Calculation of Restaurant Labor Costs  by A. Elizabeth Freeman,
Demand Media Servers' salaries are part of a restaurant's labor
costs.  Servers' salaries are part of a restaurant's labor
costs.  Goodshoot/Goodshoot/Getty Images  Restaurant owners face
two major costs when running their business: food and beverage
expenses and labor. Labor costs may be divided into groups: the
cost of hourly employees, the cost of salaried employees, taxes
and the costs of benefits, if you offer them. Labor and food
costs combined, known as the prime cost, should be around 60
percent of the restaurant's total sales or revenue. For example,
if the restaurant has revenue of $20,000 for the week, the prime
cost should be around $12,000 weekly.  Hourly Employees  Your
restaurant may pay servers and other tipped employees an hourly
rate that's below the minimum wage. To calculate the cost of
your servers in this scenario, add up the total number of hours
worked by your waitstaff weekly and multiply that number by the
hourly wage. I