Free staff rota maker and rota template (UK)

This is the example the maker opens with for UK visitors. Weeks start on Monday.

Open is 07:00–15:30 (8 paid hours), Mid 11:00–17:30 (6) and Close 15:00–23:00 (7.5), each after a 30-minute unpaid break. At the example pay (Sam £14.50, Priya £12.71, Tom £13.50, Ellie £8.00, Jack £10.85) the wage bill is £1,885.95 before employer National Insurance, pension and holiday pay. On £7,500 of sales (ex VAT), that's a labour cost of 25.1%.

The maker checks hours a day and a week for under-18s, flags weeks over 48 hours, and checks pay against the minimum wage. It warns you, but never stops you printing. Rest breaks and rest between shifts depend on start and finish times, so check those against the table yourself. It's a planning aid, not legal advice. Contracts can give more than these minimums.

• Breaks don't have to be paid. It depends on the contract. Give each shift the paid hours it counts for.
• The “clopen”. Closing at 23:00 and opening at 07:00 leaves 8 hours, not 11.
• The 48-hour limit is an average. One 55-hour week is allowed if the average over the reference period stays at 48 or below, unless they've opted out.
• Under-16s (below school-leaving age) have different, stricter rules, and most councils need you to get a child employment permit.

Add an hourly rate for each person and the maker compares it with the legal minimum for their age band. These rates apply from 1 April 2026:

Tips and service charges can't be used to top up pay to the minimum wage. Since October 2024, they must also be passed to staff in full. Our tipping law guide explains tronc.

Labour cost % = wages ÷ sales (ex VAT) × 100. The maker shows it when you enter your expected sales for the week. Add an on-costs percentage to include employer National Insurance, pension and holiday pay. Employer National Insurance is 15% on pay above £96 a week per employee (2026–27), and the Employment Allowance can reduce your bill by up to £10,500 a year.

Labour is usually your biggest cost after food and drink. To see how many covers or orders you need to cover it, try our break-even calculator.

• Rota to your busy hours, not your opening hours. Check last month's orders by hour. A takeaway might need two drivers from 17:30 to 21:00 but none at 16:00.
• Publish two weeks ahead. Staff plan their lives better, and you get fewer swaps. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will also bring a right to reasonable notice of shifts, and pay for shifts cancelled at short notice. The government plans this for 2027, with the details still to be set.
• Use split shifts with care. A 10:00–14:00 and 17:00–21:00 split covers lunch and dinner, but the gap is unpaid and unpopular. See why the split shift is a menu problem.
• Plan holidays. Workers get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year (28 days for a 5-day week, capped at 28).
• Pin a printed copy and share the image. Then nobody can say they didn't see it.

A rota tells you who's on. It doesn't stop the phone ringing during service. With Menuthere, customers order from your own page or by QR code, and the order goes straight to your team, with ringing order alerts, kitchen tickets and unlimited staff logins. See the takeaway ordering system.