Back of House Ops

Restaurant HR administration & payroll coordination for Massachusetts

Keep payroll approvals, hiring paperwork, and people records organized every week — with a client-directed service built for independent restaurants and small groups.

Book a 20-minute fit call See pricing

Massachusetts launch
Your restaurant remains the employer of record
Scope and third-party costs confirmed in your proposal

The problem

Restaurant owners run kitchens, not HR departments

HR is the thing that gets pushed aside during service — and it comes back in predictable, expensive ways.

Onboarding gets rushed

I-9s, W-4s, and state new-hire reporting get pushed aside during service, then done late or done wrong.

Turnover never stops

Restaurant turnover means a constant onboarding and offboarding cycle that no manager has a spare hour for.

Compliance keeps shifting

Sick-time accrual, tip-credit rules, and scheduling ordinances change, and nobody on the floor is tracking the change.

Credits go unclaimed

Hiring credits like WOTC have to be screened at the point of hire. Most restaurants find out about them a year too late.

What BOHO runs

The back-of-house HR department you can't justify hiring full-time

One service covering the recurring people-operations work, with payroll coordinated through your approved payroll platform.

Payroll coordination

Inputs assembled, exceptions flagged, and the run prepared on your approved payroll platform — submitted only after you approve it.

Onboarding administration

New-hire paperwork, I-9 workflow coordination, and state new-hire reporting, sequenced so nothing is left half-finished.

HR documentation

Personnel files, disciplinary records, and incident and termination documentation that still makes sense a year later.

Employee handbook

Handbook customization and annual review coordination, written around the policies your rooms actually enforce.

WOTC screening

Form 8850 screening at the point of hire and workforce-agency coordination, documented whether or not a credit follows.

HR advisory

A direct line for owners and GMs working through a day-to-day people question, with legal matters escalated, not guessed at.

Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel. BOHO administers the workflows agreed in your service schedule, and escalates legal and tax questions to qualified advisers. Read the full service scope.

How it works

Four steps, then the same rhythm every week

The sequence is the product. Every cycle ends at your approval — nothing is submitted without it. See the full process.

Fit assessment

A 20-minute call about locations, entities, headcount, pay cycle, and your next pay date. No employee data required.

Scoped proposal

A written scope: what BOHO runs, what your restaurant approves, what sits outside the service, and what it costs.

Implementation

Data collection, configuration, and a test cycle. Go-live is confirmed after the test run, not promised before it.

Weekly rhythm

Every cycle: inputs assembled, exceptions surfaced, your approval, then submission. Same sequence, every time.

Why BOHO

Not a PEO. Not bare payroll software.

A PEO becomes a co-employer. Payroll software gives you a system but nobody to prepare the run. BOHO is the third option: the work gets done, and your restaurant stays the sole employer.

Comparison of a traditional PEO, payroll-only software, and BOHO
Feature	Traditional PEO	Payroll-only platform	BOHOBOHO
Pricing model	Typically per employee, per month	Low cost, no HR layer	Flat monthly retainer
Who is the employer	Co-employment	You are	You are — always
Restaurant-specific workflow	Generalist	None	Built for restaurants
Documentation & handbook	Yes, generic	No	Yes, tailored by state
Who prepares the payroll run	Provider	You do	BOHO prepares, you approve
WOTC screening	Sometimes, extra fee	No	Included

PEO and payroll-platform characteristics above describe the general shape of each model, not any specific provider’s current terms or pricing. Compare against your own quotes. The longer comparison is here.

Holiday season

Get through December without a payroll surprise.

The busiest weeks of the year are also when hiring, tips, overtime and year-end forms all land at once. Here is the order they arrive in.

Onboard the holiday crew

Seasonal hires need complete paperwork before their first shift, not during a busy one.

Tips & overtime in peak weeks

Overtime counts by the workweek across every role, and holiday tips need reconciling before each run.

Close the year & W-2s

For 2026 wages, W-2s are due to employees and the SSA by February 1, 2027.

Start January on a clean payroll

Changing payroll? The year boundary is a natural point, with year-to-date records gathered first.

See the holiday-season checklist Book a fit call

Four guests laughing together over burgers and drinks at a restaurant table with an exposed brick wall behind them

Who it’s for

Built for the rooms where the owner still approves payroll personally

Owner-led restaurants, bars, and counter-service concepts in Massachusetts — single locations through small groups.

1–3 locations
roughly 15–75 active employees
tipped and non-tipped staff on the same payroll
an owner or GM currently doing HR paperwork between shifts

See exactly what’s in scope

Pricing

Flat monthly retainer, priced by restaurant size

No per-employee fees. Your headcount can swing with the season inside a tier without changing your bill.

