How to Bill Hourly Staffing with Shift Minimums and Overtime
Build every bill rate as wage × (1 + burden) ÷ (1 − target margin), set a shift minimum of four hours per person, pass client-caused overtime and holiday premiums through at contracted rates, and charge a stated late-cancellation fee because staff turned down other work. Then invoice the day the timesheets close — in staffing, you pay weekly and collect in thirty days, so every day of invoicing delay is a day you personally finance your client's labor.
Build the rate from the wage
Bill rate = wage × (1 + burden) ÷ (1 − target margin)
- Wage — what you can actually hire at, today, not last year
- Burden — 25–40%: payroll taxes, workers’ comp, unemployment, insurance, uniforms, training
- Margin — 30–50% gross, depending on the role and how hard it is to fill
An $18 wage at 32% burden with a 35% margin comes out to roughly $36.50/hour. Anything you can’t reconstruct from those three numbers is really just a guess.
Set minimums that make the work rational
| Situation | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Standard shift | 4 hours per person |
| Travel or out-of-area | 5–8 hours |
| Overnight or specialty role | 8 hours |
| Short-notice fill | Minimum + premium |
Nobody accepts a two-hour assignment reliably. The minimum is what makes your bookings worth taking, which is what makes you able to staff them in the first place.
Pass through what the client causes
- Overtime — when their schedule creates it
- Holiday premiums — at the contracted multiplier
- Late cancellation — full charge inside a stated window
- Extended shifts — automatically, at OT rate, per the agreement
Absorbing client-caused overtime is a direct transfer from your margin to theirs — and it’s the most common structural loss in small staffing businesses.
Write the escalator into multi-year contracts
Wages move faster than most costs. A clause tied to minimum wage changes or a stated annual percentage keeps a three-year agreement from quietly becoming a three-year loss without anyone making a mistake.
Invoice the day timesheets close
You pay weekly, but you collect in thirty days. That gap is basically the business, and it widens every day an invoice sits unsent.
Nothing else in staffing — not rates, not margin, not volume — improves cash flow as reliably as just sending the invoice the day the hours are known.
Frequently asked questions
What burden percentage should I use?
25–40% depending on your state and industry — payroll taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, liability, uniforms, and training. Workers' comp rates vary enormously by classification, so use your actual rate rather than a rule of thumb.
Should I ever quote a blended rate across roles?
Only when every role genuinely costs the same to staff, which is almost never. Blending means your easiest shifts subsidize your hardest, and the hard ones are what clients call you about — so you win exactly the work that loses money.
How do I bill an event or shift that gets cut short?
At the shift minimum. Staff arranged their day around the booking, and the minimum is what makes accepting your assignments rational for them. It's a worker-protection rule as much as a business one.
What if my worker doesn't show up?
Credit the client immediately, without being asked, and solve the staffing problem internally. A fast credit preserves the account; an invoice you defend loses it, and the difference in dollars is trivial next to the difference in outcome.