Employee benefits for restaurants,made easy.
76% of U.S. restaurants have fewer than 20 employees.
You want great benefits for your team. You don’t have the time or the resources to get them.
That isn’t on you. For decades, the benefits industry has been built for big companies, and small businesses have been left to figure it out alone. Cakewalk was built for you.
How it works
You run your business. We handle the benefits.
Tell us about your business.
Start with your business name. We fill in what we can find. Connect payroll and your team comes with it.
Hundreds of options. One tailored package.
We compare hundreds of plans for your team. You get one package, priced and ready to adjust.
We get your team covered.
We invite your team. You see who has started. Each person gets help choosing. Everyone is covered.
Benefits admin. Off your plate.
New hires and departures sync from payroll. Each employee gets a benefits wallet. Their questions come to us, not you.
Your benefits team. On the house.
You pay for coverage. Insurance carriers pay us a commission, so we can handle everything from building your package to supporting your team year round, at no cost to you.
Restaurants at a glance
Offering benefits at a restaurant
High turnover, tipped staff, and schedules that change every week. Here’s what shapes a benefits plan for an independent restaurant.
- of private workers in accommodation and food services have access to employer medical coverage, against 71% overall
- 37%
Source: BLS Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026: accommodation and food services
- average monthly quit rate in accommodation and food services in 2025, against 2.2% across private industry
- 4.2%
- average weekly hours at restaurants in 2025
- 24.9
Source: BLS Current Employment Statistics: restaurants and other eating places, 2025
Turnover
People in accommodation and food services quit at nearly twice the private-industry rate: 4.2% a month against 2.2% in 2025. Benefits are one of the few reasons to stay that competitors can’t easily copy, since only 37% of workers in the industry have them.
Source: BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, 2025 (Table 22)
Tipped staff and full-time status
Tipped employees can be paid a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour under federal law, but full-time status for benefits follows hours, 30 or more a week, not pay or tips.
Sources: Department of Labor Fact Sheet #15: tipped employees; IRS: identifying full-time employees
Part-time servers
Part-time work is common for servers. A SHOP marketplace plan has to be offered to employees averaging 30 or more hours a week; covering part-timers is your choice.
Sources: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: waiters and waitresses; HealthCare.gov: who qualifies for SHOP
How part-timers count toward 50
To see whether you’re near 50, add part-timers’ monthly hours (up to 120 per person) and divide by 120. Forty full-time employees plus 20 people working 60 hours a month comes to 50.
Source: IRS: employer shared responsibility questions and answers
Benefits are your choice under 50
Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, aren’t subject to the federal requirement to offer coverage. Offering benefits is a decision you make for your team, not a mandate.
Source: IRS: applicable large employers
The small business tax credit
The federal credit can cover up to 50% of premiums for employers with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees and average wages under $68,200 in 2026, if you pay at least half of employee-only premiums and buy through the SHOP marketplace. Owners and their families don’t count toward the totals. SHOP plans aren’t offered everywhere, so check your state’s guide.
The whole benefits package.
Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and income protection. Built around your business and the people who power it.
Start with your team’s needs and your business’s budget. Explore medical coverage online, or work with a benefits advisor to understand your options and choose your next step.
Questions restaurant owners ask.
Full-time status depends only on hours of service, 30 a week or 130 a month, not on pay or tips.
Tell us about your restaurant.
We’ll follow up to learn about your business and walk you through your options. There’s no cost to work with us.
Prefer to start on your own?