Grocery work requires a broad skillset. Employees move between stocking shelves, running registers, managing fresh and frozen products, and helping customers — all while following compliance and safety rules.
For store managers, this can be a lot to prepare your staff for. You have to coordinate schedules around your busiest hours while dealing with turnover, training, and everything in between.
In this blog, we’ll break down the real costs of grocery labor in 2025, with practical tips on how to better train and support your team.
Average Grocery Store Employee Compensation in 2025
The average hourly wage for grocery store workers in the U.S. is around $25, with most employees earning between $17.79 and $28.85. Pay varies by role, experience, and location, and many stores offer opportunities for advancement, allowing employees to move up the pay scale over time.
Overtime adds another layer to compensation. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees who work beyond 40 hours in a week are entitled to one and a half times their regular rate. For stores with busy peak hours or weekend shifts, overtime can quickly increase labor costs.
Additional compensation, including bonuses and paid leave, helps attract and retain employees in an industry with notoriously high turnover.
Independent grocers can apply several practical approaches to stay competitive:
- Pay bands and premium shifts: Offer slightly higher base rates and targeted premiums for weekends, evenings, or closing shifts.
- Stable scheduling: Post schedules at least two weeks in advance and minimize last-minute changes to improve retention.
- Cross-training: Rotate employees through all stations, including registers, stocking, and service roles to ensure everyone knows the basics of each system.
- Career progression: Define clear transitional steps, such as lead cashier → department lead → assistant manager, with meaningful raises at each level.
- Time tracking and reporting: Use point of sale (POS) reports to monitor hours worked, reconcile overtime, and match your staffing schedule with sales peaks.
There are a few lessons that smaller business owners can glean from larger retailers, including Costco — their store keeps turnover in the single digits (~8%) by offering higher baseline pay, stable schedules, and clear career paths.
Trader Joe’s also rotates employees across roles, while providing competitive benefits, a 20% employee discount on their products, and premium pay on busy days — all of which keep engagement high and turnover low.
These big-box examples highlight how investing in higher pay, predictable schedules, cross-training, and advancement paths helps employees feel valued and motivated to work at your store.
Grocery Store Employee Benefits
Beyond base wages, benefits play another important role in total compensation and employee retention. Many grocery stores offer their full-time staff comprehensive benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and employee discounts.
Some stores also support their staff with tuition assistance, stock ownership, bonus programs, or Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).
In 2025, the average total monthly premium for employer-sponsored health insurance is about $800 for single coverage and $2,275 for family coverage, with employers typically covering 83% of single and 73% of family premiums.
Independent grocers can structure benefits strategically to stay competitive without overspending:
- Benchmark locally: Compare your benefits to nearby stores and larger chains so you can better understand employee expectations and identify gaps.
- High-impact perks: Prioritize health coverage, paid leave, and flexible schedules to boost retention and satisfaction.
- Employee discounts: Offer discounts on store products to improve morale at minimal cost.
- Small enhancements: Leverage tuition assistance, EAPs, or bonus programs to set your store apart without large expenditures.
Providing competitive benefits, fair pay, and consistent schedules helps keep employees on the job longer — reducing the need for constant training and giving your store a staffing advantage over competitors.
Understanding Grocery Labor Costs
Labor and benefits are the largest controllable expenses in grocery operations. Historical data shows that median labor costs account for about 9.4% of sales, while benefits add another 3.4%.
Store size and format matter — independent and smaller stores spend a higher share of sales on staffing than larger chains since they have fewer employees to share the workload and higher per-person expenses.
Combined, labor plus benefits have historically made up roughly 12–13% of total sales, though wages and expanded benefits can push this higher, especially for stores with lean staffing models or competitive pay packages.
Related Read: 7 Tips for Managing Your Grocery Store Operating Costs
This doesn’t mean you should start slashing wages just to save a few bucks — short-staffed stores ultimately frustrate customers and hurt sales. It just means getting creative, like offering self-checkout to shorten lines and free up staff.
Paying employees fairly and scheduling enough staff improves retention by reducing stress and burnout, which keeps productivity and service levels high.
Compliance and Safety Requirements
Beyond pay and staffing, grocery stores must meet regulations to protect employees, customers, and the business.
Costs include both initial certification and ongoing management, including:
- Food safety certifications: Secure food handler licenses (typically $5–$15) and food manager licenses ($100–$150), with exact costs varying by state.
- Workers’ compensation: Budget an average of about $46/month per employee, though actual rates vary by state, payroll, and claims history.
- OSHA compliance for deli equipment: Maintain protective guards, follow lockout/tagout procedures, use proper PPE (cut-resistant gloves), maintain floors, handle waste safely, and keep exit routes clear.
- Other compliance contributions: Pay Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance as required by law.
Managers can incorporate safety and compliance into the daily rhythm of the store by making training on food handling, equipment use, and the use of protective gear a nonnegotiable.
Resources like OSHA’s online handbook and the OSHAcademy provide structured guidance and training on grocery store hazards, from forklift safety and ergonomics to heat and cold stress, giving employees the knowledge they need to recognize and mitigate risks while keeping the store running smoothly.
Grocery Employee Training Tips
Many stores handle training as a one-time event on day one, but in grocery retail, training is most effective when managers incorporate it into daily routines.
When training your grocery staff, consider the following:
- Cross-training: Rotate employees through registers, stocking, service counters, and curbside pickup to cover gaps and maintain flexibility.
- Compliance: Cover EBT processing, food safety rules, and any required licenses to keep staff up to code.
- Equipment training: Teach safe use and maintenance of slicers, scales, refrigerators, and other store equipment.
- Customer service practice: Review store policies and simulate interactions to handle situations confidently and maintain a positive shopping experience.
- Safety protocols: Train employees on emergency procedures, loss prevention, and safe handling practices to protect staff, customers, and inventory.
Across all these training modalities, having an intuitive POS system is incredibly important. Many systems offer training modules to help employees understand the interface, process payments, run reports, and handle transactions.
Related Read: 4 Training Topics for Grocery Cashier Software
Support from the POS vendor, along with accessible resources like video tutorials or online modules, ensures that staff can quickly get up to speed and troubleshoot any issues.
How IT Retail Supports Grocery Teams
Managing schedules, training, and compliance can feel overwhelming, but an industry-specific POS system brings it all together.
IT Retail helps you track hours, payroll, and labor against sales, plus provides training for all relevant hardware and software needs. The cloud-based system runs reliably online or offline, keeping transactions moving during busy periods and preventing long lines.
The built-in reporting capabilities can help managers better match staffing to peak hours, and access controls make sure that only trained employees handle sensitive tasks.
Schedule a demo today to see how IT Retail consolidates staffing, training, and compliance into one intuitive system.
