Shift Schedules Made Easy: How to Make the Most of Your Team

Assembling the right team is one thing; building the right shift schedule is another.

Who can and can’t work Wednesdays? Who has a time off request? Someone calls in sick! The complications are endless.

The right shift schedule can:

• Make the best possible use of your team (and reduce extra payroll burden)
• Keep every team member happy (& more likely to stay) with shifts that actually work
• Become a repeatable, less stressful task

And with the right software (hi! Maybe that’s us?!), you can even use a helpful AI assistant to find efficiencies in how you’re scheduling—or immediately cover a missed shift when someone doesn’t clock in.

What is a shift schedule?

A shift schedule is a type of scheduling that makes use of your team members in different rotations or patterns. With a shift schedule, the goal is to ensure you have coverage for all operating hours and for any after-hours tasks.

A rotating shift schedule has benefits not only for your business, but also for your team. For example, scheduling the same person for the busiest shifts could contribute to team burnout! Meanwhile, it may be tough for other employees to always work evenings or weekends.

With a shift schedule, the difficulties associated with different shifts are more distributed across your team.

Examples of different kinds of shift schedules include:

• The 4-3-4 shift schedule, where employees work 4 days on, 3 days off, 4 days on
• The 4/10 schedule, where employees work four 10-hour days
• The 3 shift schedule or 24-hour schedule, where 24-hour coverage is provided in three 8-hour shifts every day

And these are just a few! It’s easy to see how shift schedules can help cover some business’s operations outside of “normal” business hours.

What businesses use shift schedules?

The businesses likely to use shift schedules for employee scheduling are those with hours outside of ‘normal’ 9-5 hours.

Just some of the businesses that typically use shift schedules include:

1. Restaurants and bars

Restaurant and bar hours can vary greatly. Does your restaurant serve breakfast, brunch, and dinner? You’ll need coverage for early morning shifts for cooks and servers. If your restaurant does late-night bottle service, you’ll need staff to stay until liquor service ends. Want to run a 24/7 diner-style restaurant? You’re going to need people to work those night shifts, mornings, and afternoons.

2. Retail

Retail is another business that requires coverage throughout the day. Your busy times may vary depending on your business—toy stores might expect to see steady traffic throughout the day, but a bakery might have much more specific rush times!

Any business likely to experience an “after work” rush is going to need workers still at work “after work”!  You’ll need staff to cover your busy hours, no matter when they might be. And if you’re understaffed due to a shift schedule that isn’t working for you or your team, you’re bound to lose out on sales.

3. Hospitals and healthcare

A hospital needs to have staff on 24/7 to ensure all patients are being monitored. This means scheduling nurses, doctors, care attendants, techs—and many more employees—on rotation. 

But hospitals aren’t the only healthcare space that needs rotating schedules. Personal care workers in palliative care and retirement residences will work shift work to ensure there’s coverage at all times.

4. Hotels

When your customers rely on hospitality staff to make their stay comfortable, you’re going to need employees on site. Whether it’s the front desk or housekeeping, a variety of employees will need to work shift work to keep the hotel running smoothly. 

5. Salons

Salons often offer extended hours to serve their clients after typical work hours. Most people can’t just take a day off work to get their hair done, after all! Evenings and weekends are par for the course for salon staff and hair stylists. 

Different shift work schedules will rule the salon floor for many salon managers. Making sure there’s as much coverage as possible during those busy hours is sure to increase your profitability! 

What is shift coverage?

Shift coverage is the practice of scheduling in a way that you always have proper staffing for your business, no matter the hour. For instance, if you're using a 24-hour shift schedule, or a 4-10 work schedule, shift coverage would entail having the right amount of staff present for your business’s labor needs at any particular time.

The best employee shift schedules will even ensure you’re properly covered if someone calls in sick or books time off from their usual working hours. This can mean having redundancies in place, making sure a number of workers are trained on different shifts, and maybe even keeping someone on call for those unexpected sick days called in at awkward hours.

The benefits of shift work schedules

We’ve given a couple of reasons why shift work schedules are the way to go for certain businesses, but let’s really dig into the benefits of shift schedules––for employers and employees.

1. Give your employees flexibility.

If your workforce is made up mostly of students or parents, you’re going to have a huge hiring advantage. After all, shift work equals flexibility! Students can fit shifts around their school schedule, while parents can work around daycare or school hours. 

Better work-life balance also means happier employees, and happier employees can lead to higher profits.

2. Stay compliant—while raising profits.

Anyone scheduling employee shifts should know that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has strict rules around scheduling—and what they are. The FLSA regulates hours worked and overtime hours for employees. This is something it’s especially important to pay attention to where shift work is concerned.

