A shift schedule tells everyone who works when over a period, usually a week or two. It looks simple until you try to balance coverage, rest between shifts, days off, overtime and everyone’s requests at the same time. Here’s how to do it well.
1. Start with the coverage you need
Begin with the business, not the people: how many people do you need on each shift, each day? A restaurant might need one person opening on weekdays and two on weekends, and three closing on Friday and Saturday nights.
Write it down as a shift-by-day table. That’s the minimum your schedule must always cover.
2. Define your shifts
The most common setups are day, swing and night shifts of 8 hours, or 12-hour day and night shifts for 24/7 operations. Write down each shift’s start and end time: you’ll need them to check rest periods and hours.
3. Gather your team’s details
For each person, collect:
- Contract hours per week.
- Shifts they can’t work, for example nights.
- Days they’re unavailable: vacation, requested days off, training.
4. Check that the numbers add up
Before assigning anything, make sure you have enough people. Covering three 8-hour shifts every day takes 21 shifts a week; with each person working five shifts, you need at least five people, and six gives you room for vacations and sick days.
5. Assign shifts with rest and overtime in mind
While assigning, watch for:
- Rest between shifts: avoid “clopening” (closing late and opening early the next morning). Some cities require around 10 hours of rest.
- Overtime: hours above 40 in a workweek are paid at time and a half for non-exempt employees.
- Fairness: share nights, weekends and holidays evenly.
A simple rule of thumb: rotate forward (days → swings → nights), which keeps rest periods long.
6. Review and share
Check that nobody is far from their contract hours and that every shift is covered. Then share it: print it, send a PDF, or put each person’s shifts straight into their phone calendar.
Do it in a minute
That’s exactly what the free shift schedule maker does: set your team, shifts and coverage, and it generates a weekly, two-week or monthly schedule with rest between shifts and overtime tracked, telling you clearly if something isn’t possible. Then tweak it by hand and export it to Excel, PDF or calendar. Running 24/7 with 12-hour shifts? Start from a Pitman, DuPont or 4 on 4 off template.