Background information
Work schedule types
There are two types of work schedules: regular and irregular:
A work schedule is considered irregular when there is uncertainty about how many hours are worked on which days.
If working hours and working days are predictable, the work schedule is considered regular.
For both work schedule types, we support three levels of granularity:
None: No distribution of hours across individual days.
Flexible: Total daily hours are defined (e.g. 8 hours/day), but without fixed times.
Fixed: Specific working hours or shifts are defined (e.g. 09:00–18:00).
There are two types of work schedules:
Company-wide work schedules apply centrally and can be assigned to multiple employees.
Custom work schedules apply to a single employee only and cannot be reused.
Creating a company-wide work schedule
A company-wide work schedule is created centrally in settings and can then be assigned to multiple employees.
Overview
Follow these steps to create a new work schedule:
Go to Attendance > Settings.
Select Work schedules from the left menu.
Click New work schedule.
Enter the work schedule information.
Configure the working days and hours.
Click Save.
After saving, you can assign the work schedule to employees. But let's go step by step.
Step 1: Define basic information
1. Work schedule name* (required field)
Give the work schedule a clear and recognisable name.
Examples: Full-time Office, Flexible Retail Shift, Weekend Warehouse, etc.
A clear name makes it easier to identify and assign the right work schedule later.
Step 2: Set minimum and maximum working hours
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Contracted weekly hours (0-48)* (required field): Enter the weekly hours guaranteed in the employee's contract.
Legal/Contractual weekly limit (1-48)* (required field): Enter the maximum number of hours allowed per week. Any time tracked above this limit is classified as overtime.
Legal daily limit: Enter the maximum ordinary working hours per day (for example 10 or 12 hours, depending on regional legal requirements).
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Step 3: Set up the work week in the schedule customization
1. Select the option (Yes or No) for Same number of days each week? that best fits the employee's work pattern. This section determines how the employee's work week behaves.
Option: No
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Same number of days each week?: Select No if the number of working days can vary from week to week.
Minimum and maximum working days per week (0-7)* (required field): Define the minimum working days per week and the maximum days per week.
Example:
Week 1: 2 working days --> the minimum days is 2
Week 2: 6 working days --> the maximum days is 6
This configuration is ideal for shift-based roles or highly variable schedules, such as in hospitality or retail.
3. Define the Work days window (Mon–Sun) in which the employee could potentially work.
Example: This is Liza, a barmaid at a hotel who follows a rotating three-week schedule. Her hours shift in a consistent cycle: she works four days in Week A, has a shorter two-day phase in Week B, and ramps up to a six-day week in Week C.
Option: Yes
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Same number of days each week?: Select Yes if the employee always works the same number of days per week. Example: 5 working days per week. If you select Yes, you also need to define:
Enter the number of working days the employee works each week.
Select a Work days window: The time frame in which these working days can fall. Example: Working days per week: 4, Work days window: Monday–Friday.
This configuration offers flexibility in choosing which specific days per week are worked.
Example: This is Monica, a product manager who always works 4 days a week, mostly Monday to Thursday. Occasionally, she also works on Fridays.
Step 4: Choose the daily hours distribution mode
Choose how daily hours are defined: If you selected Yes for same number of days each week? and set the Days*, you can choose different options for the daily hours distribution.
Option 1: Set only workdays
Best suited for:
highly flexible roles
shift-based work
variable daily working hours
The system tracks only the total weekly hours and does not enforce fixed hours per day.
Option 2: Set workdays with daily hours
Best suited for employees who work a fixed number of hours per day, but have no fixed start and end times.
Example:
4 hours per day
flexible start time
Option 3: Set workdays with start time and end time per day
Best suited for traditional fixed work schedules.
Example:
09:00 – 13:00 (paid time only, including paid breaks)
The system records the exact start and end times for each working day. More details are in the Handling breaks correctly section below.
Real-life examples
Example A: Part-time office employee with rotating days like Monica
Profile
32 hours per week
Works 4 days per week
Working days can be any day between Monday and Friday
Configuration
Set Same number of days? to Yes.
Enter 4 days under Working days per week.
Select Mon–Fri for the Work days window.
Under Daily hours distribution, select Set only workdays.
Result
The system expects 32 hours over 4 days for a work week, but the exact working days and the distribution of hours can vary within the window of Monday to Friday.
Example B: Restaurant staff with high variability like Liza
Profile
32 hours per week
Works between 2 and 7 days per week
Working days depend on the weekly roster
Configuration
Set Same number of days? to No.
Select Mon–Sun for the Work days window.
Select Set only workdays under Daily hours distribution.
Result
The system focuses on the weekly target of 32 hours.
The hours can be distributed across fewer longer shifts or more shorter shifts, depending on operational needs.
