Big News: New Tipping Laws In May 2024
Expected in May 2024, new legislation will mandate restaurants to ensure fair and transparent allocation of tips, gratuities, and service charges among their workers.
The law requires employers to have a written policy on tips, (included in our restaurant employee handbook), to distribute tips in a way that is fair, transparent and consistent and to keep a record of how tips have been dealt with for three years from the date received, which can be achieved with our, Excel Calculator for Tronc/Tip Pool Payment Distribution to UK Restaurant Staff.
Read all about the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act here.
Why Do So Many Restaurant’s Fail?
Research shows that 60% of independent cafes and restaurants fail in the first year, 10% above the normal business failure rate. Cafes are a very high-risk business and it seems that many people underestimate just how challenging the restaurant trade is. Read his article to understand the top 10 reasons that restaurants fail and key success strategies needed for success: Top 10 Reasons Why Restaurants and Coffee Shops Fail (Study)
Employee Handbook for Restaurants and Coffee Shops
An Employee Handbook clearly sets out the entitlement and rights of staff, and they set out the policies and procedures that must be followed, enabling a restaurant and it’s staff to act according to employment legislation. Without one, your establishment will most likely be in breach of employment legislation and be at risk of punitive action. Take a look at this specialist Restaurant & Cafe Employee Handbook UK 2024.
Restaurant Employee Scheduling Software Apps
Research shows that independent restaurants have around a 60% failure rate and the main reason that they fail is now is due to lack of knowledge but due to bad planning and financial management, particularly around staff planning and payroll forecasting.
By using one of the leading restaurant scheduling app such as Rotacloud you can more effectively plan and manage staffing and costs due to key features like automated scheduling, sales forecasting (based on predicted weather), and staff costs due to automated payroll calculations.
If you are a smaller company of perhaps 100 or less employees you might not need software, and if this is the case why not try out our simple Downloadable Excel Staff Rota.
Zero Hours Contract for restaurants
If your restaurant cannot predict the exact number of staff required in a year, or you have unpredictable demands or seasonal fluctuations in workflow, you may need to use Casual Workers. This Zero Hours Contract UK governs your employment relationship with a casual worker. You may also wish to read this article, Should My Small Business Use A Casual/Zero-Hours Contract? (UK)