Employee Rules of Conduct for the Hot Dog Cart : PART 1

The following is a summary of the Employee Rules of Conduct you might consider establishing at your Hot Dog Cart. The following will outline what it means to be a part of our team, as well as some of the expectations we have of our employees and how they interact with our customers on a daily basis. These rules should be used as guidelines when interacting with customers as well as fellow employees, and should help to make every customer experience as pleasant as possible!

Employees must read and conform to the guidelines provided for workers in the food service industry including instructions on personal washing, cleaning equipment, and handling food.

All staff must comply with all policies set forth by the owner and manager. In return, employees will be compensated fairly and have a clear and streamlined path to promotion based on seniority. Employees who disobey company policy will be punished according to strict guidelines set forth by both owner and manager. Punishments may include suspension from work or termination depending on the severity of the infraction. The following rules are in place for your protection as well as our customers:

Employees must conform to the hot dog cart Dress and Deportment Code

Each employee must wear a uniform consisting of a blue shirt and tan pants. Each employee’s shirt must display a name tag with his or her first and last name clearly written on it. The names Tiffany and Foo Bar, are both unacceptable examples of acceptable employee names. All employees will also be required to wear a special hot dog vendor hat as shown below. We will be providing our vendors with these hats at no additional cost. Vendors who fail to follow our code of conduct may face disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment and/or criminal prosecution pursuant to all applicable laws.

No horseplay

As a mobile food business, we deal with a lot of people in a small area. Therefore, it is important that you keep your conversation and behavior friendly and appropriate at all times. Sometimes staff may seem unhappy, but chances are they’re just having a bad day. You never know who is watching; how you treat us reflects on our business as well as yours. Remember: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! Keep food service simple: Stick to basic orders; if there’s an item that doesn’t seem right or comes up frequently, let your manager know about it so we can get back to full-time preparing orders. If any question comes up about our menu or items—that’s what we’re here for!

Be safe

Food safety is paramount to running a successful business. Be sure to thoroughly cook your hot dogs, use clean utensils, and keep foods refrigerated until right before serving. Also, do not allow customers to prepare their own condiments on site; instead, offer pre-made condiments that have been commercially prepared and packaged. You should also strongly consider hiring a Food Safety Certified individual or company to conduct an inspection at least once per month. And finally, make sure all employees wear gloves when preparing hot dogs and other foods. This can help prevent any unfortunate issues from cropping up—and it’s just good manners!

Respect property

We have a great product and we have an amazing location. We must take care of it so that we can keep these benefits long-term. You may be tempted to leave your mark on a community space, or on our cart, but don’t. You should also respect property belonging to others; vandalism is not tolerated under any circumstances. Our cart may be new, but it is still owned by someone else! Please treat with care as you would your own things—don’t leave trash lying around, try not to throw away empty cups/wrappers if you can avoid it (and always make sure they go in either a trash can or recycling bin), etc…

Share tips, don’t fight over them

Sharing tips can get confusing when staff members start disagreeing. While there are a lot of different opinions on how to share tips and what they should be split between, it’s important to make sure your employees are working together. If you notice any confusion or resentment among staff members, make sure to address it as soon as possible. The key is making sure everyone knows their responsibilities and sticks to them. As long as you follow these steps and regularly check in with your employees, sharing tips shouldn’t be a problem.

Employees must arrive at work on time and ready for work.

The hot dog cart opens at 8 am and all employees must be present within 15 minutes. If you are late or unprepared, you will be disciplined accordingly. Punctuality is an essential quality in any business that seeks success, and it is even more important in the food service industry. Employees who can’t show up on time will not last long in our company. In light of that, we require all employees to show up to work with clean hands and a positive attitude at all times. Also, unlike most other jobs, if you cannot make it to work for any reason (such as inclement weather) that is considered an unexcused absence which does have consequences so make sure to plan ahead and arrange alternative transportation just in case something like that happens.

Employees must arrive at hot dog cart location according to the prescribed schedule

This will help employees arrive in a timely manner, which means that customers can place their orders in a more prompt fashion. Arriving on time will also allow employees to prepare for and begin taking orders at your posted start time. Arriving late is never acceptable. For example, if you are scheduled to arrive at 11am, then you must be prepared to take orders and start serving hot dogs by 11:01 am.