Hidden Gems in Labor & Scheduling: 9 Features that Make Life Easier for Restaurant Operators

When it comes to labor and scheduling in restaurants, the focus often lands on big-picture goals like staying within budget or reducing turnover. But some of the most powerful advantages lie in the details. 

Many labor and scheduling platforms include under-the-radar features that, when used effectively, can make a real difference in day-to-day operations. 

From automating routine tasks to giving managers clearer visibility into their teams, these hidden gems may not always get the spotlight, but they’re built to save time, reduce stress, and boost efficiency. 

Here are nine features from Crunchtime’s Labor & Scheduling solution worth discovering.

1) Auto-Forecasting: Smarter Schedules, Less Effort

Auto-forecasting is one of the simplest and most powerful wins in scheduling. With ongoing updates driven by new AI data models, Crunchtime's auto-forecasting continues to get smarter over time.

Why it matters:

• Automatically generates a forecast based on historical sales and traffic.
• Keeps Ideal Hours up to date - no manual entry needed unless you want to tweak it.
• Ensures you always have a reliable starting point for building your schedule.
  
  

2) Teamworx Manager App: Labor Management in Your Pocket

Crunchtime’s Teamworx Manager App puts labor insights and scheduling tools right on your phone, making it easy to manage from the floor, the back office, or even off-site.

Key Features:

• Teamworx Today: Real-time overview of the day's schedule.
• Daily Roster: Know who’s working and when.
• Labor Insights: Get alerts on breaks, minor compliance, and overtime risks.
• Employee List: View submitted and in-progress requests.
• Message Center: Create, view, and send messages to staff.
  
  

3) Teamworx Welcome Letters: A Strong First Impression

Make onboarding smoother with automated welcome letters for new employees in Teamworx.

This small touch helps new team members quickly engage with your scheduling platform and builds trust from day one.

4) Labor Review – “Scheduled Shifts” Tab

This hidden gem helps managers hold employees accountable by clearly showing what shifts they’re scheduled for (and when). It’s perfect for cross-referencing requests, verifying attendance, and identifying gaps in coverage.

5) Guests in Restaurant: A More Accurate Way to Forecast Labor

This enhancement takes forecasting beyond sales volume. The Guests in Restaurant feature helps create more precise labor plans for guest-facing positions.

How it works:

• Uses historical data to track how long guests typically stay.
• Assigns labor hours based on presence, not just arrival time.
• Ideal for roles like servers who are required for the full duration of a guest's visit.

6) Forecast Smoothing: A Custom-Tuned Forecasting Experience

Built in response to customer requests, forecast smoothing helps even out forecasting spikes across different dayparts for a more balanced schedule.

7) Time Off Request Thresholds: You Asked, We Delivered

Thanks to feedback from Crunchtime’s customer ideas portal, Time Off Request (TOR) Thresholds were introduced to help with the following:

• Encourage staff to submit requests earlier.
• Reduce the administrative load on managers.
• Allow flexibility for last-minute needs, while just flagging them as “late.”

One of the most requested features, TOR Thresholds, are live and fully configurable.

8) Scheduling Priority: Smarter Auto-Assigning

When auto-scheduling, priority matters. With Scheduling Priority, you can rank employees and positions to ensure your most critical shifts are filled first.

Bonus Tip: Want to change the display order of positions on the schedule? That’s controlled by this priority setting too!

9) Tip Pooling: Automated or Manual, Your Call

Distribute charged tips easily using CDP/API integration or manual entry. Crunchtime calculates Tips Per Hour to simplify fair distribution across your team.

Wrapping It Up: Small Features, Big Impact

Although each of these features may seem small on its own, together, they can save your team hours of work, improve compliance, and boost scheduling precision.

These features were first introduced in a session during Crunchtime’s Ops Summit 2024. Ready to uncover even more time-saving features? Contact us for a personalized demo today.