Free restaurant employee manuals 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 manuals 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 manual templates and then cut out the sections you need and put them back together. However, keeping the text of your employee handbook generic could present a problem in the future.

The added expense of hiring an attorney is 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 employment policies.

Your attorney will also counter your policies with those required by your state, as well as additional sources, such as city ordinances and policies set forth by the US FDA regarding food handling and sanitation.

2. Are you practicing an at-will job?

Hiring at-will may seem practical for a small business, but it also leaves you vulnerable to disputes, such as wrongful termination charges. This limitation is under the implicit contract exception, which is one of the three exceptions to the employment-at-will rule.

Although you hired an employee without a written and signed contract, the presence of a restaurant employee manual translates into a binding contract within the following conditions:

to. When you state that an employee can be fired for “just cause,” you cannot fire any of your restaurant staff without just cause, which challenges the nature of at-will employment.

B. When the employee handbook explicitly lays out standard procedures for termination of employment and you suddenly terminate one of your employees without due process, then you are liable for breach of contract claims.

vs. 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 included provisions for cultural competence in your restaurant 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 manual should also include provisions for holidays that are generally observed by other cultures. For example, Halloween may not require absence from work, but the Day of the Dead does. Visiting tombs and participating in a procession are traditional practices for this special November day.

The free manuals for restaurant employees are practical options compared to buying ready-to-use manuals, but before you can use one of them as your own policy manual, you will need to modify the content to strengthen the legal validity of the document and comply with diversity. in the workplace.