A chef rota app for kitchens that run on split shifts, prep days and too few KPs

Most head chefs write the kitchen rota at the end of a double, on the pass, on the back of a prep list. It has to work around who's on holiday, which commis can't do Sundays, the KP who might not turn up, and a 40-cover party booked for Thursday that nobody mentioned until Tuesday.

A chef rota app should give that time back to cooking. It should know who's available, know what's booked, and hand you a sensible draft, so the rota takes ten minutes instead of an hour after service.

The kitchen rota problems no spreadsheet fixes

• Splits are messy. A 9 to 3 prep block and a 5 to 11 service block on the same day turn a simple grid into footnotes.
• Sections matter. "Two chefs on" means nothing if both are on larder and nobody's on the grill.
• Covers change late. A big booking lands mid-week and the rota you posted on Sunday is already wrong.
• Hours creep. It's easy for chefs to drift to 55 or 60 hours a week. Under GOV.UK guidance, the limit is an average of 48 hours a week, normally over 17 weeks, unless a worker has opted out voluntarily and in writing.
• Close-then-open. Finishing at 11pm and starting prep at 8am leaves 9 hours. Adults are normally entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days.
• One person holds it all. If the head chef is off, nobody else can write next week's rota.

How ShiftComplete schedules a kitchen

Availability from the brigade's phones

Chefs set their availability from their own phones, weeks ahead: available, partial or off, with a note such as "college Wednesdays" or "can't start before 10". Holidays are recorded, so you won't rota someone who's off.

Sections as staff areas

Create your own areas to match your kitchen: Pass, Grill, Larder, Pastry, Prep, KP. Each time block on the rota shows the area, so you can see at a glance that Saturday night has a grill chef and a second KP.

Split shifts, done properly

Each person can have up to four time blocks in a day. A sous chef can be on Prep 9 to 2, then Pass 5.30 to close, on one line. No second rota, no "see note".

Events for big bookings

Add the Thursday party as an event: "40-cover party 7pm, +1 Larder, +1 KP". ShiftComplete adds that cover when it builds the draft.

A fair draft in seconds

Weight the chefs you want on the busiest services, then let ShiftComplete build a draft rota in seconds, spread fairly across the brigade. Drag shifts around, then publish. Every chef sees their shifts under My rota on their phone, and you can email it too.

Labour cost on screen

Kitchen wages are usually the biggest single labour line. ShiftComplete shows labour cost while you build, so you can see that putting a third chef on a quiet Tuesday lunch costs more than it earns. Our guide to labour cost percentage explains what to aim for.

Fixed schedules for the regulars

The KP who does Tuesday to Saturday every week, or the breakfast chef on the same 7 to 3, can have a fixed weekly schedule, so you only rota the people whose week actually changes.

Clocking in and out

Kitchen rotas and kitchen hours are rarely the same thing. Switch on time tracking and chefs clock in and out on their phone or the kitchen tablet. You see hours worked against the rota, which is the honest way to keep an eye on that 48-hour average, and you can download hours as a spreadsheet with a total per person for payroll. ShiftComplete doesn't run payroll itself.

Day notes for the brigade

Add a note to any day: "Fish delivery 7am", "New menu tasting 3pm", "Deep clean extraction after service".

The kitchen records, in the same app

The rota is half of running a kitchen. The other half is the paperwork an EHO asks to see, and in most kitchens it lives in a folder only the head chef understands. ShiftComplete puts it on a screen the whole brigade can use:

• Temperature logs. Set up every fridge, freezer, hot-hold and ambient point with its own range. Chefs log readings on a phone or kitchen tablet in seconds, named and timestamped, with an optional photo. Out-of-range readings are flagged on the dashboard, and there's a 7-day rolling view ready for an inspection. See our guide to fridge temperature rules.
• Allergens. Map every dish to the 14 UK allergens, grouped by course. Front-of-house can search it from the floor; only managers can edit. Servers stop running to the pass to ask.
• Cleaning and closing checks. Kitchen cleaning schedules and closing checks that differ by weekday, with every tick named and timestamped and photos where you need them. Our kitchen cleaning schedule template is a good starting list.
• Maintenance. A combi oven that won't hold temperature or a leaking dishwasher, logged with a photo and severity, and tracked until it's fixed.
• Risk assessments created, kept and printed from the app.

The point is that the kitchen's knowledge stops living in one person's head.

Pricing for kitchens

£1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, no per-site fee, no contract. A kitchen brigade of 7 is £10.43 a month; add 9 front-of-house and the whole venue of 16 is £23.84. Remove staff any time, so KP turnover doesn't cost you.

It's free for 60 days, no card needed. Set-up takes about five minutes, or book a free 15-minute set-up call and we'll walk you through it.

From a kitchen that switched

"The rota stopped being a Sunday-night argument the week we switched over. The chef stopped being the only person who knows what's in the kitchen. And the EHO turn up to a screen, not a box file."

Graeme Kirkham, Owner, The Lounge Oswestry & Knock & Snitch

Read how Kirkham Hospitality made the switch.

Who it's for

• Head chefs and kitchen managers who write the rota themselves and want the evening back.
• Pub kitchens where chefs also cover the bar on quiet nights (areas make that visible).
• Restaurants with a full brigade of sous, CDPs, commis and KPs on split shifts.
• Owners who want the kitchen to keep running when the head chef is on holiday.

If you'd rather start with a grid, use our free kitchen rota template. When you want it built for you, start your free trial.