Creating an Advanced Schedule

Build schedules with different numbers of workplaces for each shift. The Advanced schedule type is designed for enterprises where daily operations are divided into multiple shifts with varying staffing needs.

What Is This?

The Advanced schedule type uses automatic distribution to create shifts where each time slot can have a different number of required employees (workplaces). Unlike the Basic type, which assigns the same hours to everyone, the Advanced type lets you define how many people are needed during each shift period.

This is ideal for manufacturing plants, hospitals, call centers, or any operation that runs multiple shifts per day with varying coverage requirements.

Prerequisites

#	Prerequisite	Details
1	Active Shifton account	You must have a registered company account
2	Admin, Owner, or Manager role	You need permissions to create schedules
3	A project with enough assigned employees	You need sufficient staff to cover all defined workplace slots

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Basic Information

Navigate to Schedules in the sidebar and click + Add schedule.

Complete the basic information fields:

Field	Required	Description
Enter schedule name	Yes	A descriptive title (e.g., “Warehouse — 3 Shift Rotation”)
Color	No	Choose a color to identify this schedule
Select a project	Yes	Select the project this schedule belongs to
Select dates	Yes	Set the start and end dates — maximum 3 months
Basic employee pay rate	No	Base pay rate per hour for shifts in this schedule
Select week control type	Yes	How overtime is handled: Allow with confirmation (default) / Allow / Disallow

Below these fields is a section with employee action permissions (checkboxes). See the Schedule Settings and Permissions article.

Click Next to proceed.

Step 2: Select Schedule Type

On the schedule type selection screen, choose Advanced (automatic distribution).

“Offers schedule generation that allows creating a number of work shifts with a different number of workplaces for each of them. Ideal solution for enterprises that require their daily work to be divided into shifts.”

Click Next. The schedule is created.

After Creation: Configure Shift Templates

The Advanced type is designed to support multiple shift templates, each with a different number of required workplaces per shift. After creation:

Click the schedule name to open it.

Go to the Shift Templates tab to define each shift type (e.g., morning, afternoon, night) and the number of staff required for each.

Go to the Add employees tab to add employees.

After Creation: Add Shifts and Publish

Add shifts via Company Schedule using bulk add or manual entry.

Click Publish & notify employees so employees can see their shifts.

Access Permissions

Role	View Schedule	Create Advanced Schedule	Edit Shifts	Delete Schedule
Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Yes (assigned projects)	Yes (assigned projects)	Yes (assigned projects)	Yes (assigned projects)
Employee	Yes (own shifts only)	No	No	No

FAQ

Q: When should I use Advanced instead of Basic?
A: Use Advanced when your operation requires different numbers of employees at different times of day. For example, if you need 5 people in the morning, 8 in the afternoon, and 3 at night, Advanced is the right choice. If everyone works the same hours, Basic is simpler.

Q: Can I set different workplace counts for different days of the week?
A: The Advanced schedule applies the same shift structure to all selected work days. If you need different staffing levels on different days, consider creating separate schedules for those day groups.

Q: How does Shifton decide which employees get which shifts?
A: The system distributes employees automatically to balance workload. You can make manual adjustments after the schedule is generated.

Q: What happens if I do not have enough employees to fill all workplaces?
A: Shifton will fill as many slots as possible with available employees. Unfilled workplace slots will appear as open shifts that you can assign later or that employees can claim.

Q: Can I have shifts of different durations within the same schedule?
A: Yes. Each shift period can have its own start time, end time, and break settings, so shifts do not need to be the same length.

Possible Issues and Solutions

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
Not enough employees assigned to shifts	Fewer employees in the project than total workplaces defined	Add more employees to the project or reduce the number of workplaces
Shifts overlap in time	Shift time ranges are not properly sequenced	Adjust start and end times so shifts do not overlap
Employees assigned to back-to-back shifts	The system may assign consecutive shifts if availability allows	Manually adjust assignments to ensure adequate rest periods
Cannot set more than a certain number of shifts per day	System configuration limitation	Check if your plan supports the number of shifts you need
Schedule shows uneven distribution	Unequal number of employees per position or availability constraints	Review employee assignments and availability, then manually rebalance