, don't call out. Or your micromanaging boss will be all over you the following day. NO VACATION! Yes, I said it, NO VACATION. They have such a high turnover problem, that they changed the policy so that new employees will not be eligible for vacation until 1 calendar year from the start date! That is unheard of!

Compensation/Benefits:
Benefits are poor, they offer their employees the cheapest packages available. Compensation is a joke. Overworked and underpaid is the theme at Unidine. Unless you are a vice president, then you should be expecting a 2 percent increase, yearly, if your lucky. And two percent is not always guaranteed.

Job Security/Advancement:
Unidine's turnover rate is about 40 percent! 40 percent of all new employees will quit within the first 6 months. It is a revolving door. One week your meeting a new manager/director, then the next your meeting someone replacing the person you just met. There is no advancement. Unless you r best friends with Richard, the CEO, you are not climbing the ladder.

Management:
Where do I begin. Management walk around as if they are better than everyone. The corporate office is so fake, everyone hates their job because they are overworked, underpaid, and gets bitched out by Richard, the CEO, but the employees walk around with the fakest smiles on their faces.

Job Culture:
get ready for your DAILY LINE UP! Every morning, the biggest waste of time I have ever herd of. All of the employes have to sit through this fake 4 minute pep rally and everyone who is presenting hates doing it. They preach fresh foods, but everything theres comes out of a can! 

Overall, if you want to work in food service, stick with the big guns, Aramark and Sodexo. At least you will get paid more and have better growth opportunities.

Learned a lot about senior living having never worked in that sector before. BUT almost Everything I learned was by going on the company intranet or calling another location and asking how they do something. DM never answers phone until after 2-3 days of pleading for a call. 

Staffing, as with EVERYWHERE, is horrible. Low hourly pay makes it hard to recruit and the people that have stuck it out during the pandemic, often working 15 hour shifts, 6 days a week, doing 2-3 peoples work are not compensated. 

No recruiters for hourly staff. Your told constantly that you need to post ads and interview people immediately when they apply and because your not doing that, that is why you can’t hire people.  They forget your covering hourly positions to get basic services to residents and only after your done can you try and call applicants. Recruiters need to be prescreening candidates and scheduling interviews for the local managers.  

Offering large sign on bonuses for new hires but no bonus for the people that stuck it out?  Was asked multiple times by staff about this and sr management states to tell them, “we’re trying to get more help for you, isn’t that what you want”. So basically telling them sit down and shut up. Saving thousands a month on wages due to being short staffed but NONE goes back to those hourly employees that worked doubles with half the staff. Half the saved wages each period should be divided amongst the people working that based on the hours worked. 

I used to work here a bit ago. Employees always late in the mornings, did no call no shows and called off. One restriction was no nail polish. Had a few girls broke this restriction. Employees had no respect for management and continued to fist fight and yell and argue. No matter what the supervisors did or said. I was a previous supervisor and if someone called off, I had triple duty. No breaks and if you were lucky to get 10 min for a lunch. My health started to decline even worse and I was told by management there was nothing they can do to get my schedule back on track. I had to open at 530am most days and close at 9 pm other days. This schedule went back and forth. Example...Monday I would open, Tuesday I would close...some times getting out at 11pm. And then Wednesday would open again. Back and forth with a roller coaster ride for my schedule. Plus there were a lot of times I was working 2 weeks straight with no day off. Sometimes longer than 2 weeks. I had so much stress working there and it made my health take a serious nose dive. Threw my back out at work and was denied workers comensaton and denied time off to heal. Made to feel like I was a peasant beneath them. 
I kept in contact with a close friend of mine after I left. He was worked so hard, just as bad as I was. But in 2018 he was at work and he had a heart attack and passed away. AT WORK DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF STRESS!!!!  I will NEVER EVER RECOMMEND this place to anyone. Management is a complete joke, employees don't care and they are awful.




I

I can't stress this enough. There are 4 Linden Grove's where Unidine runs the food service in the Milwaukee area. Do not waste your time applying there.  Upper management is as bad as it gets.  The pay is slow low that it is laughable that they even think people will work for them for these low wages.  They expect 1 person to do the work of 3 people since they can't hire anybody to replace those that quit.  They expect you to work 7 days a week from 6am-8pm whenever they see fit, but then will complain about the overtime you are getting. Get ready to work every weekend of the year from open to close with no help. 

You are not viewed by management as a human being when you work at Unidine.  You can be their best worker that does everything they ask, and at raise time they will find any excuse to give you a 10 cent raise.  Upper management collects bonuses for profiting off of serving very cheap food, low labor wages, and with no where near the labor costs they used to have when more people worked there. Think about that one.  Shouldn't you be grateful and appreciative of the staff that still works for you?  For Unidine at Linden Grove the answer is no.  Unidine's operation at Linden Grove deserves 0 stars. 1 star is too generous for them.   

What is the best part of working at the company?
A truly toxic work environment! No support from management. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Complete toxic work environment made many reports that were documented with management and yet it still was truly toxic that I had to leave. They did nothing to better the situation sad because I really enjoyed working with the residents and they really loved me.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible and toxic Zero support from Managment. They truly didn’t have your back. And refused to come in on holidays when we were short staffed. I never work for a company that truly didn’t care about toxicity as long as that Managment had their days off they did not care. They put me in grueling working conditions with a completely toxic employee that was harassing not just me, but everyone.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I was a dining room manager at assisted-living, and I truly loved coming in and seeing the residence and the other staff that worked outside of Unidine. They were awesome and I miss that place.

I come in at 6 am every morning to cook breakfast, most days we have a special we offer such as biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, maybe coffee cake, including the usual bacon, sausage, oatmeal, cream of wheat eggs pancakes and french toast that i have to prepare. There's two people that makes the plates and deliver them to the residents. At this time i have to do a meal count before i can start to make lunch and prep for dinner which i also have to cook on my own. both meals offer two entrees two starches lunch offers two veggies and supper offers homemade soup. I prepare all these meals with no help for almost 100 residents. Im also responsible for washing pots and pans whenever i can which is hardly ever but i have to find time to in order to have the pots and pans i need to cook and dish up food in. This job is very demanding and its really hard to keep people on the job because we are over worked and under paid the best part of my job is having coworkers that i can talk to and help me get through the day i also enjoy listen to music that is the most helpful of all.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cook 15 salaries reported	$18.65 per hour
Food service worker 52 salaries reported	$24.07 per hour
Server 26 salaries reported	$24.75 per hour
Sous chef 2 salaries reported	$67,500 per year
Dishwasher 10 salaries reported	$22.45 per hour

Working at Unidine: Company Overview and Reviews

Unidine

Unidine Ratings

Popular jobs at Unidine

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected