Blog

Notes from the floor

Product updates, playbooks, and news from the Mays team.

The Task Types page in Mays listing four custom forms, Pest sighting and Pest control service visit among them, each with its description and version
Guides

Pest control log template: sightings, service visits and IPM for a small restaurant

A pest control log for a restaurant or café, with integrated pest management (IPM) basics from the EPA, what the FDA Food Code expects, what to record for every sighting and every service visit, and how to choose and work with a licensed pest control company.

October 16, 2026
The My Profile page in Mays for an admin, with the personal details, the phone number and the change-password form
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in Georgia (2026)

Hiring a teenager at a Georgia restaurant in 2026: work permits under 16, why the federal 3-hour school day beats Georgia's 4, no hours limits at 16–17, no serving alcohol at 17 or younger, and two example weeks.

October 16, 2026
A new Labor % Threshold alert in Mays under Insights → Alerts & Reports: a 32% threshold for one location, with the shift lead and the manager ticked as recipients
Guides

Labor cost percentage: schedule to your sales forecast, then review it every week

Labor cost % is labor cost divided by sales. How to turn next week's sales forecast into a labor budget, build the schedule to it, and run a 15-minute weekly labor review that tells you whether a bad week was a sales miss or extra hours, with hypothetical numbers.

October 16, 2026
Order 100 to Harbor Produce Supply in Mays, marked partial, with six produce and dairy lines and a Received column, and the Receive · 3-way match section listing lemons and whole milk one case short and avocados $4.50 a case higher than ordered
Guides

Receiving log and delivery checklist: temperatures, rejections, shorts and credits

A receiving routine for a small restaurant or café, with the FDA Food Code temperatures for deliveries, when to refuse product, how to record shorts, substitutions and credits, and a receiving log you can copy.

October 15, 2026
The Roles page in Mays: Employee, Kitchen Lead, Location Manager and Shift Lead, each with what it's for and how many people hold it
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in Ohio (2026)

Hiring a teenager at an Ohio restaurant in 2026: the new 9 p.m. option for 14- and 15-year-olds from October 9, 2026, why federal law still stops them at 7 p.m., work permits, the 30-minute break for every minor, Ohio's cooking ban, and two example weeks.

October 15, 2026
The Signage Media page in Mays filtered to Images for a test café's Riverside location, with five menu boards uploaded as images, a portrait fall drinks board, Fall drinks, From the oven, Lunch and Breakfast, each shown for 10 seconds
Guides

Menu photography with a phone: a café's guide to food photos that sell

How to shoot menu photos for a café with a phone. It covers light, backgrounds and angles, the iPhone and Pixel settings that matter, editing without faking it, the photo specs Google, DoorDash and Grubhub ask for, and a one-morning shoot plan.

October 15, 2026
A completed Monthly food safety self-inspection in Mays for the North location on Thursday, October 1, 2026, 23 of 23 lines done, with the People section answered In or Out, and a note under the Out line about two open cups on the prep shelf
Guides

Food safety self-inspection checklist: a monthly walk-through by Food Code area

A monthly self-inspection for a small restaurant or café, organized the way the FDA Food Code is (people, food, equipment, water and waste, the building, chemicals), with what to check in each area, how to score it and how to close out what you find.

October 14, 2026
The Cold Leads page under Catering in Mays for a test café, with eight sample local prospects (offices, gyms and schools in Sarasota and Bradenton), each with a status such as New, Sent, Opened, Replied, Unsubscribed or Bounced, the suggested location and a Convert button
Guides

Community partnerships for a new café: schools, gyms, offices and farmers markets

How a new café can work with the neighbors who bring repeat customers, from schools, gyms and offices to farmers markets and local events. It covers what to offer each, school snack rules, food donation protections, Florida event licensing and sales tax, and how to follow up without spamming.

October 14, 2026
The Variance report in Mays for the week of September 14, 2026: scheduled and worked hours and wages for a server paid the $5.49 tipped wage and a line cook paid $13.73
Guides

Michigan restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Michigan restaurants must pay in 2026: the $13.73 minimum wage and $5.49 tipped wage, the yearly steps to 50% by 2031, written consent at hire, who owns tips, service-charge notices, sick time and overtime, with worked examples.

October 14, 2026
The School calendars window in Mays editing a Pittsburgh-area school year that ended June 5, 2026: its first and last day, school hours, and the Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in Pennsylvania (2026)

Hiring a teenager at a Pennsylvania restaurant in 2026: work permits for everyone under 18, the alcohol rule that keeps under-16s out of many restaurants, 28 hours in a school week at 16–17, the 30-minute break, and two example weeks.

October 13, 2026
The Share window for the Employee handbook folder in the Mays knowledge base, with everyone at the North location able to view it under People with access, and the options to share it with more people
Guides

Employee handbook outline for a small restaurant: what to include

A section-by-section outline for a small restaurant or café employee handbook, from pay, tips and breaks to illness reporting, harassment and safety, with the official federal source behind each legal topic, the policies to write in your own words, and how to get every new hire to read and sign it.

October 13, 2026
The Unit forecast card on the Mays Forecast page for Friday, October 2, 2026, counting lattes, oat milk lattes and cold brews: 163.1 projected units, 150 actual, a peak of 30.5 an hour at 8 AM, and a bar for each hour from 7 AM to 2 PM with actual and projected units
Guides

Forecasting weekly sales from your POS history, so you can staff to it

A sales forecast doesn't need a data scientist. Pull the same weekday from recent weeks, weight the recent ones more, adjust for what you know is coming, split the day by hour and check how close you got, with hypothetical numbers.

October 13, 2026
The Follow-ups view of the North location's logbook in Mays: five entries from September 30 to October 5, 2026, each still flagged Follow-up, from a leaking dish machine and a sick call-out to a guest's lost card, a short produce delivery and a torn walk-in door gasket, with the replies under them
Guides

Manager shift log template: a handover the next manager will read

A manager shift log and handover template for a small restaurant, covering sales and labor, staff, guest issues, food safety, maintenance, cash and follow-ups, with what to write in each section, the illness and injury rules behind it, and how to run it in the Mays logbook.

October 12, 2026
The Manage staff window of the Mays schedule for a Skokie location: a manager and five employees ticked to appear on the schedule, and the admin left off
Guides

Cook County restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Cook County restaurant must pay in 2026: where the county's $15.40 minimum wage applies and where Illinois's does, the $9.25 tipped wage, the training and youth rules, the county's paid leave for any reason, and Illinois's tip, meal break and overtime rules, with worked examples.

October 12, 2026
The Departments page in Mays: Back of House, Bar, Front of House and Management, each with a short description and the number of people in it
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in Illinois (2026)

Hiring a teenager at an Illinois restaurant in 2026: the Child Labor Law of 2024 for under-16s, 3 hours on a school day and 8 of school and work combined, work permits from the school, the $13.00 youth wage, and two example weeks.

