Excel SpreadsheetGlobalGrowing

Employee Scheduling Template

4.8rating

876 downloads

20 min setup

About This Resource

Labor is your biggest controllable cost — typically 25-35% of revenue. Yet most restaurants schedule on gut feel or a whiteboard. This spreadsheet brings structure without requiring expensive software. Enter your team members, their hourly rates, availability, and max hours. Then drag-and-drop shifts across the week. The template auto-calculates total labor cost, labor cost as a % of projected revenue, flags anyone approaching overtime, and highlights gaps in coverage. Includes a separate tab for tracking time-off requests and a printable weekly view for the break room wall.

What's Included

Auto labor cost calculator

Overtime alert system

Availability tracker

Time-off request log

Printable weekly view

Works for 5-50+ employees

Who Is This For?

Restaurant managers and owners who schedule 5+ employees and want to control labor costs without expensive scheduling software. Works for any format — full-service, fast casual, cafes, bars.

Quick Start Guide

1Enter your team roster with hourly rates and weekly availability
2Set your projected weekly revenue target for labor % calculation
3Fill in shifts for the week — the template auto-calculates everything
4Print the weekly view and post it, or share the spreadsheet digitally

The Resource

How to Build an Effective Schedule

1Start with your sales forecast: review same-day-last-year and last week's actual sales to estimate covers
2Calculate labor hours needed: divide forecasted revenue by your target revenue-per-labor-hour ($40-50 for casual dining)
3Block out must-have positions: opener, closer, PIC (person in charge), minimum FOH and BOH per shift
4Fill in based on employee availability — check the availability tracker before scheduling anyone
5Distribute premium shifts (Friday/Saturday dinner) fairly — rotation prevents resentment
6Post the schedule at least 7 days in advance — last-minute schedules cause no-shows and low morale

Labor Cost Calculation

Metric	Formula	Example
Total labor cost	Sum of (hours × rate) for all employees	40hrs × $15 + 30hrs × $12 = $960
Labor cost %	Total labor cost ÷ Total revenue × 100	$960 ÷ $3,200 = 30%
Revenue per labor hour	Total revenue ÷ Total labor hours	$3,200 ÷ 70 = $45.71/hour
Overtime cost	Hours over 40 × rate × 1.5	5hrs × $15 × 1.5 = $112.50

Scheduling Best Practices

0/6 completed

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The template is provided as both Excel (.xlsx) and Google Sheets format. All formulas and conditional formatting work in both.

The template is designed for one location. For multi-unit operations, duplicate the spreadsheet per location. Each one operates independently with its own roster and revenue targets.

You set the overtime threshold (e.g., 40 hours/week). Any employee whose scheduled hours exceed that threshold gets highlighted in red automatically, so you can adjust before the week starts.