An Admin's Guide to Shift Scheduling in BambooHR

The article outlines essential information for administrators regarding shift scheduling in BambooHR Time & Attendance. It explains that this feature enables the organization of employee work time through the creation and management of schedules, shifts, and employee assignments. Key components include the location, schedule, and shifts, allowing administrators to control shift visibility and clock-in rules. The guide emphasizes prerequisites for setup, such as confirming employee eligibility and location settings. It details the responsibilities of account owners, schedule managers, and employees, and explains the shift lifecycle, including draft, published, unpublished, and deleted states. Additional sections cover setup steps, important requirements, and related articles for further reference. This resource serves as a comprehensive guide for effective shift management.

  • Jul 9, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
An Admin's Guide to Shift Scheduling in BambooHR
Article Text

What do administrators need to know about shift scheduling in BambooHR Time & Attendance?

Summary:

Shift Scheduling helps you organize employee work time in BambooHR by creating schedules, assigning employees, building shifts, and publishing those shifts for employee visibility. It works with Time & Attendance time tracking for eligible employees using Start and End times, and it can support early clock-in controls and scheduled clock-in rules.

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Table of Contents

Who this is for

This guide is for account owners and full admins who need to set up Shift Scheduling for their company and configure the core settings that managers and employees will use.

Before you start

Before you set up Shift Scheduling, confirm the following:

  • Employees who will use scheduling are using the Start & End times time entry method with the Time Clock enabled. Employees using Total hours worked are not supported for scheduling.
  • You know which location each schedule should use because the location carries the timezone.
  • You know which users should be assigned as schedule managers.
  • You know which employees should be assigned to each schedule.
  • You have decided how early employees can clock in before a shift starts.
  • You have reviewed your Time & Attendance group settings, especially the setting for when scheduled employees can clock in.
  • If you plan to support overnight shifts, ensure overnight coverage is configured using consecutive midnight-boundary shifts.
How Shift Scheduling works

Shift Scheduling is built around three core pieces:

  • Location - the physical workplace and timezone
  • Schedule - the container for shifts, employees, and shared settings
  • Shift - a scheduled block of work for one or more employees

As an admin, you create and manage schedules for the company. Schedule managers then manage shifts inside the schedules they are assigned to. Employees can only view their own published shifts.

For more information about how BambooHR Time & Attendance shift scheduling and time tracking features work together, click here.

What Shift Scheduling includes

Shift Scheduling includes the following:

  • Multiple schedules
  • Repeatable shifts
  • Draft and published shift states
  • Employee visibility from the Home page and timesheet-related surfaces on web
  • Early clock-in prevention based on schedule settings
Important setup requirements and limitations

Overnight shift setup

Individual shifts cannot cross midnight. However, BambooHR supports overnight scheduling when you configure two consecutive shifts that meet exactly at midnight.

To support overnight scheduling:

  • The first shift must end exactly at 12:00 AM.
  • The second shift must begin exactly at 12:00 AM on the following day.
  • Both shifts must be assigned to the same employee.
  • The employee must clock into the first shift before midnight and remain clocked in through the midnight boundary.

When these conditions are met, BambooHR automatically splits the employees worked time at midnight and assigns each portion to the correct shift.

If there is any gap between shifts, or the shifts do not begin and end exactly at 12:00 AM, BambooHR will continue using the original shift assignment after midnight.

At this time, BambooHR Time & Attendance does not associate back-to-back shifts that cross midnight with state-specific overtime rules. For more information about your state's overtime rules and how they are calculated in BambooHR, click here.

Additional requirements and limitations

Keep these requirements and limitations in mind as you set up Shift Scheduling:

  • Scheduling is only available for employees using Start & End times.
  • Employees can be assigned to more than one schedule.
  • Managers can assign multiple employees to one shift.
  • Schedule information does not appear on timesheets or in existing timesheet reports.
  • Breaks are not configured on shifts in this version.
  • Projects and tasks are not assigned to shifts.
  • Payroll is based on approved worked time, not scheduled time.
  • Managers can publish shifts that overlap with approved time off or holidays, but overlapping shifts for the same employee block publishing.

