Many restaurants don’t use job descriptions.  Typical reasons for not using job descriptions include:

• “I know what each of my employees is required to do.”
• “I may want to ask an employee to do something outside of the job description.”
• “I’ll have to keep updating the job descriptions – I don’t want the administrative burden.”
• “I’ve never used job descriptions, and I’ve never had a problem.”

 However, job descriptions are well worth the time they take to draft and update.  Job descriptions can help employers to:

• Hire qualified individuals, by comparing resumes against job descriptions.
• Inform employees what is expected of them and evaluate performance.
• Better organize personnel and identify overstaffing, by comparing job descriptions.
• Determine whether positions are exempt (not entitled to overtime) or non-exempt (entitled to overtime).
• Describe employees' “essential functions”, which is vital when dealing with employees who are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Defend discrimination and other claims (e.g., the employee was terminated because he didn't perform the duties described in the job description, not because of his age).

 We recommend that all restaurants, big and small, develop and use job descriptions.  Keep these basic points in mind:

• Describe the job in simple, straightforward terms.
• Identify the education, experience, skills, training, and other requirements of the position.
• Don’t oversell the position by listing tasks employees never or rarely perform.  Overselling can cause you to incorrectly conclude an employee is exempt and expose you to significant risk.
• Always include a disclaimer that the job description does not create an employment contract and may be changed in the employer’s sole discretion at any time.
• Review your job descriptions annually if possible, but at least bi-annually, and revise them as necessary.
• Confer with legal counsel if you don’t know whether a job description is exempt or non-exempt.  Misclassifying a non-exempt position as exempt can expose you to significant risk, particularly if several people (or more) hold the misclassified position. 
• An experienced employment law attorney should be able to analyze whether a job description is exempt or non-exempt in 30 minutes (if you are comfortable with a less certain answer) or several hours (if worth the time and money to research and draft a memo).

 Good luck drafting and revising your job descriptions!