How to Optimize Weekly Hours for Maximum Restaurant Efficiency

Weekly Hours July 17, 2025

Derrick McMahon

Writer

What tools help restaurants manage weekly scheduling efficiently?

Digital scheduling platforms help forecast demand, prevent overtime, and give managers real-time visibility into labor budgets.

Overview

Labor is one of the biggest costs in any restaurant - often taking up 25% to 35% of total sales. But many owners still schedule staff based on gut feeling or old routines. This can lead to two common problems - too many people working during slow times, and not enough hands during busy rushes. Both situations hurt your bottom line and can frustrate both customers and staff.

Using weekly hours wisely isn't just about saving money. It's about making sure the right people are working at the right times. That means fewer idle hours, better customer service, and less stress for your team. When your kitchen and front-of-house are properly staffed, things run smoother - and guests notice the difference.

Analyze Historical Sales and Traffic Patterns

Before you can create an efficient schedule, you need to understand when your restaurant is actually busy - and when it's not. This means looking at real data, not just relying on memory or gut instinct.

Start by reviewing your past sales and guest traffic. Your point-of-sale (POS) system should show hourly sales and transactions. Look at this data week by week, and identify patterns. Are Friday nights consistently your busiest time? Do Mondays always start slow but pick up during lunch? Look at at least 4-8 weeks of data to spot these trends.

Then break things down further

- What are your peak hours each day?
- Which days are your slowest?
- Are there consistent rushes during lunch or dinner service?

Once you know these patterns, you can start matching your staff to demand. For example, if sales are always low on Tuesdays from 2-5 PM, you don't need a full team on the floor. On the other hand, if Saturday nights consistently bring in 30% of your weekly sales, you should make sure all stations are covered and experienced staff are scheduled.

Also, keep an eye on special events, holidays, and weather - these can cause big swings in traffic. If you live in a tourist area, seasonality might be even more important. Save notes on what happened each week to better plan for next time.

The more detailed your tracking, the better your decisions. Just one hour of overstaffing each day can add up to hundreds in wasted wages every week. On the flip side, understaffing during rushes can lead to missed sales and unhappy guests.

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Build a Demand-Based Weekly Schedule

Once you've identified your restaurant's busiest and slowest times, the next step is to build a weekly schedule that matches staffing levels to actual demand. This means putting your team where they're needed most - during rush periods - and scaling back during quieter hours.

Start with your peak hours. These are the times when your kitchen and floor staff need to be running at full strength. Use your sales and traffic data to decide how many team members are required for each role. For example, if Saturday nights are your highest-volume period, you may need all stations manned in the kitchen, two or more servers on the floor, a host, and a dishwasher. Write those shifts in first.

Next, fill in the slower times. This is where you can save money. If your Tuesday afternoons are quiet, you may only need one cook and one server. Avoid putting too many people on the clock when business is light - every unnecessary hour adds up quickly over the week.

Staggered shifts can also help. Not everyone needs to clock in or out at the same time. Maybe one server starts at 10-00 AM to prep for lunch, while another comes in at 11-30 AM for the actual rush. This allows you to meet the demand without overloading the schedule.

Don't forget to factor in breaks, training time, and prep work. These are real parts of the job that still affect your labor costs.

Monitor and Manage Labor Cost Percentages

Once your schedule is built, the next step is to monitor how your labor hours affect your bottom line. One of the most useful ways to do this is by tracking your labor cost as a percentage of sales - a key metric that helps you stay on budget while ensuring proper coverage.

In most restaurants, labor costs should fall between 25% and 35% of total sales. The exact number depends on your restaurant type. Fast-casual and quick-service restaurants may aim for 20-25%, while full-service restaurants often land closer to 30-35% because of the added table service and support staff. The goal is to align your staffing with sales so that you're not overspending on labor when business is slow.

Here's how to track it

- Labor Cost % = (Total Labor Cost / Total Sales) x 100
- Calculate this daily, weekly, and monthly.

Break it down by shift if possible - look at how labor cost lines up with revenue by the hour.

If your labor percentage is consistently too high, you may be overstaffing certain shifts or scheduling longer hours than necessary. If it's too low, you might be understaffing, which can lead to burnout, mistakes, or poor customer service.

