When you run a food service business, you have to take the employment laws very seriously. You will have local, state and federal laws that must be understood and followed to the 'T'. These laws are put in place to protect the employees so that they are not overworked or underpaid. If you ignore the laws, you can easily find yourself the victim of fines, lawsuits or worse. As a business owner you can imagine the impact this would have on your financial state and the success of your establishment.

Most of the laws that you encounter will have something to do with the wages of the employee. Specifically, there are laws that govern minimum wage as well as overtime pay. This is to prevent an employer from working their employee for wages that are unreasonably low for the work performed or from asking them to work excessive hours without compensation.

There is a federal minimum wage law, but many states have enacted their own as well. While this can be higher than the federal law, it can never be lower. Minimum wage for some food service employees is sometimes different than for other employees, so you should always know the laws for each staff position. Overtime, pay guarantees that any employee that works beyond forty hours a week will be paid more than their hourly rate for doing so. Doing so prevents employers from having employees that work long and excessive hours without fair compensation.

If you opt to employee minors in your business, then you will need to also become familiar with the laws that protect them when it comes to work. Minors cannot be handed a typical schedule and expected to work it. They will have special regulations about when they can work, how long they can work and what they are allowed to do while they are working. Unlike many of the employment laws, these laws are not federally based. Instead, each state is able to determine which laws are needed and set them up accordingly. This means that a minor may have a different working schedule in one state than they will in another.

In some cases, a minor is only allowed to work until a specified time of night. After that specified hour, they may no longer be on duty. These laws were established so that the job would not interfere with school hours. This is also why many states regulate the number of hours a minor can work per week. Some things that an employee may do at work are restricted for a minor. These things are based on other laws as well as the safety of the minor while performing these tasks.

Though it is not often fun to keep up with laws and regulations, it is a requirement if you plan to run a business. In the food service industry you will work with a lot of employees. You want to ensure that they are treated fairly, according to the law, so that you never have the repercussions that come in the event that they are not.

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