For restaurants, hotels, bars and caterers
Sunworker connects venues with self-employed hospitality professionals for individual shifts — without temporary agency work and without a contractual commitment.
Register your venueBrowse professionals firstStart live demo
When venues book
Sat · 2pmA cook calls in sickTonight's cook drops out. Searching by day shows only cooks who are still free.Hire a chef
Fri · 11:30amThe terrace is fullSunshine, a long weekend, a full reservation list: an extra waiter takes a section – just for that day.Waiters for hire
Sat · 7pmReception for 120 guestsWedding, company party, trade fair: hostesses welcome, seat and keep the guest list in view.Book hostessesExample: a Saturday
How a short-notice shift runs – from the call in the afternoon to billing after closing.
The cook calls in sick. You search for cooks who are free tonight.
You request Lena B. Day, time, place and hourly rate are fixed.
Lena accepts. The amount is held in escrow, the shift is binding.
The actual time is billed. The receipts are in your account – and, if you like, in Lexware Office, sevDesk or the DATEV export.
Employment, mini-job, agency work or Sunworker?
Each model solves a different problem. Costs are per hour actually needed, including holidays, sickness and idle time – an example, not a promise.
For the plannable base load you have every day.
approx. €33per hour needed (example)
For recurring weekend and evening shifts.
approx. €22per hour needed (example)
For longer cover over weeks or months.
approx. €31per hour needed (example)
For peaks, events, the season and tonight's gap.
approx. €37per hour needed (example)
Rule of thumb: If a position is needed for more than about three quarters of its paid time, permanent staff is cheaper. Below that, flexible staff pays off. Most venues do best with a permanent core team plus flexible staff for the peaks.
Full comparison with calculationCosts
On top of the agreed hourly rate, the venue pays a service fee of 15% of the order value — net, invoiced separately by Sunworkers Ltd. under the reverse charge. The 15% commission is borne by the professional and deducted from their payout. Accounts, profiles and requests are free.
The amount is collected when the professional accepts and stays in escrow until completion. The actual time is billed: extra hours are charged, a shorter shift is refunded.
Bookkeeping
After every shift, the receipts are created automatically – and end up where your bookkeeping happens. No retyping, no searching your inbox.
Placement, not agency work
The shift contract is made directly between your venue and the self-employed professional. Sunworker places and handles the payment – and leases no one.
Roles
Eleven roles from kitchen, service and bar – from junior cook to sommelier.
Day to day
Sunworker checks every document and shows until when it is valid. The search can show only professionals with a valid document.
Search by day and postcode, request known professionals again in one tap, all shifts in the calendar.
Find professionals, send requests, confirm shifts, review hours: everything you do in your web account also works in the Sunworker app – with the same data.
The app is coming to the App Store and Google Play; until then, everything runs in your web account.
Chefs, waiters, hostesses or kitchen help for hire: what a shift costs, when it pays off and how booking works.
As short-notice as someone accepts — a professional dropping out on the same evening is exactly the situation Sunworker was built for. The search can be narrowed down to a specific day and only shows who is available that day.
A service fee of 15% of the order value — the professional’s net pay including surcharges, excluding travel. It is collected with the order and invoiced separately by Sunworkers Ltd., without VAT under the reverse charge. Private individuals pay no service fee. The service fee also covers the cost of payment processing – there is no surcharge for card or direct debit.
No. Sunworker does not lend out or employ anyone — the professionals are self-employed and contract for the shift directly with the client, whether venue or private person. Sunworker brokers the contact, handles the payment and charges a commission for doing so, plus a service fee for venues.
Yes. An uploaded document only counts once it has been checked, and only until its expiry date. That is why a profile shows not just a tick but the date until which the credential is valid.
Immediately, as soon as the shift is agreed: on confirmation, the full amount is collected from the stored payment method. The money is held in escrow on the platform account until completion and only then goes to the professional.
The venue pays nothing: the amount already collected is refunded in full; only days of a shift already under way that have been worked are invoiced. A cancellation does not count against the professional’s level. Only a confirmed no-show after accepting can, if repeated, lead to a suspension, which a person decides on.
The professional reports the extra hours, the client approves them, and the actual time is billed. The additional amount is charged to the stored payment method after the shift; if the shift was shorter, the difference is refunded.
Yes, each shift is requested and settled individually. A recurring shift at always the same venue would, however, be a warning sign of bogus self-employment — and Sunworker watches for that.
The account is free. You only pay once a professional accepts.
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Shift receipt
DATEV export
