Labor Scheduling

The Labor Scheduling module helps managers build optimized schedules that balance guest demand, labor cost targets, staff availability, and compliance requirements.

Shift Templates

Create reusable shift templates to speed up weekly schedule building. A template defines the start time, end time, role, and station for a shift.

Template	Start	End	Role	Station
AM Server	10:00	16:00	Server	Dining Room
PM Line Cook	14:00	22:00	Line Cook	Grill
Closer	17:00	01:00	Shift Lead	FOH
Weekend Brunch	07:00	15:00	Server	Patio

Apply templates to specific days and then assign staff. Templates can be cloned and modified week to week as business needs change.

Availability Management

Staff submit their availability through the mobile app. Managers see availability overlaid on the schedule builder, making it easy to assign shifts that match.

• Recurring availability — staff set their standard weekly availability once
• One-time exceptions — request specific days off or mark unavailable dates
• Preferred hours — indicate desired shift count and maximum hours per week
• Conflict detection — the scheduler warns if an assignment conflicts with submitted availability

Overtime Alerts

The system monitors projected and actual hours to prevent unplanned overtime:

• Pre-schedule alerts — during schedule creation, the builder highlights any employee approaching 40 hours
• Real-time tracking — as staff clock in and out, the dashboard updates projected weekly hours
• Threshold configuration — set alerts at custom thresholds (e.g., 35 hours as an early warning)
• State-specific rules — configure daily overtime thresholds for states that require it (e.g., California's daily OT after 8 hours)

Labor Cost Targets

Set labor cost percentage targets by daypart and day of week. The schedule builder displays projected labor cost as you add shifts so you can stay within budget.

Metric	Description
Labor Cost %	Projected labor dollars / forecasted revenue
Cost Per Cover	Total labor cost / expected guest count
Staffing Ratio	Guests per front-of-house staff member

Targets are compared against AI demand forecasts to ensure adequate coverage without overstaffing.

Auto-Scheduling

The AI auto-scheduler generates a complete draft schedule with a single click. It considers:

1. Demand forecast — predicted sales volume by 30-minute interval
2. Staff availability — only assigns shifts that match submitted availability
3. Role qualifications — ensures staff are only scheduled for roles they are trained in
4. Labor targets — optimizes total hours to stay within the configured labor cost percentage
5. Fairness rules — distributes desirable and less-desirable shifts equitably over time
6. Compliance — respects minimum rest periods between shifts and maximum consecutive days

After generation, the manager reviews the draft, makes adjustments, and publishes. Published schedules are pushed to all staff via the mobile app.

Schedule Publishing

Once finalized, publish the schedule to notify all staff:

• Push notifications are sent to every assigned employee
• Staff can view their upcoming shifts in the mobile app calendar
• Open shifts (unfilled) are posted for staff to pick up voluntarily
• Schedule changes after publishing trigger update notifications automatically

Getting Started

1. Define your shift templates for each role and daypart
2. Collect staff availability — ensure all team members have submitted
3. Set labor cost targets under Settings > Labor
4. Run auto-schedule for the upcoming week
5. Review, adjust, and publish — then let the system handle notifications