Make your team's schedule and see what it costs

Before you start

• Your sign-in for the portal, as the business.
• Your people, added under Calendar, then Staff. Give each person an email address there, because the schedule goes out by email.
• Building, printing and publishing the schedule are free on every plan (see Free on every plan). Each person's own schedule link, Requests, Labor costs and Pay rates come with the Team add-on. The link is where people see their shifts, ask for time off or a swap, say when they can work and clock in.

Steps

Build the week

1. Open Calendar. Under Team, choose Schedule.
2. Choose Week to see everyone's week, or Day to see one day hour by hour. Month shows the whole month.
3. On Week, press + in a person's row on the day you want (on a phone, + Add a shift). Set the times, the Unpaid break and the role, then press Save shift.
4. On Day, press Go to today to come back to today from any other day.
5. Made a mistake? Press Undo last change, or Ctrl+Z (Command+Z on a Mac).

Change a shift's times

1. On Week, point at a shift with the mouse. A thin line shows at each end.
2. Drag the left end to change the start, or the right end to change the end. It moves in 15-minute steps, and a tag shows the new times and length as you go.
3. Let go to save. The line under the week says what changed, with Undo. Press Escape before you let go to put it back.
4. On a touch screen, press and hold an end first, then drag.
5. On Day, every shift you can change has both ends: "Drag to move. Pull an end to change the time. Drag across an empty row to add a shift." On a phone, hold a shift, then drag it to move it, and tap it to change its times.

• A shift is at least 15 minutes and at most 24 hours long. Drag the end past midnight to make it an overnight shift.
• Without a mouse, open the shift and change Starts and Ends. On Day, Shift and an arrow key moves a shift's end, and Alt (Option on a Mac) and an arrow key moves its start.

Publish it

1. When the week is ready, press Publish, next to the count of changes, for example "3 changes to publish".
2. Read the question. The first time you publish a week it says "Everyone with a shift gets their week by email." After that it says "Only the people whose week changed get an email." Press Yes, publish.
3. Read the line that comes back. It names who was emailed. If it says someone "has no email on file", tell them yourself, and add their email under Staff for next time.
4. To send someone their week again, open Each person’s links under the week, press Copy link, then Copy, and send it to them. It is the same link they already have.

The email's subject is your business name, then "your schedule for" and the dates. With the Team add-on it also carries the person's own schedule link, the same one every week. If the line says "Your plan is not active, so nobody was told", open Plan to fix it, then publish again.

Beside Publish, What Publish does says:

• Staff see published shifts only, on their schedule link and phone calendar.
• Everyone with a shift and an email on file gets their shifts. When you publish again, only people whose shifts changed hear about it.
• Bookings use published shifts only, when “Published shifts decide when people can be booked” is on.
• Changes after that show as “changed, not published”. Nobody sees them or is told until you publish again, except a swap, drop or pick-up you approve.

So a published shift you change is marked Changed, not published. Until you publish again, that person's link, their phone calendar and online booking keep the times you last published. A published shift you remove is listed after Removed, not published: and stays on their link until you publish. Once a week is published, the line above it starts “Published through” and the last day your team can see.

Late-night, overnight and 24-hour shifts

1. Add or open the shift and set Starts and Ends.
2. For a shift past midnight, pick an end earlier than the start, for example 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM. The sheet says Ends (next day) and the length, "8 hours".
3. For a 24-hour shift, pick the same time for both. The length says "24 hours".
4. Press Save shift.

• On Week, the shift sits on the day it starts, with its end under it, for example “→ 2:00 AM Sat”. The next day says “continues until 2:00 AM”.
• On Day, the next day shows the part after midnight from 12a, marked with the day it started, for example “from Fri”. Press its left end to go to that day.
• Each day's hours and cost count only the part of the shift on that day. It is split at midnight, or at the time you choose in When your day starts.

Break times

1. Open a shift and pick its Unpaid break. Break starts shows under it.
2. Pick a time, or press Suggest a time. The line under it says what that means for cover, for example "Suggested 4:00 PM. Maria and Luis break at 1:30 and 3:00. Two line cooks stay on." If too few people are on, it says so, for example "Short at 1:30 PM: one line cook on, you want 2."
3. Press Save shift.

