Noodle
Brisbane, QL
Male, 24
I have been working in Australia at Subway restaurants for 6 years and have been a manager at a Subway in a shopping center for the past 4. Unlike from what ive heard about McDonalds managers, Subway managers are VERY hands on; washing dishes, serving customers, cleaning and everything in between. I will Q&A some common questions to save peoples time
Because one day a customer decided that the name "Chicken Fillet" was misleading because it wasn't technically a 'fillet' of chicken. So they complained and got Subway to change it to the Chicken "Classic". And ever since it has confused customers who want the "old Chicken Fillet" and has been a pain in the ass for employees trying to explain to customers that the Fillet and Classic are the same product, just a different name.
TL;DR - A customer complained that the name "Fillet" was misleading.
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They do, technically. Subway is currently testing a gluten free roll and brownie in 19 Subway stores in the Duluth area (in Minnesota, USA. So sorry Australia it will still be a while yet)
So its been in its testing phase since early 2012 I believe and will gradually expand and change on consumer feedback.
I read about someone with celiac, testing one of these stores. She writes about how she had the worker change his gloves multiple times because of cross contamination (if you touch ANYTHING; Oven/microwave door, cutting board, knive, someone elses sub you could have contaminated it) and then also having him get fresh salads from out the back and new knives to cut the bread.
So based on that its going to be very hard and probably nerving to effectively serve someone that you might make sick by touching the wrong thing. Especially when you are under pressure to pump out subs every 30 seconds during lunch rush, then someone requires you to break up the serving system and take minutes to focus your sole attention on their sub. Thats just my opinion, Im sure on worldwide release Subway will sort out a new system to effectively serve gluten free customers.
TL;DR - They do have gluten free bread, its currently in its testing phase in a few select stores. initial reports say its very troubling to avoid contamination when serving it.
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The rate of pay changes depending on wether you are full time, part time or casual. And your pay starts when you are 15 years of age, and minimum wage goes up each year until you turn 21.
(Please note that the figures I give are not exact and are estimations and for example only)
So, at our Subway, everyone is employed as CASUAL. And a junior that works there is 15 years old and gets paid around $10.30 AUD per hour. BASED OFF THAT, my guess for casual workers based on age are as follows;
AGE/HOURLY RATE; (Australian Dollars)
15 - $10.00
16 - $11.50
17 - $13.50
18 - $16.10
19 - $17.10
20 - $19.20
21 - $20.50
Also note that minimum wage increases about $0.70c or so every couple of years to keep up with inflation
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Subway have a contract with the Coca-Cola Company, where they provide us with a glass door drinks fridge + a good discount on wholesale coke products, and in return we buy their products to sell.
At any one time (80% or something) of the drinks offered for sale have to be Coke brands.
At any one time, we are only aloud to offer 22 'lines' of drinks. We MUST stock 600ml Coke, 600ml Diet Coke, 600ml Coke Zero, 390ml Coke, 390ml Diet Coke, 390ml Coke Zero and Mount Franklin water (i think). This takes up 7 lines of our 22 maximum (this is enforced during our monthly inspection)
So this leaves 15 lines of drinks that each Subway can choose themselves. So once the Subway stocks other popular items such as 600ml & 390 ml Fanta, Sprite, Mother energy drink and Vanilla coke it will leave them with 8 more lines.
So they will want to start branching out to cover different tastes (and have atleast 2 flavors of each so If customers don't like one they will probably like the other) so then they will choose two flavors of each; iced tea x2, Powerade x2, flavored milk x2, fruit juice x2
So after you stock the core drinks, stocked the more popular drinks and then stocked a variety of drinks to cover general customer needs/wants you usually have 0 (1-2 if you are lucky) lines left to bring in a new drink. And remember if its not a coke brand then its likely to not be stocked.
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I believe it is similiar. I don't know much about the US but most people like it here. It is more expensive but thats just how the Australian economy works. Even so we get customers paying $7 AUD for a footlong and commenting on how cheap it is. So I guess its just a matter of perspective.
So anyway, I would assume because Subway runs the business the same worldwide, countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand etc would think of the brand the same
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This one may be a little difficult for me to answer because at Subway we are not aloud to have a 'tipping jar' on the front counter (or anywhere).
But from my experience, in the past 5 years I have been tipped about 3-4 times and it is nearly always in the situation where someone is in a hurry, the change comes to 50 cents or less and they just run off and you hear a faint "keep the change" in the distance.
From what I have observed, places like resturants and cafes have a tip jar but most people don't tip, a few people use the jar to 'throw away' the coins that they just got from change (mostly $1 or less) and only like 1% actually tip generously.
