We often speak to restaurants, cafes, bars and other businesses in the hospitality and catering trades and they are concerned about employee theft; yet they show no real concern for self-imposed breaks that employees take.

When you look at the amount of time an employee may not be working, surely cost wise this is the same amount of ‘theft’ as having a drink from behind the bar or having a free meal from the kitchen when it hasn’t been approved by management?

Nearly everyone in the UK has at least one mobile phone, and many people are on their phones consistently. However, this should not be the case for employees in your restaurant. You need to make sure you have a strong mobile phone policy because those ‘quick texts’ to a friend, status updates on facebook and photos on snapchat are all taking time and that’s costing your business money.

These impromptu breaks interrupt the flow of the restaurant and this can damage the productivity and efficiency of your team; less efficiency results in less profit and that is never a good way for a business to run.

Even when business is quiet there is always something to do. This could be cleaning menus, restocking the front bar, filling up condiments, checking the bookings for later that day, cleaning dessert cabinets, folding takeaway boxes, and so much more.

Why not have a checklist of jobs that need to be done each day or week and can be done in these quieter times so employees know what is expected of them, and they don’t feel the need to get their mobile phones out?

This means during the busier periods everything is prepped and ready and the sift will run easier for all employees; therefore a more enjoyable experience for the customers too as their servers won’t feel overwhelmed with all the things they need to get done.

Here at Sterling Stock Auditors we would highly recommend that you ensure a mobile phone policy is in place and that it is enforced, as well as followed by all the team – even management! Breaks are crucial in the hospitality and catering industry so make sure breaks are allotted, and taken – but don’t allow for self imposed breaks as these will damage your reputation and your bottom line!