Create shifts and schedules

Before you start

Add your staff first, because every schedule belongs to a named person.

Timekeep measures attendance against schedules. Late minutes, undertime and overtime all come from the gap between the schedule and the clock-ins. A day with no schedule records none of them.

Steps

Create the shift

1. Go to Shifts and click Create Shift.

   

2. Enter a Shift Name, such as Morning Shift.

3. Set Start Time and End Time. For a night shift that runs past midnight, set an end time earlier than the start time. The list then tags the shift Overnight.

4. NSD Start and NSD End set the night differential hours. Work in those hours earns extra pay. Leave them as they are unless your night hours are different.

5. Enter Break Duration (minutes) for an unpaid break, such as 60 for a one-hour lunch. If the break is always at the same time, tick Fixed break time and set Break start and Break end. Timekeep then works out the duration for you.

6. Leave Allow early clock-in off unless clocking in early should count as overtime. That overtime still needs approval. The setting applies to 8-hour shifts only.

7. Under Work Days, select the days this shift works. Monday to Saturday are selected for a new shift. Days you leave unselected become rest days when you schedule a date range.

8. Click Create Shift.

Put it on the calendar

1. Go to Schedules and click Add Schedule. Clicking an empty calendar cell opens the same form with that date filled in. The week and day views fill in the person too.

   

2. Tick the people under Employees, or use Select all.

3. Choose your shift under Shift Template. Timekeep copies in its times, break and work days. You can still change them here.

4. Set Start Date and End Date. One date schedules one day. A range schedules every day in it, and the days not selected under Work Days become rest days.

   

5. Click the create button. Its label shows how many schedules it will make.

Or import a schedule

Use a file when you are scheduling many people at once.

1. On Schedules, click Import CSV, then Download Template.
2. Fill in one row for each person for each day, using these columns: Employee Number or Email, Date, Start Time, End Time, Break Duration, Off Day.
3. Upload the file, check the preview, then click the import button.

What happens next

Each schedule appears on the calendar. If those dates already have attendance, Timekeep works it out again against the new times. If any records change, Timekeep tells you how many.

Common problems

• One day needs to be a rest day. Turn on Rest day (off day), and the time fields disappear.
• Nobody is listed under Employees. A branch filter is probably hiding them. Clear the Branch filter, or set a home branch on your staff.
• You changed a shift and the calendar stayed the same. Changing a shift does not change schedules already created from it, so edit those days on the calendar.