October 11, 2026
The Shelves and bins page in Mays for the North location, with a Walk-in zone whose five shelves are numbered top to bottom from ready-to-eat food down to raw poultry, followed by Dry storage and Freezer zones
Guides

Walk-in cooler organization chart: what goes on which shelf, and FIFO

A printable walk-in cooler chart that stores food top to bottom by the cooking temperature the FDA Food Code uses, with the 6-inch floor rule, covers, labels and date marks, first in first out, a door sign you can post, and how to set the shelves up for counting in Mays.

October 11, 2026
The catering follow-up form a caller opens from a text in Mays, for a test café, showing a 25-guest event on October 9, 2026 at noon, the caller's name, date and guest count, an Email for your quote field filled in, and the start of the delivery address section
Guides

Building an email and text list for a new café, legally

How a new café can build its own email and text list without breaking the rules. It covers CAN-SPAM for email, TCPA consent for marketing texts, Florida's telephone solicitation law, carrier rules, opt-outs, sign-up wording and what to keep on file.

October 11, 2026
The Mays auto-scheduler panel for an Albany location after it continued a week from drafts: a 17-year-old's school-night shift left open because it would break New York's 4-hour limit on a day before another school day, and every other shift kept
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in New York (2026)

Hiring a teenager at a New York restaurant in 2026: working papers for 14- to 17-year-olds, a posted hours schedule, 28 hours in a school week at 16–17, a 10 p.m. school-night curfew, the jobs teens can't do, and two example weeks.

October 10, 2026
The Task Data page in Mays for the Line check form at the North location, one row per submitted line check from October 1 to 5, 2026, with the grill lowboy, soup well, salad cold well and steam table temperatures, the labeled-and-dated and at-par answers, and who submitted each one
Guides

Line check template: temperatures, pars and labels before service

A pre-service line check for a small restaurant kitchen, station by station, covering product temperatures, pars, labels and date marks, thermometers and sanitizer, with what to do when a reading is out of range and how to run it as a form that flags bad readings.

October 10, 2026
The Greeting tab of a location's AI receptionist in Mays, with a custom greeting for a test café that gives the opening hours and street address and tells callers to press 1 for the address by text or 9 for the shift lead, and a Save greeting button
Guides

Beyond Google: Apple Maps, Yelp and Bing Places for a new café

Google isn't the only map. How a new café claims and fills in its Apple Maps place card (now through Apple Business), its Yelp page and its Bing Places listing, what each one verifies and allows, Yelp's rule on asking for reviews, and a monthly routine that keeps every listing matching.

October 10, 2026
The Parse a schedule photo window in Mays, ready for a photo of a paper or whiteboard schedule, whose shifts Mays reads and shows for you to confirm before it creates them
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in Texas (2026)

Hiring a teenager at a Texas restaurant in 2026: no work permit, Texas's 8-hour day for 14- and 15-year-olds against the federal 3 on a school day, no hours limits at 16–17, the jobs teens can't do, and two example weeks.

October 9, 2026
The Assignments tab of the Server closing sidework template in Mays: it runs at the North location as one shared checklist for the Front of House department
Guides

Server sidework checklist: opening, running and closing (free template)

A server sidework template for a small full-service restaurant, with opening, running and closing duties by station, a weekly rotation chart, the FDA Food Code rules behind the cloths, ice scoops and silverware, a check-out step that makes it stick, and how to load it into Mays.

October 9, 2026
The Recipes list in Mays for a café menu: each item's number of ingredients, plate cost, menu price and cost %, from a $2.95 drip coffee at 16.9% to a berry smoothie at 45.3%, flagged in red
Guides

The break-even point for a small café: fixed costs, variable costs and a worked example

How much a new café has to sell to cover its costs. Sort fixed from variable costs, work out the contribution margin, turn break-even into a daily sales and ticket target, and test what a rent rise or a price change does to it, with hypothetical numbers.

October 9, 2026
The Month view of the Mays schedule for a Los Angeles location in September 2026, with the shifts, hours and staff of each day in the week of September 28, 2026, under the scheduled labor and weekly budget cards
Guides

Hiring minors at a restaurant in California (2026)

Hiring a teenager at a California restaurant in 2026: a work permit from the school for everyone under 18, 3 hours on a school day at 14–15, 4 at 16–17, the kitchen jobs teens can't do, and two example weeks checked against every limit.

October 8, 2026
An allergen matrix for a dinner menu uploaded to the Mays knowledge base and open in the document preview, with menu items down the side, the nine major allergens across the top, and cells marked C for contains, X for cross-contact and W for can be made without
Guides

Allergen matrix template for a small restaurant (all 9 major US allergens)

A ready-to-use allergen matrix covering the nine major US food allergens, sesame included, with how to fill it in from recipes and supplier labels, the cross-contact column most matrices miss, what the FDA Food Code expects, and a routine for keeping it current.

October 8, 2026
A signage playlist in Mays called "Front window TV (portrait)" for the Riverside location, with three items in play order, a vertical video of a maple oat latte pour, a portrait fall drinks board shown for 8 seconds and a 9-second vertical video of morning prep
Guides

Short video for a new café: Reels and TikTok on a phone, no agency

How a new café can shoot Reels and TikToks on a phone. It covers the phone settings, framing in 9:16, light and sound, a 15-second shot list, editing and captions in the apps, music rules for business accounts, and what gets a video recommended.

October 8, 2026
The Edit Task window in Mays for the walk-in clean in the Monthly deep clean template, with a photo answer, high priority, a one-line description and six numbered instructions, from doing it before the delivery to loading the shelves back top to bottom
Guides

Restaurant cleaning schedule template: daily, weekly and monthly, by area

A master cleaning schedule for a small restaurant, area by area (line, prep and dish, walk-in and storage, dining room and bar, restrooms, outside), split into daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly jobs, with the FDA Food Code rules behind the timing and a version you can paste into Mays.

October 7, 2026
The Tasks page in Mays for September 28 to October 4, 2026, with a daily task "Social: photo or 10-second clip of today's special" in a Marketing group, each with a Photo answer, completed by a different team member most mornings and one day still pending and overdue
Guides

Instagram for a new café: what to post in the first 90 days

A 90-day Instagram plan for a new café. It covers the account setup, what to post each week, Reels, Stories and Highlights, scheduling, hashtags, music rules for business accounts, working with local creators the FTC way, and how to read your insights.

October 7, 2026
The Time Off report in Mays for the week of September 28, 2026: approved sick time for a server and a line cook, with start and end dates and hours
Guides

New Jersey restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What New Jersey restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.92 minimum wage and $6.05 tipped cash wage, the small and seasonal employer rate, the weekly tip make-up, the side-work rule, tip pools and card fees, sick pay for tipped staff and overtime, with worked examples.

October 7, 2026
Insights → Prime Cost in Mays for one café location, week by week from August 24, 2026 to September 27, 2026: Labor %, Food % and Prime Cost % of revenue in a chart, and a table with revenue, labor cost, theoretical COGS, invoice spend and the three percentages for each week and in total
Guides

Prime cost for a new restaurant: what it is and how to track it every week

Prime cost is your cost of goods sold plus your total labor cost, the two biggest costs in a restaurant. What goes into each, how to calculate it for a week from counts, invoices and payroll, and a 20-minute Monday routine, with hypothetical numbers.

