What you Should Include in Your Restaurant Employee Policies

Have a policy and procedures manual employee handbook so that employees have easy access to the rules and regulations.

Legal Policies

In your policies and procedures manual, ensure that you have included the basic legal policies that you should comply to. This includes all regulations for work hours, pay, discrimination, worker’s compensation and medical leaves. You will need the assistance of an experienced attorney when drafting the employee handbook. Most of the federal and state regulations apply to businesses that have a certain number of employees. Therefore, you won’t have to comply with some laws if you have a small workforce. It’s also important to include laws that are related to harassment and termination in your policies and procedures manual.

Food Safety

Policies that are related to food handling and safety are very important. Therefore, in your policies and procedures manual, ensure that you have outlined the training guides and policies for all your employees about sanitization methods for utensils and dishes, cross-contamination and guidelines on how some foods should be stored. Policies that are related to the cleaning of food during preparation and storage areas should also be included.

Dressing and Hygiene

The dressing code and personal hygiene policies are important, especially in the restaurant industry. Therefore, ensure that you set strict policies that are related to the uniform standards and the dressing code if employees have the freedom to wear any attire. Also, have some policies that are related to employee tattooing and piercing. Ensure that you also put it as a requirement that your employees only wear non-slip shoes when working in food preparation areas or in the kitchen to avoid any slip and fall injuries. Provide hair and beard nets for your employees for food safety.

Other things to Consider

In your employee policies and procedures manual, ensure that you have included policies that are related to breaks, schedules, benefits, and payroll. This will ensure that your employees are always aware of what they should do at what time. The benefits can also include meals and holiday pay.