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Everyone’s got a busy schedule, and it can be tough to keep track of all the details. Fortunately, if you work for an organization that already has its HR team on point (or if you’re just looking for some help), there are many free employee schedules templates available online. Use these options as your starting point when devising your personal daily plan or working with others in your office to create one together!
Using free employee schedule templates saves time since they are not created manually. Employers may choose from a variety of templates based on their company hours and schedule, including one-day, weekly, 24/7, and shift.
We propose adopting top-rated scheduling software like Homebase if you want to make staff scheduling simpler. Its templates make it simple to check your team’s availability, time off, and scheduling preferences, allowing you to avoid booking overtime. You may also repeat your schedule on a weekly basis after you’ve created it.
Free Employee Scheduling Templates
We’ve offered free employee scheduling templates to help you schedule your personnel. Basic spreadsheet abilities, such as adding rows and columns and formatting in Google Sheets, may be used to change each of them.
Template for Daily Schedule
Template for Weekly Schedule
Template for a 24-hour schedule
Template for Shift Schedule
1. Template for Daily Schedule
When you need to plan staff day by day with particular information that they’ll need each hour or shift, use this daily schedule. This one-day plan is ideal for service organizations that wish to allocate staff to particular tasks throughout the day and set break and lunch periods. The only thing missing from this daily plan is a means to indicate to workers which days they’re scheduled to work for the full week; however, you may create a different tab in your spreadsheet for each day.
2. Template for Weekly Schedule
When you have employees that work conventional business hours, such as in a retail or service store that is open five, six, or seven days a week, use this weekly employee schedule form. There is space to enter Saturday and Sunday hours if your company operates on those days. Otherwise, you may eliminate the weekend columns for conventional office team schedules.
3. Template for a 24-hour schedule
This employee schedule, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, may assist service organizations such as elder care providers, security agencies, and manufacturing enterprises that run various shifts by keeping track of personnel throughout the week. It may also guarantee that employees aren’t overworked and that you’re covered at all hours of the day.
We’ve supplied the four steps you’ll need to edit your job roles in sheets since this template is a little more complicated:
- Choose the range of cells you want to edit.
- Select “Data validation” from the context menu by right-clicking.
- On the “List of Items,” the criteria should be listed. To the list, add the names of each position (separated by a comma).
- Save the file.
4. Template for Shift Schedule for Restaurants & Retail
Employees at most retail and foodservice establishments are scheduled around specified periods of the day, or shifts. During lunch and supper, for example, your restaurant is likely to need more employees than in the mid-afternoon. Similarly, a small tourist store may be busy during lunchtime. This plan readily handles such shifts and enables you to hire additional personnel during the busiest periods of the day. You may also provide information about each employee’s shift, such as their job title or allocated workstation.
Checklist for Employee Scheduling Template
Your employee schedule template should at the very least include information on when your employees are scheduled and what role they will be working in. For instance, a waiter may work in the bar on Sunday afternoons but in the dining room on other days. Maybe one of your salespeople is solely assigned to the closing shift on Mondays.
The following items should be included in your personnel schedule template:
- Timeframe: Your workweek should be reflected in your calendar. A six-day schedule template, for example, might be used by a retail firm that operates Monday through Saturday.
- Shifts: Workdays are generally broken into shifts, such as a restaurant’s morning daypart or a retail store’s opening shift.
- Hours: Include the start and finish times of each employee’s day or shift, as well as the number of hours they’re planned for each day or week.
- Employee Names: You’ll need room in your schedule template to add the names of each employee on the schedule. If you’re creating a Monday-Friday schedule, for example, you’ll need to write down the names of every person who is scheduled to work that week.
- Roles: Employees want to know what they’ll be doing. It’s useful to know, for example, if a person generally works in electronics sales but will be assigned to a four-hour trade show exhibit.
You’ll get an employee schedule template that can satisfy the demands of your small enterprises in one place with a small crew if you add the information above. You may require scheduling software as your company expands or as you need to arrange people across several locations.
Employees Can Use Your Employee Schedule Template
The most apparent advantage of sharing personnel schedules with your team is that everyone has access to it. You may make the schedule customizable if you like so that your workers can add their names to the shifts they desire.
Here’s how to share a Google Sheets work schedule template:
- In the top right corner, click Share.
- Add the email addresses of those who have editing access.
- Leave a message advising folks of the end of the edit time.
- Send the message.
Your staff may be satisfied with their work hours if you share access to your employee schedule template, yet you keep control over the final plan. This will be done without the clutter and confusion of printouts, emails, or post-its, and everyone will be able to view the schedule from any desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
How Much Does a Scheduling Template for Employees Cost?
The good news is that each of the four staff scheduling templates described above is completely free. You just download them and edit them to fit your requirements. Many scheduling software programs, in fact, provide free templates, while others supply scheduling software for free to small enterprises.
The following are some of the expenses associated with employing an employee schedule template:
- If you want to create your schedule with Excel, you’ll require MS Excel program. Prices start at $1.99 per month for each user. Google Sheets, which is free, is another option.
