For restaurants, cafes & food service
A restaurant handbook that gets tips, minors, and sick-shift rules right
Tipped-wage mistakes are the highest-volume wage claims in America, child-labor sweeps are a stated DOL priority, and one sick cook is an outbreak. Generate the handbook that handles all three — matched to every state you operate in.
Free to create and preview — $199/year to download and share, 2 updates included.
Why restaurant handbooks are different
Seven states ban tip credits entirely; federal law bans managers from tip pools everywhere; the under-18 hazardous-equipment list catches slicers and mixers most managers don't think about; and the Food Code makes employee illness reporting a legal duty, not a courtesy. Generic templates flatten all of it into 'follow the law.' Ours states the actual rules — with your states' supplements where they're stricter.
Restaurant-specific modules, generated alongside your complete multi-state handbook:
Tips, Tip Credits & Tip Pooling
Tip-credit notice, tip-pool rules, and the no-managers-in-the-pool rule — the highest-volume wage-claim territory in food service.
Employees Under 18
Child-labor hour limits and the hazardous-equipment list (slicers, dough mixers, fryers for under-16) — a DOL enforcement priority with per-violation fines.
Responsible Alcohol Service
ID checking, refusal duties, server-permit requirements, and dram-shop exposure — the policy the liquor license depends on.
Food Safety & Employee Illness
FDA Food Code employee-health duties: symptom and diagnosis reporting, exclusion rules, hygiene standards, and food-handler cards where states require them.
Plus the full multi-state employment handbook: 51 jurisdictions of sick leave, final pay, breaks, leave, and required policies — statute-cited.
Common questions
Does it handle no-tip-credit states like California?
Yes — the tipped-pay module carries state supplements for California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, and Alaska (full minimum wage plus tips, no processing-fee deductions where banned), and the federal rules — including the absolute manager-never-in-the-pool rule — everywhere.
We employ 16- and 17-year-olds. What does it cover?
The minor-labor module covers hour restrictions by age, the prohibited-equipment list (slicers, mixers, fryers for under-16), work permits, and — importantly — tells minors they may refuse prohibited tasks without discipline, which is exactly the culture a DOL audit wants to see.
Is the employee-illness policy really required?
The FDA Food Code — adopted in some form by every state — makes symptom and diagnosis reporting an employee duty and exclusion a management duty. Our food-safety module states both, with the no-retaliation commitment that makes honest reporting actually happen.
HandbookHQ
$199/year
Complete handbook + industry modules + state supplements + acknowledgments + 2 updates a year. Free to create and preview.
Start with the free checkHandbookHQ is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Industry modules are drafted against published licensing rules and statutes (citations included) and are pending attorney review; consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.