Holiday season is coming, and with it the annual hiring push — extra servers, kitchen help, seasonal bartenders. More staff means more revenue, and it also means more of the exposures that drive restaurant insurance claims: injuries, classification questions, and the employment disputes nobody budgets for.
Workers comp doesn't care that they're temporary
A seasonal employee who slips in the kitchen on their third shift is a workers comp claim just like a five-year veteran. Missouri generally requires comp for restaurants with five or more employees — and seasonal staff count. Two things to get right: report your payroll accurately, because the year-end audit will find the seasonal payroll anyway and bill you for it at once; and don't try to dodge the issue by calling workers 1099 contractors. A server on your schedule, using your equipment, under your direction is an employee, whatever the paperwork says — and misclassification penalties hit harder than premiums ever would.
The claims that spike in the busy season
- Cuts and burns from undertrained kitchen staff — a 30-minute safety orientation genuinely moves this number
- Slips in the rush: wet floors, hustling servers, cluttered walkways
- Liquor service by new bartenders who haven't been trained on when to cut someone off — train and document it
- Employment practices claims: wage disputes, harassment allegations, and termination fights don't take holidays
One coverage worth asking about
Employment practices liability (EPLI) covers the claims your GL and comp policies don't: discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, wage-and-hour allegations. Hospitality is a high-frequency industry for exactly these claims, and most small restaurant packages don't include the coverage unless someone asks. Before the seasonal wave hits, it's worth the conversation.
This material is for general information only. Coverage depends on the actual policy language, and availability varies by carrier.