October 6, 2026
The Forecast page in Mays for a test location, week of September 21 to 27, 2026, with each day's weather, projected sales, actual sales for the first three days and the week's projected labor percentage, and Friday's projection marked Edited
Guides

Snowbird season in South Florida: a restaurant and café playbook for November to May

How South Florida restaurants and cafés get ready for snowbird season, from forecasting off last season and ramping the schedule week by week to hiring and training early, Florida's new wage rates, peak-week time-off rules, inventory, reviews and stepping down around mid-May.

October 5, 2026
The Minors group of a Tampa location's Labor & compliance card in Mays, with the default school calendar, the federal FLSA rules and Florida's s. 450.081 rules both checked with their official sources, and one 15-year-old and one 17-year-old on the schedule
Guides

Employing minors in a Florida restaurant or café: hours, breaks, proof of age and the jobs teens can't do

The Florida and federal rules for hiring 14- to 17-year-olds in a restaurant or café. Minimum age, proof of age, hours on school days and in summer, meal breaks, the equipment teens can't touch (slicers, bakery mixers, fryers, delivery driving), alcohol and penalties, with official sources.

October 1, 2026
The Time off & PTO accrual settings in Mays: the Vacation category with no accrual, and the Sick category set to accrue per hour worked
Guides

Arizona restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Arizona restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.15 minimum wage and $12.15 tipped wage, Flagstaff and Tucson rates, written tip-credit notices, tip pools, paid sick time for tipped staff and overtime, with worked examples.

September 30, 2026
Food handler cards at an Oakland location in Mays: California's rule of a card within 30 days of hire, one team member's card missing and overdue, and another's valid for three years
Guides

Oakland restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What an Oakland restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $17.34 minimum wage with no tip credit, the hotel rates under Measure Z, Oakland's paid sick leave and balance limits, and California's overtime, meal and rest breaks, with worked examples.

September 28, 2026
The Food safety certificates panel for a Tampa location in Mays, applying Florida's rule that every food employee needs a food handler card within 60 days of hire, with two team members overdue, four valid until 2029 and a host marked as not handling food
Guides

Food manager certification and food handler training in Florida: who needs what, and by when

Florida's two food safety credentials for restaurant and café staff, explained for new owners. Who needs a certified food protection manager and when one must be on site, the 60-day food handler training rule, approved providers, the proof inspectors ask for, and how it works under FDACS.

September 24, 2026
The week of September 14, 2026 on the Mays schedule: a server's evening shifts and a line cook's day shifts, all worked, with the week's scheduled labor cost and an overtime warning for the cook
Guides

Ohio restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Ohio restaurants must pay in 2026: the $11.00 minimum wage and $5.50 tipped wage, the $405,000 small-business line, the tip credit make-up, overtime and its small-employer exception, tip pools, paydays and pay stubs, with worked examples.

September 23, 2026
The Labor law compliance switch in the organization settings in Mays, turned on, with the recent changes listed below it
Guides

San Diego restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a San Diego restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $17.75 minimum wage with no tip credit, the 2027 rate, earned sick leave under the city ordinance, and California's daily overtime, meal and rest breaks, with worked examples.

September 21, 2026
The Create Task window in Mays with a high-priority photo task for a manager, Report Leo's burn to our comp carrier, with a note to call the carrier today because of the 7-day limit and give the employee a copy of the report
Guides

Workers' compensation for a Florida restaurant or café: who needs it, exemptions and what to do after an injury

When a Florida restaurant or café must carry workers' compensation (four or more employees), how corporate officer and LLC member exemptions work, the penalties for going without, and the steps and deadlines after a kitchen injury, with Florida DFS and OSHA sources.

September 17, 2026
The Employee Timesheet report in Mays for the week of September 7, 2026: every punch of a line cook paid $7.25 an hour and a server paid the $2.13 cash wage, with clock-in and clock-out times, breaks, hours worked and wages
Guides

North Carolina restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What North Carolina restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, which parts of the state act reach a restaurant the FLSA covers, the tip-pool rule for smaller businesses, tips on payday, written pay notices and local preemption, with worked examples.

September 16, 2026
The Locations page in Mays with ten locations, each with its own address, from Fishtown in Philadelphia to Capitol Hill in Seattle
Guides

Philadelphia restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Philadelphia restaurant must pay in 2026: Pennsylvania's $7.25 minimum wage and $2.83 tipped cash wage, the city's sick leave law and the rate for tipped workers' sick time, Fair Workweek for large restaurant chains, and the state's tip rules, with worked examples.

September 14, 2026
A Create Task action in a Mays automation rule, titled Workplace posters check and photograph, asking for one photo of the poster board and listing the Florida and federal posters to check, sent to all location managers
Guides

Required workplace posters for a Florida restaurant or café, with official download links

The federal and Florida posters and notices a new restaurant or café has to put up, from the minimum wage, reemployment assistance, workers' comp and child labor notices to the FLSA, EEO and OSHA posters, who needs each one, and where to get it free.

September 10, 2026
The Tip Payouts report in Mays for a pay period: pooled tips split by hours worked between a server and a bartender
Guides

Pennsylvania restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Pennsylvania restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage, the $2.83 tipped cash wage and the $135 a month tip test, the side-work cap, tip pool notices, card fees, service charges, overtime and Philadelphia rules, with worked examples.

September 9, 2026
Wages below minimum on the Positions page in Mays for a Chicago location: a server position's default wage under the $12.96 tipped cash wage, and one team member's hourly wage under the $17.05 minimum wage
Guides

Chicago restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Chicago restaurant must pay in 2026: the $17.05 minimum wage and $12.96 tipped wage, the paused tip credit, the city's two banks of paid leave, the Fair Workweek law for large restaurant groups, and Illinois's meal breaks and tip rules, with worked examples.

September 7, 2026
The Notifications card of Catering Settings in Mays, with a catering inbox and reply-to address for a test café and Sales tax % set to 7, which Mays adds as a line on every catering invoice and quote
Guides

Florida sales tax for restaurants and cafés: what's taxable, the county surtax and the DR-15

How Florida sales tax works for a new restaurant or café, from registering and what counts as a taxable meal to tips, comps, the county surtax, filing the DR-15 and how often you file, with Florida Department of Revenue sources.

September 3, 2026
The Worked Hours & Wages report in Mays for one week in August: a line cook's hours and wages at $15.00 an hour, and a server's hours, wages at $9.00 an hour and tips
Guides

Illinois restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Illinois restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.00 minimum wage and $9.00 tipped cash wage, the youth and new-hire rates, Chicago and Cook County rates, tip pools, meal breaks, overtime and paid leave, with worked examples.

September 2, 2026
The Employment tab of a San Francisco team member in Mays: the hire date that paid sick leave waiting periods count from, and a first meal-break waiver on file with a note
Guides

San Francisco restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a San Francisco restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $19.61 minimum wage with no tip credit, the city's paid sick leave and balance limits, the formula retail scheduling rules for chain restaurants, and California's overtime and breaks, with worked examples.

