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Configure and manage venue staffing scaling rules within the labour model

Paula Mercado
Updated

Available for the following plans: Employment Lite, Employment Plus, Employment Unlimited, Platinum, Engage, Essentials, Elite with Time and Attendance add-on
Available for the following User Access levels: Admin, Owner, Work Site Manager

The Labour Model feature allows managers to create structured staffing rules that automatically scale headcount with sales demand. By linking specific positions to Point of Sale (POS) metrics, you can establish consistent staffing patterns, control wage costs, and prevent service gaps across your venues. This process will work without connecting a POS if you manually add sales data in the table or via importing a CSV file.

This article will show you how to manage the following:

Helpful Hint

In most scenarios, you will want to select forecasted metrics to drive your staffing rules. However, you may want to use actual metrics in specific situations, such as:

  • When a work site is newly created with little history and does not have baseline forecasted metrics yet.
  • When you want to validate rules retrospectively to see how a new rule would have performed against the sales of a previous period to check your thresholds.

View all configured labour rules for your work sites

Access the labour model dashboard

 

  1. Click the Time icon on the left-hand side menu.
  2. Click the Labour Model option under Roster Management.
  3. Use the work site selector in the page header to filter and display the labour rules for the selected venue.

 

Helpful Hint

If no rules have been created yet for the selected work site, you will see an empty state with a message inviting you to create a rule to start defining your staffing needs based on sales.

Create a labour rule with linear scaling coverage

Helpful Hint

Use Linear when you think in rates (for example, "I need one extra server for every $200 in food sales"). Linear works best when the relationship between sales and headcount is roughly proportional.

Set up a linear scaling staffing rule

 

 

  1. Navigate to the Labour Model page and ensure the correct work site is selected in the header.
  2. Click the Add rule button.
  3. Enter a descriptive name for the rule in the Rule name field.
  4. Select the Linear coverage type option.
  5. Open the Metric dropdown menu and select the sales metric that will drive the rule.
  6. Open the Positions dropdown menu and select one or multiple active positions governed by this rule.
  7. Enter the required parameters in the configuration section, including the Minimum staff count, the For every dollar step size, and the staff count to Add.
  8. Specify an optional Maximum staff value if you want to cap the recommended headcount for these positions.
  9. Click the Save button to add the rule to the list.

Important

You must enter a per-dollar step amount to save a linear rule, or the form will display a validation error. Additionally, the maximum staff value cannot be lower than the minimum staff value.

Create a labour rule with range demand scaling coverage

Helpful Hint

Use Range when you think in levels, such as when you want to establish staffing based on how busy your business might be (quiet, medium, busy, or slammed). Range works best when demand is not proportional once it crosses a threshold.

Set up a range-based staffing rule

 

 

  1. Navigate to the Labour Model page and verify your selected work site.
  2. Click the Add rule button.
  3. Enter a name for the rule and select the Range coverage type option.
  4. Pick your desired metric and assign the relevant employee positions.
  5. Fill in the sales range thresholds and the corresponding staff count for each row in the step rows that appear.
  6. Click the Add step link if you need to configure additional rows beyond the default steps.
  7. Verify that the final step row displays as open-ended with an "and above" limit to capture all maximum demand.
  8. Click the Save button to complete the setup.

Important

A range rule requires at least two steps. The option to remove a step row will be disabled if only two rows remain. You must fill in all step values before saving to avoid a validation error.

Select a work site and configure point of sale metrics

Manage venue selections and point of sale metrics
  1. Click the work site selector in the page header to view your active and permitted venues.
  2. Select a venue to display its point of sale connection options.
  3. Review the available metrics in the rule form based on the integrated provider:
    • Square connections: Displays gross sales and net sales metrics, alongside forecasted variants for each.
    • Lightspeed connections: Displays gross sales, net sales, and active reporting categories, alongside forecasted variants.
  4. Identify the source data type by reviewing the suffix labels, where actual metrics are designated with (Actual) and forecast-based metrics are designated with (Forecasted).

Edit an existing labour rule to update staffing logic

Modify an active labour rule
  1. Go to the Labour Model page and locate the rule you want to update.
  2. Click the Edit icon on the rule card to open the pre-filled configuration form.
  3. Update the rule name, coverage type, metrics, positions, or threshold parameters as required.
  4. Click the Save button to apply the changes and update the rule dashboard.

Helpful Hint

Positions can only be assigned to one active rule per work site at a time. Positions already in use will appear as disabled in the selection dropdown menu. If you remove a position from a rule and save it, that position immediately becomes available for assignment to other rules within that work site.

Delete an outdated labour rule from your work site

Remove a labour rule permanently
  1. Locate the rule you wish to remove on the Labour Model dashboard.
  2. Click the Delete icon on the rule card.
  3. Click the confirmation button on the prompt that appears to confirm the removal.

Helpful Hint

Deleting a labour rule immediately frees up all its assigned positions, making them available for selection in new or existing rules within that work site.

Further information

Understand rule status and archiving behaviors

Labour rules automatically adapt to status changes in your organisation's work sites and employee positions. Review the following behaviors to manage disabled or modified rules:

  • Archived work sites: If an active work site is archived, all labour rules tied to that venue are automatically disabled and a warning label appears on the dashboard.
  • Archived positions: If all employee positions assigned to a rule are archived, the rule is automatically disabled and displays a warning status.
  • Partially archived positions: If a rule contains multiple positions and only some are archived, the rule remains active and continues to apply to the remaining active positions.
  • Restore disabled rules: You can reactivate a disabled rule at any time by editing the rule, selecting an active work site or active positions, and saving your changes.

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