Free Work Schedule Templates

To build an employee work schedule in Excel, follow these 15 steps:

1. Enter the start date of the week in the top left-hand corner: this will serve as the basis for creating your schedule.
2. Copy the date below into the desired cell and add the day of the week below it.
3. Merge three table cells from the date to better distribute the weekly work schedule; do the same thing for the day of the week.
4. Select the merged table cell containing the date, click in the bottom right-hand corner and drag to the desired cell: all the week’s dates will appear.
5. Repeat the same operation with the table cell containing the day of the week.
6. To the left of this section, enter the name of the first employee.
7. Under each work day, enter the employee’s hours (start and end times).
8. Below these time entries, enter the employee’s shift position.
9. Further down, in a blank table cell, enter a formula to calculate the total hours for the employee’s day: =End time cell-Start time cell (if necessary).
10. To retain the layout of the workday and the formulas, select all and copy-paste to the desired cell.
11. To calculate an employee’s total weekly working hours, select a blank cell and enter the following formula: =sum(set of cells containing total daily working hours).
12. To get the actual number of hours worked over the whole week, select the same cell, right-click and choose “Format Cells”. Go to the “Custom” tab and enter this in the search bar below “Type:”: [hh]:mm.
13. According to your preferences, fine-tune the visual appearance of the schedule.
14. Select all that has been done for one employee and copy below to add other employees.
15. Save the schedule and share.

Want to create a shift schedule more easily? Find out more about the benefits of using an employee scheduling software and try it out for free.

A number of elements can be included in a shift schedule. Here are a few examples:

• Date
• Days of the week
• Employees’ first and last names
• Employee positions
• Employee work shifts
• Paid breaks
• Unpaid breaks
• Time off
• Employee availability
• Total number of hours for each employee
• Total number of scheduled work hours
• Labor costs

There are several types of working schedules. The most common are:

Find out more in this comprehensive guide to types of work schedules.

Yes, of course! Download it by selecting from daily, weekly or monthly schedule templates and select the Excel option. Excel templates can be uploaded to Google Drive and edited through Google Sheets.

Employee scheduling software such as Agendrix automates and accelerates many HR tasks related to scheduling and workforce management.

Some software packages also add professional messaging, workplace recognition and employee records management functionalities. In short, everything you need to improve and centralize all your operations.

Try it for free! Agendrix even offers a 21-day free trial, and it does not require a credit card to start.

There are many advantages to using a scheduling application. Here are just a few of them:

• Faster creation of work schedules
• Fewer scheduling errors
• Better communication between managers and employees
• Less tardiness and absenteeism
• Optimization of labor costs

Yes.

However, Excel is not designed for creating shift schedules, compared to an workforce management software such as Agendrix, which is much more intuitive and accessible. What’s more, Agendrix offers a number of additional features for managing a company’s human resources – something Excel doesn’t provide.