Most small cafés plan the rota on paper, on a whiteboard or in a group chat, then add up hours on payday. It works until the week someone is off sick, two people swap shifts and nobody can remember who worked what. This page gives you a free weekly staff rota template that adds up hours and wage cost for you, and explains how to plan a rota that keeps the café covered without blowing the wage bill.
Download the free staff rota template (Excel)
The template opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice. It plans one week at a time, with up to 15 staff.
What is in the template
The Rota sheet has one row per person and one column group per day, Monday to Sunday:
- Name and pay per hour. Type each person's hourly rate once.
- Start, finish and break. Type times as 08:00 and the unpaid break in minutes.
- Hours. Worked out for each shift, less the break. A shift that finishes after midnight is counted correctly.
- Week hours and week cost for each person.
- Daily totals at the bottom: hours planned and wage cost for each day.
- Expected sales. Type the takings you expect each day and the sheet shows wages as a percentage of sales.
The How to use sheet explains each step. Three example rows show how it works; replace or delete them.
How to use it
- Type the date the week starts in cell B2.
- Add each person's name and hourly pay.
- Fill in each shift: start, finish and unpaid break.
- Add the sales you expect each day, from last year or the last few weeks.
- Check the wages percentage for each day, and move hours from days that look too high.
- Copy the sheet for next week: right-click the tab, choose Move or Copy and tick Create a copy.
To share the rota with staff, print it (it fits one landscape A4 page) or upload it to Google Sheets and share a view-only link.
How to plan a café rota
A good rota puts people where the customers are. A few habits help:
Start from your busy times
Look at your takings by hour for the last few weeks. Most cafés have a morning rush, a lunch peak and a quiet mid-afternoon. Staff up for the peaks and keep the quiet spells lean. If your till shows sales by hour, use it. If not, a week of tally marks by the till will tell you.
Plan the core, then the extras
Decide the minimum team for each part of the day: perhaps one barista and one person on the counter at opening, three at lunch, and two to close. Fill those core shifts first, then add extra hours for busy days such as Saturdays, school holidays or local events.
Think in shifts, not hours
Shifts that line up with your trading pattern are easier to fill and fairer for staff. A 07:00 to 13:00 opener and an 11:00 to 17:00 closer overlap at lunch, which is when you need the extra pair of hands.
Publish it early
Try to publish the rota at least a week ahead. Staff can plan their lives, and you find out about clashes before the day. Many cafés publish two weeks ahead.
Keep a record of changes
When shifts swap, update the rota, not just the group chat. The rota is your record of who was due to work, which matters if a pay query comes up later.
Breaks and working time
The rota is also where you make sure you are following the rules on rest. The main ones for UK cafés:
- Rest breaks. Workers aged 18 or over are entitled to an unpaid 20-minute break when they work more than 6 hours in a day. Workers under 18 are entitled to 30 minutes when they work more than 4.5 hours.
- Daily rest. Adults are entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days, and young workers to 12 hours.
- Weekly rest. Adults are entitled to 24 hours off each week, or 48 hours each fortnight. Young workers are entitled to 48 hours each week.
- Average weekly hours. Adults can't be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average unless they choose to opt out in writing.
There are extra rules for workers under 16 and for school-age children, set by your local council. Check gov.uk if you employ anyone still at school.
Pay rates
The template uses an hourly rate for each person. Make sure every rate is at least the National Minimum Wage for that person's age. From April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. Rates for younger workers and apprentices are lower and change every April, so check the current figures on gov.uk.
Tips don't count towards the minimum wage. Paying someone £12.00 an hour plus tips is below the minimum, however good the tips are.
A worked example: wage cost against sales
The three example rows in the template show how the numbers work. Suppose:
- A barista works 07:30 to 14:00 Monday to Friday, with a 30-minute break, at £12.71 an hour. That is 6 hours a day, 30 hours a week, costing £381.30.
- A kitchen assistant works 08:00 to 15:00 Monday to Friday, with a 30-minute break, at £13.00 an hour. That is 6.5 hours a day, 32.5 hours a week, costing £422.50.
- A weekend team member works 09:00 to 16:00 on Saturday and Sunday, with a 30-minute break, at £12.71 an hour. That is 13 hours, costing £165.23.
The week's rota is 75.5 hours and £969.03 in pay. If the café expects £3,500 of sales that week, wages are about 28% of sales.
Many cafés aim for total staff costs of around 25% to 35% of sales, depending on how much is made on site and how much table service there is. Remember that the template shows hourly pay only. Holiday pay, employer's National Insurance and pension contributions come on top, so your real staff cost will be higher. Your accountant can tell you what to add for your business.
If one day's wage percentage is much higher than the rest, that is usually the place to look first: perhaps an extra person on a quiet Tuesday, or an opener who arrives an hour before you need them.
When a spreadsheet stops working
A spreadsheet rota is a good start. It gets harder when:
- staff clock in at different times from the rota, and you add up hours by hand on payday
- you want to see wages against today's actual sales, not last month's
- you share tips and need to know who worked how many hours
- several people edit the same file and changes get lost
At that point, a rota and time clock linked to your till does the adding up for you.
How it works in Café QR
Café QR has a rota, a time clock and tips built into the till.
- Plan the week a week at a time, and copy last week's shifts with one button. Each shift shows its cost from that person's hourly pay, so you see the week's planned wage bill.
- Clock in and out on the till. Staff clock in, take breaks and clock out from Clock in or out in the till's menu, each with their own PIN. Breaks are unpaid and come off the shift.
- Hours, pay and labour cost. Managers see each person's hours and cost for the last 14 days, with labour as a percentage of sales for the same days.
- Tips shared by hours worked, split to the penny.
- Timesheet export as a spreadsheet for your payroll provider or accountant.
The rota and time clock are in the POS plan at £39 per venue a month, or the "Till and cash-up" add-on at £15 a month on Order & Pay. Café QR doesn't run payroll or work out holiday pay. See how the rota and time clock work.
Frequently asked questions
Is the staff rota template free?
Yes. Download the Excel file and use it for your café as often as you like. You don't need to sign up for anything.
Does the template work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The formulas work the same way.
Does the rota template work out holiday pay?
No. It adds up hours and hourly pay. Holiday pay, employer's National Insurance and pension contributions need to be added on top, usually by your payroll provider.
Are breaks paid in a café?
It depends on the contract. The legal rest break of 20 minutes for shifts over 6 hours doesn't have to be paid. The template treats breaks as unpaid and takes them off the shift.
How far ahead should a café rota be published?
At least a week, and two weeks if you can. Staff can plan around it, and you spot gaps before the day.
Related reading
- How to Open a Café in the UK
- Café Profit Margins
- Free Café Stamp Card Template (Printable PDF)