This morning I had an audit from the NYS Worker's Compensation office. Every few years, I have to prove to them that our restaurant's payroll is not similar to other restaurants with 20 employees, because we are only open for 8 weekends of the year. Apparently they don't have a little check-box on their forms for our version of the food-biz.
They wanted to audit us last fall, but we were in the middle of our Texas show at that point. Doing the deed long-distance involved copying and sending about 477 pieces of paper. So I skipped it, knowing we'd be back in NY the following summer. I knew it might get messed up, but really, how bad could it be?
Well, in January I got our first Worker's Comp bill at the assumed rate. Uh ... OUCH. One month's bill was equal to my entire year's bill in former years. And they kept coming. As soon as I got my office set up in NY, I called to schedule an audit, in hopes it would happen in the 2 months I'm here.
Today I spent the 2 hours of the inspector's visit, digging through files to meet the requirements for the 2 year audit. In a few weeks I'll find out what our credit is, although they don't normally provide refunds. I may be paid up for the next several years, as what they had billed me for the year was equal to my entire NY payroll last year.
While I knew that the audit was for my benefit ... I was still stressed about meeting the paperwork requirements (there was that moment when we thought we'd have to reschedule so that I could fly to Texas and get the 2007 pay-stubs).
All's well that ends well, I suppose.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Summer Jobs
I've been hiring people for their summer jobs for the past 20 years. We have food shops at theme parks ... "Grab Shacks" would be the industry term, since we don't really have dining rooms. We don't sell typical grab shack fare, because we're in "Themed" theme parks ... Renaissance Festivals. So we're selling Bangers & Mash, or Scotch Eggs, or Fresh Fruit Tartlets, depending on the venue and the jurying process at that venue.
For a restauranteur, it can be a dream. All of the manic problem-solving and the 85 hour weeks are wedged into a section of the calendar year; so recovery time in the off-season is part of the deal. However, the hiring process can be intense. It's opening a restaurant and hiring 35 people twice a year, in two different markets. What works in one, may not work at all in another. (For example, Craigslist is considered a shopping site in Texas.)
So today I'm hoping to get some new hires from the NY festival's hiring day. Many of last years' employees have moved away for college, or their phone numbers have changed. It's not unusual for teenager's phone numbers to change, but apparently in this age of cell-phones, people are discontinuing their land lines in their homes. Parent's phone numbers had always been my fall-back connection, and some of my key people have been hard to find this summer.
I only need 8 weekends from someone ... you'd think it would be easy to get a commitment. It's not. In fact, this year I'm going to give a bonus of $1 per hour, at the end of the festival, to every employee that has been on time, every day they were scheduled to work. We'll see how it goes.
For a restauranteur, it can be a dream. All of the manic problem-solving and the 85 hour weeks are wedged into a section of the calendar year; so recovery time in the off-season is part of the deal. However, the hiring process can be intense. It's opening a restaurant and hiring 35 people twice a year, in two different markets. What works in one, may not work at all in another. (For example, Craigslist is considered a shopping site in Texas.)
So today I'm hoping to get some new hires from the NY festival's hiring day. Many of last years' employees have moved away for college, or their phone numbers have changed. It's not unusual for teenager's phone numbers to change, but apparently in this age of cell-phones, people are discontinuing their land lines in their homes. Parent's phone numbers had always been my fall-back connection, and some of my key people have been hard to find this summer.
I only need 8 weekends from someone ... you'd think it would be easy to get a commitment. It's not. In fact, this year I'm going to give a bonus of $1 per hour, at the end of the festival, to every employee that has been on time, every day they were scheduled to work. We'll see how it goes.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 9, 2009
We're heading north to Ithaca, NY this weekend. We sell chocolate covered strawberries, cheesecake, and bananas (amongst other yummies) at a great music festival called the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance. I first went several years ago, when I was in town visiting our good friends Loretta and Eric. As any festival vendor will tell you, seeing a show before deciding to participate is crucial. Well, maybe not crucial ... but highly recommended.
The festival has a Healing Arts Tent, and my first participation was in teaching a class there. I still volunteer part of my time in that tent, as I fine-tune what the offerings of the Lemonade Brigade might be in our goal of easing peoples fears around the breast cancer issue. (That's obviously another post entirely ... I promise I'll get there.) Joanne Kingsley does a beautiful job of orchestrating the varied offerings of donated time by alternative health practitioners.
We stay in Trumansburg, in a 200 year old barn that has been outfitted with summer bedrooms. It is one of the most magical places I know, and we have admitted that one of the major reasons we do this show is the gift of living in that space on our friend Ruth's property. Not to mention the magic that is Ruth herself.
The Hubby is designing a solar powered show booth. We're practicing with it in Trumansburg, but it will be launched officially at the Texas Renaissance Festival. While he's watching battery power levels, I'm packing our personal needs for the week. While I'm excited to be giving the solar booth a try, and excited to have scheduled an extra 3 days for visiting friends while upstate, I still have to hire at least a dozen people for the NYRF show, and I'll have to hit it hard when we return to Tuxedo on the 20th.
The festival has a Healing Arts Tent, and my first participation was in teaching a class there. I still volunteer part of my time in that tent, as I fine-tune what the offerings of the Lemonade Brigade might be in our goal of easing peoples fears around the breast cancer issue. (That's obviously another post entirely ... I promise I'll get there.) Joanne Kingsley does a beautiful job of orchestrating the varied offerings of donated time by alternative health practitioners.
We stay in Trumansburg, in a 200 year old barn that has been outfitted with summer bedrooms. It is one of the most magical places I know, and we have admitted that one of the major reasons we do this show is the gift of living in that space on our friend Ruth's property. Not to mention the magic that is Ruth herself.
The Hubby is designing a solar powered show booth. We're practicing with it in Trumansburg, but it will be launched officially at the Texas Renaissance Festival. While he's watching battery power levels, I'm packing our personal needs for the week. While I'm excited to be giving the solar booth a try, and excited to have scheduled an extra 3 days for visiting friends while upstate, I still have to hire at least a dozen people for the NYRF show, and I'll have to hit it hard when we return to Tuxedo on the 20th.
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