Every company should have a health & safety program

Freshly prepared pasta and authentic Italian dishes is what Bistro54 Italiano is famous for. Located in downtown Perth, Ontario, the restaurant is owned and operated by husband-and-wife team, Dave and Nicola.

“We opened to success right off the bat. And, you know, we’ve been busy ever since. We’ve never had a year that was bad,” Dave Antonoff says. “Perth is an amazing town to be in. The people here are incredible.”

HR works best when businesses take proactive actions as opposed to reactive ones. Managing employee complaints, and behavioural issues requires a true understanding of employment law in Canada. Unfortunately, many business owners learn the hard way that HR is not always simple or black and white, and noncompliance could lead to costly fines.

“It’s no secret that in the restaurant industry there’s often alcohol and drug abuse, which leads to personality disorders. We’ve had a number of occasions where staff behaviour has gotten to the point where it was extremely detrimental, resulting in other staff wanting to quit,” says Dave.

“We had a fairly serious issue with one of our staff which ended up costing us money, and we figured there had to be a way to be proactive in preventing this from happening [again],” he continues.

Dave acknowledges that they came up short as business owners, because they were not focused on HR issues in the company. “I think one of the things we failed at was to not deal with the staff in a more business-oriented way. We focused on running the restaurant, the daily production of food, daily organization of service, and getting to know the staff.”

It is important to remember that HR is a major part of any business operation that involves workers.

“By having an HR department right from the beginning of a person’s employment, the organization comes across as more professional. And I think it sets a standard right from the beginning. If you don’t set a standard at the beginning, you are really allowing your staff to run your HR department. Which, as we found out, doesn’t really work very well,” says Dave. 

A New HR Implementation

Peninsula’s HR service helped Bistro54 resolve their HR issues, while saving the business time, money, and possible future problems.

“We joined Peninsula in 2019 after I found them by researching online. We got on board with Peninsula and discovered that there are a lot of ways to be proactive before issues come up. If they come up, they can be dealt with really quickly and really efficiently. Before when we dealt with it, it was not efficient. It was a drawn-out process which, costed time, effort, and not to mention, money.”

Employing Peninsula’s HR service helped Dave and his team zone in on the restaurant’s services and accomplish business growth.

“Using Peninsula has allowed me to spend more time doing what I’m supposed to be doing - cooking, prepping food, and dealing with suppliers.”

Peninsula’s HR advisors helped Dave streamline HR processes and become compliant. “The process is a lot better. One of the ways Peninsula has helped us is through their templates. With one simple phone call they supply you with templates and letters tailored specifically to the person you’re dealing with or the problem you’re dealing with.”

“Having Peninsula on your side gives you a sense of confidence and allows you to speak knowing the rules, regulations, and laws that are set in place are what you are abiding by.”

Dave’s experience with Peninsula has led him to recommend Peninsula to other small businesses.

“As a small business you need a lawyer, an accountant and an HR department. These things are not tangible. You don't really want to spend money on them but when I look at what I spent on Peninsula in a month, it's on an hourly basis per staff, it's negligible. And so, people who have these professionals in your corner will always succeed,” he says.