Automated Staff Scheduling

Hospitality staff scheduling: fast, structured, and transparent

From live availability to a complete weekly schedule in minutes. The Chef's Clock combines availability, qualifications, and contract hours and checks rest rules and overlap during scheduling. You also maintain visibility into expected labor costs.

Week 43 Interactive · Click any shift
* Sample demonstration data for the interactive scheduling preview.
Auto-schedule Publish Week Print Schedule
Role Mon 19 Oct Tue 20 Oct Wed 21 Oct Thu 22 Oct Fri 23 Oct Sat 24 Oct Sun 25 Oct
Kitchen
Grill
140 / 148 h
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
—
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
Fix
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
11:00-19:30
15:30-23:30
Cold Station
46 / 46 h
17:00-22:30
—
17:00-22:30
17:00-22:30
17:00-23:00
17:00-23:00
17:00-22:00
Service
Bar
90 / 90 h
 — —
16:00-23:00
16:00-00:30
16:00-01:00
16:00-01:00
16:00-23:00
Servers / Floor
144 / 152 h
17:00-23:00
—
17:00-23:00
17:00-23:30
16:30-00:30
16:30-01:00
16:30-23:00
Click any shift card to view scheduled staff, assign standby, or adjust station demand in real time.
Click to view scheduled staff
How Automated Hospitality Scheduling Works

From availability to a finalized roster in 3 steps

From availability and qualifications to a complete weekly schedule. The planner helps you assign matching staff while upholding essential scheduling rules.

Step 1 · When

Availability & leave

Team members submit availability and leave requests via the app, so you instantly see who is available for every shift.

Daan de Vries
Grill
Available · All day
Lieke Visser
Server
Available · Evening from 16:00
Bas Bakker
Cold Kitchen
Approved leave
+ 10 more available in team
Step 2 · What & who

Tasks & qualifications

Team members indicate in the app which tasks they are qualified for, such as Grill, Bar, or Server. This tells the scheduler which team members can be deployed on each station.

✓ Grill
Kitchen
✓ Bar
Service
✓ Waiter / Server
Service
Contracted core & flex profiles
Step 3 · Auto-Schedule

Auto-schedule with one click

Let the planner fill your weekly roster. If an unfilled shift remains, assign matching staff or place them on standby. Manual assignments and adjustments are always possible.

Grill · 15:30-23:30
✓
No staff members scheduled
Available
All candidates have been assigned
Staffing Demand

Set staffing requirements per station and time slot

Specify how many staff members you need. The planner aligns this demand with team availability, qualifications, and contract hours.

Staffing Demand · Friday Evening
17:00 – 23:30 · Dinner & Bar
Live Occupancy
Kitchen
Grill · 17:00 – 23:30
✓ 1 / 1
Cold Station · 17:30 – 22:30
✓ 1 / 1
Service
Bar · 16:00 – 01:00
✓ 2 / 2
Server / Waitstaff · 17:00 – 23:00
⚠ 5 / 6

Staffing Demand per Station

Set how many staff members are needed per station and time slot (e.g. Grill: 2, Cold Kitchen: 1, Bar: 2, Service: 5).

Tasks & Qualifications

Staff members indicate in the app which tasks they are qualified for. The scheduler proposes only suitable candidates for each station.

Contract & Preferred Hours

The planner respects fixed contract hours, availability, and – if configured – preferred minimum and maximum hours.

Take Over Open Shifts

If a station remains partially unfilled, publish the open shift so qualified team members can take it directly via the app.

Flexible Staffing

Taking over open shifts & standby

Directly adapt to unexpected demand, staff call-outs, or sudden rushes. Let team members manage extra shifts and maintain full control.

Let staff take open shifts directly

Publish an unfilled slot as an open shift. Qualified team members view it instantly in their app and can take it with a single tap.

Open Shift · Service Staff
Saturday 18:00 – 23:30
  • ✓ Only visible to team members with matching task qualifications
  • ✓ Direct contract hours and rest interval checks before acceptance
  • ✓ Fill open slots faster without manual calling or scattered messages

Standby shifts for peak hours and busy days

Assign team members to standby shifts in advance for peak hours or extra demand. When it gets busy, activate the shift with one click and notify your team member immediately.

L
Lieke Visser · Service
Sunday
Standby
Call in immediately during rush or peak demand
  • ✓ Clear advance expectations for availability and readiness
  • ✓ Call in immediately and synchronize directly with the live schedule
  • ✓ Once activated, the shift is added to the schedule and actual hours worked are automatically included in time tracking.

Shift swaps with automatic rule checks

Give your team the ability to swap shifts among themselves. Choose whether swaps apply directly or require manager approval. The system checks qualifications, rest rules, and overlap during the swap.

Self-service swaps in the app

Team members can submit swap requests directly to an eligible colleague, without back-and-forth calling.

Instant qualification & rest checks

Only eligible swap partners can be selected. The system takes qualifications, rest rules, and overlap into account.

Swaps with or without manager approval

You set the rules: allow valid swaps to update the schedule directly, or review every request beforehand.

Shift Swap

Shift Swap Request

Bar · Friday 17:00 – 01:00

Current Shift
Lieke Visser
Bar · Swap request
Recipient
Sophie Jansen
Confirmed
Swaps are only possible if feasible and conflict-free

Ready to Plan Faster and Smarter?

See The Chef's Clock in action via our interactive demo or start your free trial today.

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