August 31, 2026
The Add Location form in Mays for a new Tampa café, Harbour Island, with its address, phone, Eastern time zone and a License / Permit number in the Compliance section, which Mays prints on exported temperature logs
Guides

Florida food service licensing for a new café or restaurant: DBPR or FDACS?

Who licenses your Florida food business, DBPR's Division of Hotels and Restaurants or FDACS, and what each one asks before you open, from plan review and the license application to the opening inspection, with official fees and sources.

August 27, 2026
A pay period's punches in Mays for a line cook and a server, with the Export menu open: a standard CSV with hours, wages, tips and surcharge, or a timesheet ready to import into Gusto
Guides

Georgia restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Georgia restaurants must pay in 2026: why the federal $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage apply instead of Georgia's $5.15, the tip credit make-up, overtime, tip pools and breaks, with worked examples.

August 26, 2026
What Mays applies at a Brooklyn location from New York's Hospitality Wage Order: an extra hour at the $17.00 minimum wage on a day that spans more than 10 hours, and call-in pay for at least three, six or eight hours, each with the rule's own words and the conditions Mays can't check
Guides

New York City restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a New York City restaurant must pay in 2026: the $17.00 minimum wage and $11.35 tipped cash wage, no increase in 2027, side-work and spread-of-hours rules, the city's Protected Time Off Law and the fast food Fair Workweek law, with worked examples.

August 24, 2026
Today's "Line prep - AM" sheet in Mays, with a target par, the amount on hand and a suggested amount to prep for diced onion, pico de gallo, sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, pickled red onions and chopped parsley, plus two recipe lines, chicken salad and house vinaigrette, with no stock count
Guides

Hiring a prep cook: job description, knife and labeling training, and a prep list template

A prep cook job description, what food preparation workers earn according to the BLS, knife and slicer safety training, labeling and date marking under the FDA Food Code (7 days, day of prep is day 1), storage order, and a prep list template you can copy.

August 20, 2026
Positions for one location in Mays at New York City's rates: server, bartender and busser marked tipped at $11.35 an hour, and line cook and dishwasher at $17.00
Guides

New York restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What New York restaurants must pay in 2026: the $17.00 and $16.00 minimum wages by region, the tipped cash wages, the written tip-credit notice, spread-of-hours and call-in pay, uniform maintenance pay, tip pools and overtime, with worked examples.

August 19, 2026
A pending availability request in Mays from Maya Chen, not available 7am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday with the reason School and the note "Classes start Aug 10. Free after 3:30 on weekdays, and all weekend.", available all day on weekends, with Decline and Approve buttons
Guides

Scheduling for back-to-school and the end of summer

How a small café or restaurant gets through the switch from summer to school season, from collecting new availability early and the hour limits for teen workers to forecasting from last year, a labor budget, open shifts and trades, with worked numbers.

August 18, 2026
The Breaks settings on a Los Angeles location's Labor & compliance card in Mays after choosing California break rules: missed meal and rest breaks tracked as exceptions, and a warning before publishing a shift that can't fit its breaks
Guides

Los Angeles restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Los Angeles restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $18.42 minimum wage with no tip credit, the hotel and fast food rates, the city's paid sick leave, why the Fair Work Week law skips restaurants, and California's overtime and breaks, with worked examples.

August 17, 2026
A Cooling log custom form in the Mays task type builder, with fields for the food and batch, the start time, the start temperature, the cooling method and the 2-hour and 6-hour checks, the 2-hour check set to a 33–70°F pass range, and a preview filled in for a batch of soup with every reading marked In range
Guides

Hot-holding and cooling: the two food safety steps new cafés get wrong

The FDA Food Code rules for hot holding, reheating and two-stage cooling that Florida enforces, the mistakes new cafés make with soup wells and big batches, cooling methods that work, a worked cooling log, and the records that show an inspector it's under control.

August 14, 2026
The Learning modules page in Mays with five published training modules for a café team, including "Allergens - the questions we always ask" and "Chemicals and SDS" marked Compliance, "Register and cash basics" and "Taking an order at the counter", each with its questions and assignments
Guides

Hiring servers and cashiers: job description, POS and cash training, and the allergen questions to always ask

A front-of-house job description for servers and counter cashiers, BLS pay data (tips included), a POS and cash training checklist, the allergen questions every server and cashier should ask, what the FDA Food Code says about major food allergens, and dress codes.

August 13, 2026
The Labor Summary for a pay period in Mays: a line cook at $7.25 an hour whose week is split into regular and overtime hours and pay, and a server paid the $2.13 cash wage
Guides

Texas restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Texas restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, how the federal FLSA and the Texas Minimum Wage Act split the work, the tip credit make-up, overtime and tip pools, with worked examples.

August 12, 2026
The Waste Log in Mays for one café location from August 3 to 9, 2026, with 9 entries and $35.75 wasted, mostly croissants and muffins marked Overproduction, plus oat milk, spinach and avocados marked Spoilage, each with the time, quantity, cost and who logged it
Guides

Cutting food waste in a small café, starting with a waste log

Where a small café's food waste comes from, how to keep a waste log staff will actually fill in, how to read it every week with a worked example, and the fixes that follow, from FIFO and date marking to par levels, bake-off plans, portions and donation.

August 11, 2026
The Labor law compliance switches on a Denver location's Labor & compliance card in Mays: minimum wage, overtime law, premiums, paid sick leave, food safety certificates and tips turned on, and minors' work rules off
Guides

Denver restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Denver restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $19.29 minimum wage and $16.27 tipped wage, the 2027 rates, Colorado's hourly tip test, daily overtime, meal and rest periods and paid sick leave, with worked examples.

August 10, 2026
A training module in Mays, "First shift: the 30-minute basics", with the Who's taken it list showing three new hires' attempts and best scores, and Emma North's attempt open, passed at 80% with one wrong answer on the cold-holding temperature
Guides

A 30-minute onboarding plan for every new hire

A minute-by-minute plan for the first 30 minutes of a new hire's first shift, plus what to prepare the day before, how to pick and brief a buddy, short quizzes that catch misunderstandings early, and the check-ins for the first two weeks.

August 7, 2026
The Mays schedule in Roles view for the week of July 27 to August 2, 2026, with the Shift lead group at the top - three leads covering every opening and closing shift, each labeled Opener or Closer and marked Done
Guides

Hiring a shift lead: what the role owns, a job description, promotion criteria and a 30-day plan

What a café or restaurant shift lead owns (opening and closing, the cash, call-outs), a job description you can post, how to decide between promoting from within and hiring from outside, scenario interview questions, and a 30-day plan for a new lead.

August 6, 2026
The Workweek & overtime settings in Mays: overtime after 40 hours a week at 1.5 times the rate, and a daily overtime threshold of 8 hours, California's daily rule
Guides

California restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What California restaurants must pay in 2026: the $16.90 minimum wage and higher city rates, no tip credit, the $20.00 fast food wage and who it covers, daily overtime and double time, and meal and rest break premiums, with worked examples.

