Robbery and late-night closing safety for a café or restaurant: a closing procedure, what to do in a robbery and the records after

It's 10:40 p.m. The dining room is dark, one closer is counting the drawer at the front counter in full view of the street, the other is taking the trash out the back door and has propped it open with a bus tub. Nothing has gone wrong. But every piece of a robbery is already there: cash in sight, an open door, two people who can't see each other.

Each of those is a habit, and habits can be changed. This post gives you a closing safety procedure, what staff do during and after a robbery, a monthly security check, and the records to keep, mostly from OSHA's recommendations for businesses that are open late.

General information, not legal advice. Talk to your local police department's crime prevention unit too: many will walk your building with you.

What the law asks of a restaurant

• No OSHA standard for robbery. OSHA's guidance on late-night retail is "advisory in nature and informational in content. It is not a standard or regulation". What does apply is the General Duty Clause, which "requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm" (OSHA 3153, Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments). The booklet is written for late-night stores; nearly all of it fits a café or restaurant that closes at night.
• Florida's convenience store law doesn't cover you. Florida's Convenience Business Security Act sets security requirements for late-night stores selling groceries, but its definition says the term "does not include: (1) A business that is solely or primarily a restaurant" (§ 812.171, Florida Statutes). So in Florida nothing in that act is required of a restaurant; the measures below are yours to choose.
• Reporting an injury. If an employee is killed, you report it to OSHA "Within eight (8) hours"; an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye "Within twenty-four (24) hours" (29 CFR 1904.39). Injuries also go to your workers' compensation carrier; our Florida workers' comp guide has the steps.

What OSHA recommends

OSHA's booklet groups its advice into the building and the habits. The parts that fit a restaurant:

Seeing and being seen. "Ensuring the customer service and cash register areas are visible from outside the establishment", "Maintaining adequate lighting inside and outside the establishment", keeping window signs low or high so staff can see in and police can see out, curved mirrors at blind corners, video cameras, door chimes, and "height markers on exit doors to help witnesses provide more accurate descriptions of assailants".

Less cash. "Require workers to use the drop safes and keep a minimal amount of cash in each register", keep cash levels "as low as practical", and post signs that cashiers have limited access to cash. Workers "should not carry business receipts on their persons unless it is absolutely necessary."

Doors. "Establish a policy of when doors should be locked. Require workers to keep doors locked before and after official business hours. Require workers to lock doors used for deliveries and garbage removal when not in use."

People. Use the "buddy system", "especially when personal safety may be threatened"; make sure staff "can walk to garbage areas and outdoor storage areas without increasing their risk of assault"; "Provide staff members with security escorts to parking areas in evening or late hours"; and "Discourage workers from wearing necklaces or chains".

Training. Including "Specific instructions on how to respond to a robbery such as turning over money or valuables without resistance", how to report incidents, and "Emergency action procedures to be followed in the event of a robbery or violent incident." The booklet suggests role-play and drills, and training at least once a year.

Afterwards. Report all incidents, keep log books and reports, and support the people involved: the booklet lists "Short- and long-term psychological trauma" and "Fear of returning to work" among the effects, and counseling or an employee assistance program among the responses.

The closing safety procedure

Fill it in, train it, and post it where the closers can see it (not where guests can).

Closing safety procedure · [café or restaurant name] · [location]

Staffing. [Two people / at least ……] close every night. If a call-out leaves one closer, [the manager on call comes in / we close at …… / the closer locks the front door at ……]. Our one-person shift checklist covers the nights when that's the plan.

Cash during the evening

1. Drawer limit: [$ amount]. Above it, a drop to the safe, out of sight of the front windows.
2. Big bills go under the tray or in the drop safe straight away.
3. No counting at the front counter. Drawers are counted in [the office / back room], with the door closed.

Doors

4. Back and delivery doors stay locked. Never propped.
5. Front door locked at [closing time]. Last guests let out by [the manager]; nobody is let back in after it's locked, including staff who've left, unless the manager knows they're coming.
6. Before opening the back door: look through [the peephole / camera] first.