My friend, when he was working at a sports bar said that he got tipped frequently tho. Usually after someone had ordered a round and their hands were too full for the change (and you would want to look generous infront of your friends by not taking the change) or when some older guy wone a bet on a horse race and he would share a bit with the bartender while getting another drink.
So in conclusion, tipping is not completely absent. But it is a rare occurance in anything but bartending (probably only because people are drunk) and when it does happen it is mostly just the loose change they don't want so they throw it in the tip jar or tell you to keep the coins.
And you will almost never get looked down upon if you don't tip in Australia.
Our wages are generally higher (bartenders usually get paid about $23 - $25 an hr) so we don't rely on tips so get by. But having said that, lots of things are more expensive
TL;DR - Its not absent but it almost never happens. And if it does its just loose change.
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Everything is prepared in a very food safe manner and we don't add anything to the product after we get it
The HEALTHIEST option is to have a salad bowl, with no meat, no cheese and no sauce. Just loaded with salad. - but thats cheating a bit
But probably anything listed as '6 grams of fat or less'. The chicken strips or turkey are probably the healthiest, on a wrap with no cheese and no sauce would be really healthy. Sauce and cheese are more unhealthy than you would think
Also pretty much anything that is processed gets absorbed in your body differently than whole foods so non processes products are the healthiest
But, in my case, I eat Subway 8+ times a week (usually for breakfast & lunch monday - friday). I have the unhealthy options like meatballs, pepperoni or chicken fillet, with cheese and 3 different sauces. So I probably have the most UNHEALTHIEST sub you can get every day and I have stayed 63 - 66 Kgs for the past 4 years. And the only exercise I do is biking to work and back so you probably won't get fat from eating Subway :)
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We put freshly baked cookies and bread in the air vents every morning. :)
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Im guessing because the bread is baked as a 12" and then either served as a 6" of a 12". So if you made the 9" there will be 3" of wasted potential. and then there is the problem with how much meat will go on it With the meat products like the chicken fillet, you put 1 patty on a 6" and 2 on a 12" but you cant really put 1.5 patties on a 9".
Also if you give someone too many choices they may not make a purchase at all (I have read a study about this but cant remember the source, sorry)
And finally all the effort that Subway would have to go through to implement that change would be huge (advertising, re training, producing new menu signs)
TL;DR - The Subway formula has been based around 12" and 6" subs. Changing it up with a 9" sub would lead to unessary food waste and would require a huge change to implement.
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Im just going to assume the "chicken breast" is the same as "roast chicken" because we don't have something called specifically "chicken breast" in Australia. People do refer it to both names tho.
Probably about one year or more ago Subway done a product change on its Chicken Breast (Roast Chicken) product, so im not sure what one you are talking about. The 'old' Chicken Breast was pretty bad, it tasted like cardboard and was about 3rd on my 'most disliked subs' list, just above the Seafood and Tuna.
I find the new one very nice, it is advertised as "Made from 100% real chicken breast" - but don't be fooled, what it means by that is all the chicken in the product came from the breast meat (which is really good because some chicken products from other places that aren't 100% breast meat probably use parts of the chicken you would never knowingly eat to fill out the product).
But in reality the Chicken breast (Roast chicken) sub is about 86% Chicken (All Subway chicken products range from about 72% (Chicken Schnitzel) to 95% (Chicken Strips) actual chicken) the rest is stuff like Wheat, Water, Salt, Thickener, Sugar, Soy Protein etc. So it could taste processed to you because it is.
In my opinion, food is ALWAYS going to taste better when you buy whole foods and fresh ingredients and cook it yourself (And thats why your home cooked chicken breast tastes better). But it is nearly ALWAYS going to be more expensive and take longer to make. Thats the trade you make when you buy fast food.
TL;DR - Subway's "Chicken Breast" product is processed, prepared and cooked off site, then frozen and delivered to Subway stores.
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The most frequent is probably when the meat product is not heated up to a sufficient temperature. And even then its not really a complaint its just;
Customer: "My chicken is still cold"
Subway: "Sorry, let me make it again for you"
Its usually due to new employees not knowing how long to heat the product for, someone using the wrong toaster setting or the product was not 100% thawed before heating (which is fine, you just have to heat for longer)
Even so we only get about 2 - 3 of these complaints a week.
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Not that I know of. If there was an old menu item that can be made by mixing and matching the current meats avaiable we could do that (but it would likely be at a different price). Beyond that extent, no. Atleast nothing that Subway HQ has made us aware of.
Some individual Subway stores may have their own 'special' menu items made by mixing and matching meats.
