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What is a Shift type?

Shift types mark non-regular Shifts on the schedule. For example, a Shift type can be set up for marking trial Shifts or illnesses on the Schedule.

This opens up a wide range of options for you when using the Planday schedule to document variations in Shifts and use them for reporting or payroll. In this article, you'll learn how to create Shift types and what you can use them for.

How to create a Shift type

To do this, navigate to Settings > Schedule > Shift types. Click on Create to generate new Shift types.

If there are some pre-generated Shift types or you have already created some, you can see and edit them here.

When the Create shift type window opens, you can set the following details to define your Shift type.

In the example, a fictitious Shift type 'Sickness covered' is created.

Name - The name is visible to all users with access to the Schedule.

Salary code - Learn more about Salary codes in the article How to set up Salary codes. You can use Salary codes to make your payroll clearer, or if necessary, use them with external payroll integrations. Leave this field blank if it is not relevant to you.

Please note:

Depending on the setup of your payroll system, you might want to set up Payroll supplements in order to match your Salary codes correctly.
If you are using the Xero Integration, please ensure you map your custom shift types to the appropriate earning rate in Xero if you need those hours synced. Learn more in our Xero integration FAQs.

Colour - A colour code can make it easier to recognise the Shift type on the Schedule and when pulling/exporting Shift type statistics reports.

Rate adjustment - Define how the Shift type should affect pay.

To pay the full wage when the shift type is applied, leave the value at 100 per cent.
If no payment is to be paid, e.g. for unpaid absence, enter 0 Percent.
For hours that should be paid at a higher rate than normal, enter a value greater than 100 per cent, for example, 150 per cent for 1.5 times pay for weekend shifts.
Optionally, instead of percentages, after selecting from the drop-down list, you can also enter an amount that replaces existing rate (please note: this option only works for hourly wages and not for shift wages) or an amount that is added to existing rate in the local currency of your Planday organisation.

Description - Leave a description for internal understanding, especially if several Schedule managers work with Shift types. The description is only visible when editing the Shift type.

Additional settings

Allow conflicting shifts - If you leave this unchecked, you'll receive a warning in the Schedule if you try to schedule the same employee for two shifts simultaneously. If you have circumstances that require registering an employee for multiple shifts simultaneously, enable this option.

Allow booking - Checking this box will allow the Shift type to be booked when set to Open, sold, or available to swap. This should typically remain disabled for Shift types used to register sick leave, training, or staff meetings.

Overwrite when applying a template - A Shift type with this option enabled will be overwritten when you apply a Schedule template. Uncheck the option for Shift types used to plan future events like staff meetings.

Include in Schedule print - If you print or download your schedule, check this box to include the Shift type.

Include in Schedule message - When sending messages to employees on the Schedule for a specific day, the Shift type will be included. This option should typically be disabled for Shift types used to register sick leave.

Count hours in payroll report - Disable this option for Shift types that don't need to be included in the total of worked hours in the payroll report. For most Shift types this option is enabled.

Payroll supplements - Check this box if you want hours from this Shift type to be affected by Payroll supplements.

Break - Check this box if you want breaks to apply for this Shift type. Read more about setting up and working with breaks.

Meal contribution - Check this box if you want meal contribution and deduction to apply for this Shift type. Meal contributions and deductions can be set up by going to Settings > Payroll > Meal contribution and deduction.

Affects fixed salaried: Enable this option if this Shift type should apply to fixed salaried employees.

Confirm by clicking Save. You can change the settings later by editing the Shift type.

Please note: When creating a new Shift type, check whether it should be linked to an existing Contract rule. This will ensure the completeness of the contract term as all relevant Shift types will be included. Learn more in the article on creating and applying Contract rules.

How to change a Shift type of a shift on the schedule

You can manually change the Shift type of a shift on the schedule. You have several options to do this:

Click on the three dots on the shift and select Apply shift type. Then choose from the list. (see screenshot)
Click on a shift and edit it, select a new Shift type from the drop-down list under Shift type and confirm via Save.
When editing several shifts simultaneously, you can apply a Shift type to all selected shifts.

Statistics on Shift type usage

If you use Shift types, you can view insightful reports: View sickness absence, trial hours, punctuality, overtime or other Shift types you have set up.

To do this, navigate to Reports > Shift type statistics.

Find out all the details in the article Using Shift types for reporting and payroll.

Use Shift types to record overtime (TOIL) hours

One of the methods for recording overtime is based on using Shift types that you can set up for overtime or undertime hours. In practice, minus or overtime hours are transferred to your employees' overtime accounts as soon as the corresponding Shift type is applied to one of their shifts.

To learn more about this method and compare it with other ways of overtime management, take a look at the article How is TOIL handled with Shift types.

Set pay rates using Shift types

Shift types can be applied to any employee on a per-shift basis to make payroll adjustments such as unpaid leave or manual overtime pay.

Example usage of a shift type to set an extra allowance

shift type extra allowance1_new.001.jpeg

shift type extra allowance2_new.001.jpeg

In the example shown above, a Shift type is created for employees who work overtime and should be paid 50% on top of their normal wage (1).

Additional settings 2️⃣:

The option to Allow conflicting shifts has been enabled in this example, as the Shift type may only apply to part of a shift for an employee.
The Allow booking option is disabled since a shift with this Shift type applied to it should not be swapped or set to open.
The option Overwrite when applying a template is deselected to prevent a template from overwriting the Shift type.
The option to Include in schedule print and Include in schedule message has been deselected, while the option to Count hours in payroll report is enabled so that the shifts count towards worked hours for payroll in this example.
Lastly, the Shift type has been set so that shifts marked with it will count towards Payroll supplements, breaks, or Meal contributions, and its use will impact salaried employees.

If you want to deduct pay from a salaried employee’s fixed salary, you would need to set the Rate adjustment to 0%.

Please note: Remember to set the hourly wage to zero "0" for your salaried employees so that the system applies the extra payment to the salary.

See related articles:

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