The first downside is the pay. It's rotten. $8.25 from company that took in $1.7 billion in the 4th quarter of 2009 makes the "competitive wages" phrase on their employment advertising sound like an industry-insider term. You do get tips, but that totals (and I'm being generous here) maybe $1,800 per year. The company has tightened the belt of late, which has meant cuts in "Partner" pay, benefits, and hours schedules. While I was hired as a Full-time employee, it's rare that I get the hours I was led to believe I would work.
The next big negative hits you when you get your benefits. The following includes only medical costs. The healthiest employee will have $40 deducted from his/her paycheck. Every pay check. Not $40 per month, but $80 per month. That reflects a %50 discount for being healthy. That means someone with diabetes, or some preexisting condition, might have to pay $160 per month. Subtract that from (say you get 30 hrs./wk @ $8.25 + $40 tips) $1150 before taxes, and you're left with $990, again before taxes. Once taxes come out, you're down to about $970 (because you're taxed on base pay as well as tips). What kind of life does that afford you in the Boston area? It's a shame that benefits are punitive. But, since you make so little, you might qualify for state/federal aid. Tack on vision and dental benefits, and you're out even more cash. But you're covered! And you'll be excited to contribute to your 401(k)!
Speaking of which, you're given a number of investing options, none of which are environmentally friendly. Most funds you can contribute to rely heavily on Financial services and Energy. By "Energy", of course, I mean oil and gas. Where's the Green Fund Starbucks, the company with the "Shared Planet" motto, the %10 recycled content in our cups(!)?
Another negative--this is small--is that you work so frequently with sanitizing chemicals with drying agents in them that your hands will dry out severely. I'm talking cracked and bleeding dry. So you'll have to invest in some HD lotion.
