How to hire restaurant staff in France: find, choose and keep the right person

How do you hire well for a restaurant?

Hiring for a restaurant is not just about finding someone available. It means finding a person who can keep up with your services, get on with the team and stay long enough for the training to pay off. The more urgent the need, the more tempting it is to hire the first person who turns up. That is exactly when mistakes cost the most.

The method has few steps, but they need to be done in order. This guide is part of our guide How to run a restaurant. Once you have found the right person, see also how to build a staff schedule. The rules quoted below are those that apply in France.

Where to start: the job description?

Before writing the ad, put on one page what you really expect. A job description avoids two common mistakes: looking for a profile that is too broad (“motivated all-round waiter”) and forgetting to mention the constraints that will make the person leave after ten days.

You will use it three times: to write the ad, to run the interview and to train the person when they arrive.

Job description: [title, for example commis chef]

Restaurant: [name], [type of cuisine], [covers per service]

Reports to: [head chef / front-of-house manager]

Main tasks: [prep, cold starters, washing up at the end of service…]

Hours: [working days], [lunch and/or dinner service], [break from … to …], [days off]

Contract: [permanent / fixed-term / casual], [full time / part time], [start date]

Pay: [gross monthly or hourly amount], [benefits: staff meals, tips according to your practice…]

Skills needed from day one: [short list]

What we teach on the job: [short list]

In France, for pay and job grading, start from the collective agreement for hotels, cafés and restaurants (HCR, IDCC 1979), which applies to most restaurants. It sets grades and minimum wages, among other things. Read the current version on the French Ministry of Labour’s site or ask your accountant.

How do you write a restaurant job ad that attracts candidates?

Restaurant candidates often read ads on their phone, between two services. They look for three things straight away: hours, pay and location. Put them at the top. Generic phrases (“dynamic team”, “pleasant setting”) make no difference.

[Job title]: [permanent / fixed-term / casual], [town or area]

Our restaurant [type of cuisine, number of covers] is looking for a [job] starting on [date].

Hours: [days], [lunch / dinner], [split shift], days off [days].

Pay: [amount] gross, [staff meals, other benefits].

Your tasks: [3 to 5 concrete tasks].

What matters to us: [punctuality, willingness to learn, experience wanted or not].

To apply: call [first name] on [number] between [times], or drop by [quiet days and times].

What not to write

A job ad must not rule out candidates on discriminatory grounds: age, sex, origin, family situation, physical appearance and so on. Avoid, for example, “young waitress”, “under 30” or “junior profile”. Describe the job and the useful experience instead: “beginners welcome”, “two years’ front-of-house experience preferred”.

Where to post it

• France Travail (the French public employment service), free of charge;
• job sites specialised in hospitality;
• your social media and your Google listing (a “we’re hiring” post): your customers often know someone;
• catering schools and training centres in your area, for apprentices and interns;
• word of mouth from your team: someone recommended by a colleague already knows what to expect.

How do you choose: interview and trial shift?

Start with a five-minute call. It is enough to check the essentials: availability, accepted hours, commute, experience. You avoid interviews that had no chance of working.

The interview itself can stay short. Ask concrete questions about real situations rather than general ones.

• “Tell me about a service where everything went wrong. What did you do?”
• “A customer complains their dish is cold. What do you do within a minute?”
• “How do you organise your prep when time is short?”
• “Which hours suit you, and which are hard for you?”
• “What made you leave your last job?”

The trial shift

Many restaurant owners invite candidates to watch a service. It helps both sides: the candidate sees the real pace, you see how they behave. Keep it short and supervised, and set the frame clearly beforehand: the person observes and helps with simple tasks alongside a team member. As soon as it becomes real productive work, the person must be hired and declared. If in doubt about what is allowed, ask your accountant or the labour inspectorate.

Do not confuse this trial with the probation period, which starts after hiring and is written in the contract (see below).

Which formalities before the first day in France?

Once you have chosen, several steps are compulsory in France. The main ones:

Permanent, fixed-term or casual?

A permanent contract (CDI) is the normal form for a permanent job. A fixed-term contract (CDD) is only allowed in cases set by law (replacing an absent employee, temporary increase in activity, seasonal job…). The CDD d’usage, often called “extra”, is allowed in sectors where permanent contracts are not customary, such as hotels and restaurants, but it must not be used to fill a job linked to the restaurant’s normal and permanent activity over the long term.

Probation period

For a permanent contract, French law sets a maximum of 2 months for employees and workers, 3 months for supervisors and technicians, 4 months for managers. It can be renewed only once, and only if an extended industry agreement allows it, the contract mentions it and the employee agrees in writing. For a fixed-term contract, it is one day per week of contract, capped at 2 weeks (contracts of 6 months or less) or one month (longer). Your collective agreement or the contract may set shorter periods: check the HCR agreement.

How do you welcome new staff and keep them?

The first few weeks are a fragile time. When a new hire leaves quickly, it is often because they were never really welcomed: they were thrown straight into a busy service, without knowing where things are or whom to ask.

• Start them on a quiet service, not Saturday night.
• Introduce the team and assign a buddy for the first week.
• Show them around: storerooms, cold room, changing room, emergency exits.
• Explain your hygiene rules (uniform, hand washing, labelling): see our guide food hygiene and HACCP in a restaurant.
• Give them their schedule for the first two weeks on day one.
• Hold a ten-minute check-in after one week, then at the end of the probation period.

Keeping a stable team also means hours known in advance and respected. A schedule that changes without warning is one of the first reasons people get fed up. See how to build a staff schedule.

Which hiring mistakes should a restaurant avoid?

• Hiding the constraints: split shifts, weekends, holidays. They will be discovered within a week, and the person will leave.
• Not stating the pay in the ad: you get fewer applications, and candidates who will not show up.
• Hiring without a DPAE “to see how it goes”: in France this is undeclared work, even for a single service.
• Using casual contracts for a permanent job: the CDD d’usage is not meant for that.
• Skipping training: a poorly trained person makes mistakes, gets discouraged and leaves.
• Hiring alone: have the candidate meet the person they will work with most, chef or front-of-house manager.

Finally, think about what candidates see of you before they apply: your Google listing, your reviews and your social media. A restaurant that replies politely to its reviews and shows its team makes people want to join.

The restaurant owner’s guide

Open, run, grow: each stage has its full guide and detailed guides, with their reading time.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurants
• Bars
• Hotels and B&Bs

Go further

• How to run a restaurant: the complete guide
• Restaurant staff scheduling
• Food hygiene and HACCP in a French restaurant
• Restaurant customer loyalty
• GDPR for a small business