How to build a weekly shift schedule

A weekly shift schedule for several stores is built in seven steps: set what each store needs, note the week’s constraints, start with the store that is shortest of staff, place shifts only within the rules, leave gaps visible, fill them from another store, and validate before you send. The order matters: most mistakes happen when a step is done before the one it depends on.

1. Set what each store needs

How many people you want per role and per hour: for example one in the kitchen 06:30–14:30, two on sales in the morning and one in the afternoon. A store’s needs rarely change from week to week, so it pays to write them down once and reuse them.

In Postorunner this is the standard schedule (“Τυποποιημένο Πρόγραμμα”): set once, and carried into each new week in one click.

2. Note the week’s constraints

Before the first shift goes in, gather what applies only this week:

days off, leave and sick leave;
availability windows (“until 15:00”);
days someone must work;
days someone would “rather not”, where possible.

If constraints go in after the shifts, every constraint is also a correction.

3. Start with the store that is shortest of staff

When stores share staff, the order matters. If the store with the most people builds its week first, it will also keep those who could have covered elsewhere. Start where demand exceeds the people available by the most.

The generation order table with demand, capacity, shortfall and coverage for three stores. — Generate for every store: the store that was 6 shifts short went first. Demo environment, with invented names.

4. Place shifts only within the rules

Every shift has to pass the same checks, for that particular person:

11 hours’ rest since their previous shift, including from the previous week’s Sunday (why it slips so easily);
no seventh consecutive day, counting the previous week’s days;
the hours and shifts in their contract, five-day or six-day;
the role: only roles they hold, main or secondary;
one shift a day, across all stores together;
the contract dates, for seasonal staff;
no shift on a day the store is closed.

Among those who pass, the choice is a matter of priorities: first the “must work” days, then as many covered slots as possible, then each employee’s minimum shifts, someone who can close on the last shift, a fair share among people on the same contract, and finally preferences.

5. Leave gaps visible

If nobody passes the checks for a shift, don’t fill it “for now” with someone who can’t work it. Leave it empty and visible. A gap that shows gets covered; a gap hidden behind a breach only shows at an inspection.

A store’s week: seven day columns of shift cards, with red dashed cards for the empty slots. — A store’s week as its manager sees it. The red dashed cards are slots left empty.

6. Fill gaps from another store

One store has a gap, another has a person. Lending staff closes the gap, as long as the person passes the same checks across both stores’ shifts together. How to do it properly is in the article on lending staff between stores.

7. Validate, send, and keep changes visible

When the week is ready, lock in a version of it: that is what goes to payroll to be declared in ERGANI II. From then on, every change must stand out, because every change is also a change of hours to be declared in time. Finally, the payroll files should come out of the same schedule, not be typed up again (what payroll needs).

How Postorunner does it

In Postorunner, steps 3 to 5 are one button: Generate builds a store’s week in about 20 seconds. The Admin can also generate for every store at once, and then the system starts with the store that is shortest of staff. The week is built by a mathematical optimiser with the priorities above, and any goal it can’t meet is reported. Whatever can’t be covered legally stays an empty slot.

“Pick from another store” lists only those who can legally fill a gap. After validation, every change is marked, and the ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ and ΩΡΟΜΕΤΡΗΣΗ files come out in one click.

Frequently asked questions

Where does a shift schedule start?

With each store’s needs per role and hour, and the week’s constraints: days off, leave, availability. The shifts come after.

Can the schedule be built for all stores at once?

Yes, and it works better: whoever is spare in one store goes first to where they are needed most. In Postorunner the Admin builds every store’s week with one Generate.

What do I do when a shift can’t be covered?

Leave it empty and visible, and look for someone at another store who passes the same checks. If there is nobody, the gap is real and needs a decision, not a shift that breaks a rule.