Free tool · P3 payroll

Restaurant labour cost percentage calculator

The labour line, with the statutory load already built in. Wages plus salaried payroll plus EPF, ESI, and bonus accrual — divided by monthly food revenue. Pick your format below to see the target band that applies to your venue. Free, no signup.

Format

Format changes the target band on the right. Cloud kitchens run lowest (no front-of-house headcount); fine dining runs highest (captain ratios and a deeper kitchen brigade); bar-led carries lower labour because beverage-led revenue per head is high.

Inputs

Monthly food revenue (₹, excl beverage)

Net food sales for the month — after refunds, comps, and aggregator commission. Use the same definition as your DSR.

Hourly + variable wages (₹)

Total spend on hourly cooks, kitchen helpers, stewards, dishwashers, casual labour. Include over-time and shift allowances.

Salaried staff cost (₹)

Gross salaries for managers, head chef, captains, accountants — anyone on a fixed monthly payroll.

EPF employer share (₹)

Employer Provident Fund contribution — statutory 12% of basic plus 1% admin. Auto-filled at 13% of (wages + salaried). Edit if your basic split or coverage differs.

ESI employer share (₹)

Employee State Insurance — employer share is 3.25% of gross for staff earning ≤ ₹21,000/month. Auto-filled at 3.25% of base. Edit down if most of your staff are above the ESI ceiling.

Bonus + leave accrual (₹)

Statutory bonus under the Payment of Bonus Act — 8.33% of basic, accrued monthly. Add a small leave-encashment accrual if you carry one. Auto-filled at 8.33% of base.

The formula

base            = hourly_wages + salaried_staff
statutory_load  = epf (≈13% of base) + esi (≈3.25% of base) + bonus (≈8.33% of base)
total_labour    = base + statutory_load
labour_cost_pct = total_labour / monthly_food_revenue × 100

Why this number matters

Labour is the second-largest controllable line on a restaurant P&L and the one most operators under-count, because the statutory load (EPF, ESI, bonus accrual) sits in a different ledger from gross payroll. A QSR running 22% on gross wages is usually closer to 27% once the statutory line is added back in — and that's the number that actually clears the bank account. Pair this with food cost to get prime cost, the single most important operating-cost band in restaurant unit economics. Full labour cost target guide.

Where this fits

Restaurant labour cost percentage — India targets — the format-by-format benchmarks behind the bands above
PF and ESI eligibility for restaurant staff — when each statutory line kicks in and how to size the load
Prime cost calculator — combines this labour number with food cost for the headline operating-cost band
Food cost percentage calculator — the other half of prime cost; run both before pricing changes