A restaurant floor manager runs one shift in a full-service restaurant. They lead pre-shift, set sections, watch the door, the dining room and the kitchen pass, and fix guest problems at the table. At close, they check out servers, work out tip-outs, balance drawers, prep the deposit and write the shift log.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, full-service restaurants · BLS, May 2025
We're hiring a Floor Manager to run shifts at one of our full-service restaurants; most of our restaurants have [two or three]. You'll lead pre-shift, run the floor during service, approve comps and voids within your limit, fix guest problems at the table, and close: server checkouts, tip-outs under the written house policy, the deposit and the shift log.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Run the restaurant as manager on duty for your shift: open or close, staff the floor, and make the call when something goes wrong.
Set server sections and the floor plan with the host, and change them when call-outs or walk-ins change the night.
Approve comps, voids and discounts within your limit, and record the reason for each one in [your POS].
Handle guest complaints at the table and decide how to make it right before the check drops.
Back up servers and bartenders when a guest needs to be slowed down or cut off, and log the incident.
Cut staff in order as covers slow, and check side work before anyone clocks out.
Close the restaurant: run server checkouts, calculate tip-outs under the written house policy, balance drawers, prepare the deposit and lock up.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Walk the dining room, bar, restrooms and patio before doors open and fix what guests would notice.
Lead pre-shift: specials, 86'd items, wine features, large parties, VIPs and allergy notes on the book.
Watch the door, the floor and the pass together: seating pace, ticket times and tables waiting on checks.
Stop at tables during service, starting with first-time guests, celebrations and allergy orders.
Write the shift log: sales, covers, labor, comps, voids, incidents and repairs needed.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Comps and voids per shift: [your target].
Labor against forecast on your shifts: [your target].
Cash and deposit accuracy: [your target].
Guest complaints resolved on the same shift: [your target].
Shift logs completed before you leave: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[1+] year as a shift lead, floor manager or supervisor in a full-service restaurant, or [2+] years serving or bartending with training duties.
Food protection manager certification, such as ServSafe Manager, within [60] days of hire.
Responsible alcohol service certification (TIPS, ServSafe Alcohol or your state's program) where your state requires it, and the judgment to cut off a guest.
Has closed out a POS, balanced drawers and prepared a deposit, or can learn it in training.
Speaks to upset guests calmly and gives staff direct feedback in the middle of service.
6. Preferred Experience
Served or bartended in a full-service restaurant with a bar.
Experience with manager functions in [your POS] and [your reservation system].
Has worked expo or the host stand on a busy night.
7. Physical Requirements
Stand and walk for a full shift of [8] to [10] hours between the floor, bar, host stand and kitchen.
Lift and carry bus tubs, ice buckets and cases up to [40] pounds during service.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Evening, weekend and holiday shifts, with [number] closes a week.
Closing shifts end after the last table, the checkouts and the deposit, which can run late.
On the floor during service, with desk time at open and close for reports.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new floor manager gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
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What's different about managing a full-service dining room
Shift supervisors in most businesses open, close and cover breaks. On a full-service restaurant floor, the manager also handles alcohol, tips, comps and guests who want to see someone in charge, often in the same hour.
Tips pass through your hands, not into your pocket
The floor manager runs checkouts and works out tip-outs under the house policy. Federal rules bar a manager or supervisor from any cut of employees' tips, and duties decide who counts, not title or pay. Is managing their main job? Do they routinely oversee two or more full-timers, counting part-timers by their hours? Can they hire and fire, or does their word on it carry real weight? Yes to all three means they count. They keep only tips a guest gives them directly for service they gave alone. Source: 29 CFR 531.52: Restrictions on an employer's use of tips (Cornell LII).
Cutting off a guest is the manager's call
When a server or bartender needs to slow or stop a guest's drinks, the floor manager steps in, backs them up and logs it. Washington's training rule reaches past the bar. Anyone who serves, mixes, sells or supervises the sale of alcohol for drinking on site needs a MAST permit, and each permit lasts five years. Check what your own state asks of the managers on duty. Source: Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: Mandatory Alcohol Server Training (MAST).
Every comp and void has a name on it
Each comp, void and discount the floor manager approves lands on a report the AGM reads the next morning, with a name and a reason attached. A dish sent back gets comped and no one blinks. A void after the check printed gets a question. Good floor managers make the guest whole without letting comps turn into a habit.
