First published on Thursday, June 4, 2020
Last updated on Thursday, November 20, 2025
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Managing shift work effectively is a balancing act that impacts not only business operations but also the well-being of employees. A well-structured shift work calendar can enhance productivity, ensure compliance with workplace regulations, and foster a healthier work-life balance for staff.
In today’s competitive environment, employers must leverage smart scheduling approaches that align operational needs with employee preferences, reducing burnout and improving engagement.
By rethinking how shifts are planned and communicated, organisations can create a smoother workflow and a more motivated workforce.
Getting started with a shift planner calendar
Once you’re setup with the technology, online staff roster software enables you to:
Match workloads to staff
Help manage staff costs
Manage to help flexible working and employee retention
Keep employees happy and informed
Comply with legal requirements
Ensure you measure your work volume by hours, days or seasons to collect information about busy periods then use the information you’ve gathered to decide shift lengths and allocate staff cover.
The different types of shift roster calendars
You can choose from a variety of tools when using a work roster calendar to manage employee schedules:
Pen and paper rosters
This traditional approach is about simplicity. All that’s needed is a physical diary and a pen or a pencil.
Whiteboard
Another old school way of producing employee shift templates is to use a whiteboard, markers, and erasers. Manual updates are time-consuming and can cause confusion, especially when managing erratic employee shifts. They can also cause headaches when carrying out everyday tasks such as allocating overtime and managing split shifts.
Spreadsheets
Excel templates are still a step up over manual calendars, but there are drawbacks. You’ll need to allocate plenty of admin time to manage your employee schedule using it and there can be complex formulas not everyone understands. It’s easy to make mistakes and these can disrupt your shifts.
Roster planner software
It reduces the time spent on making updates and almost every part of managing staff rosters, e.g. absence management.
It flags up scheduling issues automatically
Employees receive notifications about changes in real-time
Your business has the right amount of cover, at the right time
While there may be some early integration training necessary when beginning your journey with employee calendar software, if you choose a software provider like BrightHR, you’ll receive 24/7 assistance to help you get the ball rolling.
How your shift roster calendar helps you meet legal requirements
Whether it’s faulty formulae or manual data input that causes blunders in shift planning, your business is always at risk of receiving prohibition notices or fines. Shift roster planners often include automatic notifications, to help you comply with legal requirements with ease.
The alerts may arrive, for example, when your employees are nearing the NES work limit of an average of:
38 hours per week (unless additional hours are reasonable)
8 hours during a 24-hour period for night workers
In Australia, the National Minimum Wage applies to employees aged 21 and over, while employees under 21 are paid a percentage of the National Minimum Wage.
Shift planning calendar software can also trigger a birthday notification when an employee can claim a change in pay rates.
Joined-up calendar shift planners
Managing shifts with roster planning software helps you make informed decisions without the inconvenience of shuffling paper or jumping between different systems.
Learn more about using a shift and roster planner with BrightHR’s shift planning software and streamline your operations today.
Book a demo or call 1 300 029 198
