Last updated: 6 April 2026
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Most pub managers I speak to are juggling three different apps just to answer one simple question: “How much am I actually spending on labour today?” When I Work looks clean and simple on the surface. Deputy promises enterprise features at a “fair” price. But neither tells you what you actually need to know as a pub landlord—whether your labour costs are killing your profit margin or sitting safely within target.
I’ve run The Teal Farm for over 15 years, managed payroll across multiple locations, and watched hundreds of pub owners struggle with staff scheduling tools that cost money without delivering control. The comparison between When I Work and Deputy isn’t about features or design—it’s about whether the system gives you real visibility over your biggest variable cost, or just creates another admin burden.
This guide cuts through the marketing. You’ll see exactly what each platform does, what they cost, where they fail, and most importantly—which one actually connects to your pub finances so you can see labour as a profit problem, not just a scheduling problem.
Key Takeaways
- When I Work charges per employee with a minimum spend; Deputy charges per manager with unlimited team members but hidden API costs at scale.
- Neither tool connects labour scheduling directly to your financial P&L, leaving you unable to track true labour cost as a percentage of sales.
- Both require manual export and external spreadsheet work to connect scheduling to actual payroll and profit calculations.
- A pub scheduling system only becomes profitable when it reduces labour spend or increases sales—most scheduling tools do neither and just add software cost.
What Are When I Work and Deputy?
When I Work is a shift scheduling and time-tracking app built for small to mid-sized teams. You create shifts, staff pick them up (or you assign them), team members clock in and out, and you get basic labour reporting. It’s popular in hospitality because the interface is straightforward and it integrates with some payroll systems.
Deputy is a workforce management platform that does scheduling, time and attendance, compliance tracking, and more complex shift patterns. It’s designed for teams that need heavy-duty roster management—multiple locations, complex compliance rules, detailed reporting.
Both solve the surface problem: getting the right people scheduled for the right shifts. Neither solves the profit problem: understanding whether your labour spend is sustainable given your actual sales.
Cost Comparison: Real Numbers
When I Work Pricing
When I Work charges per employee per month. Their current model (as of 2026) runs roughly:
- Free tier: Up to 75 employees, basic scheduling and timekeeping only
- Paid tiers: Start at around £6–8 per employee per month for small pubs, with a minimum user requirement
- Real cost for a 12-person pub: £72–96 per month minimum, even if only 8 people actually use the app
- Annual cost: £864–1,152 per year for a small pub
The hidden problem: if you have 20 staff (many pubs do), you’re paying closer to £180–240 per month, or £2,160–2,880 annually. That’s not including integration fees or add-ons.
Deputy Pricing
Deputy’s model is different. They charge per manager or admin user, not per employee:
- Free tier: Limited to one manager and basic features
- Paid tiers: Starting around £15–25 per manager per month, with unlimited team members under each manager
- Real cost for a small pub: If you have one manager, you pay roughly £15–25/month (£180–300/year)
- Multiple locations or managers: £45–75/month for three managers (£540–900/year)
Deputy looks cheaper at first, but the real cost emerges when you add integrations, API calls at scale, or advanced reporting. Many pubs find their total Deputy spend doubles once they’re fully integrated.
Real-world comparison: A 15-person pub with one manager typically pays When I Work £90–150/month and Deputy £15–30/month. But Deputy’s add-on costs often bring them closer to parity by year-end.
Features Head-to-Head
Shift Scheduling
When I Work: Simple drag-and-drop scheduling, staff can pick up open shifts, auto-scheduling available. Works well for basic roster needs.
Deputy: More sophisticated scheduling engine, handles complex shift patterns, location swaps, compliance rules (break requirements, maximum hours, etc.). Better for multi-site operations or strict compliance environments.
Winner for pubs: Deputy, because most UK pubs have compliance requirements around working time directives and minimum breaks.
Time and Attendance
When I Work: Clock in/out via app or web, basic timesheets, GPS tracking optional. No geofencing on the free plan.
Deputy: Full time and attendance with geofencing, biometric integration on paid plans, detailed attendance rules and exceptions, compliance reporting built in.
Winner for pubs: Deputy. Geofencing matters when you need to verify staff actually came in, especially for casual or part-time shifts.
Payroll Integration
When I Work: Integrates with some payroll systems (ADP, Gusto, Stripe) but the list is limited. Most UK pubs use Sage 50 or Xero, and When I Work support here is weak.
Deputy: Broader integration ecosystem. Connects to Xero, Sage, ADP, and others. Also offers direct payroll processing in some regions, though UK pubs usually still need to export and process separately.
Winner for pubs: Deputy, especially if you use Xero or Sage.
Labour Cost Reporting
When I Work: Shows total hours scheduled and worked, but no integration with actual wages or profit margins. You see hours, not cost.
Deputy: Can show labour cost if you upload wage rates, but this is manual setup and requires constant updating if rates change. No automatic connection to sales or profit targets.
Winner for pubs: Draw. Neither tool actually tells you whether your labour cost as a percentage of sales is healthy or dangerous. This is the biggest gap both tools leave.
The Core Problem With Both
Scheduling is not the same as labour cost control. This is where both When I Work and Deputy fall short for pub operators.
A tool that tells you “You’ve scheduled 120 hours this week” is not the same as a tool that tells you “Your labour cost is 28% of this week’s sales, and you need to cut 8 hours to stay at 26%.” The first is scheduling data. The second is profit control.
Most pub owners find £1,000s in hidden savings in their first week when they actually see labour cost as a percentage of daily sales. But When I Work and Deputy don’t show you that picture. They show you shifts and hours—not profit impact.
