Employment

Some businesses (not just restaurants) sign up with a pre employment screening service that checks into the basic background of a future (key) employee. On some applications it is asked of the applicant if they have every been arrested. If this is not followed up by any other "legal" question, the applicant does not have to answer that. On other applications it is asked if the applicant has ever had a felony. If the applicant has had one, they are required to answer this question, as if it is found out later (by a pre employment screening for example) that they do have a felony) it can be grounds for dismissal. It cannot be a hindrance for NOT being hired. Usually on most applications it does ask for a drivers liscence and social security number. (It is illegal to inquire about marital status and children, as well as asking the date of birth, but legal to ask if they are over 21 years of age, and if they eligible to work in the United States.) With the drivers liscence and social security number, a pre employment screening can be done. This is slyly agreed upon by the small writing above the applicants signature, stating basically that the applicant states that all of the above is true, and "grounds" for dismisal or not being hired if found to be false. Sometimes it is also referred to as a release of information.
All applicants are asked to fill out an application, even if they bring in a resume, as this is for employee files, proof of employment if hired, and for your accountant to keep track of pertinent information.
Visit our special web page with important ACLU links.

Hiring
Place an ad here in our Classifieds for as little as $10, or visit our on line link Newspapers to place one. Another great place to place help wanted ads would be with Culinary Schools. Alot of students are looking for internships and practical experience. If you are going to offer an internship, you more than likely will have to meet with the Director or a school counselor to set up a type of course offering, what your "job" offering will be, so it meets the standards of the school giving the student credit for working.

Scheduling
It is important for your costs to NOT overstaff (payroll is one of the largest costs in any business, it can make you or break you) and yet to not understaff. You do want to have good service to all your customers, but yet, you do want your staff to be making enough money in tips so they stick around, and don't end up just standing around. If you are just opening, it is wise to somewhat overtaff, to get a feel for how you should schedule in the near future. If your payroll costs are very high, you may want to reschedule your hours for your employees to lower it. One way of doing this is to "cut." Cutting involves entering on your schedule i.e. 3 p.m. -- 1st. This says that the employee starts work at 3 p.m. and is the first one cut (finished for the day) depending on the size of business. Most kitchen staff (especially Chef's) are paid a salary. But some can be on hourly, if you so choose. If you see alot of your staff just standing around, remember "clean, clean, clean." There is always SOMETHING to clean. Don't expect your wait staff to mop down the walk in, but the kitchen staff can. Don't expect the kitchen staff to wipe down table and chair legs, but your wait and bus staff can. See our sample Schedule here. Remember, that if you have for example a server in training, they must be paid at least minimum wage during this training process BEFORE they revert to server pay (just short of $3 per hour, plus tips) so it is important to train well, and quickly.
Server's are required to report tips. Please see Accounting for info on this. They are also expected to tip out to bus personal at the end of their shift.

Tipping
Servers are required to report their tips. See Accounting for acquiring information about this. They are also expected to tip out to the bus staff at the end of their shift. Some establishments leave it up to the descretion of the server, simply stating to give the bus 10% of their tips (which they never do...) I reccomend a house rule of 2.3% of their total sales BEFORE any discount. This actually works out to be a more realistic amount, based on the staff making approximately 15% tip on their sale with 10% going to the bus personal. This amount can be broken down evenly or by amount of work performed by bussers, but each bus person should get something. You can also just assign a bus person to a server for exceptional service. In that case, just that bus person receives one tip out from that server.

Policy & Duties
It is important to have these posted in area's where the employee can see them, as well as passing out a copy of them (along with the menu of course) for them to study and know. As long as it is spelled out for them, very few problems should arise. Always keep your "suggestion" door open. Not only does it promote team work, but allows you as an owner or manager to make diplomatic as well as confidential decisions.