Handling breaks correctly
Understanding how breaks affect working time
The total hours entered in the schedule should only reflect paid working time.
If employees have an unpaid break, you can handle this in two ways:
Option 1: Create two shifts
Example:
09:00–13:00
14:00–17:00
Option 2: Deduct the break from the daily total
Example:
On Monday and Wednesday there is an 8-hour working day from 09:00 to 17:00 with a 1-hour unpaid break.
Accounting for the 1-hour unpaid break, enter 09:00 to 16:00 (7 hours as daily net working time) on Monday and Wednesday.
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Assigning employees to a work schedule
Assigning employees during schedule creation
When creating a work schedule, you can directly select the employees who will use this schedule.
You can also assign work schedules later:
Open an Employee profile.
Go to the Personal tab.
Scroll down to the Work schedule section.
Select Assign work schedule.
Select an Effective date for the assignment.
Select Assign a work schedule.
Click Save.
Viewing work schedules in the employee profile
Go to Employee profile > Work schedule.
Here you can see the current, past, and future assignment to custom and company-wide work schedules.
The small person icon next to the custom work schedule indicates that this employee has an individual work schedule.
Managing a company-wide work schedule
Under Attendance > Settings > Work schedules you can find all existing work schedules.
Click the three-dot menu to edit the work schedule.
You can change the Basic information, Contractual working hours and limits, the Schedule customization, and days and daily hours distribution if applicable.
Duplicating a work schedule
If you want to use an existing work schedule as a template for a similar one, you can easily duplicate it.
Under Attendance > Settings > Work schedules you can find all existing work schedules.
Click the three-dot menu.
Click Duplicate.
Give the duplicated work schedule a new name.
Option 1: You can take the work schedule without changes.
Option 2: You can edit working hours, working times, or the type of work schedule.
Click Save.
Managing employees
You can manage employees by:
Option 1: clicking the link under Assign employees
Option 2: clicking Manage employees via the three-dot menu
Removing employees from a work schedule
Check the box to the left of the employee's name.
Click Actions.
Select Unassign.
Deleting a work schedule
Under Attendance > Settings > Work schedules you can find all existing work schedules.
Click the three-dot menu to delete a work schedule.
Note: You can only delete work schedules that have no employees assigned.
Creating or assigning a custom work schedule
A custom work schedule applies to a single employee only and cannot be reused for other employees. It is created directly in the employee profile, not centrally in settings. The configuration follows the same steps as a company-wide work schedule, but applies exclusively to this one employee.
Follow these steps to create a new custom work schedule for an employee:
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Click Assign work schedule.
Click Create new.
Set the Effective date for this employee's custom work schedule.
Click Create a custom work schedule for this employee.
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Step 1: Define information
Work schedule name* (required field): Give the work schedule a clear and recognisable name.
Contracted weekly hours (0-48)* (required field): Enter the weekly hours guaranteed in the employee's contract.
Legal/Contractual weekly limit (1-48)* (required field): Enter the maximum number of hours allowed per week. Any time tracked above this limit is classified as overtime.
Legal daily limit: Enter the maximum ordinary working hours per day (for example 10 or 12 hours, depending on regional legal requirements).
Step 2: Set up the work week in the schedule customization
Select the option (Yes or No) for Same number of days each week? that best fits the employee's work pattern. This section determines how the employee's work week behaves.
Option: No
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Select No if the number of working days can vary from week to week.
Minimum and maximum working days per week (0-7)* (required field): Define the minimum working days per week and the maximum days per week.
This configuration is ideal for shift-based roles or highly variable schedules, such as in hospitality or retail.Define the Work days window (Mon–Sun) in which the employee could potentially work.
Option: Yes
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Select Yes if the employee always works the same number of days per week. Example: 5 working days per week. If you select Yes, you also need to define:
Enter the number of working days the employee works each week.
Select a Work days window: The time frame in which these working days can fall. Example: Working days per week: 4, Work days window: Monday–Friday.
Click Save Schedule.
This configuration offers flexibility in choosing which specific days per week are worked.
Note: Changes to this work schedule do not affect general work schedules, but apply to this employee only. The assigned individual work schedule cannot be reused for other employees.
Copying values from an existing work schedule
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Select a work schedule from the drop-down menu.
The work schedule entries are copied automatically; adjust them as needed.
Click Next.
Editing or deleting custom work schedules
You can edit custom work schedules by clicking the edit pencil icon.
You can delete the work schedule by clicking the bin icon.
Note: The start date cannot be changed in an existing work schedule.
Note: When an overtime recalculation is triggered, the employee's overtime for past months is recalculated based on the expected hours of the currently assigned work schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when I set a work schedule as the default?
When a work schedule has been set as the default, this does not change an employee's assignment to their current work schedule. The default work schedule is now shown as the pre-selection when you add a new employee to your company.