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Restaurant Labor Cost & SPLH Calculator
Check your restaurant labor cost and sales per labor hour (SPLH) for a past period, then turn a sales forecast into the labor hours you can schedule.
Your last period
Use sales, labor cost and labor hours from the same week, day or pay period.
Labor cost % = total labor cost ÷ total sales × 100. Sales per labor hour (SPLH) = total sales ÷ total labor hours.
Target labor hours from forecasted sales
Divide the sales you expect by the SPLH you want to hit. The result is the number of labor hours you can schedule.
Also check it in labor dollars (optional)
Allowable labor dollars = forecasted sales × target labor cost %. Approximate labor hours = allowable labor dollars ÷ average hourly labor cost.
Labor cost percentage tells you how much you spent. SPLH helps translate sales demand into staffing hours.
Restaurant labor cost is easy to measure after the week is over. To reduce restaurant labor costs, the useful number comes before the schedule is written: how many hours the expected sales can support.
That is where a calculator stops. The manager still has to know what sales are likely to be, day by day, before restaurant scheduling starts. Restaurant sales forecasting and restaurant labor forecasting fill that gap.
Labor Forecaster & Staffing Planner
Let the forecast do this every week
- Forecasts upcoming restaurant sales
- Converts expected sales into SPLH-based labor-hour targets
- Allocates labor by day and hour
- Automatically emails the planning report
Restaurant labor cost FAQ
How do you calculate restaurant labor cost percentage?
Divide total labor cost by total sales for the same period and multiply by 100.
What is sales per labor hour (SPLH)?
Sales per labor hour is total sales divided by total labor hours worked. It shows how much revenue each labor hour supports.
How many labor hours should I schedule?
Divide forecasted sales by your target SPLH. For example, $8,000 in forecasted sales at an $80 SPLH target leaves about 100 labor hours to allocate.