Chef Employment Contracts

[toolman]

Anyone can help me out with this. I am in NYC and about to open a 20k sq feet modern asian restaurant in a few months. My employer is trying to take me for a ride. My menu is almost ready. I have done a lot of testing already. I'd love to find out what can I ask for. I have designed the kitchen with a kitchen consultant. Helped hire floor staff and the core kitchen staff. I also want to see a sample if possible. Cheers fellas.

[pappi]

I been working with one for the last 3 years and will not work without one. It is renewed every year. Mine states my pay with overtime, hours,benifits,time span,job discription, and raises. It is known as security

[foodpump]

Your leverage is nill now, the time to negotiate is before you even set foot in the place.
However... you have got some really good experience, and can use this to negotiate with different people next time.

[pappi]

Yes you need to do the contract before you start, I hate to say it but sounds like you are being screwed. Put everything in writing first.

[chefgbs]

Unfortunately, employment contracts are rarely worth the paper they're printed on. Especially if you work in an "employment at will" state.

[toolman]

thanks guys. Would any of you like to talk to me offline about this? Even today I am doing a small event for one of their other restaurants. I am not savvy with this sort of thing so I have hired a contract lawyer who represents some very successuful chefs in New York.

[pappi]

I am in one of those states and I was hired then fired for no reason and if the verbal was written they would have paid me the contract which would have been my pay for 6 months and that I was told bya lawyer. If it is in a written contract it has to be fullfilled and be held up in court of law, that is why everyone should have one, cover your BUTT

[foodpump]

This can get very tricky. If it is a written contract you have no recourse to the local state labour board. Say what you will about the labour board but they can--and frequently do--raid employer's bank accounts to get you your money. If it's a clear-cut case, they can get you your money, at no cost, in as little as 6 months.

Lawyers cost money, going to court costs money, court hearings are usually waaay far away from the time you need them, and even if you do win the case, the court doesn't have the clout to MAKE them pay you what they owe you. (sorry yer honour, all of our money is in off-shore accounts...) Besides, by that time the employer may have gone belly-up, dissapeared, or sold the business.

This can get very tricky and frustrating for new businesses and owners, especialy owners who are new to the hospitality scene. The odds of going belly-up are high, and labour costs are high and can't be sold to recoup some of the loss, like equipment can.

It's a nasty world out there.........

[pappi]

So foodpump are you saying that the laws in Canada is the same as the different states in the USA?? I just know tyhat if I had a written contract I could of had another $20,000 for the 6 months contract but I just got unemployment which they try to fight that too.

[foodpump]

Don't know much about the labour laws in the various States.

However, I do know, everywhere in the world that...

1)Lawyers only work for money, lots of money, your money.... and you ain't gonna get it back neither

2)Courts are painstakingly sloooowww, and expensive.

3) There are no guarantees that you will get your money even though you have a contract and you have a lawyer, and a court hearing. If there's a contract then then other side has a lawyer too, and if that lawyer's designed the contract, he's probably included some kind of a booby-trap/cover the client's butt clause.

4) When these things eventually do go to court, the employer is usually: a) belly-up, b) sold the business, c) done dissappeared

'Course, my experiences with courts are here in la-la-land. But I think if you ask around, a lot of your friends, contractors, and even lawyers will tell you that they sound pretty darn familiar.

Who helped you get your unemployment bennies and did it cost you anything?

[toolman]

My lawyer is charging me 1000 dollar retainer to prepare this document for me. It is going to entail the following
Salary, annual pay raise, % from events, vacation, medical, Autonomy in the kitchen, any use of my menu or recipes at other location should net me money, Possibility for a partnership in the future, I get to use the premises for any pr purpose, If I leave I get to take my recipes with me. and on and on. I am lucky that I found a good lawyer who specializes in this sort of thing. 1000 dollars is a lot though yeah? But it will benefit me later on.

[JewelsQ]

What happens when they won't sign it? Are you prepared to leave? It would appear to me as though a contract after the fact (or even before, for that matter) is like meeting a mugger when you have a loaded gun in your own pocket.

You better be prepared to use it.

And you're right. 1000 is a lot of money, especially when you're employer takes a look at the contract, laughs and then fires you, cuz you saw them taking you for a ride already...

[toolman]

good point JewelsQ. I guess I will find out. I have worked really hard with minimal pay for the past 5 months on the menu and I would hate to not be able to do it. It isn't really about money but fairness. This is the problem with a restaurant which isn't owned by the chef. Employers want to pack the place and the chef to deliver no matter what. I want the food to be of the highest quality and to be compensated fairly. I know it is a dirty business.

[pappi]

well toolman now you know for future adventure in the business when talking about employment, first talk about a contract and get things laid out then put them in writing. You do not need a lawyer to draw up a contract but if you do it on your own do not forget anything or you will lose.

A $1000 is nothing now a days and if you learn about how to make a contract it is worth it, besides that is just about one week pay right.You get what you pay for.

[foodpump]

Toolman, your zipper may be pulled up, but your innocence is still showing. Please don't take offence, all of us started out this way. You've invested a lot of time in this project without first hammering out the details, and most importantly, you haven't planned an exit.

I have worked with investors and employers, Oriental and Caucasian, for about 20 years now, and most want to see profits within 3 months. These are the green investors, ones who have no previous experience in the hospitality industry. For them, a Chef is just an eejit in a poofy white hat, then again everyone else the the restaurant is an eejit too, because they work with their hands, EXCEPT the Rest. Mangr, because he's the one who looks after the cash register. Most places that start up new usually hire a Chef, and regardless of his intelligence and skills, the owners declare him an eejit, get him to start up the place, make sure he hires some decent staff, then turf the dude, tell the 2nd in command that the Chef was the son of Saddam and made a pass at one of the investors wives AND sons, and then pay the eejit 2nd in command half of what they paid the Chef. Keep this attitude in mind, it is always prevalant, albeit not true. With this attitude in mind you can always plan an exit stratedgy and find new work before all hell blows up.

A contract is only good if both sides honour it. If the other side signs it and laughs as they default on it, you'll have to fight. And like I said above, this can get very expensive and take a long time with no guarantees. Please, please ask as many Chefs as you can about what I've written above. Who knows? Maybe I'm full of it.