Julia's Blog

Should You Hire From an Event Staffing Agency in NYC

Whether you are an individual looking to plan an event or you are an event planner by trade, there are many considerations that you should factor into your decision on whether it is better to hire the event staff yourself, or to use an event staffing agency in NYC.

Why You Should Hire From An Event Staffing Agency
There are many factors in determining why you should consider utilizing an event staffing agency. Here are some of the top reasons why you should not consider taking on that responsibility yourself.

1. Managing Multiple Staff Members
As an event planner, you have your hands full making sure your obligations are all in check. With the added responsibility of hiring your own staff, you will then have to make sure that everyone shows up in time for the event, or at all, is in uniform, is starting their individual duties, is performing up to speed, and at the necessary performance level. Then you will be required to follow up with them throughout the event to check on any issues or questions that may arise. Event staffing agencies alleviate this by taking on that responsibility of overseeing the event and staffing senior staff members to act as supervisors for different aspects of the event, i.e. Event Captains oversee the wait staff for hire and manage the appropriate workstations.

2. Staff Training
When you hire banquet servers or event bartenders, you need to make sure that everyone you hire has the basic knowledge required for the position to ensure a certain level of quality of service. With an event staffing agency, this is handled from the beginning. Recruitment of top talent, verification of past employment, and maintaining a certain organization of training the staff to perform as you want them to, is an integral part of any great staffing agencies business model.

3. Adhering to Food & Safety Regulations
The last thing you want to have to concern yourself with as an event planner, is worrying about food safety protocols, procedures, and safety. You will have to make sure that all of your wait staff for hire that is either handling food or alcohol, has the right certifications in order to be legally able to do so. Without checking this, it can land you into some difficult liability situations should anything go wrong at the event. With an event staffing agency, the certifications are verified well ahead of time to make sure they have the correct ones, and that none of them have expired. They also hire qualified staff to handle special situations that can come about like food allergies, to make sure that if there are special menu options for certain guests, that safety is handled with the utmost care and responsibility.

4. Human Resources and Paperwork
So you think you can hire your own wait staff for hire, keep track of their individual payrolls, taxes,
and other various HR responsibilities that come with hiring your own staff. You could, but if you foul anything up, you are in big trouble with the IRS. With an event staffing agency, this is all handled internally by qualified professionals whose business it is to make sure all employment laws and policies are enforced and regulated.

5. The Last Minute No-Shows and Call-Outs
You got it- there are many nightmarish situations where if you are hiring your own wait staff you take the ultimate risk of handling any last-minute scheduling changes. Whether it’s a staff member that suddenly gets sick, or if they just don’t show up at all, you are then ultimately responsible for covering up that gap and making sure the flow of service goes as it should. With an event staffing agency, you don’t have to worry about any of these factors. Agencies have the advantage that they have extra staff available at all times for on-call necessities when a staffing emergency occurs.

Ultimately, staffing agencies reduce your burden of responsibility and liability. They have the flexibility and the know-how to handle anything that comes up in order to guarantee an event is taken care of fully. They have experience working with numerous previous events of all sizes and types, and can guide you appropriately to make sure you are staffed with the right number of top qualified staff members to ensure success.
NYC Event Staffing