Weekly Work Schedule Template (Free Excel download)

An employee schedule template is a shift scheduling calendar or table that lists all employees and the hours they should work in a given period.

There are different employee schedule templates available for each industry and profession. Some are set up by timeframe, using weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedules. Others give an estimate of pay based on the number of hours worked.

Many businesses use employee scheduling software instead of an Excel or Word template. The scheduling software can also help maintain proper shift coverage. Employees can see their schedule changes in real-time, and managers can eliminate unplanned overtime and increase productivity, health, and safety.

Scheduling software also offers project management and time management features such as time tracking and workflow automation.

Small businesses might use a basic schedule template generated in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Excel. Continue reading to learn how to make your own weekly work schedule template.

When using a weekly work schedule template, managers and HR professionals generally have two options:

1. Use a free template you can download and change it to fit your organization's needs.

2. Create your template from scratch.

Customized weekly shift schedules are great if your business has a unique need that might require some changes to a standard work calendar template. By making your schedule template, you can control everything about the schedule, from how long each shift is to how many people are working at once. You can also decide on each column and row of your shift schedule.

Follow these steps to make a weekly work schedule for your employees, or use our free download of a printable Excel schedule template for a weekly employee schedule.

Step 1: Open a new spreadsheet or document

Many people use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. You can also use a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs to create an employee work schedule.

If you have a spreadsheet, open a new sheet.

If you're using a word processor, open a new document and add a table with as many rows as there are employee names and as many columns as there are workdays.

Step 2: Add the column and row labels

Add labels to the table's top row and leftmost column. Set these headings as the day of the week, the daily schedule, or team members' names.

With this do-it-yourself format, you can decide which attributes go in rows and columns. You can also keep track of how many hours each employee has worked so that no one works too much.

Step 3: Add in work hours

Populate the cells by assigning shifts to each employee. The beginning and end of your employee schedule will depend on your company's needs.

Each team member's amount of time should be based on their working arrangement with the company, their availability, and any planned time off they may have requested.

It can be hard to manually set up work schedules that meet the needs of every employee. If this is always a problem for your business, you might want to try employee shift schedule software.

Step 4: Save the work schedule template

Save your template and name the file something like "Employee schedule template 2022" or "Weekly planner template."

Every time you build a new schedule, save a new one with the latest working period in the file name. For example, you might use "Employee schedule June 20-24th 2022" as your document title.

It's vital to schedule weekly work so team members can fulfill company demands, relax between shifts, and understand availability.

Proper scheduling ensures that shifts and coverage are taken care of, allowing operations to function smoothly and giving team members much-deserved downtime.

Unorganized work schedules can cause confusion or stress from too much work, leading to employee dissatisfaction.

Here is our free download of an Excel employee schedule template.

DIY work schedules made with Microsoft and Google tools can be limited and time-consuming to use. For this reason, many businesses utilize a workforce management solution like Hubstaff.

Manage schedules and employee time simultaneously. View real-time employee hours, time-off, and daily or weekly timesheets.

Hubstaff's features simplify work schedules, meaning managers and employees have more time to get things done.

Build one-off or recurring schedules

In the software, click the "Add Schedule" button to create a new shift for a team member, then edit the shift duration, timezone, minimum hours, and recurring shift options.

Choose whether you would like the shift to be recurring weekly or bi-weekly and how long you would like the shift to repeat. You can also add a one-off or recurring to-do list for that shift.

Track time to shifts

Employees who are required to log their time using software such as Hubstaff cannot change their time in and out without the managers' approval. Tracking time helps avoid time theft and ensures that team members work their proper hours.

Exact time data can also solve overtime, understaffing, cash flow, and payroll issues. That's good for employee morale — after encountering two payroll difficulties, 49% of employees will look for a new job.

Set up automated reminders and notifications

Employee scheduling and time tracking software can help you implement employee break requirements by setting up break reminders for the team.

Get notified when team members are clocking overtime, clocking in late, leaving work early, or using their hours for incorrect jobs.

Using an overtime tracker makes it easier to be aware of overtime before it occurs so that hours can be corrected or rescheduled.

View schedules in real-time

Once you have created your schedule, you can choose to view the schedule by:

• Team member

• Team

• Daily work

• Weekly work

Overall, an Excel or spreadsheet-based shift schedule template like the one provided in this article will go a long way in scheduling employee shifts and hours. However, due to a lack of features, these templates work best as temporary solutions until small businesses can implement proper scheduling software.

Full workforce management software provides automated scheduling and added benefits like project management with time tracking and productivity measurement solutions.

If your organization has grown past basic work schedule templates, look no further than Hubstaff scheduling software.

Check out our 14-day free trial today and experiment with all of the scheduling benefits we provide.