Employee Scheduling Software: Top 10 Lifesaving Solutions

Improve employee attendance

Scheduling is a part of the work process that requires accuracy, precision, and attention to detail. Technology makes this task easier: there are various software solutions that simplify the creation and update of schedules.

Depending on company needs, you can choose a resource allocation product, an absence management solution, a shift planning tool, an appointment planning service, etc.

We’ve selected the best employee scheduling software for companies of any size that helps manage absences and shifts faster and with less effort.

1. actiPLANS

  • Employee scheduling
  • Time off tracking
  • Reports
  • Time tracking integration
  • iCal integration
  • Mobile app
  • Employee self-service
  • Automated notifications

actiPLANS is an employee scheduling and absence management solution for teams of any size. With its help, you can schedule employee shifts, corporate events, or any other custom types of work that make sense in your particular situation. Besides, it’s perfect for scheduling vacations and other absences for future dates.

Leave management, actiPLANS

actiPLANS streamlines leave management, and automates PTO and sick leave balance calculations. Besides, offers a mobile app that makes time off tracking more accessible and efficient for employees and managers alike.

It lets users effortlessly request time off and check their team’s availability right from their mobile devices. This not only enhances transparency within the workplace but also significantly reduces administrative workload, providing more time to spend on truly significant tasks.

actiPLANS Mobile

actiPLANS conveniently shows the past, current, and future employee schedules in a calendar view, providing team members and managers with all the necessary details of who should be at work and when. It gives all the necessary tools to create and adjust employee schedules in minutes, adapting to varying project demands and individual employee needs on the fly.

actiPLANS has a flexible configuration. You can create unlimited work and leave types that meet your current scheduling needs.

This adaptability ensures you can optimize your workforce efficiency while also accommodating your staff members’ preferences for personal time off, remote work days, and shifts. Thus, it fosters a more satisfying and productive work environment.

Price:

Free version for 1-3 users. Paid plans start at $1.2 per user/month. Free 30-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.6 (11 reviews)

Best for:

actiPLANS is particularly suitable for remote teams. It allows for seamless employee scheduling across different time zones and ensures that everyone, regardless of location, stays informed and connected.

Using actiPLANS has freed up a lot of time previously spent manually updating spreadsheets, which the team can now use to work on more important tasks.

2. Workfeed

  • Auto-assigned shifts
  • Time off management
  • Chat
  • Reports

Workfeed integrates work scheduling, time tracking, and team collaboration tools within a single platform, making it easier for teams to stay organized and connected, regardless of their physical location.

Workfeed, employee scheduling software

Thanks to Workfeed automation and flexible settings, managers can easily take into account employee preferences, reduce conflicts, and ensure optimal staffing levels when scheduling shifts. Then, users can accurately log the time they spend on work, which provides insights into resource utilization and simplifies the process of reporting and invoicing for the completed projects.

Workfeed also features a built-in chat that facilitates team communication, enabling users to discuss work-related issues, share updates, and collaborate effectively in real time.

This combination of work scheduling, time tracking, and chat functionality ensures that projects stay on track and your teams are well-coordinated.

Price:

Starting from $2 per user/month for the Basic plan. Free 14-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.5 (8 reviews)

Best for:

Businesses that operate virtually. Remote and hybrid teams.

3. Humanity

  • Shift planning
  • Demand scheduling
  • Compliance
  • Reports

This employee scheduling software creates a clear view of upcoming shifts, helping avoid schedule conflicts and overlaps. It works as a convenient addition to many HR systems by integrating with them and keeping all schedule data visual and conveniently organized.

Humanity, employee scheduling software

Humanity offers multiple shift viewing options, such as daily, weekly, and monthly schedules – available in both graphical and list formats. Besides, it provides a comprehensive at-a-glance overview of staffing coverage by location, skill level, and position.

The mobile app gives employees full control over their shifts. They can stay informed on schedule changes, and inform managers if they can take on upcoming work, and trade shifts.

On top of that, Humanity keeps and visualizes key metrics, helping managers review current trends and prepare forecasts for future periods.

Price:

No information is available on the website.

Capterra rating: 4.3 (294 reviews)

Best for:

Humanity is best suited for shift-based teams, particularly those in the retail, healthcare, and hospitality sectors.

4. Shiftboard

  • Schedule automation
  • Coverage optimization
  • Leave management
  • Demand planning

Shiftboard app is designed for organizing the work of hourly employees and managing shifts. It optimizes labor coverage, prevents excessive labor expenses, helps reduce overtime, and saves managers’ time spent on creating schedules and filling shifts.

Shiftboard automatically selects workers eligible for specific shifts, automatically sends notifications to employees on schedule updates, and supports two-way texting for better communication.

The tool also has a shift trading feature, allows employees to pick up open shifts that they prefer, and includes an availability preference setting so that employees let their employers know their preferred work time.

Price:

No information is available on the website.

Capterra rating: 4.4 (238 reviews)

Best for:

Shiftboard is ideally suited for large, mission-critical businesses that operate around the clock and require a reliable solution for scheduling, attendance tracking, and operational management.

5. 7shifts

  • Time clock
  • Compliance
  • Team communication
  • Payroll

7shifts streamlines operations, automates shift management, supports different locations, and helps control labor costs. The tool combines simple chart interfaces familiar to anyone who has been dealing with paper or spreadsheet shift management, and automation features that simplify and speed up organizational work.

The app helps managers and business owners save costs of employees’ work, prevent schedule overlaps, and stay informed on workers’ overtime with real-time notifications. With 7shifts, it’s easier to stay compliant with labor laws and keep employees happy.

