Restaurant Staff Scheduling: The Most Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Staff scheduling is one of the most underrated aspects of running a restaurant. Between legal requirements, employee preferences, job exchanges, and budget constraints, mistakes are easy to make, and costly. This article details the 10 most common planning mistakes, how they impact your team and business, and how to fix them.
Mistake 1: Estimating staff needs “by feeling”
The error:
Relying on intuition to create a schedule often leads to understaffing or overstaffing. This leads to slower service, stressed employees, and a loss of revenue.
Today, planning should no longer be based on assumptions. With the right tools, you can use data such as weekday trends, weather forecasts, local events, and past sales to make better decisions.
For example :
If your lunchtime services are quiet on Mondays but very busy on Fridays, the schedule should reflect this. If your orders increase by 20% every time it rains, it's an opportunity to plan better. If every local concert or match fills your restaurant, you need to provide more staff.
Solution:
Use planning software with forecasting functions that take into account historical sales, weather, and events. The more you use it, the more refined its recommendations become.
Mistake #2: Ignoring labor laws
The error:
Forgetting labor laws can be expensive: fines, lawsuits, tarnished reputation, tensions with employees. In California, for example, specific laws apply: predictive planning, attendance compensation, mandatory breaks...
Example:
You schedule a server for 8 hours but the service is quiet and leaves after 2 am. In California, he is entitled to partial compensation.
Other frequent obligations:
- Show schedules 2 weeks in advance
- Minimum time between two services
- Respect for legal breaks
- Two consecutive rest days
- Limiting excessive overtime
- Collect feedback before final validation
Solution:
Good software automatically reports violations before the schedule is published. It can adapt the rules to local laws and alert you if hours are exceeded or if a poorly planned shift is missed.
Mistake #3: Track requests and exchanges of posts manually
The error: '
Managing schedules via paper or Excel quickly becomes chaotic as soon as there is a change. And the changes are constant: absences, unforeseen events, exchanges...
Solution:
Opt for a schedule app where employees can make requests, offer exchanges, or change their availability from their phone. The manager approves or declines in one click, and everyone stays informed.
Mistake #4: Paying unnecessary overtime
The error:
Overtime sometimes goes unnoticed and eats into your margin. Calculation errors are common without an automated tool.
Solution:
Use software that alerts in real time when an employee exceeds 40 hours or will generate overtime. This allows the schedule to be adjusted immediately and unpleasant surprises to be avoided.
Mistake #5: Not tracking “real” vs. “earned” hours
The error:
If your schedules don't reflect the reality of demand, you're losing money, either by paying too much staff unnecessarily or by losing sales due to a lack of staff.
Solution:
Track “worked” hours (real) vs. “earned” hours (justified by sales).
Example :
Your employees worked 700 hours, but sales only justify 625 hours → potential loss of more than $1,000.
Tips:
- Use tools like Pivot to track this discrepancy every week.
- Train managers to take this into account.
- Adjust the duration of the shifts or schedule substitutes according to demand.
- Incorporate this indicator into performance evaluations.
Mistake #6: Not taking availability into account
The error:
Scheduling an employee who is absent or on vacation creates frustration, mistakes, and loss of trust.
Solution:
Choose a tool where employees can indicate their availability themselves. This data should be automatically integrated into the schedules. Also remember to train the teams to keep their positions up to date.
Mistake #8: Unfair distribution or without taking experience into account
The error:
Unbalanced schedules create tension. When newbies are overworked and experienced underexploited (or the other way around), it leads to burnout and turnover.
Solution:
Balance schedules taking into account experience, certifications, and recent workload. Ensure a good mix between juniors and seniors. Software can help you track that.
Mistake #9: “Clopens” and schedules conducive to exhaustion
The error:
One Clopenis when an employee closes at night and comes back to open early the next day. It's one of the quickest ways to cause exhaustion.
Solution:
Configure your software to ban clopens and guarantee legal rest. In case of violation, an alert is displayed before the schedule is published. It also shows your team that their well-being matters.
Don't let planning become a nightmare
A good schedule is not just a chart, it is a strategic lever for reducing your costs, staying compliant and motivating your teams. By avoiding these mistakes and investing in the right tools, your restaurant can gain in efficiency, profitability, and peace of mind.