• After Suggest a time, the screen says how it picks: most people in that role still on, then clear of other breaks, then nearest the middle of the shift. “It picks for coverage only. It doesn’t check meal or rest-break laws, such as when a meal break has to start. Moving a break never moves the shift.”
• With no time picked, the break still counts as its length off, for example "No time yet. The break still counts as 30 minutes off."
• On Day, a break with a time is a notch cut into the shift. Drag it with the mouse, or select it and press the left or right arrow key to move it 15 minutes. On a phone, change it in Break starts.
• Who is on, by hour on the Day view doesn't count someone during their break.
• Move a whole shift and its break moves with it. Change only its times and the break keeps its time, unless it no longer fits, when the time is cleared and the length kept.

To give every new shift a suggested time, open Account, then Calendar settings, then Team settings. Tick Suggest a break time on every new shift and press Save team settings. It is off to start. The screen says: “Only for shifts with a break. It picks for coverage, not break laws. You can still move it.” It works on shifts you add one at a time. Shifts that come in from a copy, a template or Fill open shifts for me keep the break time they had, if any.

Each person's link and phone calendar

1. Under the week, open Each person’s links.
2. Press Copy link next to the person (Team add-on), then Copy, and send it to them. The screen says, for Rosa: “Send it to Rosa. It’s the same link every week. It works until you press Stop link, remove Rosa, or end Team.” Pressing Copy link again, or publishing again, gives the same link. The first time they open it, they pick a 4-digit PIN. If they forget it, press Reset PIN next to them.
3. For their phone's calendar, press Apple, Google or Copy after Calendar: next to the person. It is free on every plan. Send them that link, or one of the two under it: Google Calendar, or Apple Calendar or Outlook. They add it once and their shifts stay there. Their calendar app decides how often it checks for changes.

A link stops working when you press Stop link (or Stop calendar link), when you switch the person off or remove them, when your plan isn't active, or, for a schedule link, when the Team add-on ends. After Stop link, Copy link makes a new one.

Print the schedule

1. On Week, open Print.
2. Set the choices at the bottom of the menu. Print in color prints each role in its color instead of a gray pattern. When your team works in more than one time zone, two more show: Times in is the time zone the page uses, yours first. Each person in their own time adds each person's time zone after their times, for example “ET” for Eastern.
3. Choose Print week, Print a day or Print month. If you have teams, Print by team prints the week with each team's people together. On Day, press Print a day.
4. The schedule opens in a new tab, laid out sideways on letter paper. Print it from there.

• Every shift prints its role's name too, so the page reads on a black-and-white printer.
• When a week is too busy for one page, it says "Too many people at once to fit on one page, so this week prints one page per role."
• The bottom says "Published schedule." only when nothing on the page is a draft or changed. Otherwise drafts are marked (draft), and changes since you last published are marked (changed).
• An overnight shift runs past a heavy line at midnight. A break with a time prints as a gap. A break with no time says its length, for example "30 min break".
• Pay rates and shift notes are never printed.

Copy a week, a day or a template

1. On Week, open Copy and templates.
2. Under Copy, choose This week to…, Last week here or Usual shifts here. Under Templates, choose Apply to a day… or Save a day….
3. Read what the copy will add. If some shifts clash with a shift already there, or fall during time off, choose Skip those or Add them as open shifts.
4. Press Add with the number of shifts. "Everything comes in as drafts." Nobody is told until you publish.

Fill open shifts for me

1. On Week, press Fill open shifts for me. It shows only when the week has open shifts that can still be changed, with their count after it.
2. Read the picks. "Suggestions only. Nothing changes until you accept." Under How each pick is chosen: set up for the role, free then, fits when they said they can work, stays under your overtime warning (for example "stays at 40 hours or less this week"), and costs least. If pay rates aren't shown, the last test is the fewest hours this week instead.
3. Accept a pick, or press Accept all. Picks wait for your next Publish.

• No one fits means everyone was left out, for example "already working then", "time off", "asked for time off", "can’t work then" or "would go over 40 hours". Under Roles, press Change on the role, tick more people under Who can work it, then press Save role.
• Or turn on Also suggest people not set up for the role. It works "Only when nobody set up for the role fits. They’re marked Last resort." Accept all leaves last-resort picks out, so accept those one by one.

