Years in Operation

The participating establishments in the case studies represent a cross section of restaurant operations: ethnic, family, chain, fast food, fine dining, and public food services. The majority have been in existence for less than 10 years. The following chart shows the numbers of years in operation.

Turnover

For the most part, turnover rate of staff is high, particularly with servers and dishwashers. In general, managers said that only a small number of employees stay one to two years or more. This affects the continuity and the frequency of delivering training. In a few establishments where management has a strong commitment to ongoing training and sensitivity to employees' work conditions by organizing continuous training and social events, the turnover rate is low.

Busy Season

The busy season has an impact on training. During this phase, there is little time to do any food safety training. The busy season for the food venues varies. For some it is the summer season catering to vacationers while for others, they are busier in the winter when the ground freezes or when people are not barbecuing. A number of restaurants are busy during the Christmas season especially if located in an urban mall. Operators hire extra staff at this time but then after the busy season, the surplus workers are laid off and the need for training is gone.