A section (also "station") is the cluster of tables a server is responsible for during a shift. Floor plans typically divide the dining room into 4–8 sections of similar capacity.
Why section assignment matters:
- It determines your potential earnings — busier sections (near the entrance, in the bar area, by the window) often turn faster and tip more
- It affects your stamina — corner sections may be quieter; main-floor sections may have more covers and more steps
- It affects covers per turn — a 6-top section averages more covers than a 4-top section
Section rotation is typically managed by the FOH manager or a senior server. Common rotation systems:
- Daily rotation: sections rotate among the day's servers in fixed order
- Seniority-based: longest-tenured servers get first pick
- Performance-based: top earners or favorites get the prime sections (legal but contentious)
NeighCheck logs which section you worked each shift, so when you compare two shifts that paid wildly differently, you can correlate to section + day-of-week + cover count.