At the most, the dishwashers should have been employed for no more than 5 hours a day. The district was paying for 3 extra hours per day, plus benefits, or 540 hours over a period of 180 days in a school year. Employees must be adequately supervised to ensure productivity standards are met. In the El Paso ISD, five supervisor positions oversee the efforts of 15 and 17 schools. Thrown into this mix are employee absences.
Some districts say that it is hard to recruit and retain part-time employees.
Socorro ISD uses a temporary employment service extensively. Many positions in the district's food service operation are filled by regular temporary employees who are the same people who show up each day and who have a working knowledge of the district's operations. The district only pays for the hours employees are on duty, and the agency is responsible for finding replacements if a temporary employee is absent. Temporary employees cost the district more than the hourly rate paid to regular food service employees, but the district pays no benefits or employment taxes. In addition, if a temporary employee is not performing up to standard, a simple call to the temporary service removes the person from the task and another person is automatically substituted.