The Management of Part-time employees in the restaurant industry

The UK restaurant sector employs a significant number of part-time employees, some of whom are experienced, but many of whom are not. Notwithstanding this they tend to perform the same work tasks and hold the same responsibilities as full-time employees. However, restaurant managers often treat part-time employees inappropriately with regard to recruitment and selection, induction and training, development, retention and turnover. As a result, part-time employees may develop negative job attitudes and behaviours, e.g. higher staff turnover, lower level of commitment and less willingness to contribute to the organisation than their full-time counterparts. Such attitudes and behaviours affect service quality and customer satisfaction as most customers do not know or even care whether an employee is full-time or part-time. They are only looking for appropriate standard of service quality. This study investigates the management of part-time employees in the restaurant industry using the UK restaurant sector as a case study.