Here’s the practical problem: You schedule staff based on predicted sales. Sales come in lower than expected (or higher). Now your labour cost is wrong. A scheduling tool doesn’t adjust. A profit-control system flags it immediately and shows you the adjustment needed.
Neither When I Work nor Deputy connects scheduling decisions directly to sales and profit. You make scheduling decisions in one system, then have to manually check whether your labour cost is still sustainable. That’s admin overhead, not automation.
What Pubs Actually Need From Labour Software
After 15 years running The Teal Farm and helping hundreds of pub owners, here’s what actually matters in a labour management system:
1. Real-Time Labour Cost as a Percentage of Sales
This is the single metric that separates profit-positive pubs from struggling ones. Labour is your biggest controllable cost. If you can see it as a percentage of sales—not just hours—you can make real decisions.
When I Work and Deputy show you hours. Neither shows you cost as a percentage of revenue. You need pub labor monitoring that connects scheduling to actual sales data from your till.
2. Integration With Your P&L, Not Just Payroll
A scheduling tool that exports to payroll is useful. A system that feeds directly into your profit and loss statement is essential. Tracking staffing costs alone saved thousands at The Teal Farm because we could see the impact on weekly margin, not just monthly payroll.
Neither When I Work nor Deputy does this automatically. Manual export, spreadsheet matching, and reconciliation are required. That’s 3-5 hours of admin per week.
3. Forecasting Against Sales Targets
The best use of scheduling data is forward-looking: “If we schedule 110 hours this week and sales hit £8,000, our labour cost will be 28.5%. If sales are £7,500, we need to cut 6 hours.” Pubs that forecast labour against sales targets rarely hit cash flow surprises.
Both tools let you see historical data. Neither helps you forecast forward against your sales plan. That requires integration between scheduling, sales data, and financial forecasting—which is outside both platforms’ scope.
4. Mobile-First and Frictionless for Staff
Both When I Work and Deputy do this well. Staff engagement and adoption matter more than you’d think—if staff won’t clock in properly, your data is garbage.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose When I Work If:
- You have a very small pub (under 8 permanent staff) and want the cheapest option for basic scheduling
- Your staff are tech-savvy and will reliably use the app
- You don’t need complex shift patterns or compliance tracking
- You’re happy to manually export data and manage labour cost tracking separately
Real cost: ~£900/year for a 12-person pub. Expected benefit: cleaner scheduling visibility, less WhatsApp chaos, slightly fewer admin hours on the rota.
Choose Deputy If:
- You have multiple locations or complex scheduling needs
- You need geofencing and strict compliance tracking (break records, working time directives)
- You use Xero or Sage and want direct payroll integration
- You’re willing to pay for a more sophisticated system and don’t mind the setup complexity
Real cost: ~£1,500–2,500/year fully implemented, including integrations. Expected benefit: robust compliance protection, better multi-location visibility, more reliable timekeeping data.
The Honest Truth
Neither tool actually solves the profit problem. Both are scheduling systems that assume labour cost control happens elsewhere. And for most pubs, it doesn’t happen at all.
Tracking staffing costs alone saved thousands at The Teal Farm, but not because of the scheduling tool. It’s because we connected labour data to sales and profit targets. That requires a system that thinks about labour as a P&L line item, not just a shift roster.
If you choose between When I Work and Deputy, pick Deputy if you have complexity and compliance needs. Pick When I Work if you want to minimize cost and don’t mind manual data work. But understand that neither choice solves your real problem: seeing whether your labour spend is sustainable given your actual sales.
Most pub owners waste 15–20 hours per month on manual spreadsheet work trying to connect scheduling, payroll, and profit data. Pub staff cost tracking becomes easier when one system handles the entire chain—not when you’re bridging three separate tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: When I Work or Deputy?
When I Work charges per employee (£6–8/month per person); Deputy charges per manager (£15–25/month). For a single-manager pub with 12–15 staff, Deputy is typically £100–200/year cheaper. When I Work becomes competitive only for very small teams under 8 people. At scale, both converge around £2,000–3,000 annually with integrations included.
Can either tool connect directly to my till data and P&L?
Neither tool has built-in direct integration to standard hospitality till systems or live P&L feeds. Both require manual data export and external spreadsheet work to connect labour costs to revenue and profit margins. This gap forces most pub owners to do 5–10 hours of weekly admin reconciling scheduling, payroll, and sales data.
Does Deputy include payroll processing?
Deputy offers payroll processing in some regions, but not directly for UK pubs. Most UK users export Deputy timesheets and process payroll separately through Sage, Xero, or a payroll provider. Integration exists but requires manual setup and isn’t fully automated.
What if my staff won’t use the app to clock in?
Both tools offer web-based clock-in and PIN entry as fallback. Deputy’s geofencing on paid tiers can prompt staff automatically. When I Work requires more manual intervention. The real issue: if staff don’t clock in accurately, both systems become unreliable. Adoption requires clear communication and sometimes incentives (staff prefer shift confirmation via app over printed rotas).
Which tool is better for multi-location pub groups?
Deputy is significantly better for multi-location operations. It handles location-specific scheduling rules, manager hierarchies, and centralized reporting across sites. When I Work becomes unwieldy with multiple locations. If you operate 3+ pubs, Deputy is strongly recommended; the complexity benefits outweigh the extra cost.
Scheduling staff is only half the problem—controlling what they cost is the other half.
Both When I Work and Deputy handle shifts well. But neither connects scheduling to sales, profit margins, or real labour cost control. Most pub owners waste hours each week bridging the gap manually, exporting data between systems, and trying to answer one simple question: “Is my labour cost sustainable?”
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