Employee Schedule Maker

About the employee schedule maker

A work schedule tells each person on your team when they work this week. Small businesses often make it in a spreadsheet or on paper, and then add up the hours by hand.

This free employee schedule maker does it in one table. Your employees are the rows and the 7 days of the week are the columns. Click a box to give someone a shift: a start time, an end time, an unpaid break, a role and a note. The hours for each person and each day add up by themselves, and anyone over your overtime limit is marked in red.

When the week is ready, print it for the staff room, or save it as a PDF, a PNG picture for your team chat, or a CSV file for a spreadsheet. Every week stays saved in your browser, so next Monday you can press Copy last week and change only what is new.

Features

• Weekly shift table — employees × days, one shift or a day off per box
• Shifts with breaks and roles — start, end, unpaid break, a role in its own colour, and a short note
• Hours that add up — per person, per day and for the whole week, with an overtime marker
• Night shifts — a shift that ends after midnight is counted right
• Copy last week — and arrows to plan the weeks ahead or look back
• 3 templates — restaurant, retail store and office, with ready quick shifts
• 5 print styles — on US Letter (landscape), A4 or Legal; PDF, PNG and CSV in one click
• Saved on your device — no account, nothing sent anywhere

How the hours are counted

The hours of a shift are the time from start to end, minus the unpaid break:

hours = (end − start) − break

When the end time is earlier than the start time, the shift ends the next day, so 24 hours are added. A shift counts on the day it starts — the usual rule for payroll. That is why a night shift from 10:00 PM on Friday to 6:30 AM on Saturday is part of Friday.

Overtime is the part of a person's week over your limit (40 hours by default). Example: four 8-hour opening shifts and one 10.5-hour double shift make 4 × 8 + 10.5 = 42.5 hours, so the schedule shows OT +2.5. In the US, overtime usually starts after 40 hours in a work week, and some states also have a daily limit. This tool only marks the hours over your number — it does not work out pay.

Templates and quick shifts

Each template fills in roles, sample names, a sample week and a set of quick shifts. A quick shift is one click in the shift box.

Change the names, roles and colours to your own. Open Roles and colours to add a role or pick another colour.

Five print styles

• Classic — a light box per shift with a colour bar for the role
• Minimal — black and white, saves ink
• Bold — every shift box in its role colour, white text
• Soft — pale colours and round corners
• Wall chart — bigger text and taller rows, easy to read on a wall

The style only changes the look. The PDF and the PNG show the same table, with the hours per person and per day, the overtime marks and a colour key for the roles. A long team list goes on more pages; the column titles repeat on each page.

Frequently asked questions

Is this schedule maker really free?

Yes. There is no account, no trial and no limit on weeks. It runs in your browser, and your schedule is not sent anywhere.

Where is my schedule saved?

In this browser, on this device. Every week you plan is kept, so you can go back with the arrows. Another computer or phone does not see it — send the PDF, PNG or CSV to share it. Clearing your browser data removes it.

How do I copy the schedule to next week?

Press the › arrow to go to next week, then press Copy last week. Every shift and day off from the week before is copied. Then change only what is different.

How do I give someone the same shift on several days?

Click one box, set the shift, and tick the other days under Same shift on before you press Save.

Can a shift go past midnight?

Yes. Type an end time that is earlier than the start time, for example 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM. The box shows "+1", and the hours count on the day the shift starts.

Can I mark vacation or sick days?

Yes. Click the box and press Day off. Type a note first, like "Vacation", and the box shows that word. A day off counts 0 hours.

Can I put two shifts on one day?

One box holds one shift. For a split shift, set the start of the first part, the end of the second part, and the time between them as the break. The hours are then right.

Can I open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets?

Yes. The CSV has one row per employee, one column per day, and the total and overtime hours at the end. It is saved in UTF-8 with a mark Excel understands, so names with accents look right.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The table scrolls sideways on a small screen, and the shift box opens as a pop-up. For printing, a computer is easier.

Related tools

• Work Hours & Pay Calculator — the hours and pay of one person's real week
• Overtime Calculator — time and a half and double time pay
• Printable Timesheet — a paper timesheet to fill in by hand
• Minutes to Decimal Hours — 7 h 45 min = 7.75 hours, for payroll
• Class Schedule Maker — a weekly timetable for school or college
• Sign-In Sheet — a printable sheet for names and times

How to use it

• Pick a template (restaurant, retail store, office or empty) and press Use
• Type the names of your employees in the first column, or press Add employee
• Click a box to set a shift: start, end, unpaid break, role and a note — or press Day off
• Tick other days under Same shift on to fill several days at once
• Check the hours at the end of each row; red means overtime
• Choose a style, the paper and the orientation
• Press Print, or download the PDF, PNG or CSV
• Next week, press › and then Copy last week