Snow day: should your restaurant open, and what do you owe staff if you close?

Picture a Saturday in January with a foot of snow forecast. Your usual $6,000 day might bring in $2,000 to $3,000, the rent is due either way, and your staff have icy roads to drive in on.

Open if the day's sales will cover the food, card fees and labor of opening, and your staff can get there safely. Rent does not belong in the decision, because you pay it either way. If you close, federal law does not require you to pay hourly staff for hours they did not work, but some states do once staff have turned up, and salaried exempt managers must get their full week's pay. Last checked: 5 November 2026.

Should you open in a snowstorm? A break-even test

Compare only the costs that change if you open. Rent, insurance, loan payments and subscriptions are the same open or closed, so they cannot tip the decision. That is why opening on a weak day can lose less than closing: the fixed costs are already spent.

The test:

Open if:  expected sales × contribution margin  >  cost of opening

Contribution margin = 1 − food and drink cost % − card fee %
Cost of opening     = labor for the day (with payroll taxes)
                      + extra utilities and heating
                      − perishables you would otherwise throw away

Worked example. A restaurant that takes $6,000 on a normal Saturday expects a third to a half of that in a storm: $2,000 to $3,000. Food and drink cost is 30% and card fees 3%, so each dollar of sales leaves 67 cents. A skeleton crew of six for seven hours at an average $16 an hour costs $672, or about $740 with payroll taxes. Add $60 for heating and lights: $800 to open.

Perishables move the line. If closing means throwing away $300 of prepped food, the cost of opening drops to $500, and break-even falls to about $746 of sales.

Then apply two overrides that no worksheet captures. If staff cannot travel safely, or local authorities tell people to stay off the roads, close. And if you cannot staff the shift, close; the numbers do not matter.

What do you owe hourly staff if you close?

Under federal law, nothing for hours not worked. DOL Fact Sheet 72 (July 2019) says the FLSA "generally applies to hours actually worked" and does not require employers who cannot provide work because of a natural disaster to pay non-exempt employees "for hours the employees would have otherwise worked". You must still pay for every hour someone did work, at least the minimum wage, with overtime over 40 in the week.

Three things change that answer:

• When you decide. Several states require pay for staff who report for a shift and are sent home. Decide the night before, or early enough to reach everyone, and most of these rules never apply.
• What you ask staff to do. If you ask people to wait at the restaurant to see whether it gets busy, that waiting time is generally hours worked.
• Tipped staff. On a tip credit, a server's cash wage plus tips must reach the minimum wage for the workweek. A dead day can leave a shortfall you must make up, although a busy rest of the week may cover it. Our tip credit guide shows the weekly test.

Which states require reporting pay?

Some do, and the amounts differ. Three examples from primary sources:

Sources: California DIR reporting time pay FAQ; New York 12 NYCRR 146-1.5; Massachusetts 454 CMR 27.04. Other states and some cities have similar rules, and city scheduling laws can add pay for late schedule changes; see our predictive scheduling guide. Check your state labor department for your situation.

Can you dock a salaried manager's pay for a snow day?

Not for a partial week. Under the salary basis rule in 29 CFR 541.602, an exempt employee "must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs any work". It adds: "If the employee is ready, willing and able to work, deductions may not be made for time when work is not available." A storm closure is time when work is not available.

What that means in practice:

Improper deductions can put the overtime exemption at risk, which is why this row matters more than one day's pay. Some employers charge the day to the manager's paid time off instead; ask an adviser before you do.

How do you tell guests and staff?

In this order, as early as you can:

1. Staff first. Everyone on the affected shifts, by phone or text, with whether they are paid for the day.
2. Booked guests. Call or message each booking for the day. Offer a new date, and refund any deposit or prepayment promptly. A text about the guest's own booking is informational, not marketing; our text message rules guide explains the difference.
3. Online. Close the day in your booking system so no new bookings arrive, and set special hours on your Google Business Profile. Our Google Business Profile guide shows where.
4. Everyone else. A short post on your website and social channels.

A storm is also a test of your deposit terms: if guests with deposits cannot travel, refunding or moving them costs less goodwill than holding the money. Say in your booking terms what happens when the weather closes the roads, so staff are not inventing the answer on the day.

An inclement weather policy you can copy

Edit the bracketed parts, have it checked against your state rules, and give it to staff before the first storm.

INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY: [RESTAURANT NAME]

1. Who decides, and when
   [Owner / general manager] decides whether we open, delay or
   close by [8pm the night before / 3 hours before opening].
   We look at the forecast, road conditions, any official
   travel advice, staffing, and bookings.

2. How we tell you
   By [text / phone call] to everyone scheduled. If you have not
   heard by [time], assume we are open, and call [number] if you
   are unsure.

3. Your safety comes first
   If you cannot get here safely, tell [manager] as early as you
   can. You will not be disciplined for a weather absence that
   you report before your shift.

4. Pay if we close
   Hourly staff: [not paid for hours not worked / paid for
   scheduled hours up to __] [plus any pay state law requires
   if you were sent home after arriving].
   Tipped staff: we top up to the minimum wage for the week if
   tips and cash wages fall short.
   Salaried managers: full salary for any week in which you work.

5. If we open with a reduced team
   We call in [volunteers first / by rotation]. Anyone who works
   a storm shift receives [$__ / no premium].

6. Late opening or early close
   If we close early, you are paid for hours worked. [Add any
   state reporting pay rule here.]

7. Guests
   [Manager] contacts booked guests and updates our booking page,
   website and Google profile.

This guide is general information, so check with an adviser for your situation.

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort helps you close cleanly and tell the right people; the decision and the pay policy stay yours.

1. Close a whole day or a single shift in Reservations, with a reason guests can see if you want one, so no new bookings arrive.
2. Update the schedule in the Staff Management add-on, publish it, and choose to notify only the people whose shifts changed.
3. On the day you do open, staff clock in on the till with a PIN, so the hours you owe are recorded against the schedule.

One honest limit: TablePort does not run payroll. Any pay for a closed day is your policy, applied by your payroll provider. See the staff rota page.