Dining Services Lures Employees With Free Food
Nathan McGinnis | January 27, 2006 02:06 PM | Link
On-campus jobs with KU Dining Services are some of the most easily obtainable and overlooked at the University of Kansas. Many students overlook these employment opportunities due to the social stigma attached with working in food service, a stigma Dining Services is trying to change.
In an effort to attract new employees and retain current employees, KU Dining Services has instituted a new compensation plan to reward workers with a food credit for each shift worked.
The idea is nothing new, but the plans aims to simplify compensation for a variety of employees on campus. In the past, the employees received a 50% discount on food, with the remaining balance being deducted from their paycheck.
The new system came as a result of a merger between KU Dining Services and Residential Dining Services in order to equivocate compensation for employees between the two merging departments.
Under the new plan, which went into effect on December 22, all employees employed in campus eateries, catering, and residential dining centers are entitled to an equal food credit of $5.50 for each three-hour shift worked.
According to Karen Lewis, manager of The Market at the Kansas Union, employees can only use the food credit either when on break or 30 minutes before or after their shift. This is designed to help “promote the success of the student,” says Lewis, and to provide a hospitable work environment for students.
The most significant change in policy is a lack of accountability on the part of the employee. The new food credits are entirely funded by Dining Services, an independently operating organization. Dining Services relies solely on the money generated from food stations such as The Market, The Underground, and The Crimson Café and The Hawk Stop.
Michael Myers, Cash Operations Manager for Dining Services describes the credits “as a selling point of why people should work for Dining Services,” and hopes it will cut down on the high turnover rate of employees.
Myers says that because Dining Services is self sufficient, the new food credit system will initially have a negative effect on the financial status of Dining Services. However Myers feels the overall benefit provided to the employees outweighs the economic cost of implementing such a program.
If the program works as intended in retaining employees, Myers says the amount of money saved from continuously retraining new employees will balance out the cost of the credits.