How to make a work schedule
- Pick the day your workweek starts on, Monday or Sunday, and the week's first date if you want it printed.
- Type a name in each row. Type another name in Add an employee and press Enter for more rows, up to 50.
- Press a day to open its shift and type the start time, the end time and any unpaid meal break in minutes, or choose Day off. Repeat on copies it to other days, and Quick fill stamps a common shift on every day you press. An end time earlier than the start is a shift past midnight and shows +1.
- Read each person's weekly hours at the end of the row and the hours on each day along the bottom. By default, a row over 40 hours carries an Over 40 flag.
- Press Print schedule for the break room, or Download CSV to save it as a CSV file.
Shift hours = end time − start time − unpaid break
Weekly hours = the shifts in the row added up
Over 40 = more than 2,400 minutes in the workweek
Weekly employee schedule template, printable
The grid opens blank with three rows: that is the template. Print it as it is and you get an empty weekly staff schedule with a column for each day and a box for weekly hours, ready to fill in by pen. Download CSV on the blank grid gives the same empty schedule as a CSV file.
Fill it on screen instead and the printout carries every shift as text, each person's weekly hours, the hours on each day and, if you tick Include overtime flags when printing, the Over 40 flags. It prints landscape; a long schedule continues on the next page with the column headings repeated.
Your schedule is kept in this browser so it is there next time, and nowhere else. Press Clear schedule to remove it.
What the 40-hour flag means
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay of at least 1.5 times the regular rate for a covered, nonexempt employee's hours over 40 in a workweek. The flag marks the rows that pass that line so you can see them before the schedule goes up.
A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, seven days in a row, and it can start on any day and at any hour. Each workweek stands alone, so hours are not averaged over two or more weeks. This tool starts the workweek at midnight on Monday or Sunday: pick the one your payroll uses. If your payroll week starts on another day or at another hour, the flag may not match it.
The flag is a warning, not a pay figure. It does not know who is exempt, it does not apply state daily overtime rules such as California's (over 8 hours in a workday), and it does not count hours worked outside the schedule. It also does not apply the 14-day and 28-day work periods that some hospitals and police and fire departments may use instead of the workweek. To work out the pay, use the overtime calculator.
This tool shows a shift past midnight under the day it starts and counts all of its hours to that day and to this week's total. US federal overtime counts hours in the workweek in which they are worked, so when a shift runs past the end of the workweek, the hours after that point belong to the next workweek. The over-40 flag leaves those hours out and the row shows the hours that fall in this workweek. The tool cannot know when an unpaid break was taken, so it assumes it came after midnight, which makes this week's hours the highest they can be; if it was taken before midnight, this week's hours are lower by up to the length of the break. The biweekly time card calculator carries them into the next week.
29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1), 207(j), 207(k); 29 CFR 778.103, 778.104, 778.105; Cal. Labor Code 510(a).
Worked example
The example week (press See an example, the names are made up) has five people. Jordan works 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM with a 30-minute unpaid lunch, Monday to Friday: 8.00 hours a day, 40.00 for the week, which is on the line and not over it. Priya works 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM four days and 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM on Friday, each with 30 minutes off: 42.00 hours, so her row is flagged.
| Employee | Shifts | Weekly hours | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan | 5 × 8.00 | 40.00 | None |
| Priya | 4 × 8.50 + 8.00 | 42.00 | Over 40 |
| Marcus | 4 nights, 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM (+1), 30 min off | 32.00 | None |
| Lena | 5.00 + 7.50 + 7.50 | 20.00 | None |
| Diego | 3 × 8.00 | 24.00 | None |
| All employees | 158.00 | 1 row |
Building a fair weekly schedule
- Post it early. People plan childcare, classes and second jobs around it. Some states and cities require it of certain large employers: Oregon and Seattle require covered retail and food service employers to post schedules 14 days ahead. Check your local rules.
- Leave rest between a closing shift and the next opening shift. A 10:00 PM finish followed by a 6:00 AM start leaves eight hours for the trip home, sleep and the trip back.
- Share the weekend and late shifts. Rotating them is easier to defend than giving them to the same people every week.
- Check the totals before you post. The hours per day along the bottom show a thin day or a crowded one at a glance, and the flags show who is heading over 40.
- Mind teen workers. Federal rules limit the hours and times of day that 14- and 15-year-olds may work outside farm jobs, and your state may set stricter limits; see how many hours a minor can work.
Questions
Is there a blank weekly work schedule template?
Yes. The grid opens blank with three rows, and that is the template. Press Print schedule for a paper copy to fill in by hand, or Download CSV for a blank CSV file.
Can I download the schedule as a file?
Yes. Download CSV saves the schedule as a CSV file with a UTF-8 byte-order mark.
Can I make the schedule in Word or as a PDF?
There is no Word download. Press Print schedule and choose Save as PDF in the print window to get a file you can email or post.
Where is my schedule saved?
Only in this browser, on this device. Nothing you type is sent to SumTrue. Press Clear schedule to remove it. In a private window the browser may not save it at all, and the page says so.
Does the over-40 flag mean overtime is owed?
Not on its own. Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, a covered, nonexempt employee is owed overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, at no less than 1.5 times the regular rate. Whether someone is covered or exempt, state daily overtime rules and pay are outside this tool. The overtime calculator works out the pay.
How are overnight shifts counted?
A shift that ends after midnight, such as 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, is marked +1 and this tool counts all of its hours to the day it starts. US federal overtime counts hours in the workweek in which they are worked, so if the shift runs past the end of the workweek, the hours after that point belong to the next workweek. Check the split on the biweekly time card calculator.
Sources
- 29 U.S.C. 207, Maximum hours (GovInfo)
- 29 CFR 778.103, The workweek as the basis for applying section 7(a) (eCFR)
- 29 CFR 778.104, Each workweek stands alone (eCFR)
- 29 CFR 778.105, Determining the workweek (eCFR)
- 29 CFR Part 785, Hours Worked (eCFR)
- 29 CFR 570.35, Hours of work for minors 14 and 15 years of age (eCFR)
- California Labor Code 510, Daily and weekly overtime
- Oregon ORS 653.422 and 653.436, Work schedules (Oregon Legislature)
- Seattle Secure Scheduling Ordinance, SMC 14.22 (Seattle Office of Labor Standards)