NCG members submit labor hours for each fiscal quarter. This includes all hours worked by employees directly involved in sales and customer service activities, as well as those who contribute indirectly. Report all hours worked, including overtime.
Log in to Submit Labor Hours in the Web Survey
Choose Web Surveys, Quarterly Labor Hours Survey
Download this helpful worksheet to facilitate your reporting. Please don't hesitate to contact our support team with any questions regarding the submission of your survey data.
About Labor Hours
Labor Hours Survey data supplements the quarterly financial data collected through your trial balance. When reporting, do so for a single fiscal quarter and be consistent in your approach, as this yields the most value in your benchmark reports.
Operating labor hours include those employees who directly support sales activity, including all sales-generating departments, as well as store managers, front-end, receiving, facilities, and any employees involved in fulfilling curbside and delivery orders.
Non-operating and Administrative include employees who contribute indirectly to sales, including General Management, Accounting & Finance, Marketing & Membership, Human Resources, Business Technology, Merchandising, and general administrative or Board support.
- Report the hours worked, including overtime. Do not report hours for paid time off.
- Report salaried employees at 40 hours per week.
- Exclude contract labor, working members, and volunteer hours.
For Co-ops with Multiple Retail Locations
When reporting Admin and Non-Operating, or labor hours for a non-typical site such as a bakery or commissary, choose one method for reporting and use it consistently – either reporting it as associated with the largest outlet (practical in a scenario with just two retail sites and when one site is significantly larger than another) or allocated to each location based on a % of sales - if one site is 60% of total sales, allocate 60% of the Non-operating and Admin hours to that site, and so on.
Questions in the Survey
Choose the Location – for co-ops with multiple retail locations
Choose a location from a drop-down menu.
Choose the Time Period
Labor hours are related to your co-op fiscal year and period; however, unlike Trial Balance reporting, labor hours are reported for a single quarter, rather than year-to-date.
Choose the Level of Reporting
In the survey, you are given the option to report on Labor Hours in the following ways:
- By Department - generates SPLH at the department level in Benchmarking
- By Operating vs Non-Operating and Administrative - distinguish hours that directly support sales activity from those that contribute indirectly
- Total Labor Hours - the least granular option, appropriate for small operators with limited ability to track and assign hours to individual departments or store activities
When reporting, choose one method and be consistent each quarter to ensure high-quality benchmarking results. If you can report at the department level, this is the method that will yield the most valuable data in your Dashboard, provided you report sales dollars for the same departments.
Reporting Labor Hours by Department
Include department managers in their related departments. Please enter ‘0’ for any departments that are not applicable in your co-op.
Grocery - all grocery, packaged grocery, refrigerated, bulk, frozen, and vendor packaged bread
Alcohol and Regulated Items - all beer, wine, tobacco, and THC
Prepared Foods - kitchen and service counter staff for bakery, beverage bar, cheese & specialty, food service, and grab & go
Meat and Seafood - all labor for meat and seafood
Produce and Floral - all produce, floral, and gardening
Wellness - body care, supplements, and mercantile
Other Departments - include hours for all non-typical, revenue-generating departments, such as off-site bakeries, commissaries, pharmacies, gas stations, beer gardens, and farm stores.
Front End - includes all cashiers and customer service
Store Operations - include store managers, receiving, facilities, and any employees related to the fulfillment of curbside and delivery orders (do not include contract labor)
Administrative and Non-Operating - includes all other employees who contribute indirectly to sales (do not include contract labor)