Another important point is to keep an eye on scheduled vs. actual hours worked. If employees often clock in early or stay past their scheduled time, it could throw off your labor cost planning. Encourage managers to review timecards daily and make real-time adjustments if needed.

Stay Compliant with Labor Laws and Overtime Rules

As you fine-tune your weekly schedule, it's important to stay within the rules set by labor laws. Scheduling mistakes - like too many hours or skipped breaks - can lead to fines, legal issues, or unhappy staff. That's why understanding the basics of federal and state labor laws is essential for every restaurant owner.

Start with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This federal law requires that hourly (non-exempt) employees be paid overtime - 1.5 times their regular pay - if they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. So if one of your cooks or servers clocks in at 45 hours, those 5 extra hours must be paid at a higher rate.

Overtime can add up fast and eat into your profit margins. To avoid this, spread out hours across more team members or give extra hours to part-time staff who are under 40 hours. Watch for shift swaps or unexpected clock-ins that push someone into overtime.

Also be aware of state-specific rules, which may require daily overtime after 8 hours or double pay on certain holidays. Some states have stricter break and meal period laws, too. Even if you're not in a state with extra rules, your local city or county might have its own labor regulations.

Here are a few best practices to stay compliant

- Review hours weekly to spot anyone nearing the 40-hour mark.
- Set scheduling limits in your software to flag potential overtime.
- Train managers on break requirements and proper clock-in/out practices.

Keep accurate records of time worked, breaks taken, and wages paid.

Compliance isn't just about avoiding penalties - it also shows your team that you respect their time and rights. When employees feel treated fairly, they're more likely to stay loyal, work hard, and help you run a more efficient restaurant.

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Empower Managers with Smart Scheduling Tools

Using the right tools can make managing weekly hours much easier and more effective. Here are the main ways scheduling software helps restaurant managers optimize labor -

1. Data-Driven Scheduling
Modern tools use past sales and traffic data to forecast busy times and suggest the ideal number of staff for each shift. This reduces guesswork and helps avoid over-staffing or under-staffing.

2. Overtime Alerts and Hour Tracking
Scheduling software tracks employee hours in real time, making it simple to set limits and get alerts before anyone hits overtime. This helps control labor costs and keeps work hours fair.

3. Improved Employee Communication
Digital schedules give employees easy access to their shifts. They can request time off or swap shifts with coworkers, reducing confusion and last-minute scheduling problems.

4. Labor Cost Analysis
Managers can view labor costs by day and shift, identifying where adjustments are needed quickly. This real-time insight supports better decision-making.

5. Time Savings for Managers
Automated scheduling means managers spend less time on paperwork and more time on managing the restaurant and supporting their team.

By empowering managers with smart scheduling tools, restaurants can improve efficiency, reduce labor waste, and create a fairer, more transparent schedule for employees. This leads to a happier team and a healthier business.

Track, Review, and Refine Weekly Hour Plans

Creating a weekly schedule isn't a one-and-done task. To truly optimize your labor hours, you need to regularly track how your schedules perform and make adjustments based on real results.

Start by comparing your planned weekly hours to the actual hours worked. Look for patterns where you might be consistently overstaffed or understaffed. For example, if a shift regularly ends with employees having little to do, it's a sign you can reduce hours without hurting service. On the other hand, if guests are waiting too long or your team feels rushed, you might need to add more coverage.

Review labor costs alongside sales to make sure your percentages stay within your budget goals. Check if any unexpected overtime occurred and find out why.

Set aside time each week or month to meet with your managers and discuss what's working and what's not. Use these insights to improve future schedules and address any staffing challenges early.

Using technology to track and analyze your labor data makes this process much easier. Workforce management platforms provide clear reports and real-time visibility, helping you make smarter decisions faster.

When you're ready to simplify workforce management and improve scheduling accuracy, consider exploring solutions like Altametrics Workforce Scheduling. Designed specifically for restaurants, it offers a comprehensive platform that combines time and attendance tracking with scheduling, labor cost management, and compliance tools. Altametrics helps restaurant owners keep teams organized, reduce labor expenses, and focus more on delivering great guest experiences.

Ready to simplify time tracking and payroll for your restaurant? Visit Altametrics Workforce Scheduling, by clicking "Request a Demo" below, to learn how their platform can help you manage your team and payroll with ease.