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Free restaurant employee handbooks from trusted online sources provide the freedom and convenience small restaurant owners need to save money and time running their business. However, there are certain risks in using free restaurant employee handbooks without verifying whether the generic policies fit the needs of your restaurant business.
Before publishing your employee handbook, consider the following points:
1. Have you consulted an attorney or law firm to verify the contents of your employee handbook?
It seems easier to just download free restaurant employee handbook templates and then cut out the sections you need and reassemble them. However, keeping the text in your generic employee handbook could present a problem in the future.
The additional expense of hiring an attorney is well worth it when you find that your business is in jeopardy due to a labor dispute. The words you choose will determine how your employees understand your workplace policies.
Your attorney will also check your policies against those required by your state, as well as additional sources, such as city ordinances and established US FDA policies regarding food handling and sanitation.
2. Are you practicing at-will employment?
At-will employment may seem practical for a small business, but it also leaves you vulnerable to disputes, such as wrongful termination charges. This limitation falls under the implied contract exception, which is one of three exceptions to the employment-at-will rule.
Even if you hired an employee without a written, signed contract, the presence of a restaurant employee handbook results in a binding contract under the following conditions:
has. When you state that an employee may be terminated for “just cause,” you may not terminate any of your restaurant staff without the presence of just cause, which defies the nature of at-will employment.
b. When the employee handbook explicitly states the standard procedures for termination of employment, and you suddenly fire one of your employees without due process, then he is liable for breach of contract claims.
Cons Avoid using binding language, such as referring to a job as a “career” or providing promotion and demotion policies, which are not possible in at-will employment.
3. Have you made provisions for cultural competency in your restaurant’s employee handbook?
Most workplaces today are multicultural and multilingual. In recognition of this diversity, your employee handbook, as well as postings in your restaurant, should be translated into one or two other languages. The most common foreign languages include Spanish and Chinese.
In addition to trilingual translations, your restaurant employee handbook should also include provisions for holidays commonly observed by other cultures. For example, Halloween may not require time off work, but Día de los Muertos does. Visiting graves and participating in a procession are traditional practices for this special day in November.
Free restaurant employee manuals are practical options compared to purchasing off-the-shelf manuals, but before you can use one of them as your own policy manual, you’ll need to modify the content to strengthen the legal validity of the document and adhere to it. to diversity. in the workplace.