- Your time: Using a template is a manual procedure, and you’ll need time to edit and resubmit it each time anything changes (for example, an employee wants time off or a shift change).
- Communication tools: You’ll need a mechanism to let your staff know about changes to your schedule, such as an email account or a text messaging service. Many of them are completely free.
Free staff scheduling templates are available in many time and attendance software. Homebase is a wonderful alternative if you’re creating a shift plan for retail or restaurant employees since it offers free scheduling, timekeeping, and a communication app. It’s always free as long as you’re making a timetable for just one place.
Employee Scheduling Template Alternatives
Staff scheduling tools and applications are an excellent alternative to manual or template-based employee scheduling. Tools like Homebase and When I Work, in addition to drag-and-drop scheduling and pre-built templates, include basic leave management and employee communication capabilities that keep you and your team in sync in real time.
Here are great Employee Scheduling Template Alternatives:
Homebase
Employee scheduling, employee communications, shift shifting, and time-off requests are all available via Homebase. It’s free for one location and comes with the ability to save your schedule as a template. It also has a chat option that allows you to speak with one person or the whole team at once. The reviews for Homebase are also quite positive.
When I Work
Employee scheduling software, a communication app, time off requests and approvals, and a management dashboard are all available via When I Work. At $2 per employee, each month, it’s a good deal for organizations with up to 100 workers. When I Work is highly rated by small companies that use it.
Square Appointments
Square Appointments is great for companies like salons, consulting firms, and therapists who schedule their personnel based on client work. The fact that it connects to the POS means that after the customer service is completed, they may pay via the app. One calendar for each employee is free, while two to five calendars cost $50 each month.
Zenefits
Zenefits is an HR software that goes much beyond a simple schedule template and provides a 14-day free trial. It includes capabilities for staff scheduling and data administration, as well as timekeeping, employee benefits, and payment. Zenefits is a terrific alternative if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for your small company workers that starts at $10 per month per employee ($8 if you sign up for an annual plan).
Other Scheduling Instruments
You’ll discover that many scheduling and timekeeping software products provide free built-in scheduling capabilities in addition to the free employee scheduling templates you may download above. Furthermore, most will let you alter and store your template so that you don’t have to rebuild it week after week—this is especially useful if your team members work shifts.
The following are examples of several forms of scheduling software, as well as vendors that supply employee scheduling templates:
When I Work
When I Work, an employee scheduling application is meant to make scheduling simple. You preload your employee data into the app with pertinent information like their job title and email address. You then use drag-and-drop tools to create and amend your schedule online. Employees may generally request adjustments online, and most enable you to publish their work schedules through email or an app.
Homebase
Homebase and other time and attendance software operate as a virtual time clock for your company. Most of them also include scheduling capabilities so you can see what your labor expenditures will be or keep track of your overtime charges. Employees utilize the schedule to clock in and out of each shift after it’s been created, and you may automate it to avoid early clock-ins, saving you money.
Square
You may have past sales data if you’re utilizing a contemporary POS system like Square. These records may be filtered by week, day, and even shift. You’ll be able to effectively anticipate your personnel demands well ahead if you have this information. Some POS software includes scheduling functions, and some even include weather forecasting, which might affect your staffing demands.
Monday.com
Some newer project management software, such as Monday.com, provide pre-built schedule templates to help you keep track of your employees and make sure everyone is on the same page about who is doing what in your company. These templates are appropriate for task-based scheduling, such as scheduling building workers or designers for a consumer marketing campaign.
Google or Outlook
Consider utilizing a shared calendar like Google or Outlook for fast and simple scheduling. This allows all users to see who is working and where they are working. They’re great for office workers or small organizations that want everyone to know who’s doing what (such as who’s in meetings, with customers, or at training). When you have numerous employees on the same shift, however, seeing in a calendar style might be problematic.
Labor Laws Regarding Employee Scheduling
When scheduling personnel, there are various labor rules to consider; however, not all of them will apply to your company. There are also federal and state labor requirements requiring you to preserve other types of payroll documentation, such as time cards and schedules.
While there are presently no federal regulations governing predictive scheduling, several states and municipalities do. California, for example, has highly precise labor rules that govern working hours, scheduling notifications, and predictive pay.
Also, keep in mind that the federal overtime regulation mandates that any hours worked beyond 40 in a seven-day period be paid at the time and half rate. Schedule hourly staff for a maximum of 40 hours per week to keep expenses low. You must also keep copies of all employee scheduling records for a minimum of two years.
Employees should always be given early notice of their schedules so that they may prepare properly. Allowing ample time for your workers to prepare for the release of a work schedule assists them in better organizing their daily life.
Conclusion
Employee scheduling is critical to the success of a small firm. Our free employee schedule templates will save you time by allowing you to create your schedule without having to start from scratch. A well-communicated timetable will certainly aid in the reduction of turnover and absence. It may also boost team productivity. At the end of the day, it all adds up to more money in your bank account.
Enlist the support of scheduling software like Homebase to make your life simpler and take your personnel scheduling to the next level. It has a mobile app that enables you to schedule staff, let them log in, and monitor hours on the move.
