Scheduling and cash counts for cafés with 2–5 locations
A US snack and nonalcoholic beverage bar averages 11.3 employees per location (945,076 ÷ 83,817, BLS QCEW 2024), and counter staff in restaurants and other eating places earned a median $14.67 an hour in May 2025 (BLS OEWS). Assistlify runs the weekly schedule for 2–5 cafés with staff assigned to one or more locations, takes time-off requests from staff phones with an approval step that flags overlapping shifts, records clock-in with breaks and logs a cash-drawer count per café. It does not split tips, connect to your POS or find cover for a sick call yet.
Café staffing in numbers
BLS does not publish baristas as a separate occupation in its May 2025 national OEWS table; counter staff fall under fast food and counter workers (SOC 35-3023).
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fast food and counter workers, all industries (May 2025) | 3,854,050 employed; median $15.00/hr | BLS OEWS |
| Same occupation in restaurants and other eating places (722500) | 3,197,640 employed; median $14.67/hr | BLS OEWS |
| Food service supervisors in 722500 | 930,110 employed; median $19.79/hr | BLS OEWS |
| Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bar locations (NAICS 722515), 2024 | 83,817 locations; 945,076 employees | BLS QCEW |
Example: 945,076 ÷ 83,817 = 11.3 employees per location in NAICS 722515, the closest BLS industry to a counter-service café.
Four problems that come with a second café
1. Opening shifts at two cafés with the same few openers
The people trusted to open, set the float and count the drawer are a short list. With 2–5 cafés, the same name lands on two 6 a.m. shifts unless each opener's shifts at every café are checked against each other before the schedule is published.
2. Teenage staff and school-week hours
DOL Fact Sheet #43 limits 14- and 15-year-olds to 3 hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day). It also restricts their cooking duties and bars baking operations. A schedule built across two cafés has to add a minor's hours from both.
3. Tips and the drawer
DOL Fact Sheet #15 bars employers, managers and supervisors from keeping any part of employees' tips, and says that when an employer takes a tip credit, deductions for cash register shortages that bring wages under minimum wage are illegal. Keep tip-jar cash out of the drawer count, and record the drawer variance rather than charging it to the barista.
Example: $150 float, $498.25 counted, $350.00 expected cash sales. Expected = $150 + $350 = $500.00, so the drawer is $1.75 short. The cash drawer count calculator does this per denomination.
4. Hours across cafés
DOL Fact Sheet #23 counts overtime per workweek and bars averaging across weeks. If both cafés are one employer, 25 hours at one plus 19 at the other is 44 hours, with 4 over 40.
What Assistlify covers for cafés
| Job | What Assistlify does |
|---|---|
| Weekly schedule | Build it by hand or generate it from staff availability and approved time off, then publish it to the team |
| Staff at more than one location | Assign each person to one or more locations |
| Time off | Staff request it from their phone; approval flags shifts that overlap the request |
| Hours | Clock in and out with breaks; export attendance as CSV |
| Cash and stock | Cash-drawer counts and stock counts recorded per location |
| Getting staff on | Invite by link or QR code; runs in the browser on iPhone, Android and desktop, and can be added to the home screen |
| Price and setup | One flat monthly price per business, not per location or per user; we load your current schedule and staff for you |
Assistlify is in early access. You can try every feature above in the preview workspace before handing over any staff data.
What it does not cover for cafés yet
- Tip pooling or tip-credit calculations.
- Checking minors' shifts against child labor hour limits; use the Fact Sheet #43 limits above.
- Shift swaps between employees, and automatic sick-call cover or replacement finding.
- SMS or push notifications.
- Payroll, GPS location checks, and monthly auto-scheduling.
- POS integrations: sales from Square, Toast, Clover or any other register system do not flow in.
- Full data export (the attendance CSV export is the export that exists today).
If your POS already schedules staff and you run one café, adding another tool may not pay off. For several cafés, see multi-location scheduling and the guide to running two or more cafés.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state labor department for current rules.
Questions
Will Assistlify find cover when a barista calls in sick?
No. Automatic sick-call cover and shift swaps are not part of Assistlify today; you reassign the shift on the schedule yourself.
Can it split tips between baristas?
No. Assistlify does not calculate tip pools; DOL Fact Sheet #15 sets the federal rules for who may share in a pool.
How many hours can a 15-year-old work at my café?
Under DOL Fact Sheet #43: 3 hours on a school day, 18 in a school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. June 1 to Labor Day); check your state's rules too.
Do staff need to download an app?
Staff join by link or QR code and use Assistlify in the phone browser; they can add it to the home screen.
Sources
- BLS OEWS, national estimates, May 2025 (checked 2026-11-12)
- BLS OEWS, Restaurants and Other Eating Places (722500), May 2025 (checked 2026-11-12)
- BLS QCEW 2024 annual averages, NAICS 722515 Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars (checked 2026-11-12)
- US DOL Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions for Nonagricultural Occupations (revised December 2016) (checked 2026-11-12)
- US DOL Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the FLSA (checked 2026-11-12)
- US DOL Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA (revised October 2019) (checked 2026-11-12)