Overtime and days off: how to monitor them without wearing the team out

The occasional overtime hour for an unexpected event is not a problem: it is normal in restaurants. The problem starts when overtime becomes systematic, always the same people, always the same days: at that point it is no longer an exception, it is a recurring planning error.

Monitoring excess hours

• Look at total hours per person week by week, not only at month end
• Flag whoever repeatedly exceeds planned hours, not just anyone over in one single week
• Compare overtime by department: one department consistently above the rest signals an understaffed team
• Separate overtime tied to events (parties, groups) from overtime tied to poorly built shifts

Organising time-off in lieu

Unplanned time-off in lieu tends to slip indefinitely: first to next week, then the week after that. Setting the make-up date at the same time the overtime is logged prevents a pile-up of unused hours, which becomes hard to manage over time for both the business and the person.

1. Log the overtime as soon as it happens, with the reason
2. Propose a make-up date within a defined timeframe
3. Keep the remaining balance visible for each person
4. Review accumulated balances periodically, not only when someone asks

Rotating days off

Whoever always works weekends or always works public holidays tends to see it as unfair, even when the choice has an operational reason. An explicit rotation rule, visible to the whole team, cuts tension more than any case-by-case explanation.

• Set a weekend rest-day rotation that is consistent over time
• Make each person's upcoming weekend off visible to everyone
• Allow justified exceptions, not discretionary ones

Signs of overload

Before it becomes a health problem or a resignation, overload leaves recognisable traces: more service mistakes, more shift-swap requests, more lateness. Watching these signals alongside hours worked helps you act before the situation worsens.