Create and Manage a Shift Schedule

The article provides a comprehensive guide on setting up shift scheduling in BambooHR Time & Attendance. It outlines the process of creating, editing, and publishing employee shifts, along with managing recurring shifts and understanding the schedule view. The guide is intended for schedule managers and admins, detailing prerequisites for access and visibility of shifts. Key sections include instructions for creating shifts, configuring overnight schedules, and managing shift statuses. It also addresses common errors and fixes related to publishing shifts and managing conflicts. Additionally, the article features related resources for further reading. This structured approach aids users in effectively managing employee schedules.

  • Jul 2, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Create and Manage a Shift Schedule
Article Text

How do I set up shift scheduling in BambooHR Time & Attendance?

Who this is for

This guide is for schedule managers and admins who manage day-to-day shift scheduling in Time & Attendance. You must be assigned as a schedule manager for a schedule to view and manage it.

Before you start

Before you begin, confirm the following:

  • You can access the Time & Attendance tab on the left sidebar.
  • You are assigned as a manager for the schedule you need to manage, or you are an admin with access to all schedules.
  • You understand that employees only see published shifts.
  • Individual shifts cannot span midnight. To support overnight schedules, create two consecutive shifts that meet exactly at 12:00 AM. A single shift must end on the same calendar day it starts. Overnight scheduling is supported by creating consecutive shifts split at midnight.

Create a shift

You can create a shift by selecting an empty calendar cell or using the Add shift option.

To create a shift:

  1. Go to the Time & Attendance tab on the left sidebar.
  2. Open the schedule you want to manage.
  3. Click an empty cell in the calendar or click Add shift.
  4. Complete the shift details:
    • Shift name
    • Color
    • Date
    • Start time
    • End time
    • Recurrence settings, if needed
    • Employee assigned to shift
  5. Choose one of the save options:
    • Save as Draft
    • Publish

Shift rules to keep in mind

  • A shift can be assigned to one employee or multiple employees.
  • A shift can be created as a one-time shift or a repeating shift.
  • A shift must end on the same calendar day it starts.
  • Open shifts cannot be published until they are assigned to an employee.

Recurring shift options

You can use repeating shifts for patterns such as a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is determined when creating or editing the shift.

When you later edit a repeating shift, BambooHR asks how broadly the changes should apply.

Recurrance OptionWhat it updates
This shift onlyOnly the selected shift instance
This and all future shiftsThe selected shift and all later shifts in the series
All shiftsEvery shift in the series, except those that have already been worked

Configure overnight schedules

To support overnight schedules:

  1. Create the first shift ending at exactly 12:00 AM.
  2. Create the next shift beginning at exactly 12:00 AM.
  3. Ensure the same employee is assigned to both shifts.
  4. The employee must clock into the first shift before midnight and remain clocked in.

BambooHR automatically splits the worked time and assigns each portion to the correct shift.

Understanding the schedule view

When you open a schedule, you can use the calendar to review staffing and manage shifts.

What you will see in the calendar

  1. Employee rows for the employees assigned to the schedule
  2. A day-by-day grid for each employee
  3. An Open Shifts row for unassigned shifts
  4. Time off and holiday visibility for assigned employees
  5. A weekly summary of scheduled hours for each employee
  6. A search bar to filter by employee or shift name
  7. A "Group by" dropdown to sort the calendar
  8. Schedules separated by color

Group employees in the schedule view

You can organize the calendar by employee attributes such as:

  • Location
  • Department
  • Division
  • Job title
  • Team

This grouping only changes the calendar view. Moving a shift between grouped rows reassigns the shift to a different employee, but it does not update that employee’s profile attributes.

For example, if I moved the Afternoon Shift from Ashley's schedule to Jake's, the schedule would re-assign, but it would not change either of their teams.

Search to filter the schedule

Type an employee or shift name into the search bar to automatically filter the schedule.

Both published and draft schedules are searchable. Week navigation and date range selectors are still functional when the search is active.

The Edit dropdown

The Edit menu serves as the starting place for many shift scheduling actions.