August 5, 2026
A custom Shift Lead role being edited in Mays, with 10 of 51 permissions selected, Sign into the web panel, View Operations Dashboard and View Schedule ticked, and Build & manage native schedule and the Branches & Users permissions left unticked
Guides

Promoting your first shift lead: what to hand over, and what not to

How to promote a small café's first shift lead, covering who to pick, a one-page role card, what to hand over now and what to keep, opening and closing ownership, cash and keys, Florida's person-in-charge rules, pay and tips, and a 30-day handover.

August 4, 2026
Punch verification for a Boulder location in Mays: clocking in from personal phones turned on, and a geofence around the store's coordinates that flags any punch made outside it for a manager's review
Guides

Boulder restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Boulder restaurant must pay: the city's $16.82 minimum wage in 2026 and $18.17 in 2027, the tipped wage for food and beverage workers, who the city rate covers, and Colorado's tipped test, daily overtime, meal and rest periods and paid sick leave, with worked examples.

August 3, 2026
A recipe in Mays for a 16 oz maple oat latte priced at $6.50 in a "Fall menu 2026" menu list, with five ingredients, a cost on every line, and a total cost of $1.62, a 24.9% cost and a $4.88 margin
Guides

Seasonal menu changes without the chaos

An eight-week plan for launching a seasonal menu at a small café, covering picking items, recipe testing, costing, allergens, staff training, updating the POS, signage and online menus, and retiring what's leaving, with a worked example.

July 31, 2026
Seven safety data sheets uploaded as PDFs to a folder in the Mays knowledge base - dish detergent, rinse aid, chlorine sanitizer, quat sanitizer, oven cleaner, degreaser and drain cleaner - each with its file size
Guides

Hiring a dishwasher or porter: job description, safety training and the closing checklist

A dishwasher and porter job description, what dishwashers earn according to the BLS, the safety training OSHA expects for cleaning chemicals and safety data sheets, burns, slips and walk-ins, the rules for teens, and a closing checklist for the dish station.

July 30, 2026
The Pay periods settings in Mays: pay every two weeks, with the first period starting on Monday, July 20, 2026, and a Monday-to-Sunday payroll week
Guides

Massachusetts restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Massachusetts restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.00 minimum wage and $6.75 service rate, the shift-by-shift make-up, the 2024 ballot question, who can share tips and service charges, federal overtime for restaurants, earned sick time, PFML and paydays, with worked examples.

July 29, 2026
The Catering Packages page in Mays with four sample packages from a test account, a morning coffee break, a boxed lunch, a sandwich platter lunch and a plant-based breakfast, each with a price per serving, a guest range, dietary tags and what's included
Guides

Starting a catering side business from your café (Florida)

How a licensed Florida café can add catering, covering what DBPR requires, keeping food safe on the road under the Food Code, pricing per person, quotes, deposits and invoices, and staffing event days, with worked numbers and a pack-out checklist.

July 28, 2026
The Devices page in Mays with two shared time clocks registered to an Edgewater location, a tablet at the front counter and one in the kitchen, where employees sign in with their own PIN
Guides

Edgewater restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What an Edgewater, Colorado restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $18.17 minimum wage, the $13.50 tipped wage and the city's larger tip credit, the 2027 rate tied to Denver's, and Colorado's tipped test, daily overtime, meal and rest periods and paid sick leave, with worked examples.

July 27, 2026
A checklist template in Mays called "Delivery station: lunch", with tasks to check tablets, pause sold-out items, stock bags and seals, spot-check three bags against the ticket, photograph a sealed bag and count missing or wrong items
Guides

What delivery apps really cost a small restaurant

DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub commissions from their own pricing pages, what's left of a $30 order after commission and packaging, how much to mark up menu prices, city commission caps, and an order-accuracy checklist.

July 24, 2026
The Task Templates page in Mays filtered to the Kitchen department, with five daily templates for the line - grill station open, fry station open, sauté and flat-top open, mid-shift temperatures and line close - each with its number of tasks
Guides

Hiring a line cook: job description, a working interview plan and a station checklist

A line cook job description you can adapt, what restaurant cooks earn according to the BLS, a two-hour paid stage with a scoring sheet, and a station training checklist built on the FDA Food Code's cooking and holding temperatures.

July 23, 2026
A line cook's punch open for editing in Mays for July 15, 2026: a thirteen-hour day with one 30-minute meal break and three paid 10-minute rest breaks, all taken
Guides

Colorado restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Colorado restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.16 minimum wage and $12.14 tipped wage, Denver, Edgewater and Boulder rates, the hourly tipped test, tip pool notices, daily overtime, meal and rest periods, sick leave and FAMLI, with worked examples.

July 22, 2026
A Knowledge Base article open in the Mays editor, "Loyalty card: rules and register script", with the earning rules, the reward, what to say at the register, what to do about a lost card and the count at close
Guides

Loyalty programs for small cafés: punch cards, points or nothing?

Punch cards, points or no program at all? What each costs a small café, the margin math with made-up numbers, how to write the rules, track redemptions and train staff, and how to run a 90-day test before you commit.

July 21, 2026
The Reviews page in Mays filtered to 3 stars or below, with two sample reviews from a test account, a 2-star review about July 4th hours that were wrong on Google with the owner's posted reply, and an unanswered 3-star review about an outdated menu on Google
Guides

Google Business Profile for a new café: the setup that brings people in

A practical Google Business Profile setup for a café that's been open a few months, covering verification, categories, regular and holiday hours, photos, the menu link, attributes, posts, Q&A and reviews, plus a monthly 20-minute upkeep routine.

July 17, 2026
The Assign module window in Mays for an "Espresso bar: week one" training module, with the Coffee bar department and two new baristas, Lena Ortiz and Theo Park, picked and the Assign 3 button ready
Guides

Hiring a barista: job description, interview questions and a first-week checklist

A barista job description you can copy, what baristas earn according to the BLS, interview questions that predict a good bar shift (and the ones to leave out), a short paid bar test, and a first-week training checklist with sign-offs.

July 16, 2026
The Weekly Overtime report in Mays for the week of July 6, 2026: a line cook's worked hours with the overtime past 40 hours and its estimated cost, and a server's hours with none
Guides

Virginia restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Virginia restaurants must pay in 2026: the $12.77 minimum wage and the steps to $13.75 and $15.00, the $2.13 tipped cash wage, overtime and the new July 2026 remedies, tips as wages, gratuity disclosure, paid sick leave from 2027 and paydays, with worked examples.

July 15, 2026
A Knowledge Base article in Mays titled "Handling a guest complaint", open in the editor, with five numbered steps (listen, apologize, repeat the problem back, fix it on the spot, get the manager), what to do if a guest says they got sick, and a reminder to log it
Guides

Handling customer complaints in person and online

Five steps any staff member can follow when a guest complains, what they can offer without a manager, what to do when a guest says your food made them sick (and how Florida's complaint process works), how to log complaints, and how to answer them online.

