Restaurant manager salary and job description: what to pay, and when a manager is exempt from overtime

Picture a general manager who runs a $3M restaurant and covers the kitchen and the bar when someone calls out. Pay them below the market and a competitor will set their salary for you.

Food service managers in US restaurants earned a median of $63,960 a year in May 2025, and the middle half earned $53,370 to $79,990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To be exempt from overtime, a manager must be paid a salary of at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year) under federal law and pass a duties test. Several states set much higher salary floors, including California ($72,384 in 2027) and Washington ($82,976.40 or $92,196). Last checked: 5 November 2026.

How much does a restaurant manager make?

The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025 gives the pay of food service managers by type of business. It covers employees, not owners, and includes managers paid by the hour as well as on salary.

Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, occupation 11-9051, national industry files, downloaded 5 November 2026.

Shift leads, and many assistant managers, are counted as first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers. In restaurants their median was $41,160, with the middle half between $35,360 and $49,800; across all industries it was $44,080 ($21.19 an hour).

What should you pay a restaurant manager in your state?

Start with your state's figures, then check them against the state's exempt salary floor for 2027. That second number is where owners get caught. The hourly minimums behind those floors are in our 2027 state-by-state table and, for the biggest floor, our California guide.

Our analysis of BLS OEWS May 2025 state files (food service managers in all industries in each state) against 2027 state exempt salary floors, 5 November 2026.

New York note: New York sets its own exempt salary by region. Law firms reported $1,275 a week ($66,300) for New York City, Long Island and Westchester in 2026, but we could not read the figure on NY DOL's site, so confirm it there.

What the comparison shows:

• The federal floor binds almost no one. In every state and DC, at least nine in ten food service managers earned more than $35,568. The lowest 10th percentile was Illinois, at $36,390.
• California's floor sits above what a quarter of its managers earned. The 25th percentile in May 2025 was $60,040, which is $12,344 below the 2027 exempt salary. Those managers either get a raise to $72,384 or become hourly with overtime.
• Washington is the same story at a higher level. Its 25th percentile, $79,410, is below even the small-employer floor of $82,976.40.

These are 2025 wages against 2027 floors, so some of the gap will already have closed. The direction is the point: on the West Coast, a low manager salary is now a legal question, not just a retention one.

When is a restaurant manager exempt from overtime?

A manager is exempt only if they pass both a salary test and a duties test. Under federal law the executive exemption needs all four of these, per the DOL's Fact Sheet 17B:

1. Salary: paid on a salary basis of at least $684 a week. The DOL restored this level on 15 May 2026 after courts vacated the 2024 rule (91 FR 27833).
2. Primary duty: managing the restaurant, or a recognized department of it such as the kitchen or the bar.
3. Directs staff: customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more full-time employees or the equivalent.
4. Hiring and firing: has the authority to hire or fire, or their recommendations carry "particular weight".

Working a station does not by itself lose the exemption. The regulation's own example is an assistant manager in a retail establishment who serves customers, cooks food, stocks shelves and cleans, and is still exempt if their primary duty is management (29 CFR 541.106). A shift lead who mostly works the line and occasionally directs others is not.

California is stricter. The Labor Commissioner reads "primarily engaged" as more than half of the employee's work time spent on exempt work, which "differs substantially from the federal test" (DLSE glossary). A California GM who spends three nights a week on the pass is at risk.

Two salary rules that trip owners up:

• No docking for slow days. Federally, you cannot deduct for absences "occasioned by the employer or by the operating requirements of the business". If you close for snow, an exempt manager who worked that week is paid in full (29 CFR 541.602); see our snow day guide.
• Bonuses count only a little. Federally, nondiscretionary bonuses paid at least annually can cover up to 10% of the $684 level, not more. State rules can differ.

