Staff and shift scheduling

Staff scheduling apps replace the paper rota and the group text. A manager builds the week's shifts, often from a template, and staff see their schedule on their phones the moment it is published. Changes, swaps and time-off requests go through the app instead of phone calls, and the manager approves them in one place.

The tools on this page are built for hourly teams in places like restaurants, shops, clinics, warehouses and field crews. When I Work, Homebase, Sling and Connecteam cover the basics of scheduling, time clocks and team messaging. 7shifts is built around restaurants and adds sales-based labor forecasts and tip handling. Deputy and Planday add more control over labor costs and auto-scheduling from expected demand.

The schedule is only half the job. Check the time clock: can staff clock in from a shared tablet, their phone or both, and does the tool stop early clock-ins? Check the payroll export: the hours need to reach your payroll software for your country without retyping. And check labor costs: seeing the projected cost of a schedule while you build it is one of the most useful features for small businesses.

Think about your staff as users. They will use the app on their own phones, often in a hurry, so it should be quick to see a shift, offer it up or pick up an open one. A free plan or trial with a few real employees will tell you more than a demo.