Creating shift patterns

Article Content

Shift patterns let you schedule when your team members work. You can create one-off shifts or recurring patterns that repeat on a schedule you define.

Stage 1: Shift pattern details

Creating a shift pattern is a two-stage process. First you define the pattern details (name, team, date and recurrence), then you add individual shifts for employees.

This stage is where you will provide the details of the shift pattern like name and frequency.

  1. Go to the Shifts tab (the clock icon)
  2. Tap the blue menu button when it appears
  3. Tap Create shift pattern
  4. The Create shift pattern screen opens with the following fields:
  • Pattern Name (text input, required) -- choose a descriptive name for the shift pattern
  • Team (dropdown, required) -- select which team the shift pattern belongs to
  • Start Date (date picker, required) -- select the first date you want the shift pattern to run
  • Recurrence (selector, required) -- choose the frequency you want the shift pattern to run

The Recurrence selector offers flexible scheduling options. On both mobile and web, the selector is a dropdown with the following frequency values:

  • Does not repeat:

A single shift that occurs only on the selected date.

  • Daily

The shift repeats daily. Configure:

Repeat every X day(s): -- set a numeric daily interval

  • Weekly

When you first select weekly recurrence, the start date's day of the week is automatically selected.

Days of the week -- select which days using circle checkboxes in a grid layout: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun

  • Monthly

The shift repeats monthly. First set the interval with Repeat every X month(s), then choose between two radio options:

Monthly on day X -- repeats on a specific date number (e.g. the 15th of each month)

Monthly on the Xth weekday -- repeats on a position and day using two dropdowns:

  • Yearly

The shift repeats on the same date every X years. Set the interval with Repeat every X year(s).

  • End conditions

For recurring shifts (any frequency other than "Does not repeat"), an End section appears with three radio options:

Never end -- continues indefinitely

End after X occurrences -- stops after a set number of shifts (defaults to 10)

End on -- stops on a specific date, chosen via a date picker

Tap Next in the top-right corner of the header to continue to Stage 2

Stage 2: Add Shifts

This stage is where you will add shifts for one or more users to the shift pattern. You can can as many shifts to a shift pattern as you want and each shift card includes the below details

  1. The Add shifts screen opens with one empty shift card
  2. Each shift card contains the following fields:
  • Employee (dropdown, required) -- placeholder text reads "Select employee". Lists team members assigned to the team you selected in Stage 1
  • Start Time (time picker, required) -- the start time of the shifts
  • End Time (time picker, required) -- the end time of the shifts
  • Paid Break (mins) (numeric input, optional) -- defaults to "0". Paid break time counts towards the employee's working hours. Enter the number of minutes.
  • Unpaid Break (mins) (numeric input, optional) -- defaults to "0". Unpaid break time is deducted from the employee's working hours. Enter the number of minutes.
  1. Tap Add Another Shift at the bottom of the screen to add more employees
  2. Tap Create in the top-right corner of the header to save and create the shift pattern

Each employee can have different start times, end times and break configurations within the same pattern.

To remove a shift card, tap or click the X button in the top-right corner of the card. The remove button is only visible when there is more than one shift card.

The employee selector automatically excludes employees already selected in other shift cards on the same form.

After a shift pattern is created, the form resets so you can immediately create another if you want to. The title changes to Add another on mobile or Add Another on web to indicate that a pattern was already created.

Adding a shift to an existing pattern

You can add a new shift to a pattern that has already been created.

  1. Tap a shift pattern card on the Shifts tab to open the pattern detail screen
  2. Tap the + floating action button or use the pattern menu to add a shift
  3. The Add shift screen opens with the team name shown as a subtitle
  4. Fill in:
    • Employee (dropdown, required) -- employees already in the pattern are excluded
    • Start Time (time picker, required) -- pre-filled if a default exists
    • End Time (time picker, required) -- pre-filled if a default exists
    • Paid Break (mins) (numeric input, optional) -- defaults to "0"
    • Unpaid Break (mins) (numeric input, optional) -- defaults to "0"
    • Shift length -- displayed once both times are set
  5. Tap Add in the top-right corner of the header

If all team members already have shifts in the pattern, a message reads "All team members already have shifts in this pattern."

If there is a schedule conflict (the employee already has a shift at that time), a Schedule Conflict alert is shown.

Tips

  • After creating a shift pattern, the form resets automatically so you can quickly add another
  • The employee selector only shows team members from the team selected in Stage 1 -- if someone is missing, check their team assignments
  • Use the Next occurrences preview to verify your recurrence settings before creating
  • Select a past start date when you need to add historical shift records (these are locked to one-off only)
NextViewing shifts