Restaurant Industry: 2014 Minimum Wage Increases

/in , , /by

If you’re within the restaurant or food services industry, you may utilize a handful of minimum wage workers. Were you aware of the various state changes, effective January 1, 2014? The following states are experiencing an increase; don’t forget to update your payroll!

 

STATE CURRENT MINIMUM WAGE NEW MININUM WAGE EFFECTIVE JAN 1, 2014
Arizona $7.80/Hour $7.90/Hour
Connecticut $8.25/Hour $8.70/Hour
Florida $7.79/Hour $7.93/Hour
Missouri $7.35/Hour $7.50/Hour
Montana $7.80/Hour $7.90/Hour
New Jersey $7.25/Hour $8.25/Hour
Ohio $7.85/Hour $7.95/Hour (for restaurants with annual gross receipts in excess of $292,000)
Oregon $8.95/Hour $9.10/Hour
Rhode Island $7.75/Hour $8.00/Hour
Vermont $8.60/Hour $8.73/Hour
Washington $9.19/Hour $9.32/Hour

 

Also, effective July 1, 2014: California will experience a state increase to $9.00/Hour. The current minimum wage is $8.00/Hour.

For additional restaurant resources, visit our “HR Solutions for the Restaurant Industry” section. Contact our team at Employer Solutions Plus if you have any questions: 727-698-6207.

I-9 Audits on Restaurants

/in , , /by

It’s no secret that the hospitality industry experiences high turnover. Restaurants don’t often keep waiters or waitresses on staff for long periods of time (in comparison to other industries), because fact of the matter is that for many employees it’s just a part time job, a transitional period of their life, or a way to temporarily make a little extra money on the weekends.

It is for this reason among a few others that the hospitality industry has become an easy target for I-9 audits. With employees coming and going all of the time, keeping up with the paperwork can be a fulltime job in itself. Every restaurant owner knows that the I9 form needs to be completed (ensuring that their new employee is eligible to work in the US), but they may not be completing this form in a timely manner, or they may be waiting a few weeks to see if a particular employee will stick around.

This is a BIG mistake! Avoiding a minor administrative headache today or placing this task on the backburner can result in a big compliance violation in the event that you’re audited by the government. If your business is randomly selected for an audit, you could have as little as three days’ notice before documents have to be surrendered. If your restaurant is in violation, hefty (and sometimes debilitating) fines will follow.

So, what can you do? The first option is to always ensure your restaurant is operating in compliance. Although, for busy business owners, sometimes mistakes are entirely innocent and unavoidable; we make them by accident or we’re just not educated enough within one particular area of employee management.

The alternative chosen by many restaurant owners is to work with a PEO. If you visit the “HR Solutions for the Restaurant Industry” section of our blog you’ll see that PEOs come with many benefits beyond their help and expertise surrounding compliance and new hire paperwork. They’re able to bundle nearly all HR and compliance responsibilities under one cost effective umbrella to ensure that your business is run as effectively and efficiently as possible.

To learn more about PEOs operating within the restaurant industry, click here. If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact us at Employer Solutions Plus: 727-698-6207.

Opening a Franchise Location – Your HR Checklist

/in , /by

You’re a new franchisee – congratulations! Among the many positive things going on at this moment, is the sense of security, knowing that you’ve invested in a proven template for business and an established brand.

Beyond your brand, you may also have established guidelines for customer service, product offerings, and operations. But, wait a minute – did anyone mention HR?! Corporations don’t always provide new franchisees with best practices and how-to’s for HR and employee management – that may be the one area of business you’ll need to explore on your own.

Don’t panic. Fortunately for you and your employees there are plenty of resources available, including the team at Employer Solutions Plus who are willing to help you navigate “everything HR.”

Let’s review 10 areas of HR that every business owner should be up to speed on:

  1. Hiring & Firing: Do you know where to recruit the best employees? How to retain them? How do you appropriately terminate an employee while staying in compliance?
  2. Employee Training: Will you provide on-site training or virtual classroom training? What do employees need to be adequately trained on?
  3. Employee Handbooks: Your Company’s employee handbook serves as an important communication tool between you and your employees. A handbook sets forth your expectations for your employees, and lets new hires know what they should expect too! Who will write your handbook? Who will keep it up to date?
  4. Benefits: Robust benefits packages help make you an employer of choice, and help retain your top talent!
  5. Compliance: There are hundreds upon hundreds of pages of fine print surrounding employment law and regulation. Who will ensure your workplace stays in compliance at all times?
  6. Payroll: Whether you’re a small, medium or large business, efficient and accurate payroll processing services keep your business obstacle-free and promote better cash flow.
  7. Tax filings: Withholding, FICA, Federal & State Unemployment … Do you have a designated tax person or is your payroll/office manager managing it all?
  8. Risk Management: Accidents happen, and when they do, you’ll want to make sure that you have a great workers compensation policy.
  9. Communication: Communicating with employees isn’t always easy. Are you prepared to conduct interviews, employee reviews, training and exit interviews?
  10. Wages, Hours, and Technology: Tracking workers’ hours, and calculating time and a half is a lot easier when you’ve got technology on your side!

For some franchisees, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) makes perfect sense. They’re able to bundle the 10 aforementioned HR responsibilities under one cost effective umbrella. For others, a PEO may not be the perfect solution. Corporate may already offer you resources for payroll and taxes, but may not be able to assist you in the other 8 areas. For these particular clients, partnering up with a company that represents multiple providers in each product category will allow you the flexibility to customize a cost effective solution that meets your individual needs.

For more information on PEO services, or customized HR support packages, contact Employer Solutions Plus.

Outsourced HR for Restaurant Franchises

/in , /by

You’re the owner of a successful restaurant franchise, with multiple locations operating in various states. You’ve mastered and streamlined the following processes:

· Operating Expenses

· Inventory & Logistics

· Marketing

· The Menu

· Customer Experience

· Atmosphere

When someone invests in your franchise, they’ve got a solid foundation for success. But wouldn’t it be nice to build all of the backend headaches and behind the scenes administration into your franchise model, to further ensure success?

Eliminating HR headaches and hurdles makes your franchise model and business solutions much more attractive to new investors looking to open a restaurant of their own.

First step, is partnering directly with a PEO or a business partner that represents the “best of” the most critical services a restaurant owner requires to make informed decisions regarding PEOs, Payroll Only Solutions, Health Insurance Options / Employee Benefits and Ancillary Benefit Programs.

Here’s why you need to do this:

Managing restaurant employees is a dangerous and costly proposition. There are literally hundreds of employment laws and regulations in which a business owner needs to comply. Failure to comply could result in a lawsuit big enough to shut down an entire location.

More restaurants are finding it advantageous (and profitable) to outsource “everything HR” to professionals which result in the following: relief from the burden of employment administration, improved risk management, improved employment practices, streamlined hiring and firing processes, and better benefits packages.

By partnering with a PEO to manage your corporate locations, you’ll have established a relationship that can be passed along or recommended to each new franchisee.

An alternative to outsourcing “everything HR” to a PEO is to find an HR specialist, such as Employer Solutions Plus, that is an expert in HR, payroll, benefits and risk management… and can quickly piece together the perfect HR package.
An HR specialist will also let you know if a PEO is your best (and most cost-effective) option.

Employer Solutions Plus workplace solutions allow your restaurant(s) to focus on what it does best … Let us handle the rest by calling us today!