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I believe it is, our store is in a food court right next to McDonalds and we get comments atleast 3-4 times a week (when im working) saying things along the line of "atleast Subway is healthy", "I only come here because all the other places are processed/shit/unhealthy" and things of that nature. So I would say that it is viewed as the healthier option.
For your second question, Yes. Australia's obesity rate has something like doubled in the past 20 years, Obesity is now the leading cause of death (smoking use to be number 1) and some reports even say that for the first time in human history ever, the current generation has a lower life expectancy than the generation before it.
And Australia is 3 in the world for percentage of overweight/obese people. I think really any country that has easy access to unhealthy food and technology that makes your life less active is going to have problems with obesity.
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If we are talking about straight up min wage, US is about $8? and AUS is roughly $16. So yes it is about twice as much, but if we calculate minimum wage by "international dollars" - a hypothetical unit of currency thats based on purchasing power of goods and services (Minimum wage versus how much things actually cost in that country) - Austraila's minimum wage purchasing power is equilivent to $10.64 per hr while USA is at $7.25.
So in reality, minimum wage in AUS is twice as much, but things in AUS are also alot more expensive, we pay more tax so after expenses the wage gap isin't that crazy.
For the whole career thing, my wage ($22/hr) is because im employed as casual, so Instead of getting paid holidays and paid sick leave etc I get paid a higher base hourly. And so I only work 23-28 hours a week so enough to support myself and still have some savings, but not enough to support a family. For the most part we do just have students working 5-10 hrs/week while studying.
Best case senario as a Subway worker (not owning a store), if you were managing a store/s for a multi unit owner, getting paid $25/hr and working full time (38hrs/week) then it would be a carrer that you could support a small family on by yourself. But you wouldn't have any disposiable income and would be quite poor.
Additionally, USA has a higher max salary. So while the minimum wage in USA is lower than Australia, the income potential is higher.
TL;DR - Because we pay 2 to 3 times more for everything. You still can't support a family on a minimum wage job in Australia.
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The most recent ones I can remember were around the time of the Olympics where Subway had three Olympic athletes endorse its product over the duration of the Olympics; James Magnussen, 100-meter freestyle world champion in swimming Casey Eastham, Women's hockey player Torah Bright, Pro snowboarder Endorsements with celebs or athletes usually only come with a promotion of a sub and then they are forgotten about after the promotion ends. As for if people really care? Yeah, I believe the general consumer, whether they know if or now, get influenced by advertisements and promotions. If it didn't work then they wouldn't keep doing it.
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Never. If it is past its use by date, we throw it out. If there is something else wrong with it we have to sent a complaint to IPCA (the company that deals with Subway's distribution), get credit or a replacement for it then throw out the bad stock.
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Our employees don't take the label of "sandwich artist" as literal and we have a joke about the title from time to time. I think its just called that because it sounds better than "sandwich maker". I don't really get it either.
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Absolutely not, if anything I think they have stepped up their game. They have recently spent a lot of effort changing the POS system so it will be the same in all stores (previously Subway stores had one of two POS systems which made traning and transferring to a store that used the other system difficult) And in terms of food quality a while ago now they completely revamped the Roast Chicken recipe, introduced a better cut of bacon, released a new egg - 'Poached Egg' and they have also introduced 2 new permanent salad items - Baby Spinach and Beetroot - at no extra cost to the customer . So I feel as the company grows they are constantly making an effort to improve the product and bring new things to the table.
As for corporate oversight, I think the effects would only trickle down because I don't notice much of a change. The promotional subs they bring out are usually a hit or a miss.
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From what I know it was only an issue in North America, as that ingredient is banned in Europe and Australia so there wasn't an uproar about it. No doubt some people in Australia and Europe didn't do their research and just assumed it was every Subway doing it. So i'm sure it spread far enough to do some damage to unaffected Subway stores anyway. To my knowledge they have stopped using that ingredient entirely now.
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The current store I work in does not have a post mix machine, but from memory;
If it is wierd tasting - The flavored syrup has run out
If it is flat - The CO2 tanks that make it fizzy have run out
If this does happen to you, it is a great help if you let someone know straight away so no other customers have flat or wierd soda and it should be no problem for you to get a refill once the syrup/CO2 tank has been changed.
How post mix machines work is that when you press the button, it mixes water with syrup to make 'flat' coke, then pumps it with CO2 to make it fizzy (very similar to how a soda stream works) then it comes out of the spout. so it is VERY unlikely to be a defect and the syrup is mostly sugar so before its mixed it can sit there for weeks and still be fine
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Pretty much stay calm and give them what they want because its all insured. Then call the police and close the store straight after the incident.
