Shift Roster
Shifts tell BusinessHRM when each employee is expected to work — and those expectations drive attendance (late marks, half days, auto clock-out, working days). Working with shifts involves two things: defining shifts (the shift master) and assigning shifts to employees on a calendar (the roster). This article covers both, plus bulk assignment and shift-change requests.
Where to find it
- Shift Roster (assigning shifts): Sidebar → HR → Shift Roster (
/shifts). - Shift definitions: Settings → Attendance Settings → Employee Shifts tab.
Permission note: Viewing the roster requires the View Shift Roster permission; assigning/editing requires Manage Employee Shifts.
Defining shifts (the shift master)
Before you can roster anyone, you need at least one shift defined.
How to add a shift
- Go to Settings → Attendance Settings → Employee Shifts.
- Click Add New Shift.
- Choose the Shift Type, fill in the fields (below), and save.
Common fields (all shifts)
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shift Type | Yes | Strict Timings (fixed clock-in/out window) or Flexible Timings (a number of hours). |
| Shift Name | Yes | e.g. Night Shift. |
| Shift Short Code | Yes | e.g. NS — shown in roster cells. |
| Colour | Yes | The badge colour on the roster. |
| Office opens on | Yes | The working days for this shift (Mon–Sun checkboxes). This is effectively the "days per week". |
Strict-timing fields
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shift Start Time | Yes | When the shift begins. |
| Shift End Time | Yes | When it ends. |
| Half-day Mark Time | Yes | The cut-off that decides first vs second half. |
| Early Clock In (minutes) | No | How many minutes before start an employee may clock in. |
| Late mark after (minutes) | Yes | Grace period after start before the employee is marked late. |
| Auto Clock Out Time (hours) | Yes | Hours after which the system auto-clocks-out (0–12). |
| Maximum check-ins in a day | Yes | How many times the employee may clock in per day (default 1). |
Flexible-timing fields
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total Shift Hours | Yes | Hours that make a full day (1–23). |
| Half-day Shift Hours | Yes | Hours that count as a half day. |
| Auto Clock Out Time (hours) | Yes | Hours after which the system auto-clocks-out. |
Setting a default shift
On the Employee Shifts list you can mark one shift as the Default, which is used for employees who don't have a specific shift assigned for a day. A special Day Off shift is recognised throughout the app and shown as a "Day Off" badge rather than a time range.
The shift roster (assigning shifts)
HR → Shift Roster shows a grid: each row is an employee and each column is a day of the chosen period. Cells display the assigned shift's coloured short-code badge, or icons for Leave, Half Day, or Holiday (hover for the occasion). Empty cells show a + button to assign a shift (or a "no entry" icon if you can't manage shifts). A legend at the bottom lists each shift's colour, short code and name.
Controls on the page:
- Employee and Department filters.
- A view toggle: Weekly View or Monthly View, with a year/month selector.
- Assign Bulk Shifts (only if you can manage shifts).
- Export Excel (where available).
- Summary (list view) and Shift Change Requests (with a pending-count badge).
How to assign a shift to one day
- Click the + in an empty cell (or click an existing cell to edit it).
- Choose the Employee Shift — only shifts whose working days include that day are listed; each option shows its colour, name and times/hours.
- Optionally add a Remark and attach a File.
- Save. (You can Delete an assignment here too. If there's a pending change request on that cell, you'll see Approve / Decline instead.)
How to assign shifts in bulk
- On the Shift Roster, click Assign Bulk Shifts. (Note: existing shifts on the selected days will be overridden.)
- Pick a Department to load its employees, then select the Employees (multi-select with select-all).
- Choose the Employee Shift to assign.
- Choose Assign Shift By:
- Date — a single date.
- Multiple — a start–end date range.
- Month — a whole month (pick Year and Month).
- Optionally tick Send Email (if email is configured), add a Remark, and attach a File.
- Save.
Bulk assignment clears any existing schedules for those employees on those dates first, respects each shift's working days, and skips holidays that apply to the selected employees.
Automated rotation: BusinessHRM can also rotate shifts automatically — see the Shift Rotation tab under Attendance Settings for setting up and running rotations.
Shift-change requests
If shift change is allowed, an employee can ask to swap to a different shift.
How an employee requests a shift change
- On the relevant roster cell/day, choose to request a change.
- Select the shift to Request For and enter a Reason (required).
- Submit. The request enters a waiting state.
How a manager handles requests
Open Shift Change Requests from the Shift Roster page. Managers can Approve or Decline each request; the employee can Delete a pending request they no longer need.
Tips
- Define a Day Off shift so non-working days are explicit on the roster.
- Keep Short Codes short and distinct — they're what you'll read at a glance on the grid.
- Because late-mark and half-day rules come from the shift, double-check a shift's settings if attendance flags look wrong.
- Use Assign Bulk Shifts → Month to roster a whole team for the month in one go, then tweak individual days as needed.