Roles, base rates and raise suggestions

1. Open Calendar, then Roles under Team, and press Add a role.
2. Fill in Name and Color. Base rate, dollars an hour is "Optional. Only used to suggest raises. It never changes anyone’s pay."
3. Tick Keep at least one on while open if you want the Day view to mark hours with nobody in this role. Tick the people under Who can work it, then press Add role.

• When someone's pay rate is under the role's base rate, Roles says so, in these words: "Sam is paid [their pay rate], under the [base rate] Server base rate. Consider a raise." (with the person, the figures and the role filled in) Pay never changes on its own. Not now hides the suggestion until their pay or the base rate changes.
• Removed a role by mistake? Under Removed roles, press Bring back. If another role has taken its name, rename that one first.

Roles and job titles

A person's Job title is your own words, and callers hear it. Their roles decide which shifts they work. You can set one from the other.

1. Open Calendar, then Staff, and press Edit on a person.
2. Beside Job title, tick the roles they work, for example under "Roles Sam works". Press Save. The ticks show once you have more than one person, or the Team add-on.
3. To copy a role's name into the job title, press it after Use a role:. Nothing changes until you press it.
4. If the job title names a role they aren't ticked for, it says Check: "The title says Host, but Sam isn’t set up for it." Press Tick Host to fix it.
5. If the job title isn't a role yet, press Make “Kitchen lead” a role (with their title). It makes the role and ticks this person.
6. It then asks "Add Lee and Kim (titled Kitchen lead) to this role?" about anyone else with that job title. Tick who to add, then press Add 2 people, or Not now.

Adding a role under Roles makes the same offer to everyone whose job title is that role's name.

Stations

1. Under Roles, press Change on a role.
2. In Stations (optional), type the stations, for example Grill, Fryer. "Separate them with commas. A shift can then say which station." A role can have up to 20 stations, each up to 30 characters.
3. Press Save role. When you add or change a shift in that role, pick its Station.

When people can work

1. Each person sets this on their own schedule link (Team add-on): under When I can work, they choose Any time, Can’t work or Only between for each day, then press Save when I can work.
2. You can read it under Roles: in the Can’t work column, press the words next to their name (for example None). It opens When Sam can work and says "Only Sam can change this, on their own link."
3. On Day, open Show on the day and tick When people can work to see it on the day.

Fill open shifts for me leaves out anyone who can't work then. What people say here doesn't change when customers can book them.

Staffing targets and the Short mark

1. Under Roles, go to Staffing targets and pick the day of the week. A grid shows your roles down the side and the day's hours across. Shaded hours are closed.
2. Next to Paint, press − or + to set how many people you want, from 1 to 9. To clear hours, press Erase.
3. Drag along a role's row across the hours. On a touch screen, press and hold an hour first, then drag. With a keyboard, the arrow keys move between hours and roles, and Enter or Space paints the hour.
4. Let go. It saves by itself and says "Saved."
5. To use the same targets on other days, tick them under Copy Friday to (with the day you are on), then press Copy to 2 days (with the number of days). Press Undo if you didn't mean it.
6. On Day, open Show on the day and make sure Staffing targets is ticked. The ticks start on, and this browser remembers them.

• If your hours run past midnight, the grid runs on past a heavy line at 12a, with the next day's name under it. "After midnight still counts as Friday." On the next day's Day view, those hours count from 12a.
• Under the grid, the same targets are listed row by row. To add one there, press + Add a target for that day, for example + Add a target for Fridays. Choose the Role, From and To, set People wanted, then press Add staffing target.
• A day can have up to 20 staffing targets.

The strip at the bottom of the Day view then says "Short:" with the role, the hours and how many are on against how many you want, for example "1 of 2". It can also say "More than wanted", or "Every staffing target is met." For its hours, a staffing target decides the mark instead of Keep at least one on while open.

Cost and labor % for each day

This needs the Team add-on, for Pay rates and Labor costs.

1. Open Pay rates under Team. Press + New pay rate, pick the person under Who, choose Hourly or Salaried under Paid, fill in Pay rate ($ an hour) and Starts on, then press Save pay rate. Do this for everyone on the schedule.
2. Open Labor costs and press Budget and target. Fill in Labor target (% of sales), choose Sales for labor %, then press Save.
3. If you chose Sales I type in, day by day, open a day on the Schedule and press Add sales. You can add sales for today or an earlier day.