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Not from what I feel, Subway has grown a lot over the past 5 years, growing to have more franchise chains than McDonald's so I think Subway now gets compared to other big fast food chains. Our usual customers are mostly regulars who just like the product and service, and because we are in a shopping center they eat out five or so days a week so they know they have to eat atleast somewhat healthy. Some customers just really like salad and hate that you don't have the option to get as much variety and amount as other places And others just think they are too good for McDonald's I don't think its really hip at the moment because there are so many, everyone just wants their special start up business that's really good and only they know about.
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Hi Keith, Unless you are applying for a management position, you really shouldn't need any references and I would suggest just saying "references available on request" on your C.V. Depending on your age, references should be people who have worked with you or a teacher if you haven't any work experience.Just remember to ask if it's ok to have them as a reference first.
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Not that I know of, our store is in Brisbane so it is "away from the action" so to speak. In Sydney there may be some re-evaluation but a terrorist attack is unlikely to be centered around a Subway store. Sorry but I just don't know much about that whole situation.
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Probably when the owners of the store had to travel overseas for a family matter so I had near no contact with them and had to make some important decisions without the owners input.
To manage time I arrive a little early, leave a little late and make sure to get enough sleep. I don't do much work outside of my work hours.
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Well at our store we don't offer the "Giant Subs" so the longest would be just the normal foot long. We did have one customer come in and order a sub with extra of every meat, So it was a foot long ham with extra; Bacon, beef, steak, turkey, seafood, chicken strips, roast chicken, salami, pepperoni and chicken fillet - something ridiculous like that. we ended up having to open up another foot long bread and put that on top so it would all fit and it costed around $35 or something for the one sub.
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"national minimum wage - $17.29 per hour in the case of an adult, (and who is not a junior employee, or an apprentice, or a trainee"Under 18's get paid less than minimum wage because they are not an adult.
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The point of this Q&A is to offer a first hand perspective on what it is like to work in a Subway restaurant as it is not something you can just easily find online. This is probably the 4th question that doesn't ask for my opinion or that perspective and just asks for "how mush should I get paid". It varies a lot and there are online tools that are easy to find and to use to help you with your answer. If you live in Australia, start here: http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay.If you live in another country, I cannot help you.
Also the Subway fast food servers are expected to do the cleaning also, so there is no Subway 'cleaner' job title.
TL;DR - Stop asking me "how much should I get paid" you can easily find that information through a quick google search
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According to the Fast Food Industry Award 2010, in Queensland, Australia if you are a casual worker employed as a fast food server your pay is as follows;
$11.58/hr - 16 years old$13.89/hr - 17 years old$16.21/hr - 18 years old
Source;http://paycheck.fwo.gov.au/PayCheckPlus.aspx
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There is no real set rule for this, it would depend on how much previous experience you have, how well you are doing and how much the boss likes you. There is typically a probational (or trial) period for the first three months of employment where you can pretty much get fired for any reason.My expectations are that you would have to be at least 18 years old and worked there for over one year to be eligible for promotion.Each level of employment are as follows; Trial period (0-3 months) -> Junior sandwich artist (3 - 12 months) -> Senior sandwich artist (12+ months and over the age of 18) -> Supervisor -> Manager -> Multi-unit manager Once you are a senior sandwich artist you can only advance further by showing a high level of skill and competency then being selected
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Staff can work wherever they like. I worked for two different Subways with 2 different owners at one point. But it counts as working two jobs so you get taxed a lot more on the 2nd job, and if working at one Subway conflicts with your availability at the other Subway, don't expect to be there for long.
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Sorry but I would have no idea about the cost of advertising. I'm sure putting an ad on a billboard above a highway would be rather expensive. As for laws, there are probably certain requirements to meet when putting a sign up.
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I'm just going to copy+paste what the fair work ombudsman government website says;
Your modern award is the Fast Food Industry Award 2010Your modern award classification is Fast food employee level 1, Under 16 years of ageCasual - standard $9.26 per hourSaturday $11.11 (25.00%) per hourSunday $12.97 (50.00%) per hourHe might be entitled to a laundry allowance of $1.25 per shift too.
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We only employ on a casual basis. For that, the rate of pay for a casual 18 year old is $16.10 per hour. In QLD, Australia. There are many online tools to help you find your correct rate of pay, I suggest you use them.As for holiday and sick pay, yes I believe you should still be entitled to that
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It seems to be that the longer someone works there, the more they grow to dislike it and the older they get, the more they feel like they can do, and should be doing better. From my experience it is mostly the customer service side that employees dislike the most and it is their relationship with the people they work with that will keep them there for longer than they would otherwise stay. Unfortunately working at Subway is not a career, its just a job and staying at a job without progression leads to feelings on bitterness and the notion that you are "too good" for it.
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