Restaurant Employment Policies

by Jill Lee

Owning and operating a restaurant requires small-business owners to implement

several policies their employees must follow to meet health and safety regulations.
In addition to legally required policies, you'll want to put additional employment
policies in place to ensure your staff members perform their jobs to your satisfaction
to keep your restaurant running smoothly. Put your policies in writing in the form of
an employee handbook so you have all of the information on your policies in one
place and your employees have easy access to your rules and regulations.

Basic Legal Policies

Include basic policies that you must comply with by law. These include regulations
for pay, work hours, worker's compensation, discrimination and medical leave.
Consult with your attorney while drafting your employee handbook. Many federal
and state laws only apply to businesses with a certain number of employees, so you
might not have to comply with certain regulations if you maintain a small staff. Even
if it's not required by law for your business, it's a good idea to include policies
related to termination and harassment. Be careful about listing reasons for
termination if your restaurant is in an at-will state. Simply state that an employee
can be terminated or quit at any time without an expressly stated reason. Including
a harassment policy helps your employees feel safe and valued. Take a hard line
against sexual and other types of harassment toward employees, and enforce this
policy quickly if the need arises.

Hygiene and Dress

Personal hygiene and dress code policies are of particular importance in the
restaurant business. It's important to set strict policies related to your uniform
standards or dress code if you allow your employees to choose their own attire.
Decide whether you will set policies related to employee piercings and tattoos.
Require that employees wear non-slip shoes, especially in the kitchen and other
food preparation areas to prevent injuries. Keep hair and beard nets available for
employees and require them to wear their hair tied back and contained in a net for
food safety reasons.

Food Safety

Some of the most important employment policies for your restaurant are policies
that relate to food safety and handling. Outline policies and training guides for your
employees with respect to cross-contamination, sanitizing methods for dishes and
utensils and guidelines on how long certain foods can be safely stored. Include
policies related to cleaning food preparation and storage areas with sheets for
employees to initial indicating that they have cleaned their work areas at regular
intervals. Check your state and local laws for specific regulations related to food
handling and safety and ensure that your employees know and follow these health
laws.

Other Considerations

Include policies related to schedules, breaks, payroll and benefits in your employee
handbook. Putting these policies in writing makes employees aware of how their
schedules might change and how often, when they are entitled to a break and
whether those breaks are paid or unpaid. Specifying payroll dates, times and
methods prevents unnecessary employee questions related to compensation. List
the benefits your employees will receive, even if you do not offer insurance policies.
Benefits can extend to things such as holiday pay, meals or discounts for family
members. Set a strict policy for tip reporting for your servers. Include information on
where they can obtain a tip reporting sheet and set a policy regarding how often
they must report their tips for tax purposes.

Summary of Features & Benefits:

Non-discrimination Payment procedures

Age requirements Tip reporting

Orientation period Benefits

Training Vacations

Evaluations Holidays

Schedules Workers compensation

Overtime Employee meals

 Employee safety
Standards of conduct
Management/employee
Drug & alcohol policy relations

Employee use of social media Sanitation

websites
Dress Code
Cellular phone policy
Accidents & emergency
Kickback policy situations

Harassment Alcoholic serving policy

Absences Propriety & confidential

information
Tardiness
Solicitation
Resignations
Handbook receipt

Restaurant Employee Policies & Procedures

Keys

Traditionally the general manager is responsible for the keys and security codes.
Restaurants with assistant or part-time managers often have a second key holder to
open and close the restaurant in the general managers absence. Key holders are
responsible for ensuring that all doors are locked and engaging the alarm system.
They may also be asked to open the restaurant in the morning and disengage the
alarm to allow early arrival employees to begin daily preparations.

Cash
Only one other person, besides the manager, should be given access to cash. Give
this cash register operator a unique access code for use on the point of sale system
and ask them to count and sign for their drawer at the beginning of their shift. Make
sure that they fully understand that they must be careful with the money and their
password. Limiting the number of hands and therefore the people responsible for
the cash will lower instance of employee theft.

Behavior
Clear limits must be set on behavior that is allowed during working hours. In many
restaurants the servers and kitchen staff are constantly vying for the best shifts.
Use this as an enforcement tool to reward those who adhere to behavioral standards
and punish those who stray. Inappropriate activities like drug and alcohol use should
be met with immediate and professional verbal warning response as well as the
employee or employees being asked to end their shift.

Appearance
The appearance of restaurant employees reflects directly on the restaurant's
standards. Advise all employees that they will be sent home to change or shower if
they show up to work looking dirty. Allow employees to return permanently stained
or damaged uniforms for a new clean version. Any employee, whether they handle
food or not, must be told to take their personal hygiene and cleanliness very
seriously. Repeated offenses by an employee may require that you demote them to
a back of house position where they will not come in contact with customers.

Schedule
Each employee is responsible for knowing and adhering to the precise times written
on the schedule. Make it understood that employees are to be in uniform and
completely ready to perform job duties at their scheduled time. Any changes must
be approve in writing at least 24 hours in advance by the manager. Employees who
do not show up for a shift or get permission for missing it will permanently lose that
shift from the schedule. Give equal treatment to all scheduled employees and never
allow them to make their own adjustments and changes.