As the industry's labor pool continues to drain, operators are turning to temporary solutions to help keep their restaurants up to speed. According to the National Restaurant Association's 2001 Restaurant Industry Forecast, the biggest challenge restaurateurs say they will face this year is recruiting and retaining employees — a long-term trend that is likely to continue.

Hiring temporary workers has become a popular option to save time and money while continuing to provide quality, uninterrupted service to customers. In the last 10 years, the number of temporary workers nationwide has nearly tripled — from 1.28 million in 1990 to 3.42 million in 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A February 1999 BLS survey of approximately 1.2 million workers indicates that about 4 percent of those employees were temporary workers in the retail-trade industry, the category that includes restaurants.

"I think temps are the work force of the future," says Oscar Chapman, a chef at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Atlanta, who has used temp workers in his restaurant for six years. "You can bring them in and let them go as business fluctuates." But Chapman cautions that using temp workers can have its difficulties. "Unless you get the same temp over and over, you have to keep training for the same position. It's best to build a relationship and call the same people. If you keep switching it up, the ball gets dropped and the quality of service can go down."

Although temporary workers may be a convenient way to fill in the gaps on your staff, the best way to boost repeat business and encourage a team-like attitude is to build upon and retain your current staff, says James Wordsworth, president of J.R.'s Goodtimes, Inc., in McLean, Virginia, and a National Restaurant Association Board member. "Consistency is the number-one reason restaurants stay in business," says Wordsworth, whose J.R.'s Stockyards Inn restaurant still employs some of the same workers as when it opened its doors 25 years ago. "You have less mistakes and pilferage by having established and experienced employees."

There are some situations where Wordsworth believes using temporary workers makes sense, such as large catering events or conventions. "At these events, you can give a temp worker a specific job with a definite beginning and a definite end, and use your existing employees to manage the image of the event," he says.

Restaurateurs considering patching the holes in their work force by hiring short-term help should do some research into the various temp firms and decide exactly what their workplace needs are before tapping into a temporary pool of employees.

A temporary solution

The choice of which agency to use often is based on personal preferences and the needs of the restaurant, but operators should let the temp-position requirements also guide their decision. Although an agency that deals specifically with culinary workers may be ideal in some situations, at other times a standard agency will do the job.

"Sometimes our business requires an accountant or an office worker," says Nancy Vajretti, owner and president of Love and Garlic, a catering corporation serving Gorgeous Foods in Fresno, California. "We're a business like everyone else. We don't need an accountant to be food savvy."

Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing a temporary agency:

• Do your homework. Generally, temp agencies will mark up their rates to profit from their employees' salaries, which vary from agency to agency. At A Temp in Thyme, Inc., in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the markup fluctuates based on what the restaurant or hotel needs. "We are a small, privately owned company catering only to the foodservice industry. We pay our staff in between $7 to $12 an hour, depending on the position and their qualifications," says co-owner Mary Earley. "Our employees range in qualifications from dishwashing positions to management positions. Our markup is based on the salary we pay our employees. As our rates increase, the markup will increase to cover costs."

In addition, some agencies will base the markup on repeat business. "Like any temp service, we get a percent of the markup, which can be as low as 7 percent and as high as 50 percent," says David Schek, co-founder and president of Culi-Services, a national temp agency headquartered in Washington DC that deals specifically with culinary workers. "We base that on the level of business we get from the restaurant. Of course, sometimes restaurants are looking for 'a plumber on Sunday,' and need a quick fill-in. For that we'll charge a higher rate."

• Expect good customer service. Restaurants aren't the only businesses that should provide excellent service to their customers. If an agency does not return your phone calls within a reasonable amount of time or does not act in a professional manner, it may be time to select a new company. "You can automatically tell an agency is not up to par if you have to call them several times. That tells me they couldn't be bothered with my business," says Maggee Jessamine, assistant catering director for M.W. Wood Foodservice Caterers at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and a client of A Temp in Thyme.

• Know your state's employment laws. A temp usually is an employee of the temporary agency that selects and sends the worker to the agency’s client company. Normally, the temp agency • not the restaurant • is responsible for benefits and salary, including deducting taxes and Social Security. If, for example, a temporary worker is hurt on a job at a client restaurant, then the temp agency typically is responsible for workers' compensation, unemployment, insurance costs, etc.

However, restaurants should research their state employment laws, because such responsibilities can vary. For example, under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, the DOL takes the position that whoever directly controls the workplace and the work actions of the temporary worker is the liable party. When hiring temps, be sure to check with your attorney as to the applicability of federal, state and local laws.

• Try it on for size. Hiring and working with temp workers isn’t right for everyone, so ask a prospective agency about sampling its services on a trial basis before committing to a contract. A Temp in Thyme gives clients the option to "try before you buy." "We let our clients try our service and see how it works so they're not locked in," says Earley. "It's important to communicate with your clients so they know what to expect and what they're getting."

Culi-Services offers a flexible-contract option that allows clients to test out their services without signing a long-term deal. The company has two types of contracts: a six-month contract, including a human-resources team to help manage the restaurant's personnel, and a temporary-to-permanent contract that lasts anywhere from eight to 12 weeks. "People have to try us to like us. Our philosophy is this: if you like us, great; if you don't, we'll give whatever profit we made back to you," says Schek, adding, "We've never given it back yet."

