Guide to Scheduling

Efficient employee scheduling is crucial for smooth operations. The uAttend scheduling feature simplifies the process of creating, managing, and publishing work schedules. You can effortlessly create schedules using pre-defined positions and shifts, assign employees to those roles, easily see if you have enough coverage, and ensure everyone is informed, all with our easy point-and-click interface and powerful templates. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from start to finish, helping you improve efficiency and put time back on your side.

You can use the table of contents below to skip to a specific section in this article, and you can click on the links throughout this article to view the related in-depth how-to articles, troubleshooting guides, downloadable content, and more. 

In this article:

• Activate Scheduling
• Scheduling Setup Wizard
• Navigating the Scheduling Feature
• Positions and Shift Templates
• Creating and Managing Schedules
• Publishing and Emailing Schedules
• Scheduling Report

Activate Scheduling

While the Scheduling feature is free with uAttend, an active administrator must enable the feature and complete the setup wizard prior to use. Only an Admin, not a supervisor, with an email address entered in the portal, is able to activate Scheduling. You can get started with just the click of a button. Follow the steps in our Enabling the Scheduling Feature article to get started.

Please note, neither administrators nor supervisors will have access to create a Schedule until the Scheduling Setup Wizard is completed by an Administrator.

Scheduling Setup Wizard

The setup wizard will get you started with the necessary basic tasks, like adding positions, creating shift templates, and assigning employees. For an in-depth step-by-step walkthrough, check out our Scheduling Setup Wizard article. Once you have completed the wizard, you are able to begin navigating the Scheduling tab and creating your first schedule!

Navigating the Scheduling Tab

All account Administrators have access to the Scheduling tab; however, supervisors will not have access until the Scheduling Setup Wizard is completed. Once completed, any supervisors and administrators on the account will land on the Scheduling Overview page when they navigate to the Scheduling tab. 

Scheduling Overview Page

The Overview page will display the current day's schedule by default, including any scheduled shifts. You can see at a glance the employee(s) scheduled, their position, shift start and end time, and a status indicator showing if they are in. While administrators will see all employees in the account, supervisors can only see the scheduled employees in their responsible department(s). 

If no one is scheduled but there is a published shift, you will see a page showing that there are no scheduled shifts for that day. If there are no published schedules at all containing the current day in the date range, you will see a prompt to create a schedule.

Quickly navigate between days using either the left or right chevron symbols (< or >) around the date or click the date itself to choose from a dropdown. 

Schedules Page

Clicking the Schedules tab in the upper left of the page will bring you to your current schedules, both published and drafted.

Administrators will be able to view and edit all saved schedules in the account, including schedules that Supervisors have created, published, or are currently working on.

Supervisors will only be able to view and edit drafted schedules that they themselves have created. They will not be able to view draft schedules that an administrator or another supervisor created if not yet published. 

Once a schedule has been published, supervisors will have access to view any schedules with shifts assigned to employees in their responsible department(s).

Click the left chevron symbol (<) on the top left of the screen to expand the All Schedules navigation panel. This provides quick access to All Schedules you have access to, both published and drafted, past and current. From here, you can easily edit, update, delete, and publish schedules. 

Scheduling Settings Page

When you click on the Settings tab in the upper left of the page, you will be taken to a page where you can manage position and shift template settings. This allows you to adjust positions and shift templates to meet the changing needs of your workflow and schedule.

On the Settings page, you will see a list of positions with details such as their name, colour, number of assigned employees, and the number of shift templates associated with each position. You can view all positions, both active and archived, using the filters at the top of the page. The positions are listed alphabetically, making it easy to navigate and find what you need. 

Use the filter and search functions to locate specific positions. The filter options allow you to sort positions by their status (All, Active, or Archived) or by employees assigned to them. Additionally, the search function enables you to find positions by name, helping you efficiently manage and organise your staffing needs.

Click on a position to go to the Position and Shift Templates Details page to gather more information, including the employees and shift templates assigned to the position. Click the +Add button on the upper left of the page to add a new position or a new shift template.

