Puzzle pieces that a Specialised Hospitality and Restaurant Broker will have to paste together – Part 4

The People. This is certainly the most crucial part of purchasing a business. The people that will make a difference between a profit or a loss!

Before purchasing any business, ensure to write into your agreement that you work shifts in the business that you are purchasing. The employees do not need to know who you are and what the purpose of your presence is. Work with the people talk to them and learn more about them and their working habits and relationships with each other at work. This will be a live window into the business that you are committing your savings to!

Soon you will have a partial picture of the people that you will be investing your money into. You will get a picture of the potential, is the morale low and with your skill, you can turn this business around and generate a great return on investment or is the morale and motivation high and you are buying into a business that is managed optimally and you just need to hold the reigns lightly?

If required you can request interviews with key staff to establish their personal stance and planning for their futures. 

The Administration. Ensure that you are supplied with a summary of all statutorily required payments. If these required payments are not up to date you are about to stick your head into the proverbial bees hive!

I will mention some however not limited to my list.

• PAYE
• UIF
• SDL
• Workers Compensation
• Staff Leave outstanding.

The Filing System. Every employee file should have a collection of documents.

My suggestion is that if you do not behold this responsibility for yourself only and that you have a designated HR person that is specifically responsible for this duty. I would also suggest a regular file audit checking all the files ensuring that all the required documentation is up to date. You know by now that if something is not nailed down to the floor the likelihood is very good that it could go missing. Not stolen, just misplaced, and for the love of it, you just cannot find it when you need it. 

• Personal Information
• Interview and selection Admin. 
• Sexual and Criminal offences Act.
• I.D. Copy
• Personal Tax Numbers and or Registration.
• Bank Account Details.
• Proof of Address.
• Employment Contracts.
• Job Description.
• Performance evaluations.
• Company Rules.
• Disciplinary Code.
• Injury on Duty form and Copy of I.D.
• Medical Reporting.
• Incident Register and Reporting of an Incident.
• In case of emergency contact details.
• Zero Tolerance Form
• Uniform Issue Form.
• Payroll Information
• Payroll Service.
• UIF
• UIF Claims back for first-time employees.
• PAYE
• Leave Application Form.
• Leave summary.
• Sick Leave.
• SARS Compliance and Tax Returns.
• ETI Claims.  
• COVID Tax Relief.
• TERS.
• SDL. 
• EMP201
• IRP-5
• IT3
• Training Information
• Training Tracking.
• Skills Plan Development
• Employment Equity Plan
• Acknowledgment of Training Form.
• Statutory Information
• Health and Safety and PPE.
• Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Exit Interviews Documentation.
• UI.19 Document.
• Letter of Service Document.
• Retrenchment Process.
• Notification of the possibility of retrenchments.

It might not be sustainable for a small start-up business to employ a designated HR person and this function could be outsourced to ensure that you remain on the correct side of the law. Below you will find a compact outline for conducting an organizational Human Resource audit.

• Human Resource Audit
• Organizational vision and mission statement? 
• What are the objectives of the organization? 
• Payroll. Is there a payroll system? 
• How are employee working hours recorded?
• Policies. Does the organization have an employee handbook or written policies? 
• How often are these policies reviewed?
• Salary administration.  
• How recently was the salary structure updated?
• Are employees happy with the current structure and system?
• Recruitment. What is the hiring process? 
• Where do you find suitable candidates? 
• How many positions are currently open? 
• Does the organization have up-to-date job descriptions for each position in the organization?
• Orientation. Does the organization have a formal or informal new-hire orientation process? 
• Who is responsible for orientation? 
• Who is responsible for new employee onboarding?
• Who is responsible for new employee training?
• Performance Reviews. 
• Are employees aware of their performance areas?
• Are performance reviews conducted regularly? 
• How often? 
• Do they have an established format? 
• Are managers and employees happy with the current process?
• Are employees given timeous feedback on their performance reviews?
• Files. Are employee files maintained securely? 
• Are all employee files updated monthly?
• Are medical and financial records and other protected information kept separately from employee files? 
• Safety. Does the organization have a Health and Safety plan? 
• Where is it maintained? 
• Is there a health and safety committee?
• Posters. Are employment posters up-to-date? 
• Where are they posted?
• Training. Has the organization conducted supervisor or employee training?
• Employee relations. Does the organization have unresolved grievances or open investigations? 
• What is the frequency of investigations, and is there a pattern to the issues?

An employee handbook is a document that communicates your company’s mission, policies, and expectations. Employers give this to employees to clarify their rights and responsibilities while they’re employed with the company. An employee handbook can contain most of the information shared in this blog when it is structured and compliant with the labour law of South Africa. Specialist restaurant and hospitality brokers will be able to assist you in compiling your own Employee Handbook.