The trash run

7. Trash and cardboard go out [before dark / before ……], or in pairs after it. One person holds the door from inside and watches.
8. Not after the drawers are counted.

The deposit

9. Deposits go [the next morning / at …… during daylight] by [two people / armored service]. Different times, different routes. The bag goes in a plain bag, not a bank bag.
10. Never on the way home alone at night.

Leaving

11. Lights: [outside lights on a timer / left on]. Alarm set by [the manager], with their own code.
12. Everyone leaves together, through [the front door], and waits until each car has started.
13. If something looks wrong outside, nobody goes out: call [911 / the non-emergency number ……] and wait inside.

Manager responsible: [name] · Trained on: [date] · Reviewed: [date]

Who holds which keys and alarm codes, and what to change when someone leaves, is in our key, alarm code and safe access log. Drawer counts and drops are in our cash handling routine.

If it happens: the robbery response

Train this as a short script, and practice it once a year. The goal is that nobody gets hurt.

During a robbery

1. Do what they say. Hand over the cash, without resistance. Money can be replaced.
2. Tell them before you move. "I'm going to open the drawer now." No sudden movements.
3. Don't argue, chase, follow or fight. Not inside, not into the parking lot.
4. Don't try to be a hero with the alarm if it means they'll see you do it. [Panic button at ……, only if it can be pressed safely.]
5. Notice what you can, safely: height (against the door marker), clothes, voice, anything said, the direction they left, a vehicle.

Right after

6. Lock the doors. Call 911. Stay on the line.
7. Help anyone hurt; first aid kit at [place].
8. Don't touch what the robber touched. Close that area off.
9. Ask witnesses to stay, and to write down what they saw before they talk to each other.
10. Call [the owner / manager on call, phone].
11. Nobody talks to the press or posts online; the [owner] does.

After the robbery

• The same night: the incident report, the police report number, and what was taken. Our incident report form has the fields.
• Injury: report to your workers' comp carrier, and to OSHA within the deadlines above if someone was hospitalized or killed.
• The people: send the closers home with someone, pay them for the shift, and offer time off. Ask your insurer or [EAP provider] about counseling. Check in a few days later.
• The building: change codes and locks if keys or codes were taken; save the camera footage before it records over.
• The procedure: what made it possible? Change one thing in the procedure and retrain.

Monthly security check

Security check · [location] · [month]

Checked by: ………………… · Date: ……………

Your closing safety checklist

• [ ] Closing procedure written, trained and posted in the back
• [ ] Drawer limit set and a drop safe in use
• [ ] Back door locked, never propped
• [ ] Trash out before dark or in pairs
• [ ] Deposits in daylight, varied, never alone at night
• [ ] Everyone leaves together
• [ ] Robbery script practiced once a year
• [ ] Monthly security check on the calendar

Where Mays fits

• The closing procedure as a checklist. Put the steps on your closing checklist template with a Visibility Window that starts near close, so they show up when they matter. A Photo answer works for Back door locked and Drop safe closed. See Creating a checklist template, Scheduling and assigning checklists and Task answer types.
• The monthly check. A Monthly template on one date with the ten items above, assigned to the manager. Checklists run on the dates you tick.
• Writing it down. An Incidents entry in the manager Logbook notifies the other managers and admins assigned to the location straight away. The logbook is text only, so keep photos and the police report number with the incident report. See The manager logbook.
• Telling the team. A group chat for the closing crew (or everyone at the store), in the Mays app, is where "we're closing early tonight" or "don't come in through the back door" goes. See Group chats.
• The procedure where staff can read it. Keep it in a Knowledge Base folder shared with the closers, not on the wall by the front door. See Your knowledge base.

What Mays doesn't do: it doesn't warn you when the schedule leaves one person to close, so check your closing shifts when you build the week (Building the weekly schedule). It has no panic button, and it doesn't connect to alarms or cameras.

Less cash, a locked back door, and nobody walks out alone

Most of what OSHA recommends costs little: keep the drawer light, the back door locked, the trash run early, and the closers together. Then train the one rule that matters most if it happens anyway: hand it over, and let them go.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set up your closing checklist with you.