Restaurant Work Schedule Template

Looking for a work schedule template to use at your restaurant? We get it. Managing labor at a restaurant isn’t easy.

We’ve got you covered with our free, pre-built restaurant work schedule template for Excel.

To help you get started, we include step-by-step instructions directly in the template. The only thing you need is Microsoft Excel or another popular spreadsheet program.

The template can also be used with other popular spreadsheet programs, such as Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc, both of which are free.

So you don’t actually need Excel to use our templates – you can use the spreadsheet program you’re most comfortable with!

What’s included in the template:

• Fill-in-the-blank shift schedule worksheet
• Clear instructions inside the spreadsheet
• An automatic calculator to track hours
• Predefined shifts with customizable times and roles
• A section to manage weekly work hours and total payroll estimates

How to use the restaurant work schedule template

The template follows a monthly format with fixed shifts, start/end times, and coverage requirements. Here’s how to get started:

1. Assign your restaurant staff to each shift row.
2. Enter shift details such as times and expected coverage.
3. At the bottom, you’ll see automatically calculated totals for hours per week.

You can also add new shifts or edit shift durations, giving you complete control and flexibility.

If you’re using this with a mobile app like Google Sheets or Excel Mobile, you can update the schedule on the go and even download it as a PDF to post in the breakroom.hours for you based on the durations you set. Check the numbers in the “Total Hours Per Week” row.

Many schedule templates, like ours, run in Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet program.

In general, schedule templates require you to input the data and set up the shifts yourself. Then, when you’re done, you print and/or post the finished schedule at your workplace.

You can also email it or post it online in a place only your team can access (such as your company’s employee portal).

Limitations of spreadsheet templates

While they do speed things up a bit, spreadsheet templates still take time to set up and use.

We did most of the up-front work for you, but if you need to update your restaurant work schedule, you’ll have to go back into the template to change the way you’ve assigned shifts. This is just part of using spreadsheets for scheduling. Excel can’t make the changes or assign shifts for you.

What this means is that you’ll probably still be spending a lot of time building schedules, though probably not as much as if you wrote them down by hand.

Other limitations of spreadsheet-based templates include:

• They don’t factor in break and meal period tracking, which can get pretty hairy in some cities and states.
• They also don’t track time off requests, automatically update with shift swaps, or send you alerts when you’re at risk of overstaffing or understaffing.

If you run a multi-unit restaurant business, you’ll want to make use of shift swaps, especially for creating an internal gig economy between locations.

Other work schedule template options for restaurants

When you’re ready to spend less time making rota schedules, we recommend TimeForge.

Our AutoScheduler and RoboSchedules tools can automatically create or suggest work schedules for you in seconds. Because they live in the cloud, TimeForge schedules can be accessed from anywhere using a mobile phone or one of our labor management mobile apps.

And unlike spreadsheet-based templates, our scheduling software will notify employees when a new schedule is posted. This means your team will always know exactly when they work.

Intrigued? Learn more about TimeForge employee scheduling. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our free restaurant work schedule template!

For tips on managing a restaurant, you might also like our Restaurant Management eBook. It’s especially geared toward beginners who are just getting started.

Monitor your restaurant effortlessly

Creating a restaurant schedule is only half of the battle. You’ll also need to monitor how well your employees stick to it.

However, keeping an eye on the time clock is a tedious way to regulate your team. While it can often be an adequate way to curtail payroll expenses, it also increases frustration and costs among management staff and prevents managers from doing more important tasks, such as interacting with customers.

TimeForge supports many ways to supervise workers without spending all of your time in front of the time clock, including:

• Team member work scheduling online
• Attendance that can be viewed and edited online
• Reinforcing the schedule with a grace period for clocking in or out
• Pinpointing “most different” time punches
• Allowing other team members to act as witnesses when employees show up before their shift begins
• Using the mobile app to conveniently check on your labor costs when you’re not at work (including an above-store dashboard for multi-unit restaurants)

If you want, TimeForge can automatically notify managers or supervisors when team members show up early or tardy – and when they clock in and out.

For example, TimeForge can notify you by email and text message when workers show up more than 10 minutes before their shift is scheduled to begin.

Types of restaurants that use TimeForge include:

• quick service
• counter service
• table service
• fast casual
• fine dining
• and more!

Intrigued? Learn more about TimeForge employee scheduling.

Frequently Asked Questions