Essentials

Independent, single location · up to 25 employees

$495/mo

Flat retainer · no per-employee fee

Payroll processing on your approved payroll platform
Onboarding & documentation
Handbook & HR advisory
WOTC screening

One room, one owner, and a payroll cycle that currently lives in somebody's inbox.

Growth

Group

Small multi-unit, 3–10 locations · up to 300 employees

$1,795+/mo

Flat retainer · no per-employee fee

Everything in Growth
Multi-location handbook consistency
Dedicated HR contact
Cross-location WOTC program management

Multiple rooms where the same policy has to hold in each one, and nobody owns that job full-time.

See what drives each tier

Enterprise (10+ locations or 300+ employees): custom quote.

Where we operate

Massachusetts first, expanding across the region

Massachusetts is the market BOHO serves today. Everything else on this list is an expansion plan, not a service area.

Serving now

Massachusetts

Independent restaurants and small groups across the Commonwealth.

Compliance reference

We track the rules so owners don't have to

Every figure below carries the official source it should be checked against and the date it was last reviewed. Rules move; a number without a date is not worth much.

Massachusetts

Currently serving

The rules that most often show up in a Massachusetts restaurant's payroll and onboarding cycle.

Earned Sick Time accrues at 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. It is paid sick time for employers with 11 or more employees.
Source: Mass.gov — Earned Sick Time · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
Paid Family and Medical Leave contributions run at 0.88% of eligible wages for employers with 25 or more covered individuals.
Source: Mass.gov — PFML contribution rates · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
The 2026 Massachusetts minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, with a tipped cash wage of $6.75 per hour.
Source: Mass.gov — Minimum Wage Program · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
New hires must be reported to the state new-hire directory, which is a payroll-cycle deadline rather than a paperwork formality.
Source: Mass.gov — Report new hires · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
Employee wage withholding follows the state withholding schedules, which are reissued periodically.
Source: Mass.gov — Withholding taxes on wages · Last reviewed 2026-08-12

Federal — WOTC

Currently serving

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is a hiring credit that has to be captured at the point of hire, which is why restaurants miss it.

The program lapsed as of January 1, 2026 and is pending Congressional reauthorization.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor — WOTC · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
BOHO continues screening and Form 8850 documentation so that retroactive capture stays possible if the program is reauthorized.
Source: IRS — About Form 8850 · Last reviewed 2026-08-12
This is a monitored benefit, not a guaranteed current-year credit. Eligibility, deadlines, and tax treatment depend on current law and your documentation.
Source: IRS — Work Opportunity Tax Credit · Last reviewed 2026-08-12

These figures are operational reference points, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, and thresholds often turn on facts specific to your restaurant. Verify against the linked official source and your own advisers before acting.

Resources

Answers to the questions that come up first

Practical checklists and comparisons, written for operators. Browse all resources.

Restaurant payroll coordination

A restaurant payroll approval checklist for every pay cycle

What should a restaurant check before approving payroll?

6 min read · Updated 2026-08-12

Restaurant onboarding administration

A practical Massachusetts restaurant onboarding checklist

What paperwork does a Massachusetts restaurant need for a new hire?

7 min read · Updated 2026-08-12

Restaurant payroll coordination

A practical workflow for restaurant tipped-payroll inputs

How do you run payroll for tipped restaurant employees?

7 min read · Updated 2026-08-12

FAQ

Questions restaurant owners ask

What restaurant HR and payroll tasks does BOHO handle in Massachusetts?

BOHO organizes the recurring paperwork around your staff: onboarding files and new-hire reporting, personnel and disciplinary records, employee handbook maintenance, WOTC screening at the point of hire, and the inputs and approval steps for each payroll cycle. Payroll is then coordinated through your approved payroll platform. Your restaurant approves every run before it is submitted.

Is BOHO a PEO or the employer of record?

No. BOHO is not a professional employer organization and does not become your restaurant's employer of record. Your restaurant retains responsibility for hiring, pay, discipline, termination, funding, payroll approval, and every employment decision. BOHO administers the workflows agreed in your service schedule and escalates legal or tax questions to qualified advisers.

Who approves payroll before it is submitted?

You do. Every pay cycle ends at a client approval gate: BOHO assembles the inputs, flags exceptions, and sends a review. Nothing is submitted until a named approver at your restaurant signs off. That gate is the core of the service model, and it is not optional or waivable.

Let's take the paperwork off your plate

A 20-minute fit call covers your locations, headcount, pay cycle, and next pay date. Bring no employee data — we don't need it to tell you whether this fits.

Book a 20-Minute Fit Call Read the service scope

Your restaurant remains the employer of record and approves payroll and employment decisions. BOHO is not a PEO, a staffing agency, or legal counsel.