Restaurant Void and Comp Write-Up

Restaurant void and comp write-up (void spikes, unauthorized comps, friend-and-family)

A restaurant void and comp write-up is the dated record that a posted void, comp, or discount rule was missed—plus the tickets, the amount, whether it was before or after payment, the reason code, who approved, the baseline, and the next progressive step. It is not a group-chat vent about "comping friends," and it is not a Friday memo that bundles three short drawers after the unemployment letter arrives.

Use this page when you manage FOH, BOH, or a bar and the POS already shows a void spike, a comp outside the posted rule, or a friend-and-family pattern you can point at with ticket numbers. This is not the export itself: pulling the detail, splitting pre-payment from post-payment, and writing the baseline belongs on void and comp abuse documentation. It is not a counted drawer variance: that belongs on the cash drawer shortage write-up. It is not product, an unpaid comp, or tip-jar/till cash seen leaving with an employee: that belongs on the restaurant employee theft write-up. It is not a withheld tip-out or tip-pool skim: that belongs on the restaurant tip-theft write-up. It is not suspicion without a report: preserve first on documenting suspected employee theft. It is not a food-safety miss: that belongs on the restaurant food-safety write-up. It is not refusing a lawful work order: that belongs on the restaurant insubordination write-up. It is not a guest photo or public workplace post: that belongs on the restaurant social media write-up. It is not walking off the job: that belongs on when an employee walks out mid-shift. For the full floor file (hire packet, guest complaints, alcohol, cash), use the restaurant employee documentation checklist. For write-up language that is not this incident type, see how to write up an employee and employee write-up examples.

What a void or comp miss is—and is not

Void and comp documentation on this page means a same-night POS export can point to a posted rule that was not followed: a reason code required and missing, a post-payment void without the approval your handbook names, a comp over the posted cap, or an employee meal/discount used past the posted friend-and-family rule. The record is the tickets and the rule—not the word "abuse." "Theft," "fraud," "pocketing," and "comping friends" are conclusions. Write the adjustment and who approved it.

Treat these as different records, even when they happen the same night:

One high void percentage on a Saturday is a signal. A post-payment void with no reason code, shown to the employee, with a prior coaching date, is a write-up. Unemployment boards treat "they are always voiding" as a story until the tickets, the baseline, and the posted rule are on the same page.

What to document the same day

Capture this before the void and comp detail rolls—voice note on the floor is fine if the export and official file hit the same day. How to pull the fields is on void and comp abuse documentation. This list is what the write-up has to contain.

1. Identity — Employee, role (server, bartender, cashier), employee ID, home store if borrowed.
2. Which adjustment — Void, comp, discount, or employee meal. "Post-payment void, ticket 4418, $36.00, no reason code" beats "void abuse."
3. Pre-payment or post-payment — Say which. A void before the guest pays is ordinary. A void after payment is the line the policy usually names.
4. Amount and tickets — Ticket numbers, items, dollar amount. If it is a spike, write the percent and the baseline in the same sentence.
5. Reason code — Entered, wrong for the situation, or blank. Cite the handbook line that requires one.
6. Approval — Manager ID, "none," or "shared code MGR-BAR used by four managers." Do not name a person the system cannot identify.
7. Friend-and-family facts, if that is the pattern — Guest name or check note, what the employee said, the posted employee-meal or discount rule, and how many tickets in the window. Do not write the relationship as a fact unless they stated it.
8. When — Transaction time and when you pulled the report.
9. Who saw it or which report — MOD, the export path, camera ID if you preserved it the same night.
10. Employee explanation — Their words, or "declined to comment." If they mention a manager instruction, a POS re-ring, a medical need, or talking with coworkers about pay, write that sentence verbatim and stop.
11. Next step — Coaching, written warning, final warning, or separation per the published ladder. Do not write a crime label.

Skip: "stealing," "fraud," "comping her friends," "third time this month" with no prior dates. Those sentences are what hearing officers discard.

Show the employee the report before you write the step. A surprising number of void spikes are a split-check re-fire or a re-ring the POS records as a void. If the explanation checks out, close it in writing and fix the button sequence. If you only suspect taking and have no tickets, stop this form and use documenting suspected employee theft. If an unpaid comp was seen leaving with them, use the employee theft write-up.

If you are scoring the whole file—not just this observation—walk the personnel file checklist for handbook and I-9 storage, then the restaurant checklist for floor extras.

Progressive discipline for void and comp misses

Write the step you are on, and list the prior dated void or comp notes. Do not invent a "final warning" on the day you terminate unless the file already shows the earlier paper.

A first explained miss under a posted dollar threshold is often coaching even if Saturday was slammed. A post-payment void with a blank reason code, or a comp past the posted cap, is often a written warning if the handbook already required the reason the same night. A documented pattern with the first steps dated and acknowledged is the unemployment-defense version of "we gave fair notice."

If your handbook is zero-tolerance for comps without a reason code, say so in the write-up and attach the signed acknowledgment. Inconsistent enforcement—night MOD writes it up, day MOD uses the same shared code—hurts more than a missing adjective.

A first conversation that states the next step is still a verbal warning if you said a further void or comp miss becomes a write-up. For the ladder itself, use the progressive discipline policy guide.

Build the document with the employee write-up generator if you want the tickets, the baseline, and the next step held in one place. The field definitions live on the restaurant employee write-up page.