Understanding Positions and Shift Templates

Positions are used to classify the type of work employees are eligible to do. For example, roles like "line cook" or "support specialist" help define the tasks and responsibilities associated with each position. Each position can have one or more shifts, broken down into shift templates. 

When adding a position, you will assign a name, select a colour for the position for visual identification, and choose employees for the position. 

Shift templates, on the other hand, are reusable templates for scheduling shifts. When creating a shift template, you will name the template, assign the number of employees required for specific shifts per weekday and set the start and end time.

Schedules

Once your positions and shift templates are set up, you are ready to begin creating schedules. Whether you are an administrator or supervisor, you can easily build new schedules tailored to your team's needs. Administrators have the flexibility to create new schedules using all active employees and view or edit any drafted and published schedules. Supervisors, on the other hand, are limited to:

• Creating schedules using only the active employees assigned to the Supervisor's responsible department(s).
• Editing the schedules they have created.
• Viewing published schedules that they created or those containing employees in their responsible departments.

To create a new schedule, click the Create Schedule button on the main Scheduling page.

Assign Employees to a Shift

Adding employees to a shift is straightforward: click the Add Employee icon, select the desired employee(s) for the shift, and click Confirm. You can choose from available employees or those who have already been assigned to another shift at that time. If there is a scheduling conflict due to overlapping shifts, you will see a conflict icon. Supervisors can only resolve conflicts within their own schedule.

Use the left side panel to quickly navigate between positions, organised in weekly blocks from Saturday to Sunday, or use the Next Shift Template button to switch between templates. 

Edit a Shift

To adjust a single shift, click the Edit icon. This allows you to update the shift time or adjust the number of employees for that specific day without affecting the shift template. 

Add a Shift

If you need to add a shift without altering your shift templates, use the Add Shift button. This is useful if you require additional coverage. Administrators can add additional shifts to any position, while supervisors can only do so for positions that include at least one employee from their responsible departments. When you add a shift, it applies only to the current schedule, not the template. Specify the day, position, shift time, and number of employees needed.

Remove a Shift

To remove any unnecessary shifts, click the Delete icon to remove it for that day. This also does not affect the shift templates.

Save and Preview the Schedule

You can save your progress and preview the schedule at any point by clicking Save and Preview. Edit individual shifts directly from the Preview page. All saved and published schedules can be accessed from the Schedules page.

Publishing and Emailing Schedules

Once your schedule is ready, click Publish from the preview page. If the Publish button is unavailable, it means the schedule is already published. You will receive a notification if there are any unfilled shifts. Once you confirm or resolve these discrepancies, you can:

• Email the schedule to all administrators, supervisors, and scheduled employees.
• Download the schedule by position and day of the week.
• Select share later to make it viewable from the schedules tab. 

Supervisors can only publish schedules they have created, while administrators can publish all existing schedules. 

Scheduling Report

Administrators and supervisors can get an overview or a detailed view of scheduled shifts over different date ranges. They can filter information or track the total hours scheduled easily using the Scheduling Report in the Reports tab. Administrators can run reports for all employees, while supervisors can focus on employees in their responsible department(s).

The report displays hours worked in specific shifts over your chosen date range and lets you filter by position or employee. Select the employee type using the dropdown menu (Active, Archived, or Both). By default, all positions and active employees are selected. You can adjust this by clicking the relevant buttons to just see the employees you need. Click the [+] button next to an employee's name to expand their schedule view for the selected period.

If you are looking to adjust the date range, you can use the drop-down menu to select one of the pre-set options (listed below) or Date Range to choose a custom range from the calendar. 

• Last 7 Days
• Last 1 Month
• Last 6 Months
• Last 1 Year
• This Month
• This Year
• The Previous Month

When you are ready, print, email, or export the report using the corresponding button toward the top-right of the report.

That's the scheduling feature from start to finish! For more detailed instructions, use the links throughout this article to review our step-by-step guides and articles on each part.