A restaurant employee handbook is a vital part of running your restaurant business, but many restaurant owners remain neglectful of their duty to provide even a simple policy manual to their employees. The importance of having a restaurant employee handbook in your restaurant was explained in candor by AllBusiness.com restaurant advisor, John Foley.

According to John Foley, a restaurant employee handbook does four important things: it explains the owner or owners’ expectations; it gives employees the opportunity to contribute; it facilitates resolution of disputes; and it sets the standards for hygiene and dress codes.

As a restaurant owner, you have your expectations of how your employees should act and speak when dealing with customers as well as with their co-workers. You want them to follow the standards you have set because their insubordination may mean the loss of profits, or worse, the end of your business.

Within the pages of your restaurant employee handbook, your expectations as restaurant owner and the general rules on acceptable behavior are contained in company policies. The terms and conditions of your policies should follow the law on labor and employment in your State.

Aside from company policies on behavior and work standards, your employee handbook should also contain provisions for dispute management. Oftentimes, employees and managers disagree on certain decisions and issues, and may even come to blows.

If your restaurant employee handbook sufficiently outlines the steps for implementing due process in resolving such conflicts without reaching the courts, then it sufficiently protects your rights as well as your employees’ rights. These same policies can also serve as avenues for employees to share their opinions and views.

Not all restaurants have a workers’ union that gives employees of any employment status a voice to air their concerns to the management and the business owner. A restaurant employee handbook can pave the way for better communications between employees and the management.

If you have included provisions for submitting employee complaints and suggestions in your employee handbook, then your employees will feel more appreciated for what they do to improve your business. After all, when your business becomes profitable, they will also reap the rewards through bonuses and workplace improvements, such as high-quality kitchen appliances and food preparation devices.

Many more factors influence a restaurant owner’s decision to create a restaurant employee handbook, but these four are the most important if you want to protect your thriving business. Eventually, you will have to deal with problem employees and labor issues, which could cause you thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and state fines aside from the public relations nightmare that will surely affect your sales and your restaurant’s reputation.

You every well know that a company without an established employee manual or handbook is as if a house built on sand, which easily weaken and break from exposure to strong winds and flowing water. If you are unsure of what to include or how to write it, you can take advantage of the Internet and download free restaurant forms for a ready-made restaurant employee handbook.