Door, floor and pass at the same time
The host is quoting long waits. A table has been waiting on its check. Tickets are stacking up in the kitchen window. The floor manager sees all three and fixes the worst one first: a runner to the pass, a busser to reset tables, a section split when a server falls behind. Nobody else on the shift can see all of it.
A careful close beats a fast one
After the last table leaves, the floor manager settles each server's sales and cash, balances drawers and preps the deposit. That can run late. But a slip at midnight turns into a payroll dispute or a bank variance the AGM spends the next morning sorting out. So the close gets done right before anyone heads home.
How much restaurant floor managers make
The closest BLS group for restaurant floor managers is First-Line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers. First-Line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers who work for full-service restaurants earned a median of $23.05 an hour ($47,950 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $44,080 median for First-Line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers in all industries. About 296,880 of the 1,223,240 First-Line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers in that survey work for full-service restaurants.
Hourly with overtime at some groups and salaried at others, sometimes with a monthly or quarterly bonus tied to labor, comps and cash accuracy on the manager's own shifts.
Full-service restaurants
$47,950$47,950 median Middle half $37,850–$60,760 10th–90th $31,210–$74,690
All industries
$44,080$44,080 median Middle half $35,980–$54,570 10th–90th $29,940–$65,570
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Full-service restaurants
$31,210
$37,850
$47,950
$60,760
$74,690
All industries
$29,940
$35,980
$44,080
$54,570
$65,570
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has worked a busy full-service floor as a server, bartender or shift lead
Makes a quick call at the table and stands behind it
Counts cash and closes out a POS without errors
Tells a server to fix something mid-rush, kindly and clearly
Spots a guest who has had too much before the server has to ask
Teach these on the job
Comp and void limits, and which reason code fits which mistake
Your written tip-out policy and checkout steps
Floor plans and table management in your reservation system
Your alcohol service rules and incident log
The shift log format and what the AGM wants flagged
Floor managers live in the POS manager functions (comps, voids, checkouts, end-of-day reports), the reservation and waitlist screen at the host stand, and usually a digital shift log or manager app. Most of the close happens in the POS, so time on your system shortens training more than anything else on a résumé.
Restaurant floor manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Compare floor managers with each other on similar nights in the same restaurant. A rainy Monday and a packed Saturday shouldn't carry the same target.
Comps and voids per shift
Total comps and voids on the floor manager's shifts from the POS report, with reason codes. Look for repeat reasons, repeat servers and voids made after a check printed.
Labor against forecast on your shifts
Hourly labor actually worked on each shift against what the forecast called for, from the time clock and sales report. Note the nights covers ran over or under and whether cuts followed.
Cash and deposit accuracy
Match each deposit with the POS sales report and the bank's count. Log every drawer over or short and every deposit variance by manager and shift.
Guest complaints resolved on the same shift
Complaints the floor manager settled before the guest left, against those that came back later by email, phone or review. The shift log should name each one and the fix.
Shift logs completed before you leave
Check each log's time stamp against the manager's clock-out. A complete log covers sales, covers, labor, comps, voids, incidents and repairs.
Career path
Server or bartenderKnows the menu cold, trains new servers and closes out a section.
Floor managerRuns the shift, handles guests and closes the restaurant.
Mostly. Restaurants use floor manager, shift manager and manager on duty for the person running a shift. In a full-service group, the floor manager is the first rung of management, below the AGM and GM, and spends almost the whole shift in the dining room instead of the office. The title matters less than the duties, so list them in the ad.
How much does a restaurant floor manager make?
First-Line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers who work for full-service restaurants earned a median of $23.05 an hour ($47,950 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $37,850 and $60,760 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Should a restaurant floor manager be hourly or salaried?
Either can work. Putting a floor manager on salary isn't enough to skip overtime. Under federal rules, a shift lead whose main job is the crew's own work, and who directs others only now and then, isn't exempt. If your floor manager carries a section most nights, plan on paying overtime, or rework the job so managing comes first.
How many floor managers should a full-service restaurant have?
Enough that nobody closes every night. List the shifts each week that need a manager on the floor, take out the ones the GM and AGM cover, and see how many closes are left. Large parties, private events and patio season can call for a second manager on busy nights. Leave room for vacations and call-outs, or your best floor manager ends up covering every gap.
Should we promote our best server to floor manager?
Often, yes. They know the menu, the regulars and the team. Check three things first: they can correct a friend in the middle of a rush, they can count a drawer to the penny, and they have compared a manager's pay with what they make in tips now. Give them a written training plan and several closes alongside the AGM before their first night alone.
