Best Restaurant Employee Management Software

For business owners, managing daily operations can be made easier with restaurant employee management software. These tools often save time by streamlining tasks such as scheduling, payroll, and other managerial work. 

But with so many different restaurant employee management software options on the market, how do you know which is the best for your unique restaurant business? 

In this article, we'll look at some of the best employee management software apps available in 2023, and discuss the features and benefits that make them stand out in the crowded market. Choose which restaurant employee management software is the best option for your business based on the pros and cons and see if it fits your budget.

Top restaurant employee management software options

• 7shifts

• Sling by Toast

• Push Operations

• Restaurant365

• Jolt

• Harri

• HotSchedules

• Homebase

• CrunchTime

Choosing the best restaurant employee management software — what should you look for?

Restaurant employee management software is extremely useful for restaurant businesses as they help streamline efficiency of your day-to-day operations, specifically for employee scheduling, HR, and payroll. Having a consistent schedule and good communication with your employees is essential to running a business. Restaurant employee management software can help improve any issues you may have with doing so.

Take a moment to consider what part of your daily operations is most time-consuming or difficult for you. Also, consider what tasks you dislike doing or wish you could do faster. Write those tasks down or keep them front of mind as you read through the pros and cons of each restaurant employee management software below. Doing so can help you determine which option is best suited for your restaurant and will help reduce the hours you spend on the tasks you don’t enjoy doing so you can get time back to focus on the ones you do. 

7shifts

7shifts is a restaurant employee management software platform that helps restaurants simplify team management through scheduling, evaluations, and communication with employees. 

Pros of 7shifts

• Easy to use and intuitive user-friendly design

• Free mobile app for employees and managers

• Allows for integration with POS 

• Free introductory level and multiple paid plans with premium options based on your business size

Cons of 7shifts

• Shift trading and time of request features are not as streamlined

  Integration can be difficult depending on what POS you use

Price of 7shifts

Free entry-level option, plus three business-level pricing options start at $31.99 and $69.99 for a more inclusive experience.

Sling by Toast

An easy-to-use restaurant scheduling and employee management software, Sling by Toast helps companies with scheduling, time tracking, communication and labor cost management to organize all aspects of business operations on one platform.

Pros of Sling by Toast

• Straightforward software that is easy to use

• Free mobile app and desktop version

• Instant shift updates and the option to request time off or swap shifts through the app

• Communication and document sharing for co-workers through the app

• Mobile time clock for tracking work time on the go

Cons of Sling by Toast

• Can be difficult to filter conversations in the app

Price of Sling by Toast

Sling by Toast offers a free mobile app and three plan options: 

• Free: Unlimited scheduling, news sharing and time off requests
• Premium: Mobile time tracking, private and group messaging and labor cost management
• Business: Labor reports, advanced schedule and time tracking and task management

Free is (obviously) free, and Premium and Business are $1.70 and $3.40 per user, respectively, when billed annually.

Are you an existing Toast customer looking for scheduling? Visit your Toast Web portal to see how you can add Scheduling by Sling to your plan.

Push Operations

A cloud-based software, Push Operations offers restaurant solutions for HR, Payroll, time-tracking, and scheduling. Push Operations integrates your system into one platform for easier restaurant employee management.

Pros of Push Operations

• Mobile apps for employees and managers that allow for schedule changes, shift trades, and time off requests and approval

• Automated labor costs tracking

• POS integrations

• Affordable plan options

Cons of Push Operations

• No CRM for customers

• Employees cannot view timesheets in the time clock to see previous hours

• No vacation tracking or turnover reporting for managing absent employees

Price of Push Operations

$5 per employee per month for the starter plan; $6 per employee per month for their most popular ‘Pro” plan; and $10 per employee per month for the premium plan.

Restaurant 365

Restaurant365 is a SaaS accounting and operations platform specifically for restaurants. It is restaurant employee management software that integrates with your POS, vendors, and banks to simplify payroll and reporting.

