It may sound improbable, but food Certified Food Protection Managers ( CFPMs ) may want to consider the benefits of working from home, at least part-time. Before we get too carried away, you should realize that we’re not talking about food preparation from home. That might create an absurd scenario where your prep cook washes and chops lettuce, ships it to the cold-line cook who assembles a salad then mails it to the sous chef for final touches before sending it to a server via a private courier for delivery to the customer, and besides, food preparation in your home kitchen is still a violation of the Minnesota food code.
Working From Home and the CFPM
What we’re talking about here are tasks that CFPMs can take care of away from the restaurant such as:
- Scheduling
- Order processing
- Creating training material
- Menu design
With current restrictions on the number of customers and staff allowed on the premises in order to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, a certified food protection manager’s time is rather constricted when actually in the building. Under pre-COVID-19 regulations, the food safety manager could schedule more staff on days when there was office work to be done, relieving him of on-the-floor duties. Now, the food safety manager has to take an active role in food preparation, quality assurance and the oversight of the Stay Safe MN guidelines for Minnesota food production facilities.
With all of these roadblocks in the way of office work, we’d suggest that CFPMs schedule a few hours a week to take care of what office tasks they can from home. Staffing schedules, creating new menus and crafting training materials can easily be done from a home PC. Many POS systems even allow for remote access so you can track sales, and many foodservice suppliers have online ordering capabilities. We suggest you talk to your suppliers and the IT department of the company that supplies your POS software to discover what remote options you may have.
Do you find yourself taking care of more of your office duties as a CFPM at home rather than at your restaurant?