Set up Shift Scheduling

Step 1: Go to Shift Scheduling

Click the calendar icon on the main navigation sidebar to access Time & Attendance. If no schedules exist yet, BambooHR shows an empty state with a + Create New button.

Step 2: Create a new schedule

Only account owners and full admin users can create schedules. Once the schedule is created, assigned managers can manage the schedule and create shifts.

To create a schedule:

  1. Go to Time & Attendance > + Create New (if this is not your first schedule, click + New Schedule).
  2. Enter the schedule name.
  3. Select the location.
    • Location options are found in Settings > Employee Fields > Location.
  4. Select the "Week starts on" day.
    • We recommend that this day is the same as the "work week" setting in time & attendance group settings. It does not have to be, but it will reduce areas of potential confusion.
  5. Assign one or more schedule managers.
    • A user must be assigned as a schedule manager before the Time & Attendance tab will appear in their account.
    • Schedule managers will be able to add any employee included in a Time & Attendance group that uses Start & End Times with the time clock enabled.
    • Schedule managers can only manage shifts for the schedule they're assigned to, but they will be able to see other shifts if there are employee scheduling conflicts.
  6. Set the early clock-in grace period.
  7. Assign employees to the schedule roster.
    • Schedule manager can only manage shifts for employees assigned to their schedule.
  8. Save the schedule.

Step 3: Review Time & Attendance group clock-in eligibility

In addition to the schedule-level grace period, clock-in behavior for scheduled employees is controlled at the Time & Attendance group level through "Scheduling Time Clock Options."

To review this setting:

  1. Go to Settings > Time & Attendance
  2. Select a time & attendance group and click Settings.
  3. Find Scheduling Time Clock Options.
    • This setting will only appear if the group is assigned to Start & End Times with the time clock enabled.
  4. Choose one of the available options:
    • Anytime
    • Only during a scheduled shift
  5. Save.

How the options work:

  • Anytime
    • Employees can clock in at any time, even without a scheduled shift.
    • Scheduling does not restrict clock-in availability.
    • Grace periods are still used for shift association logic.
  • Only during a scheduled shift
    • Employees must have a scheduled shift at the time of clock-in.
    • Clock-in is only allowed within the eligible shift window.
    • The schedule grace period defines how early the employee can clock in.

This is an important setup decision for customers who have already enabled the time tracking function of Time & Attendance because it determines whether scheduling immediately changes employee clock-in behavior.

Understanding Admin and Schedule Manager Responsibilities
RoleWhat they can doScope
Account Owner and Full AdminCreate and print schedules, edit schedule settings, delete schedules, assign schedule managers, and view and manage shifts across all schedulesCompany-wide
Schedule ManagerView and print assigned schedules, create shifts, edit shifts, publish shifts, delete shifts, view time off and holiday conflicts for assigned employees, filter and group schedules, and optionally add or remove employees from an assigned schedule.Only the schedule or schedules they are assigned to manage
EmployeeView only their own published shifts, access shifts from the Home page “My Time” widget and the timesheet-related employee view, and clock in and out based on company rulesOnly their own published shifts

Employees cannot view coworker shifts, see draft or unpublished shifts, or create, edit, swap, or claim shifts.

Understand shift states before managers begin scheduling

Admins should understand the shift lifecycle before rolling out scheduling:

  • Draft - only schedule managers, full admin, and the account owner will see it
  • Published - employees can see the schedule
  • Unpublished - employees can no longer see it, and a canceled message is triggered
  • Deleted - the shift is removed from employee view and soft-deleted for future reporting needs

If a manager edits a published shift, BambooHR creates a new draft version. Employees continue to see the original published shift until the manager republishes it.

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