🔓 Access level in Planday: Administrator.
🌐 Subscription plan: Any.
⏱️ Reading time: 4 min.
✅ Required steps: How to organise your Planday workspace
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Getting started with Planday is simple. Before you begin scheduling, you’ll need to set up three core areas:
Departments (where employees work)
Employee groups (what employees do)
Employees (your team)
Once these are in place, you can start scheduling and exploring features like time tracking and payroll.
Create Departments
Departments typically represent your business locations or divisions (e.g., Front of House or Back of House). Each Department has its own schedule.
Note: A new Planday workspace comes with one default department. On the Starter plan, you’re limited to one department.
To create or edit a Department:
Go to Planday web > People > Departments > Create Department
Enter a name and relevant details about this department
Assign employees
Click Done
You can also edit or rename existing Departments.
📄 Learn How to create or edit a Department in Planday.
Create Employee groups
Employee groups define employee roles (e.g. Bartender, Server), while Departments define where they work.
Employee groups also allow you to control shift eligibility and streamline workforce scheduling. By grouping employees based on shared characteristics, you can easily assign specific shift types and simplify the scheduling process.
Note: Employees can belong to multiple Employee groups. For example, an employee working as both a bartender and server can be part of both corresponding groups, gaining access to a range of shift options. This flexibility enables employees to access all shifts associated with their groups, ensuring better alignment with organisational needs.
To create or edit an Employee group:
Go to Planday web > People > Employee groups > Create employee group
Enter a name
Add employees
Assign a default group wage
Click Done
By using Employee Groups strategically, you can ensure that shifts are distributed to the most appropriate staff and that scheduling is more efficient.
Add and invite Employees
Now you’re ready to add your team and assign them to the correct structure.
Go to People > Employees > and press the Create employee button.
To create employees:
Go to People > Employees > Create employee.
Fill out their name, email (which becomes their username), and other details.
Assign to one or more Departments and Employee groups.
Press Save.
Note: Repeat this step to create more employee profiles and later invite them to your workspace via Tools > Send invitations.
Start scheduling
Once you’ve set up Departments, Employee groups, and Employees, you can begin scheduling.
Go to Schedule > Schedule and click where you want to add a shift.
Create shifts
Click in the Schedule to create a shift. You can also create Open shifts if you don’t yet know who will cover it.
Move shifts with drag and drop
To move a shift, drag and drop it to wherever you want. This feature is especially useful if you assign Open shifts from the Employees view or if you want to move a scheduled shift to another day.
Copy shifts
If you have the same shift on multiple days, copy the shift by holding down Alt/Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows), then drag and drop a copy of the shift until a small green plus icon appears.
Delete shifts
Shifts can be deleted individually, or bulk delete all shifts in a week.
Delete a single shift: In the dropdown below the shift, select Delete shift.
Delete all shifts in a week: Go to Tools in the top right corner and select Delete this week.
Use Schedule templates
Templates help save time once you’ve built your ideal schedule. You can reuse templates week after week.
Set up Punch Clock and approve timesheets
Track when employees start and end shifts using the Planday app. Review and approve timesheets in Planday and compare scheduled vs. actual hours.
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