Working in hospitality can be particularly stressful. From dealing with difficult patrons and adhering to legal requirements through to the non-stop rush and late-night rosters, there are challenges regular faced by hospitality workers. While some might say it is just a part of the job, what we know is that workplace stress has detrimental effects on you, your family, your workplace and even society. As workplace stress builds, we notice an increase in mental distress, and even negative health effects. At times, it can get so bad we may ‘burnout’. Hospitality workplaces, inclusive of gaming venues, are environments shown to be particularly conducive of employee stress. These stressors can come in many forms, including:
Emotional Labour: Whether it is the stress of having to maintain a ‘customer service’ face for an entire shift, or having to keep cool when intervening with patrons, this kind of emotional labour can have its toll on our mental health.
Ethical Concerns: Trying to come up with a solution on the spot in stressful situations that weighs up your legal and work responsibilities, and that of patrons’ wellbeing can be mentally exhausting.
Patron Interactions: It may be confronting a patron who is over-expressing feelings of anger or even jubilation, or consoling those patrons who may be coming to terms with the alcohol or gambling related harms, many patron interactions can be difficult to cope with.
Legal Responsibilities: Enforcing the legal requirements for your role on those who may not be as accommodating, or understanding can be particularly challenging.
Shift Work: Working long, constantly changing hours through the day and night has been shown time and time again to be particularly detrimental to physical and mental health.
Demanding Work Roles: The dinner time rush or closing after a big day, hospitality roles can be physically exhausting, leaving us little energy to keep on top of our mental health hygiene.
Role Conflict: Sometimes balancing the duties of your role with your own personal values can be a challenge in itself. This incongruity can cause considerable distress in our lives.
Role Ambiguity: At times we may be unsure about where our role starts and where it ends. Do we have obligations beyond our primary duties?
Social facilitation: Being around alcohol and gambling frequently can begin to shift how we think about them. Sometimes our perceptions can skew, and we may forget about the harms associated with them.
COVID-19: The recent and constant changes for the hospitality industry in relation to COVID-19 management has been a challenge for all hospitality workers. Trying to keep on top the quickly changing legislation, and how best to apply it to your workplace, dealing with patrons who are unfamiliar with the new restrictions, and understanding the additional roles and responsibilities of COVID marshals and general hospitality workers has brought many of the previously mentioned challenges all bundled up at once. Patron interaction, legal responsibilities, role ambiguity and role conflict all tied up with a neat COVID bow.
