Terms and Conditions
Firstly, thank you for signing up with Book A Cook. We are delighted to have you on board as one of our amazing cooks. We have a few rules that we kindly ask you to read through and then stick to when working for our clients. Please read through the following carefully, and then fill in the form at the end and accept the Terms & Conditions.
WORKING TERMS FOR COOKS
COMMUNICATION WITH CLIENTS
Once you have been chosen by the client you will be a sent a confirmation e-mail. This will confirm the job, and give you the details of the client/whom to make contact with. Please keep the e-mail for future reference. If you do not, we will use our copy. You must make contact with the client to discuss the booking within a 24 hours after you receive the confirmation. Please inform us immediately if you are not able to do this so we can contact them and explain. Please note that the client will also be sent a confirmation email which will include all of your details, so they make contact with you first! Once your details have been exchanged, Book A Cook will no longer be involved in the planning of the job in any way. If you would like to send your own booking contract to the client this is totally fine but it must be done within 24 hours of the confirmation email being sent.
HOLIDAY WORK
If you need to spend a day traveling to reach somewhere, or travel somewhere the night before, then you may charge half your daily fee for these travel days if it means you are not able to work elsewhere on those days. If you are travelling but have then worked the morning of leaving or the evening you arrive you can charge a full day.
PAYMENT AND INSURANCE
Payment will be made by the client directly to you. You must be eligible to work in the UK, and you must be able to prove that this is the case by providing the documents required by law (which may include a UK Passport of UK driving licence).
You have an independent contractor relationship with us. You are not an employee. This means that you are solely responsible for paying all your taxes and national insurance contributions. If the client is paying through their payroll (full time or seasonal work), you must check your tax and national insurance obligations carefully. You will need to have a national insurance number and a UK bank account.
We require all our cooks to take out insurance to cover themselves in case of any problems that may arise in relation to a job they have accepted with a client. Please note that you are being booked by the client directly, and Book A Cook does not accept any form of responsibility for chefs when they are on a job or any accidents or adverse events of any kind that may occur while you are on your client’s premises. In particular, please note that under no circumstances will Book A Cook be liable for any loss or damage caused to the client as a result of eating the food you prepare. In general, it is vital that you remember at all times that you are neither an employee nor an agent of Book A Cook, and that you are personally liable for all aspects of every job you accept from us.
DRESSCODE
We ask that you dress professionally at all times, from when you arrive at the client’s location to when you leave. Please wear a chef’s jacket on all jobs with a clean tidy apron. Bottoms can be chef trousers, jeans or black trousers. Appropriate footwear must to be worn at all times. Please wear minimal make up, without perfume, cologne, or nail polish, and your hair must be clean and tied back off your face.
If you are on an away job please make sure you have enough jackets and aprons so that you can wear a clean set every day. If you have any questions on what to wear just contact me and I will try and help!
EQUIPMENT
We suggest you take your knives in a tidy knife roll, and also that you take any other essential equipment you think may not usually be kept in a private home. We highly recommend that you buy a tool box (from Homebase or B&Q) and take a small selection of key utensils with you so you are never left in the lurch.
If you would like, you may also ask the client to send you a couple of photos of the kitchen working space, and dining area to you know the space you are working in before you arrive.
CAUTION
You must always discuss any eating requirements and allergies with the client in advance. It is solely up to the chef to do this. Book A Cook will not ask for, or provide any information of this nature.
All chefs must hold a current completed hygiene and allergens certificate. If you do not have one then please let me know and I can advise you on what steps you need to take. It is imperative that all cooks and chefs are very hygiene conscious.
BOOKINGS
New jobs will be posted on the Group WhatsApp group, Instagram and on our website.
If there is a job we think you are well suited to we will reach out to you. Otherwise, please feel free to contact us about any job you see advertised.
CANCELLATIONS
If you cancel a confirmed job we will be very disappointed, and it is likely to affect any future work given to you by Book A Cook. Cancellations must only be for very extreme valid reasons such as a family emergency. Once you have committed to a booking, please stick to your commitment so as to keep the relationship between us positive. If unfortunately, you really must cancel your booking you must let me know immediately before telling the client as I will of course need to try and find a replacement if possible.
If a client needs to cancel a booking we cannot guarantee that there will be any replacement work. It is up to your discretion if you would like to charge the client a deposit when they book you.
If a cook displays unsatisfactory working standards whether that be food or behaviour related it is up to the discretion of the client whether they terminate the job early. Book a Cook is not involved in this as all cooks are self-employed. If a cook is dismissed due to unsatisfactory work this will mean this cook is not eligible to seek worth through Book A Cook in the future, and their registration will be revoked.
RE-BOOKINGS
We want to develop a strong working relationship with everyone we work with, and we pride ourselves on being honest with our chefs and our clients. We would love you let us know if a client wishes to re-book you. All re-bookings must be facilitated through Book A Cook. Please see our incentive fees below:
You will get…
The first 2 times they rebook you
10% of the agency fee (this means more money for you and it helps keep the agency going!)
After the 5th time they have rebooked you…
20% of the agency fee every time they book you.
Our agency fees are fair and we are not greedy. They are much lower than some of the larger corporate agencies. We want to make sure our chefs receive full payment, so our fee is added on top and we do not take any commission from your payment.
Remember, the more jobs we get and the more word of mouth there is, the more work there will be in the future for you! We are a small business so we thank you in advance for co-operating with this.
CHRISTMAS
On these dates below cooks are permitted to charge double their daily fee.
December 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 30th, 31s and 1st January.