• Each day says on target (at or under your target), a bit high (up to 3 points over) or high. Days ahead use a forecast, for example "forecast sales (avg of 4 recent Fridays)".
• On a day that is a bit high or high, the day's line also says how many of its hours are estimated overtime, for example "for 47 h (24 h overtime)".
• "No pay rate for Sam, so those hours aren’t in cost or labor %." Press Add pay rate and give them one. Open shifts are "not counted" until someone is on them.
• "Add each day’s sales to see labor %." or "No sales recorded this week, so there is no labor % yet." means there are no sales to compare yet. "Set a labor target to see how this week compares." means there is no target yet.
• The Schedule and Labor costs can show different labor %. The Schedule counts your plan: draft and published shifts with a person on them. Labor costs counts what was recorded. In a week in progress it says "Labor % for a week in progress is on the Schedule."

Every cost and labor % on these screens is an estimate. The screens say: “Overtime and labor-cost figures are estimates based on your settings. They don’t check meal and rest breaks or every state and local rule. You are responsible for paying your staff correctly.” See Scheduling in the Terms.

Overtime warnings

1. Open Account, then Calendar settings, then Team settings.
2. Under Overtime warning, choose when to warn you, for example Over 40 hours a week (federal), or Don’t warn about overtime. Then press Save team settings.

• The Week shows OT on a day with estimated overtime and "Est. overtime 3 h" (with the hours) for the week. A copy warns you before you add it, for example "Maria: goes to 42 hours this week".
• Fill open shifts for me leaves out anyone who "would go over 40 hours" under the federal warning.
• Warnings never stop you saving a shift. They are estimates, like the cost figures above.
• If you see "No overtime flags. Overtime is turned off in Team settings.", the warning is set to Don’t warn about overtime.

When your day starts

Open late? A day can count from an hour after midnight, so a Friday night shift that ends at 2:00 AM counts as Friday's.

1. Open Account, then Calendar settings, then Team settings.
2. In the setting “Our day starts at”, pick 12:00 AM (midnight) or an hour up to 6:00 AM.
3. Read the line under it, then press Save team settings.

• With 4:00 AM the line says: “Daily totals, labor % per day and the daily overtime warnings count from 4:00 AM to 4:00 AM. Shifts never move. For overtime, use the same day start as your payroll. Changing it here changes only our estimates, not what you owe.” It adds that your week starts at 4:00 AM too, on the day under Your week starts on.
• Until you save a new day start, the line ends: “Saving re-counts every day, past days too.”

Busy hours

1. On Day, open Show on the day and tick Calls and orders by hour.
2. Read the Calls and orders row. It counts each hour from the same day last week, or the average of the last few weeks, for example "avg of last 4 Fridays". Use it to put more people on at your busiest hours.

Clock-in marks: late, left early and No‑show

People clock in and out with Clock in and Clock out on their own schedule link (Team add-on). The Day view then shows each shift's clock times and a mark:

• Late, for example "12 min late": they clocked in more than 5 minutes after the start.
• Left early, for example "Left 30 min early": they clocked out more than 5 minutes before the end.
• No-show: nobody clocked in by 30 minutes after the start. It shows only for someone who clocked in at least once in the 14 days before, or during the dates you are looking at, so a person who never clocks in is never marked. A clock-in after the 30 minutes counts as late, not a no-show. Approved time off is never marked.
• As the Terms say, "A missed punch can show as a no-show, so check with the person before you act on one." These marks never show on the staff link.
• To fix the hours someone worked, use Labor costs.

Day notes

1. On Day, press Add a note.
2. Write it in Note for the day, up to 500 characters.
3. To let staff see it, tick Also show it to staff on their schedule link. "Only staff with a published shift that day see it, under their shift. Leave out private details about anyone."
4. Press Save note.

A shared note shows on the staff link right away. It doesn't wait for Publish, and nobody gets an email about it. A day can have up to 10 notes. A note on a day that has passed can't be changed. If you remove a note by mistake, press Put it back.

It worked when

After Yes, publish, the line says how many shifts were published and who was emailed, and the week says "Everything is published." With the Team add-on and pay rates, each day shows its estimated cost, and its labor % once there are sales to compare.

Related help

• Where did my Account and settings go?
• Customers can't book with me, on calls or online
• All help pages