HR Software for Restaurants

HR software for restaurants is a single system for hiring, onboarding, training, policies and employee records for kitchen, floor and bar staff. Sentrient's version adds pre-built compliance courses, policy acknowledgement and certificate records with expiry reminders, so owners and venue managers can manage casual and permanent staff without spreadsheets or paper files.

Yes. Sentrient is an Australian HR, compliance and GRC platform used by more than 1,000 organisations across Australia and New Zealand. Its restaurant HR software comes preloaded with courses, policy templates, forms and documents written for Australian workplaces, and customer support runs on Melbourne business hours.

Most restaurants use a mix of tools: a POS, a rostering or payroll system, and an HR system for recruitment, onboarding, training, policies and records. Sentrient fills the HR and compliance role. It keeps employee records, credentials, policy sign-offs and training in one place and integrates with platforms such as Xero, MYOB and KeyPay.

No. Sentrient does not market rostering, payroll processing or award interpretation. It includes timesheet and attendance tracking, and it sits beside your rostering and payroll tools as the HR and compliance layer. Most restaurants are covered by the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, but venues attached to hotels or clubs can fall under a different award, so check coverage with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Restaurants can record each employee's RSA certificate or competency card in Sentrient with its expiry date. Staff can upload their own records, and managers see who is current, due or overdue in real-time reports. Rules differ by state, and NSW requires a current competency card to serve alcohol, so employers remain responsible for checking the requirement that applies to each venue.

Set expiry dates on each certificate and let Sentrient send automated reminders before they lapse, with follow-up reminders and escalation to a manager when records are overdue. This covers RSA cards, Food Safety Supervisor certificates, first aid certificates and other licences. In NSW a licensee can be fined for letting staff serve alcohol without a current card, so reminders give time to renew.

Many do. Under Standard 3.2.2A, food service businesses in category one and two must have a certified Food Safety Supervisor, certified within the past 5 years, and food handlers who have completed training or can show the required skills and knowledge. Sentrient's Food Safety and Handling course covers hygiene, contamination, storage, and cleaning and sanitising. It does not replace Food Safety Supervisor certification, and businesses remain responsible for confirming what their regulator accepts.

The positive duty in the Sex Discrimination Act requires employers to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination and related victimisation at work. The Australian Human Rights Commission expects policies, training and reporting processes. Sentrient supports this with a Sexual Harassment course written with Mills Oakley Lawyers, policy acknowledgement and incident reporting. Employers remain responsible for meeting the duty.

Sentrient includes pre-built online courses that suit restaurant teams, including Food Safety and Handling, Work Health and Safety, Sexual Harassment, Workplace Bullying, Equal Employment Opportunity, Privacy and Manual Handling. Most take about 15 minutes, so staff can complete them at induction or between shifts. You can also build your own courses for venue procedures.

Sentrient uses automation rules to assign refresher courses on a schedule, then sends reminders and escalates overdue training to managers. Completion certificates are stored against each employee. This keeps recurring WHS, food safety and conduct training on track without a manager chasing each person individually. Kitchen and front-of-house inductions you write yourself sit beside those courses in our restaurant LMS, with completion reported by site.

Employers must keep time and wages records for 7 years, and records must be legible, in English and available to a Fair Work Inspector. Sentrient stores employee documents, contracts, training completions and certificates securely in one place. Pay records usually sit in your payroll system, and employers remain responsible for keeping every required record.

Sentrient provides ready-made, real-time reports on training, policy acknowledgements and certificates at individual, group or organisation level. You can filter by overdue or non-compliant items and export reports as PDF, XLS or CSV. That gives managers the evidence an inspector is likely to ask for, while the business remains responsible for what the records show.

Staff can report incidents, hazards and near misses online through Sentrient's incident reporting as soon as they happen, from a burn in the kitchen to an aggressive customer on the floor. Every report is recorded in one place, so managers can follow up, act on hazards and keep WHS records complete.

Use a standard onboarding checklist that sends the contract, employment forms, policies and induction courses as soon as an offer is accepted. Sentrient tracks each step, so managers can see before the first shift who has signed, who has completed training and who still needs to upload an RSA certificate or other credential. Hiring itself, from careers page to signed contract, runs through our applicant tracking software for restaurants.

Sentrient's HR announcements and community wall let managers post menu changes, venue news and safety reminders once for everyone to read. Staff on early prep and late close see the same message, and they can celebrate milestones and recognise each other's work, which helps build a connected team.

Yes. Sentrient centralises HR information for your whole workforce, and reports can be viewed at individual, group or organisation-wide level. Group owners can see training, certificates and policy sign-offs across their teams without collecting spreadsheets from each venue manager.

HR software helps by fixing the things that push people out early: a messy first week, unclear expectations and little feedback. Sentrient supports structured onboarding, regular goal setting and reviews, recognition on the community wall and development plans. It will not remove turnover on its own, but it gives managers a consistent process for every new starter.

Sentrient lets managers set measurable goals, record one-on-one meetings, run scheduled performance reviews and use performance improvement plans when needed. Position descriptions sit against each role, so a commis chef, waiter and floor supervisor are each reviewed against the standards that apply to them.

Yes. Sentrient is designed to be easy to use, and its online courses are short, simple to navigate and include audio options on courses such as Sexual Harassment. Staff can acknowledge policies and upload their own records through self-service, which means fewer questions for managers during service.

Sentrient combines HR and compliance in one Australian platform: recruitment, onboarding, training, policies, certificate tracking and incident reporting. Pre-built courses and policy templates mean you can start quickly, and it integrates with tools such as Xero, MYOB and KeyPay. It is a strong fit when your pain is HR admin and compliance evidence rather than rostering.

More than 1,000 organisations across Australia and New Zealand use Sentrient, supporting over 150,000 staff. Published clients include Carinya Society, St Pat's, Community Action Gympie, Engineers Australia and Housing Trust.

Sentrient is designed to be simple to implement. Setup instructions guide you, courses, policies and forms are preloaded, and the Sentrient team supports you through onboarding so managers and staff can start using the system with minimal disruption to service.

Pricing depends on the size of your team and the features you need. For a tailored quote, book a demo and the Sentrient team will scope the right setup for your restaurant or group of venues.

Yes. Book a free 20-minute demo and a Sentrient specialist will walk you through onboarding, training, certificate tracking and reporting. There is no obligation to buy.