shutterstock_155822708

With budget season upon us for 2018, you may be accepting proposals from vendors to assume responsibilities of one or more departments at your hotel, casino or resort. To protect yourself, your management company and your ownership group, there are specific questions to ask as you are selecting a vendor and reviewing the proposals. The cheapest option is generally not the best option as there is always an underlying reason why prices are substantially lower.

  • Is the vendor well capitalized and able to meet their payroll needs? A number of service providers are unable to pay their employees on time, which opens their customers (you) up to liability and bad publicity.
  • What does the vendor’s workers compensation program look like? Many lower cost vendors create shell games that could put your property at risk to pay for their employees’ workers compensation claims.
  • Does the vendor follow Department of Labor regulations on overtime payment and payment timeliness?
  • Is there a plan for the management of their employees so joint employment issues are not found and filed?
  • Is there an employee training, retention and satisfaction program? What does the training program, if one exists, look like and are there processes that encourage continuous education (pre-shift meetings, for instance)? At The Service Companies we are constantly educating and training our associates, even if they have been with the team for over 10 years. There are always new techniques and best practices to share and learn.
  • Does the vendor provide benefits, competitive wages and retain their employees? If not, you may be looking at joint employment issues and a workforce that is consistently in flux and not up to speed on your specifications and standards.
  • What is the vendor’s approach to recruiting and staffing? Does the vendor run background and E-verification tests prior to hiring their employees? Unlike The Service Companies, many vendors cannot guarantee that their labor is legal because they do not run these checks, which opens your property up to issues with I.C.E. and the Department of Homeland Security.

These are just a few items that we have learned in our 30 years of experience are necessary for hotels, casinos and resorts to be aware of when selecting a vendor – whether to oversee departments or provide temporary staff. We take pride in becoming a seamless partner for each of our customers, so we put the responsibility of liability exposure, insurance, benefits, recruiting and quality assurance on our shoulders. This also means that we can guarantee our customers’ properties and ownership are fully protected from potential joint employment issues. Not many other companies put the same emphasis on this, and many times, that is directly reflected in price.