Price:

Free version with limited functionality for a single location and up to 30 employees. Paid plans start at $29.99 per location/month. Free 14-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.7 (1135 reviews)

Best for:

This employee scheduling software system is designed specifically for restaurants and food services.

6. Jobber

  • Service scheduling
  • Calendar management
  • Route mapping
  • Push notifications

Jobber offers an array of features aimed at streamlining operations, enhancing customer service, and improving the efficiency of day-to-day tasks. These features include scheduling and dispatching, invoicing and billing, time tracking, and customer relationship management (CRM).

Jobber is built with accuracy and clarity in mind. It features color codes for different types of activities and displays the planned work in an intuitive clear calendar view.

Jobber’s map and routing functionality is particularly helpful for teams in the field service industry. It visually presents job locations on a map and generates the most efficient routes to the assigned work sites. This not only saves valuable time and fuel but also helps in providing quicker services to customers, enhancing overall satisfaction.

Price:

Starting from $69 per month for the Core plan. Free 14-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.5 (733 reviews)

Best for:

Jobber is primarily meant for small and mid-sized businesses in the service sector.

7. Findmyshift

  • Attendance management
  • Shift requests
  • Calendar integration
  • Payroll

This simplifies employee scheduling and shift management processes. It allows for organizing shifts and work intervals in a convenient chart, monitoring employees’ presence at work, calculating payroll, and managing labor costs.

Findmyshift’s intuitive drag-and-drop employee scheduling functionality allows managers to easily create, edit, and visualize schedules, ensuring that the right employees are assigned to the right shifts at the right times.

Furthermore, the platform enhances team communication and flexibility through its shift request system. Employees can request specific shifts or time off directly within the app, and managers can approve or modify these requests with a simple click.

This degree of interactivity streamlines the scheduling process and increases employee satisfaction by including their preferences in the picture.

Price:

Free version from small teams of up to 5 members. Paid plans start at £20 per team/month. Free 60-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.7 (979 reviews)

Best for:

Findmyshift is suitable for teams with hourly employees, part-time staff, and shift workers who sometimes have complex work schedule patterns.

8. HotSchedules

  • Mobile app
  • Labor forecasting
  • Compliance
  • Attendance management

HotSchedules works as a centralized hub for labor management. Through intuitive mobile and web applications, it streamlines the scheduling process, facilitates real-time communication among team members, and offers insights into labor costs and productivity

HotSchedules grants employees full control over their schedules, allowing them to pick up shifts, swap them, and get notified of upcoming schedule changes. And for managers, the tool offers convenient ways to reduce labor costs, prevent schedule conflicts, and save time spent on organizational processes.

For instance, the software’s labor forecasting functionality leverages historical data and predictive analytics to help managers anticipate staffing needs. It assists in predicting the right number of staff members for any given shift, which makes it easier to ensure optimal customer service and prevent excess labor costs.

Price:

Contact HotSchedules for a quote.

Capterra rating: 4.4 (452 reviews)

Best for:

HotSchedules is ideally suited for teams in the hospitality and retail sectors, particularly those within restaurants, bars, cafes, and hotels.

9. Acuity Scheduling

  • Automated appointment booking
  • Staff calendar
  • Online payments
  • Text message reminders

Acuity Scheduling is a flexible tool for managing schedules and appointments. It helps organize interaction with customers in sales, services, and similar fields.

The tool has a self-service feature that allows customers to book available time slots for meetings and calls, informs staff on schedule updates, and shows scheduled events on a calendar view. Acuity helps sales and customer service staff spend less time on scheduling processes, fueling customer satisfaction and business growth.

Price:

Starting from $16 per month. Free 7-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.8 (5582 reviews)

Best for:

Acuity Scheduling is best suited for small to mid-sized businesses and solopreneurs who require flexible scheduling solutions for their services.

10. Planday

  • Shift planning
  • Mobile app
  • Time clock
  • Messaging

Planday is a straightforward workforce management platform meant to simplify employee scheduling, time tracking, and team communication. It enables managers to efficiently organize their workforce and ensure that their operational needs match employee availability and preferences infallibly.

Planday, employee scheduling software

By leveraging data on demand patterns, employee skills, contracted hours, and relevant work regulations, Planday empowers you to quickly assemble smart, optimized schedules. It helps assign employees to shifts where they are most needed, fulfilling both operational demands and compliance with labor laws.

Planday’s messaging feature keeps everyone up to date with schedule changes and any urgent announcements. It fosters a culture of openness and transparency, as staff members can easily reach out to each other or their supervisors with questions or any other news.

Price:

Starting from €2.99 per user/month. Free 30-day trial.

Capterra rating: 4.3 (55 reviews)

Best for:

Planday is best suited for teams within industries like hospitality, retail, and healthcare. It is ideal for businesses that manage a large, part-time, or hourly workforce.

Conclusion

In a world where efficiency is not just desired but required, leveraging the right employee scheduling software becomes indispensable for businesses seeking to streamline operations and enhance productivity.

The top 10 solutions reviewed in this post provide a range of features that cater to diverse business needs, emphasizing the importance of choosing a solution that aligns with your company’s specific demands.

Among these, actiPLANS stands out for its flexibility, simplicity, and versatility, making it an ideal choice for most of the companies out there. By adding it to your toolkit, you can ensure your team is always on time, adequately staffed, and more efficient than ever.

Sign up for a free actiPLANS trial today and enjoy seamless employee scheduling. 👇

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