Chefs and Cooks Real Earnings
What you actually earn per hour from kitchen work, once the long hours and costs are counted.
Part of the 👨🍳 Chefs and Cooks toolkit, with more tools made for the job.
👨🍳 Chef or cook
A share of a tip pool, a meal deduction or similar. Leave empty for none.
Every hour, including waiting, travelling and admin.
What you spend per week to earn it
Shows what you keep from each shift.
Rules on food hygiene certificates and working in a kitchen differ by country and place, so check yours before you start.
Type what you bring in and the hours you spend, and what you really earn an hour appears here.
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Type what you are paid each week, anything taken off it, the hours you are really in the kitchen and your weekly costs. This shows what you earn per hour and per month.
Kitchen pay looks fine on paper and then you count the hours. Shifts run long, prep starts before service and cleaning ends after it, and split shifts leave gaps in the day you cannot use. A salary of a certain amount for a week that is really fifty-five hours is a lower hourly rate than the number suggests, and compared with a job that pays by the hour it can be much lower. Once you take off travel, laundering whites and replacing tools, and divide by every hour you are there, you get the figure you can compare with other jobs.
How it’s worked out
- Start with what you are paid each week, before anything comes off.
- Anything taken off your pay, such as a share of a tip pool or a meal deduction, is taken off as a percentage. Your weekly costs are taken off after that.
- Real hourly pay is what you keep divided by every hour you are in the kitchen, including prep, cleaning and the gap in a split shift.
- Per month is the weekly figure times about 4.33. Per shift, if you give the number of shifts, is what you keep divided by the shifts.
Being paid 620 a week for 45 hours looks like 13.78 an hour. With 25 of travel and laundry it is 595 kept, which is 13.22 an hour, about 2,577 a month. If the real hours are 55, the same pay is 10.82 an hour.
Common mistakes
- Counting only the hours on the rota. Prep before service and cleaning after are hours you spend too, so include them.
- Forgetting split shifts. The gap in the middle of the day is time you cannot use, so it belongs in your hours.
- Comparing a salary with an hourly wage without counting the hours. Divide the salary by the real hours first.
- Leaving out the costs. Travel, laundering whites and replacing tools are real and recur.
Questions
Which hours should I count?
Every hour you are in the kitchen for the job, including prep, service, cleaning and the gaps in a split shift. The more honest the hours, the more useful the answer.
Does it include overtime?
Put your total pay for the week, including any overtime, and the total hours. The overtime pay calculator works out what the extra hours are worth.
Is tax taken off?
No, the result is before tax. How pay and tips are taxed differs by place, so check yours.
What should I do next?
Compare it with other jobs by hourly rate, or check what extra hours are worth in the overtime calculator. The links below the tool lead there.
Estimates only
These are estimates and general information, not financial, tax or employment advice. Pay, overtime, tips and rules for kitchen work differ by country, state and employer, so use your own figures and check the rules where you live.
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