Setting Work Schedules: A Complete Guide for Managers

Full-Time Work Schedule

This work schedule represents a common type of full-time work. It usually implies working 40 hours per week, but sometimes it can be less depending on the industry you work in and the position you hold.

The best thing about working full time is that your employees get a fixed salary and they don’t have to worry about their monthly earnings. So, this type of work schedule brings stability not only for employers, but also for employees.

Though, sometimes, a full-time job can be inconvenient for those who have families, when you have children or other relatives you have to take care of.

Part-Time Work Schedule

What does a part time job schedule look like? How many hours is part time? Let’s briefly answer these questions.

A part-time schedule is any schedule that includes fewer hours than a full-time one.

The average number of hours per day is 4.

This type of work schedule is more flexible for employees, as it gives them the possibility to work fewer days and hours compared to full-time workers. But, they won’t get the same compensation as they do, and their schedules may change every week.

So, when managers create a part time work schedule for employees, it will be more time-consuming for them to do it.

Fixed Work Schedule

A fixed work schedule is usually set by an organization and requires employees to work, for example, from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an hour lunch break. Fixed schedules can be used for both full-time and part-time jobs.

It allows managers to more strictly control the working hours of employees and monitor any violations that might occur.

For employees, having fixed schedule jobs means on one hand, being more organized, on the other hand, having not enough free time for themselves. This can lead to lower job satisfaction or boredom at the workplace.

Flexible Work Schedule

A flexible work hours policy allows employees to choose when to start their working day and when to leave. So, companies with flexible work schedules promote employee flexibility in the workspace. Employers just set a certain amount of core mandatory hours to work and employees work these hours during a period convenient to them.

The common types of flexible work schedules are:

• Telecommuting/Remote work
• Compressed work week
• Reduced hours/Part-time

Among the main benefits of flexible work schedules are:

• Workers can work more efficiently
• Employees can manage their work and free time
• A company’s image will be improved

Some inconvenience you may encounter when using a flexible work schedule is that sometimes, it’s hard to organize team meetings and other group activities.

Rotating Shift Work Schedule

A rotating schedule is usually used for businesses that operate 24/7 and use shifts. For example, customer support service or health care.

Rotating shift work schedules can be illustrated as follows:

• 12 hour rotating shift work schedules,
• 8 hour rotating shift work schedules,
• 8 hour shifts rotating weekends,
• 6 day rotating work schedule,
• 4 person rotating work schedules.

Using work rotation schedules can be beneficial for both employers and employees. Businesses can provide their services non-stop and employees can choose early or late shifts depending on their needs. However, there might be some disadvantages, for example, variable earnings of employees and no opportunities to plan.

Split Work Schedule

This work schedule provides an opportunity to split a person’s work day. For instance, an employee can clock in in the morning, then clock out and return to work in the evening.

Split shifts are good when employers want to increase employee productivity and allow them to work when they can. So, they can relax, take care of their children, etc.

Having a split shift schedule can be bad if you have employees who slowly get down to work. For employees, it can be a time and money-consuming issue, as it requires them to get back to work twice or three times a day.

Shift Schedules

A work shift schedule usually consists of three variants of shifts: a morning (first) shift, a day (second) shift and a night (third) shift. This type of schedule is relevant for companies or organizations that operate 24 hours each day, e.g., food service or a medicine production company. Some of them use a 12 hour shift work schedule.

To be able to control a shift workers schedule, companies may use a shift work schedule app. It can be either a calendar or a widget, which helps you seamlessly plan and manage employees’ shifts.

Despite the advantages of using such a schedule by employers, employees may encounter some difficulties, for instance, some people cannot work effectively at night or some of them may work more than others.

Irregular Work Schedule

An irregular work schedule and on-call shifts are used in organizations where employees' work schedules are deliberately unpredictable. This means that employees should be available for work when an employer asks them to.

The key advantage of such a work schedule is that when there is an emergency at work, you can quickly get a specialist who is ready to solve any issues that occur.

There might be some drawbacks of an inconsistent work schedule. Employees get lower wages and cannot plan something in advance, as they should always be available for work.

Seasonal Schedules

When employers need some temporary workers, they use seasonal schedules for their employees. Seasonal work usually happens in summer or on holidays. For example, a seasonal employee can work at the beach as a lifeguard or be a gift wrapper when holidays are coming.

This type of schedule is perfect for businesses, which need extra workers for a short period of time with lower payroll costs.

But, on the other hand, they can get less motivated workers and they need to set aside time for interviews.

Compressed Schedules

A compressed schedule allows employees to work the same amount of hours as a standard one, but in less than five days. For example, it can be a 4/10 work schedule, so a worker can have an extra day off per week.

Though, for some employees, working a 10 hour work day schedule can be difficult due to their health or family commitments.

Anyway, this type of a work schedule can be good only for companies with the right planning.

Alternative Schedule

An alternative work schedule refers to any work schedule that provides flexibility from a standard schedule. It’s convenient for those employees that need time for families, children or medical care.

The common types of alternative work schedules are: part-time, telecommuting, compressed work week, and job sharing.

For their part, employers can use alternative scheduling as an effective management strategy, though they should have some policies to have control over employees’ work.

Overtime Schedule

An overtime schedule implies overtime hours that an employee works over regular working hours. Employers usually pay more for overtime work than for full-time hours.

Such situations can occur when a team has a huge project to be completed in a short period of time or employees don’t have enough time to finish the work within the deadline.

To reduce extra pay for overtime work for the whole team, employers tend to ask a couple of members to work overtime.

No Set Schedule

No set schedule refers to those work schedules that allow employees to decide when to work. It’s similar to a freelance schedule when you set your own schedule and can work from home. The main difference between them is that employees, who have no set schedules, should report to their employers.

Making your own hours for work gives the freedom to employees, but makes it difficult for employers to conveniently track them.

Further, we will provide an example of how to create a work schedule that will perfectly suit your organization's needs.