Here's something most restaurant owners won't admit: they have no clue what a new hire actually costs them. Sure, you know the hourly wage, but between recruiting, training, and getting someone productive, you're looking at €2,000 to €5,000 per person. These hidden expenses can wreck your personnel budget if you're not tracking them.
What are onboarding costs?
Onboarding costs cover every expense you rack up getting a new employee ready to work. This isn't just their salary — it's all the money you spend before they actually contribute to your bottom line.
The 5 cost categories of onboarding
💡 Example onboarding costs for a chef:
- Recruitment and selection: €400
- Administration and contracts: €150
- Training time head chef (40 hours × €25): €1,000
- Salary new chef during training (80 hours × €16): €1,280
- Work clothes and materials: €200
Total onboarding: €3,030
1. Recruitment and selection
- Posting job ads (€50-€200)
- Time spent on interviews (€200-€400)
- Reference checks and screening (€50-€150)
2. Administration and paperwork
- Drawing up and processing contracts
- Registration with UWV and pension fund
- Medical examination (if required)
- Average 6-8 hours administration × €25 = €150-€200
3. Training time for existing staff
Your head chef or experienced employee has to invest time in training. That's productive time you're losing from someone who already knows what they're doing.
⚠️ Note:
Calculate using the hourly rate of whoever's doing the training, not the new employee. A head chef earning €25/hour who trains for 40 hours = €1,000 in costs.
4. Salary during training period
In those first weeks, a new employee isn't pulling their weight yet, but they're still getting paid full wages. Calculate with:
- Kitchen staff: 60-80 hours training
- Service staff: 40-60 hours training
- Chef/sous chef: 80-120 hours training
5. Materials and work clothes
- Work clothes and shoes: €150-€300
- Knives and personal tools: €50-€150
- Name badge, keys, access card: €20-€50
This represents one of the most common blind spots in kitchen management — owners focus on the obvious costs but miss these smaller expenses that add up fast.
Formula for total onboarding costs
Onboarding costs = Recruitment + Administration + (Training time × Trainer hourly rate) + (Training time × New employee hourly rate) + Materials
💡 Example service staff:
- Recruitment: €300
- Administration: €150
- Training time manager (30 hours × €22): €660
- Salary new service staff (50 hours × €14): €700
- Work clothes: €120
Total: €1,930
How long until you break even?
A new employee needs to 'earn back' those onboarding costs by being productive. You can calculate this using the added value per hour.
Break-even time = Onboarding costs / (Added value per hour - Hourly labor costs)
💡 Break-even calculation:
Chef with €3,030 onboarding costs:
- Labor costs: €16/hour
- Average revenue per hour: €45
- Added value: €45 - €16 = €29/hour
Break-even: €3,030 / €29 = 105 work hours (approximately 3 months)
Tips to reduce onboarding costs
- Better recruitment: A clear job posting saves you from interviewing wrong candidates
- Structured training plan: Less time wasted if you know exactly what needs covering
- Buddy system: Let an experienced colleague train instead of your expensive head chef
- Digital procedures: Having recipes and workflows in apps saves endless explanations
⚠️ Note:
Cheap recruitment backfires. A bad match costs you the full onboarding investment plus having to start the whole process over.
Onboarding costs in your budget
Factor in an average 15-20% staff turnover per year in your personnel planning. With 10 employees, that means 2 new people annually.
With average onboarding costs of €2,500 per person = €5,000 per year in hidden costs.
💡 Budgeting:
Restaurant with 8 FTE and 20% turnover:
- New employees per year: 1.6
- Onboarding costs per person: €2,500
- Annual budget: €4,000
Spread this over 12 months = €333/month in additional personnel costs
How do you calculate onboarding costs? (step by step)
Gather all recruitment costs
Add up what you spend on ads, conducting interviews, and selection. Also calculate the time you invest × your own hourly rate. On average you'll come to €300-€600 per new employee.
Calculate training time and labor costs
Estimate how many hours your new employee needs to work independently. Multiply this by the hourly wage. Also add the time existing staff spends on training.
Add up materials and administration costs
Calculate work clothes, tools, and administration costs together. Don't forget the time for contracts and registrations (usually 6-8 hours × your own hourly rate). This typically comes to €200-€400.
Calculate break-even period
Divide total onboarding costs by the difference between what the employee generates per hour and what they cost per hour. This gives you the number of work hours until you break even.
✨ Pro tip
Track your actual training hours for the first 90 days of each new hire by position. Most owners guess wildly — but after measuring 5-6 hires, you'll have solid data to budget €2,800-€3,200 per kitchen position.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I include the trial period in onboarding costs?
Absolutely — calculate with the full training time, including trial period. If someone quits during their trial, you've lost every euro of onboarding investment with zero return.
What if someone leaves after just 2 weeks?
Then you're out all the onboarding costs and back to square one with recruiting. This is exactly why thorough interviews matter more than rushing to fill a position. Better to stay short-staffed for a week than hire wrong and lose thousands.
How do seasonal workers affect onboarding budgets?
Seasonal staff typically need 30-40% less training time since they're often temporary roles with simpler responsibilities. But you'll hire more of them, so budget for higher turnover rates — sometimes 40-60% annually.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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