Say you’re a restaurant that serves brunch on Saturdays and stays open late, until liquor service is over. This means you could be scheduling people from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. If your team is working different parts of this shift at different times of the week, it can be hard to keep track of how many hours they’ve worked.

Fortunately, using scheduling software to create a shift schedule helps you make sure you’re FLSA-compliant. Homebase keeps track of labor costs for you so you can rest assured you haven’t accidentally scheduled your rock-star cook for overtime—or twice the same day.

3. Let your employees recover between shifts.

Some jobs are just more physically demanding than others. If you run a business where employees are on their feet all day, they may need more time between shifts to recover. 

Creating shift schedules where your employees work a 2-3-2 shift schedule gives them the opportunity to rest.You wind up with less burnt out employees, and you can highlight the shift flexibility in your job postings! 

4. Get better coverage—with higher pay for shift differentials.

If you regularly need night coverage, you might just hire workers who prefer to work nights. But not everybody has that option, especially if your night coverage needs are more sporadic. 

That’s where shift differentials come in. When you use shift scheduling, you have the option to offer higher pay for those hard-to-fill schedule slots.This allows your staff to pick up extra shifts if they’re looking for a little more cash—and provides your team with incentives to help ensure you have the shift coverage you need.

5. More options for hiring.

When you open up more shifts in your schedule, you open up your hiring opportunities. While some people are looking for full-time, 9-5 work, others could have second jobs, be in school, or need to fit work around other daytime commitments.

Offering different shift schedules allows you to hire those who are looking for those offbeat hours, potentially expanding your hiring pool in the process.

Shift work statistics that will help your business

Let’s look at a couple of insightful shift work statistics to help you navigate shift work schedules. 

Advance notice of their schedule is a top priority for shift workers.

65% of respondents to one survey said that their top priority was getting their schedule in advance. This helps your team make the most of the flexibility offered by shift work! If your employees don’t receive their schedule with enough notice, it can counterbalance that benefit.

Did you know? Some cities and states have predictive scheduling laws. Make sure you’re aware of the legal rights of your employees to advance notice of their schedule and scheduling changes. You can use shift scheduling software to help you give enough notice to your team for schedule changes.

Shift workers worry about transparency, hours, and recognition.

According to the same survey, over 50% of shift workers are worried about some key areas related to shift work.

• Increased and accurate pay: without the benefit of a solid 9-5 structure, pay can fluctuate from week to week.
• Schedule transparency and flexibility: it’s not easy to receive your schedule the day before your next rotation. How can you plan for work/life balance?
• Recognition and support: sometimes overlooked, shift workers can contribute significantly to a business’s productivity and profitability.
• Manager communication: working overnight or having 2-3 days off between shifts means communication can fall through the cracks

82% of shift workers want more manager communication. Make manager communication easy with the team communication tool from Homebase. Send important shift updates, shout outs for jobs well done, and shift check-ins all in one messenger app.

Health risks are higher for shift workers––especially night shifts.

Getting off your circadian rhythm can really affect your health. If you’re working those closing shifts at restaurants––or the dreaded ‘clopen’––you can find yourself at greater risk of health issues.

And if you’re a night shift worker, that risk is even higher. According to News Medical Life Sciences:

• Up to 75% of overnight workers report digestive problems.
• On average, shift workers have a 40% increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
• They have a greater prevalence of metabolic syndromes like obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

None of this information is meant to scare you. It just drives home the importance of picking the right shift work schedule for your employees—and what shift work is worth.

Work-life balance is top of mind for employees.

A Gallup study found that 61% of employees valued work-life balance and personal well-being when it came to shift schedules. Employees are actually seeking employers whose schedules fit into their lives––not the other way around.

What does this mean for you? It means you’ve got to look at the people who typically work for you and what their lifestyles entail. Students may be willing to work overnight shifts, but parents are less so. 

10 Shift Work Schedules to Consider for Your Team

There are so many options for types of shift schedules. Let’s break down the most common shift schedules with some examples to help you identify how to schedule employee shifts.

1. Fixed shift

If you’ve got a fixed shift schedule, your employees work the same days and hours each week (except for vacations or busy holiday seasons). This schedule is a dream come true for the manager responsible for scheduling. Every week is the same, with some minor tweaks for employees who are taking time off.  

This can be great for employees who want to be able to plan their lives around work. But it does reduce flexibility.

