How the schedule maker assigns shifts
For each selected day, the maker fills each required position with an available employee who has not already been assigned that day and would remain within the weekly cap. It chooses the person with the lowest assigned total so far. This simple allocation is deterministic, not an optimization solver: a different order can produce a better schedule. An unfilled slot means this pass did not find an eligible employee; it does not prove that every possible roster is infeasible.
Worked example: ten assignments, 75 paid hours
Five days with two positions each create ten assignments. A 09:00–17:00 shift lasts eight hours. Subtracting a 30-minute unpaid break gives 7.5 paid hours per assignment, or 75 paid hours across the roster. With the default three employees and availability, A receives 30 hours, B receives 30 and C receives 15. All ten slots are filled. Those totals represent scheduled paid hours, not continuous two-person coverage during breaks.
Overnight shifts and weekly totals
A finish earlier than the start is treated as the following day. A 22:00–06:00 assignment with a 30-minute unpaid break therefore contains 7.5 paid hours in this fixed-clock model. Equal start and finish times are rejected instead of silently assuming zero or 24 hours. The CSV includes a separate finish date. All hours count against the starting week's cap, so payroll workweek splitting may give different totals.
What to review before sharing
Check employee qualifications, requested leave, the preceding and following weeks, minimum rest, break coverage and applicable scheduling rules. The weekly cap is your planning input, not a statement of legal limits or overtime entitlement. Daylight-saving changes are not modeled. This tool does not coordinate multiple shift windows or account for outside assignments. Use the shift coverage calculator to inspect staffing gaps across actual intervals.
Choose the right next step
- Copy a weekly employee schedule layout when you want to maintain the roster in a spreadsheet.
- Check a weekly roster before publishing for a practical review process.
- Generate a rotating shift calendar when you need a repeating work/off pattern rather than named staff assignments.
- Check worked hours using actual time records after the shift.
Can I download the schedule?
Yes. After a successful calculation, Download draft CSV exports the displayed assignments, dates, breaks and paid hours. The CSV opens in spreadsheet software. Unfilled positions remain labeled UNFILLED so they cannot be mistaken for staffed shifts. The export is a draft for review, not a payroll record.