What Should a Restaurant Employee Handbook Cover?

If you own a restaurant, you will have to create a restaurant
employee handbook, but what do you put in it? Of course, you will want
to put in essentials, but what if you should miss something? This is
what this article is for, so that you miss nothing.CompensationWhile
everyone thinks of simply pay, your restaurant employee handbook
should go further than that. For instance there is:Federal and State
taxes - regulated by law
Worker's compensation - regulated by law
Pay schedules
Benefits programs
Wage and hour laws - regulated by law
Direct deposit choices
Salary increases - Often it is necessary to outline when and how these
will take place so that the employee does not expect them according to
their own schedule
Performance reviews - Often it is a good idea to outline when and how
these will happen
Overtime pay - pay careful attention to this. First of all there are
laws regulating overtime, however if you are looking to totally
avoiding overtime, it may behoove you to regulate how early and how
late an employee may punch in, for instance, as it could surprise you
how an employee can rack up an hour of overtime every week in 15
minute intervals!Work SchedulingFlexibility of scheduling - This may
include time off for Dr. visits, or simply cover if an employee may
swap days scheduled with an another employee
Punctuality - Extremely important to emphasize of course
Reporting absences - Every restaurant handles this differently, be
sure and cover this important subject
Doctor notes - Goes with the above reporting absences. Dr. notes may
be required.
Attendance at meetings - Important to cover, especially for those who
work late into the night, as they may not wish to attend meetings
scheduled in the morningStandards Of ConductThis can vary, but should
include:Dress codes
Legal obligations
Discrimination
HarassmentTerminationCovering termination is exceedingly important. Be
sure to cover why an employee may be terminated, the amount of
severance pay that an employee may expect, as well as your stand on a
drug free workplace and more.TemplatesUsing a cookie cutter template
for your restaurant employee handbook will definitely make sure that
you cover the legal side of it all, but on the other hand, you want
your handbook to be something that your employee can turn to happily
whenever questions arise. There are some things that are not covered
in a template, that you may wish to cover in the handbook that is
important specifically for your own restaurant, thus you may wish to
make additions to it.Specifics Every restaurant is going to have some
specifics in its restaurant employee handbook that are no longer
general for every restaurant. Perhaps it is the way that celebrities
are handled, or the way that handicapped people are brought into the
restaurant even though the front door is through a stairway, whereas
the back door, though the kitchen is ramped. These and many other
questions need to be addressed so that everyone understands the
special procedures that are going to be followed.