🔓 Access level in Planday: Administrator, Schedule manager

🌐 Subscription plan: All

ℹ️ Important read: Scheduling explained ; Schedule FAQ

⏱️ Reading time: 5 min.

✅ Required steps: Tasks to get started with Planday.

How to create a shift on Planday web

Go to Schedule and make sure you’ve selected the correct Department from the drop-down list in the top-left corner.
In the Employees, Groups, or Positions view (examples here use the Employees view), hover over the desired day next to an employee’s name and click the blue plus icon (+).
A pop-up window will open where you can create a shift:
- Time: Set a start and end time for the shift.
- Assigned to: Choose a specific employee or select Open shift if you don’t want to assign it yet.
- Group or Position: Select an Employee group or Position. Only Employee groups assigned to that employee will be shown.
- Shift type: Leave it as Normal for a regular shift, or choose another type (e.g., Training, Sick, Trial).
- Duration and breaks: Displayed at the top right. You can adjust breaks at the bottom of the pop-up.
- Approve shifts for payroll: Approve the shift for payroll (only possible for past shifts).
- Notify employee: Tick the checkbox to automatically send the employee a Planday message when the shift is created.
Click Create to add the shift to the schedule.

Learn more in the Move, copy, delete and approve shifts article.

Additional options when creating a shift on Planday web

Note: The number of characters in the comment field should be a maximum of 250, including spaces.

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Communication: Optionally, you can add a note to the employee regarding this shift.

Break: Manage the breaks of the shift in this tab. Learn more in the articles about breaks.
Wage: Optionally, you can enter a per hour wage or a per shift wage that overrides the default wage value taken from the Employee group.
Supplements: From the drop-down list, you can select a manual payroll supplement to apply to this shift.
Skills: If this option is active in your Planday, you can choose a specific skill for this shift so that only the employees who possess this skill can take or be assigned to this shift. Learn more in Set up and use Skills.
Administrative note: If this option is active in your Planday, you can add a note that is only visible to the employees who can create schedules.
Copies: Choose whether to create a specific number of copies of this shift. These appear in the schedule on the same day and you can edit them.
Draft shifts: Draft shifts allow you to create shifts without making them live to your employees. Learn more in How to use Draft shifts.

Why does an Employee group not appear on the schedule?

An Employee group may not appear on the schedule because an admin or a manager has hidden it. This setting affects all schedule views and users with schedule access.

To show the hidden group, go to the Schedule > switch to Groups view > click Manage groups. You can show or hide an employee group here by clicking the Show group icon.

How to edit a shift on Planday web

Click on a shift to open and edit it, then press Save.
Depending on the view (Employees or Groups), you can also quick edit by clicking directly on the shift time or Employee group.
View all the changes on a shift from the History tab, or go to Schedule > Tools > Schedule history to see all the changes.

How to edit multiple shifts on Planday web

Select multiple shifts using the checkboxes.
Click Edit at the bottom of the screen.
In the edit window, you can change the time, Shift type, or add comments for all selected shifts at once.

How to create a shift using the Planday app

📱 Examples shown here are on the iOS app. The Android version may look slightly different but works the same way.

Steps to create a quick shift

Go to the Schedule page in the Planday app.
Check your Department and ensure the correct one is selected at the top. If you manage multiple departments, tap the department name to switch.
Tap the blue plus (+) tile to create a new shift for an employee.
1. Set the start and end times for the shift.
2. Set the Group or Position of the shift.
Press Publish and let the employee know.

Assigning shifts (if using the Groups or Positions view in the app)

Under Assigned to, you can:

Leave it as Open shift (default), or
Press the dropdown to select from available employees.

When assigning employees, you’ll see:

Employees available to work.
Employees unavailable due to working time rule violations, conflicting availability, or conflicting shifts.

You can still assign shifts that break a rule, but a warning banner will appear explaining which rule is affected. Tap the banner to learn more about the specific rule.

Once ready, Publish the shift to make it live.

If you assigned the shift to an employee, you’ll be prompted to notify them by:

Planday in app message (free)
SMS (charges apply)
Both.

Additional options when creating shifts on the app

Under More options, you can:

Save shift times as a Time block to reuse them for future shifts.
Manage existing Time blocks you’ve already created, reorder or delete them. (Saved on device only).
Set the Employee group or Position for the shift.
Add a manual break or preview which break rule will apply.
Leave a comment for the employee (visible on their shift).

Tips:

Use Open shifts to allow employees to claim available shifts directly from the app; perfect for flexible teams.
Save Time blocks for commonly used shift patterns to speed up future scheduling.
Learn more in the Move, copy, delete and approve shifts article.

How to edit a shift using Planday app

Tap on a shift to open the Edit shift view and make your changes.
Confirm via the tick (✔️) on Android or Save on iOS.
Tap and hold a shift to see more quick options to Copy, Move, or Delete.

Create or edit shifts