July 14, 2026
The NFC punch tags card of a Silver Spring location in Mays: two active tags, at the back door and the front register, that open the punch screen when an employee taps one with their phone
Guides

Montgomery County, Maryland restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Montgomery County, Maryland restaurant must pay in 2026: the county's $18.00, mid-size and small-employer rates, the $4.00 tipped wage with its wage statement and quarterly report, the youth rules, sick and safe leave, and Maryland's tip and overtime rules, with worked examples.

July 13, 2026
The North location's draft schedule in Mays for June 29 to July 5, 2026, with a catering lunch on Friday and a short July 4th day in the Events row, an open shift for the catering day, and an overtime warning for Emma at 48.5 hours
Guides

Holiday and event staffing for a small café

How to staff a small café for holidays and local events, from listing the dates and forecasting the day to blackout dates, publishing early, planning overtime on purpose and catering days, with worked numbers and the overtime and holiday pay rules.

July 10, 2026
A server's shift open in the Mays shift editor for July 7, 2026: a six-and-a-half-hour afternoon shift with a 30-minute break
Guides

Tennessee restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Tennessee restaurants must pay in 2026: the federal $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, who the FLSA covers, the 30-minute break and the server waiver, automatic gratuities, paydays and final pay, and why cities can’t add rules, with worked examples.

July 8, 2026
The North location's logbook in Mays for Monday, July 6, with a note that Eli signed off on the espresso station, a 90-day check-in with Emma flagged Follow-up, and shift feedback from both of them averaging 4.5 stars
Guides

Staff turnover in restaurants: keeping your first team

What turnover in restaurants looks like in the official numbers, what it costs you, and six things that help a small restaurant keep its first team, from the first week and a predictable schedule to recognition, a next step, check-ins and a good exit.

July 7, 2026
Adjusting a server's paid sick leave balance in Mays: hours added to the Sick category with a note that they are unused sick and safe time carried over from an old payroll system, and the balance before and after
Guides

Saint Paul restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Saint Paul restaurant must pay in 2026: the $16.37 minimum wage and the micro-business rate, how a restaurant counts its size, no tip credit, the youth rate, the two-step 2027 increase, earned sick and safe time, and Minnesota's tip-pool and overtime rules, with worked examples.

July 6, 2026
The Attendance report in Mays for the North location from June 1 to 28, 2026, with Eli at 20 shifts, 1 sick and 1 late (100%), and Emma at 20 shifts, 1 no-show, 2 late and 1 called off (90%)
Guides

Handling call-outs and no-shows without wrecking the shift

A call-out policy staff can follow, a backup list, the fastest ways to find cover, fair attendance records, and the leave and food-safety rules that limit what you can do about a sick call, with a policy template.

July 3, 2026
The Scheduled Hours & Wages report in Mays for the week of June 22, 2026: a line cook's and a server's shifts, scheduled hours and wages, the server at the $3.63 tipped cash wage and the cook at $15.00 an hour
Guides

Maryland restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Maryland restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.00 minimum wage and $3.63 tipped cash wage, the tip-credit wage statement, Montgomery, Howard and Prince George's county rates, the small-restaurant exemption, tip pools, overtime and sick and safe leave, with worked examples.

July 1, 2026
A recipe in Mays for a turkey and avocado sandwich priced at $9.75, with six ingredients, a 70% yield on avocados and 90% on tomatoes, a cost on every line, and a total cost of $2.72, a 27.9% cost and a $7.03 margin
Guides

Food cost for a small restaurant: plate costing and menu pricing basics

How to cost a plate (yields included), price a menu item from a target food cost, keep costs current when vendor prices change, and compare plate costs with what you actually use, with a worked example.

June 30, 2026
Turning on Labor law compliance in Mays for a Minneapolis location: the preview lists the city's $16.37 minimum wage with below-minimum warnings and increase reminders, the city's paid sick leave preset, the food protection manager certificate and the tip rules, with no change to pay figures
Guides

Minneapolis restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

What a Minneapolis restaurant must pay in 2026: the city's $16.37 minimum wage for everyone, tips on top, the 2027 change, sick and safe time, Minnesota's breaks and tip-pool rules, and overtime after the federal 40 hours, with worked examples.

June 29, 2026
The North location's logbook in Mays for Monday, June 22, with an incident about the walk-in and a grinder repair both flagged Follow-up, a staff note and a customer note, each seen by one person and with a reply box
Guides

Your weekly manager meeting: a 30-minute agenda that works

A 30-minute weekly meeting for a small restaurant's owner and managers, with a fixed agenda (follow-ups, numbers, people, customers, fixes), the data to bring, rules that keep it short, follow-ups turned into tasks, and a notes template to copy.

June 26, 2026
The Time Off requests in Mays for June 2026: approved sick time for a line cook and a server, one of them to take a child to the doctor, and a pending sick day, each with its reason and the hours approved so far this year
Guides

Minnesota restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Minnesota restaurants must pay in 2026: the $11.41 minimum wage with no tip credit, Minneapolis and Saint Paul rates, why you can’t require a tip pool, card tips, the new rest and meal breaks, earned sick and safe time and Paid Leave, with worked examples.

June 24, 2026
The Copy to other locations dialog on the North location's Scheduling tab in Mays, with South ticked to receive North's saved Labor & compliance settings, over per-location settings for the auto-scheduler, punch verification and the tip pool
Guides

Opening a second location: what to standardize first

A second café or restaurant shows what runs without you. What to standardize first, from checklists and recipes to roles, training, cash, inventory and scheduling, what can differ by store, the Florida licensing and payroll points a second store adds, and an owner's weekly visit checklist.

June 23, 2026
The Mays schedule for the North location for June 8 to 14, 2026, with two baristas on short draft shifts, one open Sunday shift, $864 of scheduled labor within a $950 weekly budget and no overtime warnings
Guides

Planning labor for a slow season

When sales drop, the schedule has to follow. Read sales by hour and daypart, turn a labor target into hours, trim shifts before cutting people, share cuts fairly, cross-train, and know where fair workweek laws apply, with worked numbers.

June 19, 2026
A pay period's punches in Mays's Compact layout for the two weeks ending June 7, 2026, with the daily overtime threshold on: one row per employee with regular, overtime and total hours, the line cook's overtime coming from her long days
Guides

Nevada restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Nevada restaurants must pay in 2026: the $12.00 minimum wage with no tip credit, daily overtime for staff paid under $18.00, tip pools, paid rest breaks and meal periods, paid leave, Clark County food handler cards and final pay, with worked examples.

June 17, 2026
A custom Closing drawer count form in the Mays task type builder, with a starting bank, coin and bill counts that total themselves, cash sales from the POS report, a paid-out and an Over / short line showing $-4.40 in the live preview
Guides

Cash handling for a small restaurant: tills, drops and daily reconciliation

A cash routine for a small café or restaurant, from a fixed starting bank and blind closing counts to safe drops, paid-outs, voids and refunds, over/short tracking and the deposit log, with a sample count sheet and the federal rule on docking pay for shortages.

