Taking over existing cafe.....

Savvy_Sue

Bear in mind that if you're taking over the existing staff under TUPE - which it sounds as if you are - you need to be on top of employment legislation from the word go.

jexygirl

As Sue says you are under TUPE regs if you take on existing staff. Depending how long the staff have been there, you could be liable for all sorts depending on circumstance. Easiest way to deal with it is with a good solicitor, have the existing lease holder pay all necessary staff redundancy, then you re employ them as if it is day one.
This will cover you for all sorts of things that may arise within a year such as claims of unfair dismissal (need to be employed for a year) if you simply do not need so many staff and have to let some go, as well as not being liable if it turns out that the chef/cook is not as good as you thought, or is too expensive for the business and you need to let them go - you would be liable for redundancy for ALL the time they worked there, not just the time you have employed them. That is why I suggested you get a good solicitor who will make sure that cant happen.
Also as Paul said - have the cook write a bible in case of absence, ( we took pics of every dish for reference of how to serve it, underneath is the recipe and how to cook each part /reheat it, as well as a general guide to daily prep to check and cleaning so that if I die tomorrow, Sam can still open without me! It has also served well when a close friend died and we both disappeared to sort a funeral and left it to the agency chefs) and in the first instance, have your OH, no matter how reluctant, learn EVERYTHING about that kitchen, despite there seeming to be other priorities, there isnt. It may not seem a priority now, but take it from someone who learned hard lessons really fast - without the food, you are a coffee shop, and you will be held to ransom and not in control, if you do not know how to cook everything on that menu / who the suppliers are /costs of stock /portion control / what days to order what from where /cooksafe regulations / GPs etc.
It is your business, do not put yourself in a position where you are held to ransom by ANYONE (decent chefs are like gold dust, many want "total creative control" meaning they want everything their way, regardless of what direction you want to go, and agency ones think they are gold dust and charge accordingly!). They may all seem lovely now, and may turn out to be - but if they don't, you still have to pay the bills and open the place and have it running as usual. Your hubby having served so long will be used to having people cover his back, in civvy st it is every man for themselves when it comes to working.
ETA: That is not supposed to be patronising sorry if it sounded that way
Best of luck
Jex

plymouthscubagirl

Thanks guys - some interesting points covered. I have already started talking to the solicitor about the tupe stuff. My partner naively thinks that because only one member of staff is on a contract the rest don't count :eek: I'll be making sure that everything starts from scratch once we take over.

Good point about partner learning the kitchen, as he's being a little stubborn about it. I'm going to be doing work experience there next week, so I will spend the day in the kitchen and start completing a process guide, or in his case, an idiots guide over the next few weeks!!

He's pretty proactive in fairness, as he has a 'managerial' role within the services so he will just get on and get what needs done, done!

No offence taken about the patronising comment - we need all the help we can get:rotfl:

paulwf

plymouthscubagirl wrote: »

I have been informed that the rest of the staff have this.

Just check the dates as they should be renewed every 3 years. To be clear they don't actually expire (unlike some first aid courses) even though course providers will make you think this. However a set of really old certificates won't impress your EHO.

paulwf

With regards to contracts - if you get the chance to start afresh have all your staff on zero hours contracts. Include the right to short term lay off. Also include that bank holidays and Sundays are normal working days and won't incur extra pay.

Not having a fixed number of contracted hours will really help you at first as you will probably want to tweak opening hours. Even after the initial settling down it will help enormously as catering is very labour intensive, cutting a few hours here and there from the rota could be the difference between success and failure.

In case anyone thinks I'm being harsh catering does involve a lot of young part time staff that don't hang around for long and although you should always treat them well you won't have the money to pay them double time and to find them hours even though you are overstaffed. Keep your staffing budget lean then you can afford to really look after the valuable team members that stick around.