An easy example for a restaurant open 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. that wants a fixed shift schedule would be: Server #1 always works at those hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Server #2 always works Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Server #3 always works Saturdays and Sundays. Each server knows their weekly schedule isn’t going to change.

2. Split shift

A split shift schedule will split your employee’s hours over the span of a day. This is a pretty common shift structure in gyms when personal trainers have clients with different appointment times. 

If a personal trainer has three clients booked between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and then four clients booked between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., that employee is on a split shift. They would get paid for the three morning hours, go home and do whatever they like for the afternoon, and then come back and get paid for the four evening hours.

Many managers like this option if there isn’t much work to do in between the shifts. It also allows a business owner to run on a smaller staff. It can have its advantages and disadvantages for employees; it might be a great choice for someone wanting their days free for classes, but some people can’t shut off from their job between stints. They can feel like it isn’t much of a break if they have to go back to work later on.

3. Rotating shifts

A rotating shift schedule is when everyone’s schedule changes every week or month. This can mean working different days of the week, different times of day, or different amounts of hours per week.

If the needs of your business vary quite a bit from week to week, this may be the schedule for you. Rotating shift schedules allows you lots of flexibility as a business owner to schedule what you need, when you need it. Just make sure you are following any predictive scheduling laws in your state.

For employees who want more hours some weeks and fewer hours some weeks––like students during exam time––rotating schedules can be a huge win. The negative is that it can be hard to schedule their life around constantly changing schedules—and constantly fluctuating paychecks.

Rotating schedules are common for restaurants that may need more coverage for a big game night but less coverage on an average Tuesday. 

4. 24/7 rotating shifts

This shift schedule is an offshoot of rotating shifts. If you’ve got a business that’s open 24/7, you’re going to need rotating shifts to cover all hours of the day.

A great example of a business open 24/7 is a gas station. If your business caters to long-haul drivers or road trip families, you’re going to need someone on duty 24/7. Another example would be an all-night diner.

If you want to schedule workers for 8 hours each––maybe with some crossover for busier times––you’re going to need to schedule at least 3-4 employees for every hour every single day. Don’t forget to keep in mind rest and recovery time for your employees, or things like authorized breaks. This kind of schedule can mean your team gets pretty big, pretty quickly.

People who want a second job or who want to work unusual hours due to other commitments might be ideal people for this type of shift work..

5. Graveyard shift

If you do run a company that needs 24/7 coverage, you’ll need someone to work the ‘graveyard shift’. This is a nickname for the overnight shift. When everyone else is sleeping, these employees are working.

This type of shift schedule happens a lot in healthcare. Nurses are always on rotating schedules and often rotate into the graveyard shift.

Depending on the work, sometimes employees work entirely night shifts. This can be an advantage for them because they can adjust their daily rhythms to working nights. This valuable type of employee helps managers responsible for scheduling, too, because they know they always have someone to work those tough-to-fill overnight shifts.

You can also create a rotating overnight shift schedule so that no one’s on nights all of the time. Being on nights can have some pretty big health consequences, so switching it up is good for employees and may help you meet the needs of your business by having more people trained for night shift work.

6. Overtime shifts

If the idea of hiring a big team is intimidating, you can work in overtime shift schedules. Having overtime as an option at your company is also great for times when you’re unexpectedly understaffed.

Overtime shifts involve hourly staff working over 40 hours per week. If one of your team members works more than 40 hours in a week, they’re entitled to 1.5x their pay for those hours.

This type of scenario is more likely than it seems! Let’s say you run a retail store. One of your employees has a family emergency and can’t come in for the next two weeks. Now you’re left with 3 sales associates instead of 4. Instead of trying to hire someone for only 2 weeks, you can ask your current employees if they’re able to pick up their co-workers’ shifts. 

This may mean that each of them works 48 hours a week. If they make $12 an hour, then here’s the overtime math:

• 40 hours x $12/ hour = $480
• 8 hours x ($12 x 1.5) = $144
• Total pay for that week = $624

For employees, this can be an awesome perk! Who doesn’t want more money? For employers, this means not having to replace a valued member of your team and getting coverage from experienced employees. Just remember that overtime might be taxed differently than regular shift work. 

There are federal regulations around overtime, so make sure you are up-to-date on the laws of overtime before choosing this shift schedule as an option—and be sure to watch out for accidental overtime.

Concerned about keeping track of overtime? Homebase helps you keep track of labor costs and pay out overtime hours at the touch of an app. Try it today!

7. On-call shifts

An on-call shift schedule is where your employees are available to be called in on a moment’s notice

On-call shifts are common in hospitality where you can get a rush of business all at once or go through an entire shift with nothing to do. It can be hard to predict your staffing needs as a business owner, and you don’t want to overschedule. That’s when on-call shifts come into play.

