Those who are involved in catering usually get into it because of the love for food, the love of food service and major event planning. Having a catered event go off without a hitch can be very rewarding. Unfortunately running a business means there are technical aspects of being self-employed and that includes some employee disputes that may eventually arise as your business grows. To keep situations from turning ugly and out of your favor, follow these tips:
Comply with Laws - Far too many law suits occur in the United Stated as a result of managers and business owners tampering with time cards. Overtime, tip and wage/hour violations can sting you, and if you are guilty of it you may have a class action suit on your hands. To avoid getting involved in wage disputes you should follow labor, wage and hour laws to the letter.
Treat Employees in a Nondiscriminatory Manner - When you work around employees on a regular basis you tend to get friendly, and friendly people are sometimes too open with one another. You need to ensure that in all your interactions you're avoiding unlawful harassment in the workplace, and steer clear of discrimination or anything that could resemble it, even jokes.
Use Documents, Progressive Discipline - While many states are at will employment states, allowing you to discharge someone at your leisure, you should still document those incidents carefully and in detail. This creates a paper trail documenting progressive discipline where an employee had ample time to be coached and adjust or correct the problematic behavior. Without it, you could potentially be sued for wrongful termination.
Conduct Regular Audits - don't just rely on your own procedures to carry you through. You need to ensure that you're in full compliance with the law. Set aside the time to have your processes, paperwork and discipline system audited by a specialist or an attorney specializing in employee relationship. This will ensure that you're in full compliance with local, state and federal guidelines.
Catering Supplies - Provide Training - If your catering business utilizes shift managers and other managers to handle events for you in your absence as well as kitchen managers to keep the show running then you need to ensure everyone meets regulation and is compliant. That means putting your management staff and other shift leaders through the appropriate training. The fact that you provide ongoing training can be used as probative evidence in the defense of a claim of harassment or discrimination.
Catering Supplies - Update your Handbook - It's best to verbally communicate your policies and procedures for harassment, discrimination, wages, labor and more to your crew but make sure you have an updated policy handbook that is read and received by each employee. Having this on hand ensures that every employee is aware of policies and progressive discipline action.
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