Pros of Restaurant 365

• Provides in-depth data insight on your restaurant’s accounting and inventory

• Offers scheduling software

• Permission settings to control access

• Allows for automation of your business to bring it to another level

• Ability to customize reports for your needs

Cons of Restaurant 365

• The mobile app is not as user-friendly as others on the market

• Requires extensive onboarding and training to learn the software

• Expensive packages that do not include workforce-relevant software (HR, payroll, and hiring)

Price of Restaurant 365

$435/month for the essential package or $635/month for the professional package.

Jolt

Jolt is restaurant employee management software that executes operations to achieve accountability among team members and boost employee performance. 

Pros of Jolt

• Users report great customer service

• Simple and easy to use

• Improves employee efficiency and allows you to hold employees accountable and streamline tasks

Cons of Jolt

• Mobile app and desktop app is not as user-friendly as others on the market

• No ability to customize lists and layouts 

• No free trial

Price of Jolt

$79.99 per month, per location. 

Harri

Harri is a frontline employee experience platform specifically built for service workers in hotels and restaurants. 

Pros of Harri

• Option to post jobs, review applicants, and schedule interviews all in one place

• Organized, easy to use, and friendly intuitive design

• Forecasting of sales and work schedules

Cons of Harri

• Users share that reports could include more data analysis

• No ability for automation in job posting

Price of Harri

Harri has six different plans with the most affordable option starting at $48 per month. Their Gold plan costs $56 per month and the Silver level is $70 per month.

HotSchedules

HotSchedules is restaurant employee management software that allows you to quickly and easily manage your team’s schedule and communicate with your employees in one place.

Pros of HotSchedules

• Staff can easily swap schedules or shifts through the app

• User-friendly and intuitive design

• Syncs with POS integrations

Cons of HotSchedules

• The mobile app is not free and there's no free version of the timeclock app

• Does not allow employees to pool tips in the app

Price of HotSchedules

HotSchedules starts at $70 per month but may custom quote your pricing depending on how many employees are on your schedule and using the platform.

Homebase

Homebase is a restaurant employee management software that helps small businesses manage work schedules so they can better focus on their people.

Pros of Homebase

• User-friendly design

• Staff can request time off and trade or cover shifts through the app and notifications are sent through e-mail and text when a new schedule or shift change has been created to streamline communication and shift coverage 

• Free app option for timekeeping and scheduling

Cons of Homebase

• Unable to edit clock-in time after clocking in and employees cannot clock in if they are not on the schedule

• No mileage tracking for employees or automated clock-in features

• No group messaging for employees

Price of Homebase

Homebase offers a free basic package for one location that includes hiring, messaging, timesheets, and a time clock. Their other plans are $20 per month per location; $48 per month per location, or $80 per month per location.

CrunchTime

CrunchTime is a restaurant management software platform for operations with multiple units that helps restaurants better manage their food costs, labor, and other tasks across all locations. 

Pros of CrunchTime

• Ability to focus on variances and discrepancies at a micro-level to help with ROI tracking and management

• Provides a good framework for your business to locate errors and create solutions

• All-in-one platform with intuitive, easy-to-use design and integrations

Cons of CrunchTime

• Inventory reporting lists by location as opposed to the total of all items, which can cause some confusion in inventory reporting

• Inconsistent screen layouts

• No free plan or trial period

Price of CrunchTime

CrunchTime does not share its pricing information publicly, as they offer custom pricing for software dependent on the restaurant size. 

What’s the best restaurant employee management software for your specific business?

The Toast all-in-one restaurant platform can easily integrate with some of the most widely used restaurant software while also offering business owners a way to simplify scheduling and team communication.

Sling with Toast allows restaurant owners to save time each week when building their team’s schedule. Employees will like that they can easily swap shifts among their co-workers and communicate with each other or managers through the app allowing for a seamless team management platform.

Regardless of what you choose, make sure your restaurant employee management software gives you some me time back in your day and leads to happier staff. You'll thank yourself later! 

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