June 16, 2026
The Add User form in Mays filled in for a new hire, Jordan Rivera, with an email and phone number, the Employee role, the Front of House department, the North location and a $15.00 hourly wage
Guides

Hiring your first restaurant team: roles, job posts and interviews

The roles a small café or restaurant needs, a job post that brings the right applicants, a structured interview, paid trial shifts, and the new-hire paperwork (Form I-9, W-4, Florida new-hire reporting and E-Verify), plus Florida's rules for hiring teens.

June 12, 2026
The day view of the Mays schedule for Saturday, June 6, 2026 at a Charleston location: five shifts laid out across the hours, a host's afternoon shift ending early in the evening, and the number of staff working each hour
Guides

South Carolina restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What South Carolina restaurants must pay in 2026: the federal $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, who the FLSA covers, the Payment of Wages Act’s written notice and final pay, alcohol server training and why cities can’t set a rate, with worked examples.

June 10, 2026
The Food truck pre-trip checklist in the Mays template editor, with Water and waste, Power and gas and Food and supplies groups and a Photo, Number or Checkbox answer on every task
Guides

Food truck opening and closing checklists (free template)

A food truck checklist template — water and wastewater tanks, generator and propane, the commissary run, temperatures on the move, open and close — plus Florida's mobile food vehicle rules, with who does each task and a copy-and-paste version.

June 9, 2026
The Pizza shop opening checklist in the Mays template editor, with Dough, Ovens and hood and Make line groups and a Photo, Number or Checkbox answer on every task
Guides

Pizza shop opening, closing and cleaning checklists (free template)

A pizza shop checklist template — dough, ovens and hood, the make line at 41°F, slices at 135°F, time-marked toppings, cooling and a weekly deep clean — with who does each task, the proof to ask for and a copy-and-paste version.

June 5, 2026
The print preview of a week's schedule in Mays for a Portland location, the week of May 25, 2026, with Print only scheduled employees ticked: each person's shifts by day, ready to print and post
Guides

Oregon restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Oregon restaurants must pay in 2026: the Portland metro, standard and nonurban minimum wages before and after the July increase, no tip credit, tip pools with kitchen staff, timed meal and rest breaks, predictive scheduling, sick time and Paid Leave Oregon, with worked examples.

June 3, 2026
The Juice bar opening checklist in the Mays template editor, with Coolers, Produce and Equipment groups and a Photo, Number or Checkbox answer on every task
Guides

Juice and smoothie bar checklists (free template)

A juice and smoothie bar checklist template — produce washing, cut fruit and greens at 41°F, blender and juicer cleaning, the FDA juice rules for bottled and by-the-glass juice, and open/close — with who does each task and a copy-and-paste version.

June 2, 2026
The Bakery opening checklist in the Mays template editor, with Ovens and proofers, Food safety and Allergens and labels groups and a Photo, Number or Checkbox answer on every task
Guides

Bakery opening, closing and cleaning checklists (free template)

A bakery checklist template for ovens and proofers, allergens and labels, the display case, cooling custard and a weekly deep clean — with who does each task, the proof to ask for, the Food Code rules behind it and a copy-and-paste version.

May 29, 2026
The Time Off calendar in Mays for April 2026 at one location, with each approved day off marked under the employee's name
Guides

Connecticut restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Connecticut restaurants must pay in 2026: the $16.94 minimum wage, the $6.38 and $8.23 tipped cash wages, why counter staff get the full wage, side work, the seventh-day premium, reporting pay, paid sick leave and paydays, with worked examples.

May 27, 2026
The Café opening checklist in the Mays template editor, with Food safety, Espresso bar and Front of house groups and a Photo, Number or Checkbox answer on every task
Guides

Café opening, closing and cleaning checklists (free template)

A complete café checklist template — opening, mid-shift, closing and a weekly deep clean — with who does each task, what proof to ask for, the FDA Food Code rules behind the milk, grinder and ice lines, and a copy-and-paste version.

May 26, 2026
The tip pool settings for a location in Mays, splitting tips by hours worked per pay period between servers, bartenders and bussers, with "Leave managers and admins out of the pool" turned on
Guides

Florida restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Florida restaurants must pay in 2026: the $14.00 minimum wage, the $10.98 cash wage for tipped staff, what servers and bartenders vs. cooks and dishwashers are owed, tip pools, overtime and breaks, with worked examples.

May 22, 2026
The Actuals report in Mays for a café location for the week of May 11, 2026: each day's sales next to actual labor and labor %, with totals for the week
Guides

Missouri restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Missouri restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.00 minimum wage and $7.50 tipped cash wage, what a 2025 law changed after Proposition A, the small-business exemption, tip pools, overtime, final pay and why cities can’t set their own rate, with worked examples.

May 20, 2026
The AI receptionist's FAQ tab for one location in Mays, with a test phrase matched to the parking question, and FAQs for opening hours and catering with their trigger phrases
Guides

Catering and phone orders without a host at the counter

How a small café handles phone calls during the rush, how to work out what missed calls cost you, a catering workflow from inquiry to quote, deposit and delivery, and which calls a phone receptionist can take off your team's hands.

May 19, 2026
A line cook's two-week pay period in Mays's Cards layout, ending May 10, 2026: her punches at $7.25 an hour grouped by workweek, a weekly total for each week with overtime only in the first, and a grand total for the period
Guides

Wisconsin restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Wisconsin restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.33 tipped cash wage, the $5.90 opportunity wage, the signed tip declaration, paid short breaks, the minors’ meal rule, monthly paydays and why cities can’t set a rate, with worked examples.

May 13, 2026
A weekly self-inspection checklist template in Mays, grouped into temperatures, handwashing and food storage, with number, photo and checkbox tasks
Guides

Health inspection prep for a new restaurant (Florida edition)

How Florida's DBPR inspects restaurants and cafés, what high priority, intermediate and basic violations mean, the ten violations cited most often, a self-inspection checklist, the records to keep and what happens after a violation.

May 12, 2026
The Forecast in Mays for the week of April 27, 2026: each day's projected sales from the point-of-sale history next to the actual sales, with the week's projected labor % from the schedule
Guides

Iowa restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Iowa restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $4.35 tipped cash wage, the 40% tip credit, the starting rate for new hires, the $300,000 coverage line, paydays, deductions and pay statements, and why counties can’t set a rate, with worked examples.

May 6, 2026
The Reviews page in Mays filtered to 3 stars or below, with sample reviews from a test account, a draft reply to a 2-star review and a posted reply to a 3-star review
Guides

Your first 50 Google reviews: replying when you're new

Why replies matter for a new café, how to answer 5-, 3- and 1-star reviews (with templates), when to reply, how to turn a complaint into a fix, and what Google's review policy and the FTC's review rule don't allow.

May 5, 2026
The Shift Pool report in Mays for the two weeks ending April 26, 2026: shifts scheduled, offered up, picked up, traded and worked for each employee, with totals
Guides

Utah restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Utah restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, the training wage for minors, Utah’s written tip-pool rule, breaks for minors, food handler permits, paydays and final pay within 24 hours, with worked examples.

April 29, 2026
Stock on hand in Mays for one café location, with ten items, their on-hand count, a par level and the date each was last counted, and the items below par highlighted
Guides

Café inventory from day one: par levels, counts and ordering

How to set par levels, what to count daily and what to count weekly, FIFO and date marking, a waste log, ordering around your vendors' delivery days, and the basics of theoretical vs. actual usage, with a worked par example.