EXEMPT MANAGER CHECKLIST (answer for each salaried manager)

Name / role: ____________________   State: ________

[ ] Salary at least the federal $684/week AND my state's 2027 level:
    $________/week
[ ] Paid the same salary every week they work, with no deductions
    for slow days, closures or short shifts
[ ] Main job is running the restaurant, kitchen or bar
[ ] Directs at least two full-time staff (or equivalent hours)
[ ] Hires and fires, or their recommendation decides it
[ ] Uses judgment daily: schedules, ordering, discipline, comps
[ ] California only: more than half of each week on management
[ ] Hours worked on a station noted, and less than the management time

If any box is unticked: pay hourly with overtime, or fix the role.

Check with an adviser for your situation.

Salaried or hourly: what does the choice cost?

Worked example: an assistant manager in Texas on $45,000 a year, working 50 hours a week.

• Exempt (salary): $865.38 a week, whatever the hours.
• Hourly at the same 40-hour pay: $21.63 an hour, so 40 hours is $865.20 and 10 overtime hours at $32.45 add $324.50: $1,189.70 a week, or $61,864.40 a year.

The exemption is worth about $16,864 a year on that role, which is why regulators look at it closely. If the role fails the duties test, that is the back pay at risk for each year it ran. For overtime pay reported on the 2026 W-2, see our no tax on overtime guide; for what the owner takes home, see our restaurant profit margin guide.

For the manager in the opening: a GM running a $3M restaurant who also covers the kitchen and the bar is doing two or three jobs. A sensible starting point is your state's 75th percentile for food service managers, with a bonus tied to results they control, such as labor cost and food cost against target. Check the salary clears your state floor first.

What does a restaurant manager do? A job description you can copy

JOB TITLE: Restaurant Manager (General Manager)
REPORTS TO: Owner
STATUS: Full-time, salaried, exempt (subject to the duties above)
SALARY: $______ a year, plus bonus of up to ___% on [labor cost %,
        food cost %, guest review score] against agreed targets

PURPOSE
Run the restaurant day to day so guests are looked after, staff are
trained and scheduled, and the restaurant hits its sales and cost targets.

RESPONSIBILITIES
People
- Hire, train, coach, discipline and, where needed, dismiss staff
- Build and publish the weekly schedule within the labor target
- Approve timesheets and check attendance every week
- Run pre-shift briefings and keep training records
Guests
- Lead the floor at peak services; handle complaints and comps
- Reply to guest reviews within an agreed time
Money
- Hit agreed targets for sales, labor cost % and food cost %
- Order food, drink and supplies; check deliveries and invoices
- Cash up nightly; investigate voids, comps and cash variances
- Review the weekly profit and loss with the owner
Standards
- Keep food safety, allergen and licensing rules, and records
- Pass health inspections; fix findings on time
- Keep equipment maintained and the premises safe

REQUIREMENTS
- 2+ years supervising in a restaurant or bar
- Food protection manager certification (or within ___ days)
- Comfortable with scheduling, POS reports and basic P&L
- Available evenings, weekends and holidays

MEASURED ON
Sales vs target | labor % | food cost % | review score | staff turnover

The duties list follows the BLS's own description of the job: hiring and training, ordering, overseeing the kitchen, food safety, complaints, scheduling, and budgets and payroll records (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Write the real split of the week into the offer. If the manager will spend most nights on the line, the exempt status above is the part to revisit. For the weekly numbers behind the "measured on" line, our Monday KPI scorecard sets out five and how to read them.

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort gives a manager the numbers the "measured on" line asks for, and gives you a view of them without standing over the manager.

1. Read the daily report: an AI-written summary of the day, a rule-based health score, and margin recommendations on items to promote or review.
2. Check the daily report per person for hours, sales, voids and labor cost, so bonus targets rest on the same numbers every week.
3. Use the Staff Management add-on for scheduling against a labor target, and clock-in on the till with a PIN for hourly assistant managers.
4. If you run more than one site, compare locations in group reporting.

One honest limit: TablePort does not set pay, decide whether a role is exempt or run payroll. See the staff rota page.