#1 Free Restaurant Automatic Schedule Generator

Managing shifts, labor costs, and employee availability is one of the most challenging aspects of restaurant management. The Free Restaurant Auto-Schedule Generator is designed to streamline this process, allowing you to generate optimized schedules for Front of House (FOH) and Back of House (BOH) departments in seconds. By inputting your specific shift times and staffing requirements, the tool balances labor budget constraints against service needs.

This comprehensive guide covers how to configure your settings, manage your staff roster, and utilize the auto-generate features effectively.

Setting Up Your Restaurant Preferences

Before adding employees, you must configure the "Settings & Shifts" tab. This establishes the baseline for how the Restaurant Auto-Scheduler calculates needs for your specific business hours.

1. General Configuration

Start by entering your Restaurant Name and your Weekly Labor Budget. The budget is a critical factor; the system calculates variance against this number in real-time, helping you stay profitable.

You can also select an Optimization Strategy. This tells the Free Restaurant Auto-Schedule Generator which employees to prioritize when filling shifts:

2. Defining Shift Blocks

The scheduler divides the day into four key blocks: Opening, Lunch, Dinner, and Closing. For each department (FOH or BOH), you must define the time range and the Base Staff Number required.

Note: The "Base Staff #" is a baseline. The built-in Bell Curve Logic will automatically adjust this number up or down depending on the day of the week (e.g., Friday nights require more staff than Monday lunches).

Managing Your Staff Roster

Navigate to the "Manage Staff" tab to build your team. You can switch between departments using the toggle at the top right of the header.

Adding an Employee

Fill out the form with the employee's details. Accurate data ensures the auto-scheduler respects seniority and budget constraints.

• Department: Ensure you are adding the employee to the correct roster (FOH or BOH).
• Position: Select from standard roles (Server, Host, Chef, Line Cook, etc.).
• Wage ($/hr): Used for labor cost calculations.
• Skill (1-10): Used for the "Heavy" optimization strategy.
• Blackout Dates: Hold Ctrl (or Command on Mac) to select multiple days where the employee cannot work.

Once added, the employee will appear in the Staff Roster list on the right side of the screen.

Generating and Editing the Schedule

The "Schedule" tab is the command center of the Restaurant Auto-Scheduler. Here you can visualize the week, move shifts, and finalize the roster.

Using Auto-Generate

Click the Auto-Generate button to instantly fill the schedule. The algorithm follows a specific hierarchy:

1. 1. Support Roles First: Essential roles like Managers, Dishwashers, and Bartenders are assigned first to ensure coverage.
2. 2. Bell Curve Adjustment: Staff counts are increased for Fridays/Saturdays and decreased for early week shifts.
3. 3. Logic Checks: The system prevents employees from being double-booked or scheduled on blackout dates.

Manual Adjustments (Drag & Drop)

After auto-generating, or starting from scratch, you can fine-tune the schedule manually:

• Move a Shift: Click and drag an employee card from one day/block to another.
• Duplicate a Shift: Hold the Alt key while dragging a card to copy it to a new slot (useful for scheduling an employee for a double shift).
• Clone to Pool: Click the small copy icon on a card to send a copy of that employee to the "Available Staff Pool" at the bottom.
• Delete a Shift: Click the X on the employee card to remove them from that specific block.

Analyzing Labor Costs and Exports

Effective restaurant management relies on controlling prime costs. The Stats Dashboard at the bottom of the schedule view provides real-time financial feedback.

Exporting Your Schedule

Once your schedule is finalized, use the export buttons at the top right:

• Save Image: Downloads a PNG snapshot of the current view, perfect for texting to staff or printing for the notice board.
• Export Excel: Downloads a .xlsx file containing the raw table data for payroll processing or record keeping.