In some cities and states, there are specific situations where being on-call without pay isn’t allowed. Be sure to study up on what is and isn’t acceptable in your state for on-call shift schedules.

8. 4-on, 3-off

A 4-on, 3-off schedule sees your employees working for four days with three consecutive days off. This can allow you to give employees full-time hours (if they work 10-hour days) while also offering more extended breaks.

The 4-on, 3-off schedule is typically used in more high-stress workplaces, like healthcare or manufacturing, but can be applied to virtually any workplace requiring full-time coverage.

9. 3 team 24/7 shift

A 3 team 24/7 shift schedule is used to provide 24-hour coverage during the workday. This is accomplished by breaking the day into shifts, each covered by different teams.

By following a 3 team 24/7 schedule, you can have 24-hour coverage while still following labor laws.

10. Swing Shift

A swing shift schedule is less structured than other approaches. With a swing shift, you have employees work variable shifts throughout the week.

For instance, you could have someone work 9-5, then 5-10 the next day, and so on.

Swing shifts are frequently used in retail and food businesses, as hours can range, as can demand.

There are, of course, additional types of schedules that fall outside the aforementioned 10. If none of the above fit your business, don’t forget about the 2-2-3 schedule, the pitman schedule, or 12-hour shift scheduling. 

What goes into a shift schedule?

After you’ve decided on the type of shift schedule that works best for you and your employees, now you’ve got to put it all together.

These are the basic components of a shift schedule:

Shift length

This is self-explanatory. How many hours are your employees going to work on any given day? Shifts can range anywhere from 4 hours to 12 hours. 

Ask yourself:

• Is a 4-hour shift too short for my team? Or is it perfect for flexibility?
• Is an 8-hour shift just right? Or will it be harder to schedule due to the shift taking up their entire day?
• Is a 12-hour shift great for coverage and for those who want to work fewer days of the week? Or is 12 hours going to lead to burnout for my team?

There’s no perfect recipe here. Do what works best for you and your team.

Schedule format

A schedule format is what structure your shift schedule is going to follow.. 

• Are you going to offer rotating shifts or fixed shifts? 

• Do your employees want more reliability in their schedules? 

• Or do they want more flexibility? 

In terms of management, are you able to take on the task of changing schedules every week? Do your needs fluctuate to the point where you have to schedule based on needs, or is your situation more straightforward?

On-off work patterns

Many businesses try to stick to an on-off work pattern to make things easier on themselves and on their employees.

Some options for work patterns are:

• Weekends off: the standard Monday-to-Friday schedule with Saturday and Sunday off. This isn’t realistic if your busiest hours are on the weekends!
• Consecutive days off: this on-off work pattern gives your employees some consecutive days off, but not on Saturday and Sunday.
• Consecutive work days: this pattern would give your employees a day off after a certain amount of working days. For example, every 4 working days, they get 1 day off.

Take a look at your current scheduling needs before you decide what your on-off pattern should be.

Scheduling policies

Having clear scheduling policies helps keep everyone on the same page. Create a document and share it with your entire team. 

It should include:

• Overtime rules and restrictions: are employees allowed to go into overtime?
• Shift change rules: are employees allowed to swap shifts?
• Call-in rules: if an employee’s sick, how do they call in and who do they notify?
• Maximum consecutive workdays before time off is required: how many days can someone work before they have to take a day off?

A scheduling policy can help prevent miscommunications and disputes between managers and employees on shift scheduling expectations.

How to create a shift schedule: 10 steps to success

The right shift schedule can save you, your staff, and your customers a world of frustration. Here are the ten steps to follow when creating a shift schedule that can help you meet everyone’s needs—including your own.

1. Evaluate your business needs.

The very first step to creating a schedule is to figure out how many hours you need to be covered. Look at your historical business data, noting trends where business peaks and dips. This can help you determine what kind of coverage you’ll need in the coming weeks and months.

From there, figure out how many staff you need to cover your operating hours, what shifts look like to ensure people are working the right amount, and your labor budget.

Don’t be afraid to adjust on the fly. Be sure to keep records to avoid repeating mistakes. 

2. Create a baseline shift structure.

Create a baseline shift structure that provides sufficient coverage during your business hours as a template. Again, you may have to adjust this over time, as you realize what’s working and what’s not, and as employees come and go.

For example, you might start with a traditional eight-hour schedule, with employees having breaks near the middle of the day. But, if you realize you’re struggling to find full-time help, restructuring to a part-time schedule that has people working in four-hour shifts might work better.

