How to Create Shift Templates for Hourly-Based Availability

How Hourly Availability and Shift Templates Work Together

For positions configured to use Hourly Availability, employees enter the times they are available to work using an open calendar.

Shift Templates are separate from employee availability. They define the shifts or blocks of time that need to be staffed.

When generating a schedule, SubItUp uses the Shift Templates along with employee Hourly Availability and applicable scheduling settings to determine who can be scheduled.

Shift Templates can also make it faster to manually add commonly used shifts to the Schedule Calendar.

Create a Shift Template

Open the Shift Templates page.
Make sure the correct hourly-based Position is loaded.
To view additional positions, add them to the position toolbar and click Load Positions.
Click Add New Shift on the right side of the page.
Select the Position for the Shift Template.
Choose whether the Shift Template should be Active.
Enter a descriptive Shift Name.
Select a Shift Color if desired.
Enter the Start Time and End Time.
Add a Shift Note if employees need additional information about the shift.
Configure any additional Shift Template settings your organization uses.
Enter how many employees are needed for each applicable day of the week and make those days Active.
Click Save.

Choosing Shift Template Times

Shift Templates can represent the full length of a regular shift or smaller blocks of time.

For example, if employees always work set shifts such as 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM, you can create a Shift Template for that complete timeframe.

If employee schedules vary significantly based on their Hourly Availability, smaller blocks can provide more scheduling flexibility.

For example, if the shortest amount of time an employee should work is one hour, you could create templates such as:

7:00 AM to 8:00 AM
8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

When generating the schedule, SubItUp can use these smaller Shift Templates along with employee Hourly Availability to build the schedule.

Shift Splitting

Shift Splitting is available for hourly-based positions.

When enabled, SubItUp can split a larger Shift Template into smaller shifts if an employee cannot fill the entire timeframe.

For example, a Shift Template from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM could be split into:

8:00 AM to 10:00 AM
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

The Minimum Length and Maximum Length settings determine how Shift Splitting can divide the Shift Template.

Keep employee scheduling limits in mind when using this feature. If a Shift Template is longer than an employee's applicable maximum hours, that employee may not be eligible to work the entire shift.

Active and Inactive Shift Templates

A Shift Template must be Active to be used when automatically generating a schedule.

Inactive Shift Templates appear greyed out and are not used during schedule generation.

If a Shift Template you expect to use is missing during scheduling or generation, check whether the template is currently Active.

Editing a Shift Template

Existing Shift Templates can be edited if the times, staffing requirements, or other settings need to change.

When editing a Shift Template that already has future shifts on the Schedule Calendar, SubItUp will ask how you want to handle those future shifts.

You can choose whether to:

Leave the existing future shifts as they are, or
Update the future shifts to reflect the changes made to the Shift Template.

Changing a Shift Template does not automatically mean every existing shift on the calendar will change. Review the future-shift option carefully when saving your changes.

Duplicating Shift Templates

If you need to create several similar Shift Templates, use the Duplicate Shift Template option.

You can duplicate a Shift Template within the same position or to another position and then edit the new template as needed.

When duplicating a Shift Template, review the settings on the new template before using it. The video specifically notes that the Rate Adjustment does not copy to the duplicated Shift Template and must be added again if needed.

Tasks

A Shift Template can also be configured as a Task.

A Task is not a regular work shift. Tasks can overlap an employee's existing scheduled shift and can be used to identify something the employee needs to do during their scheduled time.

For example, an employee working from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM could have a 3:00 PM Task reminding them to attend a meeting.

Tasks cannot be used to clock in or out and do not appear as worked shifts in Time Clock or Payroll Reports.

Additional Shift Template Options

Depending on your organization's setup, a Shift Template may also include options such as:

GL Code
Rate Adjustment
Shift Splitting
Create as a Task
Staffing requirements for each day of the week

A Rate Adjustment can be used when a specific shift should have different compensation from the employee's normal pay rate.

Important Notes

Hourly Availability and Shift Templates are not the same thing. Employees enter when they are available, while Shift Templates define the shifts that need to be staffed.
This article applies specifically to positions configured for Hourly Availability.
Shift-Based Availability uses a different availability workflow.
Shift Templates should be Active if they need to be used during schedule generation.
Employee Hourly Availability is collected through the hourly availability calendar.
Creating accurate Shift Templates before generating a schedule helps SubItUp determine the shifts that need to be staffed.
Smaller Shift Templates may provide more flexibility when employee work times vary significantly.
If you operate in multiple locations within the same position, consider identifying the location in the Shift Name so the shifts are easy to distinguish.

Need Additional Help?

If you have questions about creating Shift Templates for an hourly-based position or need assistance configuring Shift Templates for schedule generation, contact SubItUp Support HERE and we can review your situation.