search icon

Effective shift and employee scheduling software

Employee scheduling has never been easier. Simply create and edit shifts, then notify your employees with the click of a button in Sage HR. Our shift management software is perfect for small and medium-sized businesses.
Sage is trusted by over 2 million customers worldwide

Benefits of employee scheduling software

Explore how you could streamline your staff scheduling with effective shift management software designed for SMEs.

Easy staff scheduling

Efficient employee scheduling tools allow you to seamlessly plan, edit, and circulate your team's shifts, so you don't waste time planning rotas manually or updating messy spreadsheets.

Plan shifts by group or area

Fluctuating demand and the diversity of employee skillsets can hinder managers when planning shifts for whole teams, eating into their time and potentially distributing workloads inefficiently. 

Shift management software frees up managers' time by automating scheduling, assigning appropriate employees to specific tasks, and simplifying communication or approvals.

Self-service rota software for employees

Rota scheduling software enabled for employee self-service gives your team easy access to their rotas as they're published. With the right rota software, your team can add their own preferred times and flag when they can or can't work.

Staff scheduling app for mobile

You and your team can access shift management software from anywhere, at anytime with a smart, cloud-based solution and user-friendly mobile app. Access with ease whether you're office-based, remote, or on the move.

Employee scheduling software features

Explore the functionality that makes Sage employee scheduling software stand out

Easy-to-use shift scheduler

Our intuitive shift scheduling interface lets you add, edit, move, and copy shifts, simplifying rota coordination.

Flexible employee scheduler template set-up

Save pre-defined shift templates to our employee scheduling software and cut back on even more time when creating repetitive shift patterns.

Shift planning for different groups and areas

Clearly visualise schedules for different groups and areas, with dedicated shift managers for each location.

Staff scheduling data exports and reports

Analyse staffing patterns and track labour costs by exporting data from our staff scheduler in just a few clicks.

Our employee scheduling software solutions

Discover the best staff scheduling software tools for your business. We have HR solutions for small businesses with less than 25 employees, which also come with payroll included, as well as software designed for medium-sized and growing businesses.

Sage HR

Flexible HR modules for small and mid-sized businesses.

For small to medium sized businesses that want a modular HR system that will simplify processes across the end-to-end employment journey.

  • Simplified end-to-end HR system that’s easy to administrate
  • Core HR and leave management with additional modules for performance, timesheets, shift scheduling, recruitment and expenses
  • Modular design, pricing and setup
  • Ready to go out of the box, no implementation required
  • Establish a single source of truth for all your employee data
  • Automate people processes to reduce admin and improve productivity
  • Easy to navigate employee self-serve for better employee experience

HjörturAtli Guðmundssonm 
CEO, TourDesk

“It's much faster to check shift availability, move shifts and agree to shift changes all within Sage HR. It has reduced creating the shift schedules every fortnight from six hours to just two.”

Employee scheduling software FAQs

Employee scheduling software is a software application that helps managers plan and keep on top of staff schedules, shifts and working hours.

With flexible templates, automated scheduling functionality and intuitive editing tools, a good staff scheduling solution makes it easy to set up, update, copy and remove or share schedules and rotas, without having to rely on spreadsheets or other documents.

Some shift management software can also give employees self-service access, track team members' working hours, help manage shift-swaps and export scheduling data and reports.

Cloud-based employee scheduling software can drastically cut down on manual admin work by moving the whole scheduling process online and automating large parts of it.
 
A simple but powerful shift management tool makes it much easier to control changes in shift planning and scheduling. When your whole team can access the solution, they can use it for streamlined communication in real time. This minimises the risk of conflicts, mistakes, and misunderstandings. Ultimately, this technology could save you a lot hassle and money lost on staffing errors.

The terms "staff scheduling software" and "staff rota software" are often used interchangeably, but there can be subtle differences. Staff scheduling software usually encompasses a broader range of features, going beyond just creating rotas (schedules) to include functionalities like time and attendance tracking, leave management, shift swapping, communication tools, performance management, and payroll integration. 
 
Staff rota software is really a subcategory of scheduling software. It typically deals primarily with the creation and management of employee schedules. It might have some basic additional features like shift swapping or leave requests, but generally has a narrower scope.

Human resources wisdom for smarter business

Find useful articles, tips and insights about hiring, onboarding, and people management.
Employee offboarding best practices

Employee offboarding best practices

Discover how to build a smooth employee offboarding process with checklists, surveys, and best practices that protect your business and enhance your brand.

Read more
Read more
The best exit interview questions to ask outgoing employees

The best exit interview questions to ask outgoing employees

Explore the best exit interview questions to ask departing employees. Use employees' exit process feedback to improve retention and staff performance.

Read more
Read more
AI for accountants and bookkeepers: A practical 7-step guide to getting started

AI for accountants and bookkeepers: A practical 7-step guide to getting started

Learn how AI transforms accounting, with insights from Accountex London 2025. This guide shows you how to build skills and get started.

Read more
Read more
What are embedded payments and why are they transforming business operations?

What are embedded payments and why are they transforming business operations?

Learn about embedded payments, discover why they matter for your business, and see how you can spend less time dealing with manual payments.

Read more
Read more
Benefits in kind: A guide for employers and employees   

Benefits in kind: A guide for employers and employees   

Discover what benefits in kind are and how they’re calculated. View some common examples and learn the meaning of a benefit in kind in terms of tax effects.

Read more
Read more
Inside Sage Future: What elite sport can teach you about high performance in business

Inside Sage Future: What elite sport can teach you about high performance in business

Watch the highlights from Day 3 of Sage Future for real lessons in high performance.

Read more
Read more
Inside Sage Future: Agentic AI and the future of High-Performance Finance

Inside Sage Future: Agentic AI and the future of High-Performance Finance

Catch the highlights from Day 2 of Sage Future and see how Sage is turning bold AI ambition into real-world impact.

Read more
Read more
Inside Sage Future: The mindset and philosophy behind High-Performance Finance

Inside Sage Future: The mindset and philosophy behind High-Performance Finance

Day 1 at Sage Future opened with big ideas, bold ambitions, and a clear message: today’s CFOs lead the future.

Read more
Read more

Want to talk to us about our employee scheduling software?

We'd be happy to answer any questions you have or help you explore which solution is the best fit for your business.