April 28, 2026
The availability Glance View in Mays for the week of April 13, 2026: each person's available and unavailable times day by day, including one employee available only in the late afternoon and evening on weekdays
Guides

Alabama restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Alabama restaurants must pay in 2026: the federal $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, who the FLSA covers, teen hours, breaks and time records, child labor certificates, alcohol rules for young staff, the new overtime tax deduction and Birmingham’s voided wage, with worked examples.

April 22, 2026
A published, compliance-flagged training module in Mays, "Week 1: Food safety basics for new baristas", with its first two quiz questions, the correct answers highlighted and a short explanation under each
Guides

Training your first hires in one week

A day-by-day plan for a new café hire's first week — SOPs in one place, short quizzes, shadow shifts and sign-offs — plus Florida's food handler and food manager deadlines, and what counts as paid training time.

April 21, 2026
The Warnings tab of a pay period in Mays, the two weeks ending April 12, 2026: a missing punch-out, a punch with no matching shift and a punch the time clock closed automatically, each with a way to fix it before payroll
Guides

Louisiana restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Louisiana restaurants must pay in 2026: the federal $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, who the FLSA covers, final pay in 15 days and penalty wages, paydays, fines, the under-16 meal break, alcohol server permits and why parishes can’t set a rate, with worked examples.

April 15, 2026
The tip pool settings for a location in Mays, splitting by hours worked per pay period between baristas and cashiers, with "Leave managers and admins out of the pool" turned on
Guides

Tip pooling for new restaurant owners: fair and legal

Who can and can't be in a tip pool under the FLSA, why managers and owners can't take from it, tip credit vs. no tip credit, card fees, Florida's tipped wage, and three ways to split the pool with a worked example.

April 14, 2026
The Edit position dialog in Mays for a food runner, with a default wage of $2.13 an hour and Tipped position ticked, so the position shares in the tip pool by default
Guides

Indiana restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Indiana restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, who the state law covers, the 2026 tip-pool law and who counts as tipped, the federal youth wage, paydays, final pay and teen and alcohol-server rules, with worked examples.

April 8, 2026
A location's time clock settings in Mays, with a 15-minute grace period, late and no-show alerts, auto-approval, the rounding options switched off, and an automatic punch-out at 10 pm
Guides

Time clock, breaks and overtime: first-month payroll mistakes to avoid

One-way rounding, unpaid early clock-ins, missed punches fixed from memory, break rules you assumed, overtime counted by pay period, bonuses left out of the regular rate — the payroll mistakes new cafés make in month one, with the federal and Florida rules.

April 7, 2026
The Approval Inbox in Mays at a Louisville location, the week ending March 29, 2026: an open Sunday shift with two pending claims, a Saturday shift one employee put up for grabs and another claimed, and a swap two coworkers agreed on, waiting for a manager to approve it
Guides

Kentucky restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Kentucky restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, why weekly overtime is the federal rule but the seventh day is Kentucky’s, paid rest breaks and the lunch window, tip pools, paydays, final pay and banned deductions, with worked examples.

April 1, 2026
The Weekly Deep Clean checklist's settings in Mays, scheduled weekly on Monday and Thursday, with "Carry unfinished duties through the week" turned on
Guides

Opening and closing checklists your staff will actually follow

Why café checklists get ignored, how to write tasks two people do the same way, when to ask for photo proof, assigning by role and shift, weekly jobs that carry over, reviewing and rejecting — plus a sample opening and closing checklist.

March 31, 2026
The Labor Cost Trend in Mays for a Wichita location, week by week from January 5, 2026 to March 22, 2026: revenue, labor cost, labor cost as a percentage of revenue and hours worked
Guides

Kansas restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Kansas restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, why most restaurants follow the federal 40-hour overtime rule instead of the state’s 46, the $20 tip test, paydays, final pay and deductions, teen hours and alcohol servers, with worked examples.

March 25, 2026
A walk-in cooler's temperature history in Mays over one day, with a short spike above the 41°F line
Guides

Food temperature logs for a new café: what inspectors look for, and how to stop doing them on paper

The temperatures that matter (41°F, 135°F, the two-stage cooling rule, reheating), what a temperature log should record, how often to check, the Florida specifics, and when wireless sensors beat a clipboard.

March 24, 2026
The Labor Variance tab of Labor Cost in Mays for a Charleston location, from March 2, 2026 to March 15, 2026: scheduled and worked labor hours day by day, with a call-out and an unscheduled extra shift showing as differences
Guides

West Virginia restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What West Virginia restaurants must pay in 2026: the $8.75 minimum wage and $2.62 tipped cash wage, the location-by-location coverage rule, the 20% side-work line, paid short meal breaks, paydays and final pay, teen hours and alcohol rules, with worked examples.

March 18, 2026
A week of draft shifts in the Mays schedule for four team members, with scheduled hours per person and an overtime warning for two of them
Guides

How to build your first restaurant staff schedule (without spreadsheets)

A step-by-step way to build a new café's first schedule — dayparts and coverage, positions, availability, a labor % target, publishing and swaps — with the Florida wage and break rules that apply.

March 17, 2026
The Labor Cost page in Mays for an Oklahoma City location, from February 23, 2026 to March 8, 2026: the staffing vs revenue heatmap, coloring each half hour of the week by labor as a percentage of point-of-sale sales
Guides

Oklahoma restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Oklahoma restaurants must pay in 2026: the $7.25 minimum wage and $2.13 tipped cash wage, the 2025 change to the tip credit, who the state law covers, paydays and final pay, teen hours and breaks, alcohol server licenses and the $15 ballot question, with worked examples.

March 11, 2026
The Mays operations dashboard, with one sidebar for scheduling, insights, inventory, tasks, knowledge base, learning, thermometers, tip pool and integrations
Guides

How many apps does a new restaurant really need?

Scheduling, time clock, checklists, temperature logs, training, team chat, reviews and inventory — the typical tool for each, its public list price, what a one-location café would pay in total, and what an all-in-one app replaces.

March 10, 2026
The PTO history for a server in Mays, opened from Employee balances with the Sick category set to accrue per hour worked: sick time earned from approved hours as each pay period was approved, and a sick day approved on February 20, 2026
Guides

Nebraska restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

What Nebraska restaurants must pay in 2026: the $15.00 minimum wage and the $2.13 cash wage that stays put, the $12.87 tip credit, paid sick time, the training wage for new hires under 20, final pay, teen hours and alcohol servers at 19, with worked examples.

March 4, 2026
An opening checklist being built in Mays, with a food-safety group (a cooler temperature check that needs a photo and a hot-holding temperature entered as a number) and a front-of-house group
Guides

The first 90 days of a new café: a week-by-week operations playbook

A practical plan for the first three months of a new café — roles, opening and closing checklists, food-safety logs, the schedule rhythm, first counts, reviews, labor and training — and where one app can carry it.

March 3, 2026