  1. Add New Shift: Available to Account Owners, Full Admins, and Schedule Managers. This option pulls up the shift creation modal.
  2. Add/Remove Employees: Available to Account Owners, Full Admins, and Schedule Managers. This option allows the user to add employees currently enrolled in a Time & Attendance group that uses Start & End Times with the time clock enabled in the current schedule.
  3. Edit Schedule Settings: Available only to Account Owners and Full Admins. This option allows you to manage schedule settings including schedule name, location, week the schedule begins on, shift manager assignments, and schedule grace periods.
  4. Print Schedule: Available to Account Owners, Full Admins, and Schedule Managers. This option opens the Print dialog, where users can choose the schedule, date range, employee filters, grouping options, and additional display settings before generating a print-friendly view. After reviewing your selections, click Open Print View to launch the schedule in a new browser tab, where you can print it directly or save it as a PDF for sharing, posting, or record-keeping.
Shift statuses

A shift's state determines who can see it and what happens next.

Shift StatusEmployee Visibility Schedule Manager Action
DraftNot visible to employeesYou can edit it and use it for planning future shifts
PublishedVisible to assigned employeesEditing it creates a new draft version
UnpublishedNot visible to employeesSchedule managers see a deleted shift banner.
DeletedNot visible to employeesThe shift is removed from employee view and soft-deleted for future reporting needs

If you edit a published shift, BambooHR creates a new draft version. The employee continues to see the original published shift until you republish the updated version.

Shift management actions

Shift actions

  1. Edit
  2. Duplicate
  3. Delete

If the shift is a part of a series, you will be asked to confirm if the change you made should apply to this shift only, this and future shifts, or all shifts (excluding worked shifts).

Move a shift

To move a shift:

  1. Click and drag the shift to a new day or employee row.
  2. Drop the shift in the new location.

Dragging a shift changes the assigned day or employee. It will remain in draft until you publish your changes.

Copy a shift

To duplicate a draft shift:

  • Hold Option on Mac or Alt on Windows while dragging the shift.

This creates a duplicate draft shift.

Shift icons

  1. Person icon: the shift is assigned to multiple people
  2. Arrow icon: the shift is recurring
  3. Conflict icon: the shift conflicts with an existing shift
Open shifts

The Open Shifts area at the top of the calendar holds unassigned shifts. An open shift is any shift that is created without assigned employees in the workflow.

Use open shifts when you need to create a shift before deciding who will work it.

Keep in mind:

  • Open shifts remain unassigned until you add an employee.
  • Open shifts cannot be published while unassigned.
  • Open shifts are not visible to employees.
Publishing conflicts

BambooHR highlights shift conflicts in the calendar to help you review coverage issues.

What blocks publishing

Overlapping shifts for the same employee block publishing until you resolve them.

What does not block publishing

Time off and holiday conflicts show a warning icon, but they do not prevent you from publishing the shift.

Common errors & fixes
SymptomCauseFix
The “Publish” button is disabledYou cannot publish shifts because there are are no draft shifts in the visible calendar range, or there are overlapping shifts for the same employee.1. Review the visible schedule range for draft shifts.
2. Look for conflict indicators on employee shifts.
3. Remove or adjust overlapping shifts for the same employee.
4. Try publishing again.
My updates are not showing to employeesA Schedule Manager edited a published shift, but employees still see the old version because BambooHR creates a new draft version of the shift when you make changes to a published shift. The original published shift stays visible until you republish the updated version.1. Open the updated shift.
2. Confirm your changes were saved.
3. Click Publish to replace the old published shift with the updated version.
A terminated or inactive employee’s shifts changed unexpectedly When an employee becomes terminated or inactive, they are immediately removed from BambooHR Time & Attendance and their shifts are automatically unassigned and moved to the Open Shifts row in a draft state. Unassigned opened shifts cannot be published.1. Go to the Time & Attendance tab.
2. Open the affected schedule.
3. Review the Open Shifts row for the unassigned draft shifts.
4. Reassign the shifts to another employee if needed.
5. Publish the updated shifts when ready.
There are open shifts when they were previously all assignedIf you have access, check the Additions and Terminations report to see if any employees have ended their employment. When an employment status is set to “terminated”, they are removed from Time & Attendance and their shifts are moved to the Open Shifts row in a draft state.1. If you have access, check the Additions and Terminations report.
2. Go to the Time & Attendance tab.
3. Open the affected schedule.
4. Review the Open Shifts row for the unassigned draft shifts.
5. Reassign the shifts to another employee if needed.
6. Publish the updated shifts when ready.
A recurring shift isn't published for the next weekWhile recurring shifts will carry from week-to-week, you will need to publish each week's schedule individually.
  1. Navgate to your schedule.
  2. Publish the upcoming shifts.
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