Quick weekly labour-cost estimate
Change the four inputs. This is a planning estimate, not a payroll calculation.
Employer National Insurance, pension, holiday pay, overtime, different rates and sector rules can change the real total. Use your own payroll assumptions.
Why the rota needs a cost view
A rota can look sensible by eye while quietly adding expensive overlap on a slow day. The opposite can also happen: cutting a shift saves wages but leaves one person handling a rush alone. Cost visibility is an input to the decision, not the whole decision.
The calculation
Start with each shift’s paid hours: finish time minus start time minus any unpaid break. Multiply the paid hours by the employee’s hourly rate. Then add an employer on-cost allowance that reflects your own payroll assumptions.
- Calculate paid hours for every shift.
- Apply the correct hourly rate to each employee.
- Check overtime, premiums and different role rates.
- Add an allowance for employer costs and paid leave.
- Compare daily coverage and cost before publishing.
Three checks before you publish
Coverage
Put the right skills on the floor at the right time. A low-cost rota that cannot safely or practically run the operation is not efficient.
Change control
Decide who owns the current version and how changes are communicated. A spreadsheet in three inboxes is not a single source of truth.
Working-time flags
Treat flags as prompts for a competent check, not automatic legal conclusions. Working-time rules can involve reference periods, opt-outs and sector-specific exceptions.
Staff Rota & Shift Planner · currently in buyer testing
A manager-owned offline file with labour-cost visibility, CSV, backup, restore and print. It is not being sold until its buyer comprehension gate passes.
Limit: the calculator is deliberately simplified. Use actual employee rates, payroll treatment, pension, National Insurance, holiday and overtime rules when making a real decision.