Hiring and Firing Catering Staff

The success of any company rests in the efficiency of its staff. Your staff are the face of the company and if they do not perform in an acceptable manor then business will suffer. How to hire and fire members of staff is an important subject owning a catering business.

Catering Staff Hire

Once you have hired the right staff for your company you will be able to move onto other tasks safe in the knowledge that your business is in safe hands. Your staff may be friends and family who are supporting you in your business venture in which case their labour may be either voluntary or on a temporary basis whilst your business is being established.

This can be a great boon to you in your early days of self employment but you must look to the future when staff arrangements should be on a more formal footing.

Temporary Staff

There are agencies that cover the hire of temporary staff for catering businesses. You could make use of them for your own business venture although you are not only relying on the agency supplying reasonable staff but you will be paying over the going hourly rate as the agency will charge a fee for their service. It would be better to find your own staff even if they are employed on a casual basis as and when they are needed.

Advertising

It is possible to place an advertisement in your local job centre. People looking for part time work often log onto the job centre website and you will be sure to find who you are looking for with reasonable ease.

Pay rates are usually based on the national minimum rate but after training you would be able to review your employees wage and award them what you feel they deserve. By treating your staff well they will remain loyal and be prepared to go that extra mile when asked to do so.

Firing Staff

There will be times when you need to fire your catering staff. Although it could be very tempting just to sack someone on the spot for not doing their job unfortunately this is not possible under employment law. You first have to give them a written warning and the problem has to be discussed with them signing to say they have had a grievance meeting with you.

The road to dismissing someone is very tricky and if in doubt you should obtain legal advice before doing so. Business Link has a very good support system for business owners and if you have any worries about the technicalities of firing staff they will be able to advice you.

Par For The Course

You may have gone into the catering business because you enjoy cooking or have always wanted to work in the service industry but sadly part of the job of owning a business is to be able to hire and for your staff. If you really do not like this part of your job then perhaps you should give the job to a manager or make someone on your payroll in charge of personnel.

They can ultimately report to you but the day to day running of staff and the delegation of their duties can be left to someone who is more comfortable with the position.