Why a Restaurant Employee Handbook is Important
- By Jerome Chiaro
- Published 01/28/2012
- Latest
- Unrated
Jerome Chiaro
Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant Owner & Consultant out of Orange County, CA. Don't train your staff alone! He can help you spend LESS TIME and become MORE EFFECTIVE... Claim your copy of his Free Restaurant Employee Handbook. Success doesn't happen alone! Join a mastermind of restaurant owners and a wealth of resources, at his Free Restaurant Forms Blog.
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If you are the owner of a restaurant, of course you know that a restaurant employee handbook is important. However, there may be reasons why it is important that may not appear to be important on the surface.
Lawsuits
In today’s litigious society we unfortunately come in contact with lawsuits. Often they are baseless and frivolous, but sometimes we wish that we had paid more attention to things like our restaurant employee handbook to avoid some lawsuits.
Wage and hour laws – while everyone wishes to stay in close contact with the laws to avoid problems, some may not know that Fair Labor Standards cover such things as:
• Seasonal and migrant workers
• Foreign labor
• Minimum wage
• Overtime pay
• Equal pay
• Federal contractors
• Wage garnishment
Employee benefits – while not every restaurant offers these, some are required by law. Take for instance workers’ compensation and social security. Then there are laws that cover optional employee benefit plans as well that should be covered in a restaurant employee handbook.
Discrimination and harassment – As there are more and more suits filed having to do with this subject, it is important that an employee can find the following:
Equal Employment requirements
• What training and assistance is available
• Specific information for federal contractors
Payroll system
You will find that it is of extreme importance how you set up your payroll system. You will want to be on the lookout for:
• Avoiding possible IRS penalties
• Making
sure the correct withholding is accomplished for each employee
Environmental regulations
Within a restaurant employee handbook, restaurateurs are wise to include specific information as to how the restaurant will comply with various environmental regulations such as those covering:
• Environmental permits
• Air quality regulations
• Cleanup
• Emergencies and disaster planning
• Waste regulations
• Water quality
Posters
Although there are a myriad of posters required by law to be posted where every employee can see and read them, not every restaurant owner is adequately prepared to observe the law. By including these in their restaurant employee handbook, it is evident that the restaurant is not only aware of them but has cared enough to outline them in the handbook. These include:
• Equal employment opportunity poster
• Fair labor standards act poster
• Family and medical leave act poster
• Notice to workers paid special minimum wages poster
• Occupational safety and health act poster
• Office of labor-management standards union member rights poster
• Uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act poster
The above are only Federal posters. Each state also has some posters that are required by state laws, and these should be mentioned as well.
In conclusion, it is important that every restaurant employee handbook covers just about every aspect that any employee may wish to learn about in their handbook. The more thorough it is, the least likely it is to cause problems, however you are cautioned to have your attorney read over the handbook to be sure that all your t’s are crossed, and your i’s are dotted.
Lawsuits
In today’s litigious society we unfortunately come in contact with lawsuits. Often they are baseless and frivolous, but sometimes we wish that we had paid more attention to things like our restaurant employee handbook to avoid some lawsuits.
Wage and hour laws – while everyone wishes to stay in close contact with the laws to avoid problems, some may not know that Fair Labor Standards cover such things as:
• Seasonal and migrant workers
• Foreign labor
• Minimum wage
• Overtime pay
• Equal pay
• Federal contractors
• Wage garnishment
Employee benefits – while not every restaurant offers these, some are required by law. Take for instance workers’ compensation and social security. Then there are laws that cover optional employee benefit plans as well that should be covered in a restaurant employee handbook.
Discrimination and harassment – As there are more and more suits filed having to do with this subject, it is important that an employee can find the following:
Equal Employment requirements
• What training and assistance is available
• Specific information for federal contractors
Payroll system
You will find that it is of extreme importance how you set up your payroll system. You will want to be on the lookout for:
• Avoiding possible IRS penalties
• Making
Environmental regulations
Within a restaurant employee handbook, restaurateurs are wise to include specific information as to how the restaurant will comply with various environmental regulations such as those covering:
• Environmental permits
• Air quality regulations
• Cleanup
• Emergencies and disaster planning
• Waste regulations
• Water quality
Posters
Although there are a myriad of posters required by law to be posted where every employee can see and read them, not every restaurant owner is adequately prepared to observe the law. By including these in their restaurant employee handbook, it is evident that the restaurant is not only aware of them but has cared enough to outline them in the handbook. These include:
• Equal employment opportunity poster
• Fair labor standards act poster
• Family and medical leave act poster
• Notice to workers paid special minimum wages poster
• Occupational safety and health act poster
• Office of labor-management standards union member rights poster
• Uniformed services employment and reemployment rights act poster
The above are only Federal posters. Each state also has some posters that are required by state laws, and these should be mentioned as well.
In conclusion, it is important that every restaurant employee handbook covers just about every aspect that any employee may wish to learn about in their handbook. The more thorough it is, the least likely it is to cause problems, however you are cautioned to have your attorney read over the handbook to be sure that all your t’s are crossed, and your i’s are dotted.
