Back of House Labor
Back of House (BOH) labor refers to restaurant staff who work in areas not visible to customers, including the kitchen, storage, prep areas, and offices, handling food preparation, cooking, inventory management, cleaning, and administrative tasks.
Back of House (BOH) labor refers to restaurant staff working in areas customers don’t see—the kitchen, prep areas, storage rooms, and administrative offices. These are the cooks, dishwashers, kitchen managers, and support staff who prepare food, maintain equipment, manage inventory, and handle the operational backbone of the restaurant. Unlike FOH positions, BOH workers typically don’t interact with customers or receive tips, which fundamentally changes their compensation structure and daily responsibilities.
BOH Labor Positions and Responsibilities
BOH labor includes executive chefs, sous chefs, line cooks, prep cooks, pastry chefs, dishwashers, kitchen managers, and expeditors. Each position has distinct duties that keep the kitchen running. Prep cooks arrive early to execute mise en place—chopping vegetables, portioning proteins, and preparing sauces before service begins. Line cooks work stations during service, managing tickets and plating dishes under pressure. The expeditor bridges kitchen and dining room, ensuring orders leave the kitchen properly timed and presented.
Kitchen managers handle scheduling, inventory control, food safety compliance, and equipment maintenance. Dishwashers do far more than clean plates—they maintain the flow of clean equipment during service, dispose of waste properly, and keep the kitchen sanitized. Executive and sous chefs develop menus, train staff, manage food costs, and maintain quality standards across all BOH operations.
BOH Labor Cost Management
Labor costs typically represent 25-35% of restaurant sales, making BOH labor one of the two major controllable expenses alongside food costs (together forming prime cost). Effective management requires data-driven scheduling based on sales forecasts and historical traffic patterns. Operators track labor cost percentage and productivity metrics like covers per labor hour to identify overstaffing or inefficiencies.
The key is matching labor to actual demand. Overstaffing during slow periods destroys profitability. Understaffing during rushes compromises food quality and employee morale. Smart operators use scheduling software to prevent costly mistakes like unplanned overtime or clopens (when staff closes one night and opens the next morning). They also account for prep time—BOH staff often arrive hours before opening and stay after closing for cleaning and breakdown.
BOH vs. FOH Labor
The fundamental difference is customer interaction and compensation structure. FOH staff work in dining rooms, bars, and host stands, earning tips that often exceed their base wages. BOH staff must be paid at least minimum wage (or higher, depending on local laws) and rarely participate in tip pools unless the restaurant has implemented a structured tip-sharing system.
BOH schedules tend to be longer and more demanding. A line cook might work a double shift during a busy weekend, covering both lunch prep and dinner service—easily a 12-14 hour day. The work is physically demanding: constant standing, exposure to heat and sharp objects, and the relentless pressure of ticket times during a rush.
BOH Labor Shortage Crisis
Recent industry surveys show 25% of BOH workers have left the restaurant industry entirely, creating a staffing crisis that hasn’t fully recovered. The reasons are clear: long hours, physically taxing work, high-stress environments, and historically lower wages compared to FOH tipped positions. Many former BOH workers moved to other industries offering better work-life balance and comparable pay without the intensity of restaurant work.
Operators are responding by raising wages, offering benefits, improving schedules, and creating better kitchen cultures. Some use trail shifts to properly assess candidates and set realistic expectations. Others focus on retention by cross-training staff, providing advancement opportunities, and eliminating toxic behaviors that drive good people away.
BOH Labor Beyond Cooking
BOH responsibilities extend far beyond food preparation. Staff conduct line checks before service to ensure all stations are properly stocked and equipment is functioning. They monitor food safety protocols, maintain proper storage temperatures, rotate inventory using FIFO (first in, first out), and document compliance for health inspections.
Equipment maintenance falls to BOH labor too—reporting broken equipment, performing basic cleaning and calibration, and ensuring everything from walk-ins to ranges operates safely. During slow periods, BOH staff deep clean, reorganize storage areas, prep for the next day, and tackle projects that can’t happen during service.
Common Uses
Restaurant operators use "BOH labor" when discussing staffing needs, scheduling, and labor cost management. Managers reference BOH labor when analyzing productivity metrics, planning schedules around anticipated business volume, or addressing the ongoing industry-wide shortage of skilled kitchen workers. The term appears in budget discussions, since BOH labor costs typically represent 25-35% of total sales and directly impact profitability. Kitchen managers use it when differentiating between customer-facing roles and production roles during hiring, training, or performance evaluations.