Is a split shift legal?

Generally yes, but it is one of the most-regulated scheduling shapes there is. California requires a split-shift premium, New York has a spread-of-hours rule for days longer than 10 hours, and EU member states cap daily spread under the Working Time Directive. Weekwright lets you encode a maximum daily spread as a compliance rule so the conflict detector catches it before publish.

Should the same person work both services?

For the kitchen, usually yes — consistency of execution beats fresh legs. For the floor, alternate: put a person on lunch-only or dinner-only on the days they are not doing the split, so nobody does five splits in a row.

How do I schedule the gap in Weekwright?

As two separate shifts on the same day, which is exactly what this CSV contains. The overlap detector treats them as distinct because they do not intersect, and the hour totals add up per day so your overtime math stays right.

Restaurant template

Two services, one closed afternoon.

The classic Mediterranean pattern: lunch 12:00-15:30, shutters down, dinner 19:00-23:30. Same team works both services, which keeps quality consistent and makes the break the scheduling problem.

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The template

One week, at a glance.

Pattern: Split shift, two services
Coverage: Tue-Sun, 12:00-15:30 and 19:00-23:30
Fits: 8-12 staff, 1 location
People in the grid: 10
Scheduled hours / week: 254h
Positions: Server, Cook, Bartender, Host

Split-shift restaurant schedule — weekly shift grid, one row per staffing slot.
Slot	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Shift
Server LunchServer	Off	11:45–15:30×2	11:45–15:30×2	11:45–15:30×2	11:45–15:30×2	11:45–15:30×2	11:45–15:30×2	3.8h
Server DinnerServer	Off	18:45–23:30×2	18:45–23:30×2	18:45–23:30×2	18:45–23:30×2	18:45–23:30×2	18:45–23:30×2	4.8h
Cook LunchCook	Off	11:00–15:30×2	11:00–15:30×2	11:00–15:30×2	11:00–15:30×2	11:00–15:30×2	11:00–15:30×2	4.5h
Cook DinnerCook	Off	18:00–23:30×2	18:00–23:30×2	18:00–23:30×2	18:00–23:30×2	18:00–23:30×2	18:00–23:30×2	5.5h
Bartender	Off	Off	Off	18:30–23:30	18:30–23:30	18:30–23:30	18:30–23:30	5h
Host	Off	Off	Off	Off	19:00–23:00	19:00–23:00	19:00–23:00	4h

One row per staffing slot; ×N means that many people on that block. Times are local to the location. +1 marks a shift that ends the following calendar day.

Use this pattern when…

You close between services rather than running all-day, so staff can't just be scheduled a straight eight.
Your kitchen brigade is small enough that the lunch cook and the dinner cook have to be the same person.
Monday closed is normal in your market and you want the template to reflect that rather than fake a 7-day week.

What to watch out for

Split shifts are regulated. California owes a split-shift premium (one extra hour at minimum wage) when the unpaid gap exceeds a meal period, and several EU jurisdictions cap the spread of hours per day. Check your jurisdiction before rolling this out.
A 12:00-23:30 spread with a 3.5-hour unpaid gap is an 11.5-hour day away from home for an 8-hour cheque. It is the single biggest driver of turnover in split-shift houses.
Staff who commute more than 30 minutes will not do splits twice in a row. Pair split days with straight days per person.

From CSV to a live schedule

Three steps, no data entry.

The download is not a PDF you print and pin up. Its columns are the ones Weekwright's schedule importer reads, so the file you edit in Excel is the file you upload.

1
Swap in your team
Replace the placeholder names in the Employee column with your staff. Leave Day, Start, End, and Position alone — those are what the importer maps.
2
Upload it
Drag the file onto the schedule page. Every row is previewed with its detected columns before anything is created, so a bad cell is a warning, not a surprise.
3
Tell the AI what changed
“Maya is off Thursday, cover it”. The agent repairs the week against your real availability, skills, and compliance rules instead of you re-editing the grid.

Download Split-shift restaurant schedule Restaurant scheduling software →

Common questions

Split-shift restaurant schedule FAQ.

Is a split shift legal?
Generally yes, but it is one of the most-regulated scheduling shapes there is. California requires a split-shift premium, New York has a spread-of-hours rule for days longer than 10 hours, and EU member states cap daily spread under the Working Time Directive. Weekwright lets you encode a maximum daily spread as a compliance rule so the conflict detector catches it before publish.
Should the same person work both services?
For the kitchen, usually yes — consistency of execution beats fresh legs. For the floor, alternate: put a person on lunch-only or dinner-only on the days they are not doing the split, so nobody does five splits in a row.
How do I schedule the gap in Weekwright?
As two separate shifts on the same day, which is exactly what this CSV contains. The overlap detector treats them as distinct because they do not intersect, and the hour totals add up per day so your overtime math stays right.

Stop rebuilding the same week.

Weekwright drafts it, checks it against your rules, and lets you approve. Free for a single location.

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Two services, one closed afternoon.

Use this pattern when…

What to watch out for

Swap in your team

Upload it

Tell the AI what changed

Split-shift restaurant schedule FAQ.

Stop rebuilding the same week.

More schedule templates