Great expectations

When working with a temp, remember that he or she was not trained at your specific restaurant and may not be as efficient as an employee who has been working there for years. But that doesn't mean that job expectations should be any lower, just more realistic.

"If you deal with a produce vendor, you want a 100 percent perfect product just like you ordered," says Vajretti. "It's the same with temps. You want someone who's somewhat trained, dressed in a uniform, with 100 percent capacity to do the best job they can."

Sometimes the key to a satisfying temp-worker experience comes from simply working hand in hand with the agency. "Try to give the temp company time to gather a good person. A few days should be enough if you know someone's going on vacation or taking [maternity] leave," says Schek. "When you give the agency three or fours hours' notice, it's always hard to hit a home run."

Ask for an employee who's been trained in the specific position you're looking to fill. "That's one of the downfalls [of working with temp agencies] — trying to get skilled workers," says Chapman, who works with Culi-Services in Atlanta. "Sometimes the employees have specialized in, say, being a broiler cook, and I haven't had too many disappointments with them. But sometimes [other] agencies have sent me people with no experience who've never been in a kitchen, but they just wanted to send me a body. . . . Look, even if you're in a bind, you still want someone to come in and help business. If that person has a lot of experience, it makes a definite impact. A quality worker is one of the things you may not get all the time."

Schek adds another caveat: "Don't always go for the lowest price. You get what you pay for. A specialized person with good skills costs market price."

A 1998 BLS study estimates the average hourly wage for temporary foodservice workers is $7.22—waiters and waitresses average $7.36 an hour, cooks receive $9.29 an hour and prep workers are paid $6.92 an hour. Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based Manpower Inc. sets temp wages on a state-by-state basis. A banquet worker temping with the Manpower branch in the Washington DC-area, for example, can earn around $7.50 an hour.

A temp in time saves money

Choosing to take on a few temp workers instead of hiring permanent staff can save managers time and money in the end, says Earley. "Businesses will spend money on advertising and conduct interviews and get nowhere," she says, adding that A Temp in Thyme conducts interviews and knows each candidate's skills in order to create a perfect fit for their clients. "We know what the individual and the restaurant [are] looking for. We're not going to send a dishwasher out to be prep cook."

Wordsworth, however, does not think that using a temp worker is always economical and timely. Just training an employee, he says, can double or triple costs, because the trainer is a more expensive employee and training is a process that can go on for several months. "Then you lose [the employee] and it starts all over again," he says.

Temporary workers also can be a drain on a manager's time, Wordsworth contends. "The time it takes to train [a temp] on how to enter an order into the computer — and then the manager may have to come over and correct the order — perpetuates the involvement of managers in the daily conduct of business," says Wordsworth. "They can't manage if they're dealing with things like error corrections."

With 50 offices around the country, Culi-Services developed the Personnel Partner Program, which places human-resource managers with foodservice experience in client restaurants to help relieve some of the administrative stresses Wordsworth mentions. The managers of the Personnel Partner Program spend between 10 and 40 hours a week in the restaurant placing advertisements, interviewing, training, scheduling and conducting food-safety seminars with staff. "This program allows the owner to focus on what they want to do," says Schek. Participating clients also are charged a lower markup rate — between 7 and 10 percent.

The time saved is a priceless bonus, says Vajretti. "Before [Culi-Services], we did all of the scheduling in-house, which took 20 to 40 hours a week. Now we rely on our temp service to do scheduling, which allows us to focus on our jobs — foodservice and customer service in partnership. When we're ready to work, we're ready to work."

And since Culi-Services also carries workers' compensation and liability insurance for the temporary workers, Vajretti's savings have been considerable. By using temp workers in the kitchen, Vajretti was able to reduce her in-house payroll, since the workers' compensation insurance experience rate is higher for foodservice employees. "Reducing our payroll was a goal of ours before we decided to use temp workers and we're pleased with the results."

When temporary becomes permanent

Sometimes a temp worker can add so much to the existing team that management will decide to hire him or her as a full-time employee. Most agencies are designed to be temporary to permanent, but be sure to read the fine print in your temp contract before making any long-term hiring decisions.

At A Temp in Thyme, employees have to work 400 hours as temporaries before they can be hired full time independently by the client. Employers can either wait out the 400 hours or buy out that worker for the cost of the number of remaining hours multiplied by a markup on the employee's hourly rate.

If a Culi-Services client wants to hire a temp to work full time, they only have to wait 10 to 12 weeks before the employee is rolled over from the Culi-Services' payroll to their own. Schek estimates that about 40 percent of Culi-Services' temps will transition from temporary to permanent.

But Chapman cautions that hiring a temp to work full-time can be a gamble. "Our success has been 50-50," he says. "Some couldn't keep their level of work up and others worked out for years."

Temp-ted?

Although some restaurants are lucky enough to have many long-term, quality workers, others may find themselves struggling to remain fully staffed. Turning to a temp agency may help the business run efficiently until the labor pool starts to fill again.

"The biggest challenge," says Earley, "is to convince people that they're not spending that much more money in the long run. They'll spend all this money on advertising and interviewing and they don't even know if the person they hired will show up. Hiring a temp is not that outrageous of an idea."

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