3. Hire employees.

Once you know your needs and your ideal shift structure, it’s time to hire. Refer back to your business data and start hiring to ensure you’re covered.

Keep in mind whether you think you need seasonal hires. If so, don’t leave it to the last minute. Get ahead of the holiday season and hire early.

4. Create a schedule draft.

Once you have your initial hires, you can start creating a schedule that caters to everyone’s shift preferences. Note any gaps in coverage. If you can’t cover them, you likely need to hire additional help, or fill in yourself.

Once again, take note of what’s working and not working and make adjustments as needed.

5. Keep compliant.

Make sure you are up-to-date on all scheduling laws in your city. 

Once you’re clear on the legal requirements, it’s time to create your own policies. Again, stay compliant with local and federal laws when establishing any of your own internal policies.

Then, publish these policies for everyone to see, and ensure your team is aware of them.

The last thing you want is a pricey mistake that was easily avoidable by following overtime laws.

6. Publish the schedule.

Now it’s time to publish your schedule in all its glory. Make sure your schedule is easily available, and that your team is aware as soon as the new schedule is live. There are a number of free scheduling apps that can help you make your schedule as accessible to your team as possible.

Homebase offers a free scheduling tool that allows you to easily create and share your schedules. From there, your employees can either access the schedule online or get a text that alerts them the moment it’s ready to go.

7. Collect feedback for future schedules.

Ask your team how the current schedules and shift structures are working. If the majority of your team isn’t happy, you need to know or you risk losing team members.

Remember, a happy team is a productive team!

8. Approve shift change requests when you can.

Shift changes and requests can and will happen. It’s important that you accommodate them when you can, as this will help with employee satisfaction.

Give your employees a way to easily communicate these changes as well. Consider using an app for team communication, as this will allow people to quickly message you and one another about swapping shifts and keep everyone in the loop.

9. Record scheduled vs. actual shifts for payroll.

It’s rare that things go exactly as planned. Make sure you’re recording actual shifts for payroll purposes, and not deferring to the original shifts scheduled.

A time clock app, like this free one from Homebase, can help you stay on top of time tracking and make your payroll more accurate.

10. Iterate, iterate, iterate!

Lastly, iterate, iterate, iterate! Your shift structure and schedules are never set in stone. Make sure you’re doing what you can to give employees schedules and shifts that fit their lives while delivering the best customer experience possible.

While it will take time, eventually you’ll find your groove. And when that happens, everybody wins!

Shift scheduling software makes planning a breeze.

Shift scheduling doesn’t have to be a time-consuming headache, no matter how complex your scheduling needs.

With the right shift scheduling software, you can streamline scheduling while offering the most flexible experience for your staff.

Homebase scheduling software and team communication tools make scheduling easier by enabling you to:

• Use templates or auto-scheduling based on pre-submitted information like team availability and labor targets
• Share the schedule with the team and alert them of any changes to the schedule automatically
• Send shift reminders and overtime warnings to keep your employees informed
• Make shift swaps easier for everyone by allowing your team to communicate with each other before coming to you for approval

Shift some of the scheduling work off your plate with Homebase, and free yourself up to focus on delivering the best employee and customer experience possible.

Try Homebase for free today.

Shift schedule FAQs

What is a swing shift schedule?

A swing shift schedule is a variable schedule that allows for shifts outside the normal 9-5, including late night shifts, partial day shifts, and more.

What is a split shift schedule?

A split shift schedule breaks a person’s work day into multiple parts, allowing them to work part of the day, go home for a period, and then return later for the rest of the shift.

What is a rotating shift schedule?

A rotating shift schedule has people working in different sets of shifts to ensure proper coverage. For instance, someone might work a few days in a row from 9-5, then work a few days in a row during the night shift.

What is the best shift work schedule?

The best shift work schedule is the one that fits your business and your staffing needs. Some businesses require 24/7 coverage, while others benefit more from a traditional 9-5 schedule.

What is a 4-3-4 shift schedule?

A 4-3-4 shift schedule has people working four days on, three days off, and another four on. This schedule is often used in higher stress environments, like healthcare, police work, or manufacturing.

What is a 3 shift 24 hour schedule?

A 3 shift 24-hour schedule uses three different teams to provide full 24-hour coverage for a workplace. Each team is set to provide ample coverage during an eight hour period.

How to make a rotating schedule?

You can create a rotating schedule by breaking your day into multiple chunks, or shifts. From there, figure out how many people you need to cover each shift, and who can work which hours. Then, pick a rotation that fits your business and staff.