How to do a staff rota for a takeaway

1. Start from the trade, not from the people

Before you put a single name down, write out what each day needs. For every day of the week:

• your opening and closing times;
• the busy stretches (for most takeaways that's Friday and Saturday evenings, plus Sunday);
• how many people you need on each job in each stretch: counter, kitchen or grill, and drivers if you deliver yourself.

That gives you a list of gaps to fill, such as "Friday 5pm to close: 2 counter, 3 kitchen". The rota is just filling those gaps with names. Most bad rotas start the other way round, with who wants hours.

2. Get availability before you build

Ask everyone, every week or whenever it changes, which days and times they can work. Do it per day, not as a vague "weekends are fine".

One rule that saves arguments: treat a blank answer as "hasn't told me", not as "can't work". Chase it. Somebody who forgot to fill in the form and then finds themselves off the rota for a week will be right to be annoyed.

3. Build it in this order

1. Contracted people first. Anyone on fixed hours goes in where they always go.
2. Fill the busy stretches next, from the availability people gave you.
3. Then the quiet stretches.
4. Check what's left uncovered before the week starts, not on Friday at six.
5. Check nobody is in two places at once if you run more than one shop.
6. Add up the hours and the cost. Each person's hours times their own rate gives you the wage bill while you can still change it.

4. Check the break and rest rules

From gov.uk, for workers aged 18 and over:

• a 20-minute uninterrupted break if they work more than 6 hours that day (it doesn't have to be paid unless the contract says so);
• 11 hours' rest between working days, which matters after a late close followed by an early start;
• 24 hours off each week, or 48 hours off each fortnight.

Under-18s get more: a 30-minute break if they work more than 4.5 hours, 12 hours' daily rest and 48 hours' weekly rest, and they can't work more than 8 hours a day or 40 a week. They also have limits on night work, so check before putting a 16-year-old on a late close.

5. Publish it once, in one place, on the same day each week

Pick a day, such as Thursday for the following week, and stick to it. Put the rota where everybody looks at the same version. A photo of a paper sheet in a WhatsApp group works until somebody screenshots last week's by mistake.

If you change it after publishing, tell the person it affects directly. A rota that quietly changes is how somebody turns up for a shift they no longer have.

6. Check it against what actually happened

At the end of the week, put what people actually worked next to what you planned. Where they differ, look at it, don't trim it. Somebody who stayed an hour late to clear a rush worked that hour. Quietly cutting worked time back to the rota is somebody's wages.

Two things make this check easier:

• A closing time that acts as a ceiling. If somebody forgets to clock out, count to the rota end or closing time, and write down which you used.
• One record per person, even across shops. If somebody covers at two of your shops, their hours need to add up into one week, not two half-weeks.

Spreadsheet or rota app?

For one shop and a handful of staff, a spreadsheet is often enough. It starts to hurt when:

• people work across two or more shops;
• there are swaps every week and nobody's sure which version is current;
• somebody has to retype the hours into the pay week on Sunday night;
• you need to prove who worked when, for a pay query or a right-to-work check.

Most rota apps charge per member of staff, so the bill goes up every time you hire. Compare a few on the price for your actual headcount: see our comparison of rota apps for UK takeaways.

How FireAttend does it

We built FireAttend for our own takeaways, so it works the way this guide does:

• Staff give their availability per day, and Auto-build places people from it, then tells you where you're short before the week starts.
• The hours and what they'll cost add up as you build.
• Publishing takes a snapshot and puts the week on every phone, so later edits never silently change what staff were told.
• Staff clock in by tapping the shop's NFC tag (Android) or scanning its QR (iPhone).
• The timesheet shows worked time against the rota and flags the difference, never trims it.
• Rostering one person in two shops at the same time is refused, naming the clash.

It's £6 a week per shop, however many staff you have, with a 60-day free trial. More on the rota app.