How a Popular Restaurant Chain Optimized Labor Forecasting and Reduced Absenteeism

About this Leading Fast-Casual Restaurant Chain

Operating nearly 270 restaurants across the US, this fast-casual brand is focused on reimagining fast food by connecting people to real food. As the company scaled, leadership recognized the need for a workforce management system to optimize labor efficiency, enhance the employee experience, and achieve its mission.

“The system has freed up head coaches to focus more on team development, and team members are getting 10% more hours per week, on average, while reducing overtime expense.”

CEO, Leading Restaurant Chain

The Challenge

Before Legion, managers relied on differing systems to manage their time and attendance and scheduling needs. This disjointed approach led to inconsistencies, reduced efficiency, and made accurate labor forecasting difficult. Teams were struggling with:

• Manual, time-consuming scheduling processes
• Lack of accurate demand forecasting
• Limited flexibility for employees to set schedule preferences
• Compliance concerns and risks as the company scaled to numerous locations in different states
• High absenteeism

The Solution

The fast-casual restaurant chain chose Legion WFM because its AI-powered solution promised to address its existing challenges. It introduced machine-driven demand forecasting that could incorporate the company’s strong labor standards to optimize labor time and productivity while simultaneously improving employee engagement. The brand has deployed the following modules to help deliver on its objectives:

Demand Forecasting

Machine learning models generate accurate forecasts for each location, continuously improving as real data is incorporated.

Labor Optimization

Granular, task-based labor modeling aligns staffing with forecasted demand and labor standards, ensuring efficiency and compliance, and maximizing every hour worked.

Automated Scheduling

Employees can submit shift preferences, time-off requests, and shift swaps, while routine scheduling tasks are automated for managers. Compliance rules can be built into the platform, significantly reducing pressure on managers.

• Real-Time Schedule Tracking: Immediate visibility into attendance patterns to support proactive workforce adjustments.

Time and Attendance

Legion delivers a complete time management suite fully integrated with scheduling. Capabilities include:

• Legion Time Clock (LTC): A modern digital time clock that is seamlessly integrated with scheduling.
• Time Off Management with Accrual Balance Tracking: Employees can request and manage time off directly in the app, which automatically updates their accrual balances.

Advanced Analytical Dashboards

Delivers actionable analytics to help managers and executives make informed labor and workforce decisions.

The Results

By implementing Legion WFM across all restaurants, the brand achieved measurable improvements in workforce efficiency and employee engagement. The platform also standardized workforce management across locations, ensuring transparency and consistency.

• Operational Efficiency – Managers have reduced the time spent on manual scheduling and can now focus more on team development. Schedules are now published an average of 16 days in advance, improving planning and transparency.
• Labor Optimization & Scheduling – More accurate forecasting and automated scheduling improved shift coverage and fairness. Due to the ease of shift swapping and open shift pickup offered in the system, employees received 10% more hours per week on average (22 → 27), while the business reduced overtime spend. Absenteeism also dropped by 5%, reflecting more accurate schedules and improved attendance tracking.
• Employee Empowerment and Well-Being – Mobile self-service gave employees more control over their schedules, and an integrated approach brought scheduling, time tracking, and time-off requests together in one place—driving 93% adoption of the app.

Conclusion

By adopting Legion WFM, this leading fast-casual brand empowered employees and managers while reducing absenteeism and overtime costs. The phased rollout across 269 locations ensured strong adoption, and the solution has become a foundation for future workforce innovations. With Legion, the company can scale efficiently and deliver stronger customer service.