Rotas and time tracking for restaurants and cafés

• Someone drops out at short notice

  Samwise shows who can step in, and one click offers the shift to everyone who fits. Staff swap shifts or give them away on their phones, with no notes pinned to the staffroom wall.

• Casual staff and mini-jobs

  While you plan, you see when a casual worker would go over the mini-job earnings limit, or when there’s too little rest between a late and an early shift.

• Apprentices and school pupils

  Different working hours apply to under-18s. If a shift doesn’t fit them, Samwise points it out in the plan.

• The right person in the right place

  For each person you note what they can do, such as kitchen, service or bar. If you put someone on something that isn’t noted for them, Samwise asks.

• Clocking in the way that suits you

  With one tap on a phone, with a PIN on a tablet on site, or on paper as before. You enter paper times afterwards, and the scan is kept as proof.

• Restaurant, café, bar, dance club, quick-service restaurant

  Show the rulesHide the rules

  Sundays and public holidays

  allowed if the work can’t be done on a weekday

  Rest between two shifts

  at least 10 hours, if another rest period within the same calendar month or within four weeks lasts at least 12 hours to make up for it. Samwise keeps track.

  Sundays off per year

  at least 15, or 10 if your collective agreement allows it

  Under-18s

  6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 DecemberExceptions you can switch on:

  • a working day of up to 11 hours including breaks
  • from age 16, until 10 pm
  • Saturdays, as a rule with two Saturdays a month off
  • Sundays, if two Sundays a month stay free
  • public holidays, except 25 December, 1 January, Easter Sunday and 1 May

  Immediate registration when new staff start

  yes; Samwise reminds you before the first shift once you have confirmed this

• Night bar, adult nightclub or similar venue, for example with erotic or striptease shows

  Show the rulesHide the rules

  Sundays and public holidays

  allowed if the work can’t be done on a weekday

  Rest between two shifts

  at least 10 hours, if another rest period within the same calendar month or within four weeks lasts at least 12 hours to make up for it. Samwise keeps track.

  Sundays off per year

  at least 15, or 10 if your collective agreement allows it

  Under-18s

  not allowed; it’s on your checklist

  Immediate registration when new staff start

  yes; Samwise reminds you before the first shift once you have confirmed this

• Catering, delivery-only kitchen, delivery service without seating

  Show the rulesHide the rules

  Sundays and public holidays

  only under a legal exception or with a permit

  Rest between two shifts

  at least 11 hours

  Sundays off per year

  at least 15

  Under-18s

  6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 December

  Immediate registration when new staff start

  yes; Samwise reminds you before the first shift once you have confirmed this

• Canteen

  Show the rulesHide the rules

  Sundays and public holidays

  allowed if the work can’t be done on a weekday

  Rest between two shifts

  at least 10 hours, if another rest period within the same calendar month or within four weeks lasts at least 12 hours to make up for it. Samwise keeps track.

  Sundays off per year

  at least 15, or 10 if your collective agreement allows it

  Under-18s

  6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 December

  Immediate registration when new staff start

  usually not required

• Where Sunday work needs a legal exception or a permit, Samwise points out every Sunday and public holiday shift. If a legal exception applies to you, for example in the Working Hours Act or a rule of your state, or the authorities have given you a permit, you confirm the shift with that reason. A permit only needs to be entered once.
• For every Sunday worked, Samwise looks out for a day off in lieu, and it counts how many Sundays a year stay free for each person.
• Samwise counts 10 instead of 15 Sundays off once you enter your collective agreement in Samwise.
• Samwise only applies exceptions for under-18s once you switch them on for a team or a shift.
• Where the table shows yes for immediate registration (Sofortmeldung), new staff must be registered with social insurance no later than when they start work. You still submit the regular registration as usual. Everyone must also carry their ID card, passport or an official substitute document at work. You must tell all employees about this ID rule in writing, new staff before they start work, and keep the notices. Samwise asks you whether immediate registration applies to your business. Until you answer, Samwise points it out. Once you confirm that it applies, Samwise reminds you to register each new person before their first shift.
• For catering and delivery-only kitchens, Samwise applies the general rules to be on the safe side, because it is disputed whether the restaurant exceptions cover them. That is why Samwise flags the Sunday shifts from the template there, and you confirm them with the right reason.
• Whether immediate registration applies to a canteen depends on what your company mainly does, for example whether you run canteens as a caterer. If in doubt, ask your employees’ health insurance fund or the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung).

For every business, Samwise also keeps track of maximum working hours, breaks, maternity protection and the mini-job earnings limit.

1. 1

   Step 1: Choose your industry

   Samwise sets up the teams, activities and shifts you see above. You can rename or remove any of them.

2. 2

   Step 2: Bring over your staff list

   Upload it as an Excel or CSV file. Samwise shows any errors row by row before anything is saved.

3. 3

   Step 3: Invite your team by link

   Everyone gets their own link or QR code and fills in the staff questionnaire on their own phone.

4. 4

   Step 4: Set up a tablet as the time clock

   Open the time clock in the tablet’s browser and print the PINs. That’s all it takes.

5. 5

   Step 5: Plan your first week

   You set up your usual week once, and Samwise drafts every new week from it. As soon as you release the plan, your team sees it on their phones.

With the industry templates, you set up Samwise yourself. If you ask us to keep you posted by 31 January 2027 and become a customer by 31 March 2027, we set it up together with you free of charge.