Unemployment-defense angle

States differ on misconduct, but the questions are boring and predictable:

• Did the employee know the void, comp, discount, or employee-meal rule?
• Can you show the tickets, the pre- vs post-payment split, and the baseline—or only a percentage with no comparison?
• Did you show them the report the same night—or after the claim, when the detail had rolled?
• Were prior void or comp steps dated, coached, and delivered?
• Did you apply the same rule to other employees on the same report?
• If a shared approval code made attribution impossible, is that control gap in the file instead of pinned on one person?
• If they raised a wage, tip, or other protected reason, is that check in the file separately from the write-up?

A charged claim is a tax event, not a morality play. Price it with the unemployment claim cost calculator. Build the hearing pack with how to defend an unemployment claim. Restaurants that fail with a "complete" hire packet usually have no ticket-level note; that failure mode is spelled out in how restaurants lose unemployment claims.

If two of these boxes are empty, coach and document before you separate—unless the published adjustment rule and a same-day report support immediate action. Confirm search, accusation, and wage thresholds with your own HR advisor or employment counsel. Anything that may become a wage claim or a police matter belongs with counsel before you interview or terminate.

Example void and comp write-up structure

Copy the headings. Replace the brackets. Do not add personality.

Employee: [Name], [server / bartender / cashier], [store]
Date of incident: [Saturday, date]
Station: [Server POS / bar well / Terminal 3]
On duty: Clocked in [4:02 p.m.]; scheduled [4:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.] per [7shifts / POS labor export].
Which adjustment: [Post-payment void / comp / employee-meal discount].
Tickets: [4418 at 8:42 p.m., $36.00, ribeye, reason code blank; 4426 at 9:15 p.m., $22.00 comp, reason "VIP," no manager ID].
Pre- or post-payment: [9 post-payment voids, $196.15; 32 pre-payment voids, $416.25, inside the bar range].
Baseline: [5.9% of net sales on 12 shifts vs store average 1.8% and bar average 2.4% for the same 14 days].
Approval: [Shared code MGR-BAR, used by four managers—not attributed to one person / no approval entered].
Friend-and-family, if any: [Employee said "that's my sister" on ticket 4426. Handbook allows one employee meal per shift up to $14. This comp was $22 with no meal code.]
Posted standard: Handbook requires [a reason code on every adjustment / manager approval on post-payment voids / employee meals only on the meal code up to $14].
Impact: [8 post-payment voids with no reason code / comp $8 over the posted meal cap].
Policy: Handbook §[Voids and Comps / Discounts], acknowledged [date].
Prior steps: Coaching [date] for a blank reason code on ticket [number]; verbal warning [date] for a comp over the cap.
Action: [Coaching / written warning / final warning].
Employee response: [Quote or "declined to comment"].
Follow-up: Next post-payment void without a reason code, or comp outside the posted rule, in [window] results in [next step]. Follow-up date [date].
MOD: [Name]. Report pulled [time]. Witnesses still employed: [names].

That is a write-up. "Employee is comping friends and pocketing cash" is not. Pull FACT replacements from employee write-up examples if you catch yourself reaching for a label.

Common void and comp write-up mistakes

• Logging Friday because Saturday's void detail had already rolled
• Writing up a percentage with no baseline and no ticket numbers
• Bundling pre-payment re-fires and post-payment voids into one "always voiding" memo
• Writing "theft" or "comping friends" with no tickets and no posted rule
• Calling a drawer short this page instead of using the cash drawer shortage write-up
• Calling an observed product walkout or till taking this page instead of using the employee theft write-up
• Calling a tip-pool skim this page instead of using the tip-theft write-up
• Writing this form on suspicion alone instead of using documenting suspected employee theft
• Pinning a shared manager code on one employee
• Skipping the export steps and inventing the baseline—use void and comp abuse documentation for the field list
• Treating a wage or tip complaint as a void violation
• Writing the first formal note on the day of termination
• Filing the export in camera roll or Slack, not the official record
• Skipping whether the void, comp, or employee-meal rule was already acknowledged

How to run this the next time a void or comp is outside the rule

1. Pull the ticket detail the same night and split pre-payment from post-payment. The field list is on void and comp abuse documentation.
2. Write the baseline for the same role and period before you talk to anyone.
3. Check shared sign-ins and shared approval codes. If you cannot attribute the approval, say so.
4. Show the employee two or three tickets off the floor. Write their explanation verbatim.
5. If the explanation checks out (split-check re-fire, manager instruction you can verify), close it in writing.
6. If a named rule was missed, log the write-up the same day from the structure above—not from memory on Tuesday.
7. If this is occurrence two or three, pull the prior dated void or comp notes before you talk termination.
8. If you only have a short drawer, use the cash drawer shortage write-up—do not merge the two.
9. If you only have product or till cash seen leaving, use the employee theft write-up.
10. If you only have a tip-out or tip-pool miss, use the tip-theft write-up.
11. If you only have suspicion, use documenting suspected employee theft and stop this form.
12. If they refused a lawful stay-until order, use the insubordination write-up.
13. If they posted the void report or the comp check, also file the social media write-up.
14. If they raised a wage, tip, or another reason that is not this adjustment, check that claim and file it separately. Confirm the next step with your HR advisor or employment counsel when a wage issue, search, accusation, or possible crime is in play.
15. If a claim is already filed, export the pack and follow how to defend an unemployment claim.

Conclusion

Restaurant void and comp documentation as a write-up is a same-day habit: the tickets, pre-payment versus post-payment, the reason code, the baseline, and a progressive step the employee already knew. This page is what to write. Void and comp abuse documentation is how to turn the export into that record. The restaurant employee documentation checklist is the rest of the floor file. The personnel file checklist still covers hire packets and I-9 storage. Docu-Coach™ timestamps the capture so the write-up is a review, not a reconstruction.

Void and comp notes belong in restaurant HR documentation with the export they came from.

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