What's Your Labor REALLY Costing You?

Most restaurant owners look at their labor percentage and think they have a handle on it. But your P&L shows wages. It doesn't show the real cost of overtime creep, what turnover is actually costing you, or whether you're hitting labor targets by shift, not just overall.

That's the gap between knowing your numbers and understanding your numbers.

This guide walks you through the math behind your biggest expense and includes a quick calculator so you can see your true labor cost percentage in about 5 minutes.

What's inside:

• A fully loaded cost table showing exactly how an $18/hour employee becomes a $21–$24/hour expense — line by line
• The 3 hidden costs that don't show up on a paystub: overtime premiums, turnover costs ($1,500–$3,000 per hourly replacement), and training time during ramp-up
• A quick labor cost calculator you can fill in with last month's numbers to see your true labor percentage
• Industry benchmarks by restaurant type (full-service, fast-casual, quick-service, bar) so you can see where you stand and where the red flags are