Work schedules form the foundation of effective time management and attendance tracking in any organization. They define the days and hours employees are expected to work, ensuring clarity for both employees and employers.
The system uses work schedules assigned to employees when calculating overtime, attendance, target hours, and time off.
Whether it’s a fixed schedule, a multi-week rotation, or a flexible arrangement, work schedules help align individual availability with company needs. Work schedules also establish the basis for correct attendance tracking and for the calculation of prorated time off entitlement for part-time employees.
Before you start
Different types of work schedules
In Personio, you can set up three types of work schedules: fixed, multi-week, or flexible. Have a look at the table to understand their differences:
| Fixed schedule | Multi-week schedule | Flexible schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use-case scenarios | Employees with a fixed weekly schedule. | Employees with a recurring weekly schedule. For example: the employee has every second Friday off. | Employees with a fixed weekly days count but flexible days hours. For example: part-time employees, working students, flexi time. |
| Work days | Fixed number of days. The schedule defines the days the employee works on. | Fixed number of days. The schedule defines the days the employee works on. | Fixed number of days. The employee and their supervisor define which days of the week to work on. |
| Hours per day/week | Fixed and defined by the days and hours entered in the work schedule. If the employee’s weekly hours change, you need to create/assign a new work schedule. | Fixed and defined by the days and hours entered in the work schedule. If the employee’s weekly hours change, you need to create/assign a new work schedule. | Uses the Weekly hours attribute in the employee profile. This means you can assign the same schedule to employees with different weekly hours. |
| Work hours | The schedule defines work hours. If the employee’s work hours change, you need to create/assign a new work schedule. | The schedule defines work hours. If the employee’s work hours change, you need to create/assign a new work schedule. | The employee and their supervisor define final work hours. |
| Managing the schedule | If anything changes, the Administrator needs to edit the work schedule. | If anything changes, the Administrator needs to edit the work schedule. | After the initial assignment by the Administrator, the employee and supervisor can change working days and times, as long as the employee works as many days as defined by the schedule. |
| Default work schedule | Can be set as default work schedule. | Can’t be set as default work schedule. | Can’t be set as default work schedule. |
Necessary permissions
Regardless of which type of schedule you’re creating, the following applies:
- To create work schedules, you need Account configuration > Attendance permissions.
- In addition, to successfully set up flexible time schedules, we recommend you are an Administrator.
Keep in mind:
- Employees can record attendance and overtime (if enabled) on any day at any time, regardless of their start and end times. While you can't change that, set up an approval workflow using the Start time is earlier or later than work schedule condition to review these time entries.
- Start and end times also impact the calculation of time off measured in hours. If an employee requests time off measured in hours beyond the defined start and end times, the request doesn’t affect their remaining balance.
- Once you create a work schedule of a certain type, you can’t change it to a different type.
Create a fixed work schedule
To create a new fixed work schedule, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- In the Time off & attendance section, click Attendance.
- in the top-right corner of the Work schedules tab, click New work schedule policy.
- Enter a brief name and description for the work schedule. This should help you identify the schedule’s settings at a glance. For example: "Full-time, 40 hours, Mon–Fri".
- Ensure the fixed schedule option is selected.
- Set working days, times, and break hours.
- Set a time off entitlement proration value.
- Save the changes to create the work schedule.
Create a multi-week work schedule
When calculating overtime, attendance, target hours, and time off, the system considers the work schedule and number of hours you set for each different week. To create a multi-week work schedule, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings.
- In the Time off & attendance section, click Attendance.
- In the top-right corner of the Work schedules tab, click New work schedule policy.
- Enter a brief name and description for the work schedule. This should help you identify the schedule’s settings at a glance. For example: "Multi-week full-time, 40 hours, Mon–Fri"
- Ensure the fixed schedule option is selected.
- Set working days, times, and break hours.
- Click Add more to add up to four weeks.
- Set a time off entitlement proration value.
- Save the changes to create the work schedule.
Create a flexible work schedule
- Read the Before you start section in this article.
- Go to Settings.
- In the Time off & attendance section, click Attendance.
- in the top-right corner of the Work schedules tab, click New work schedule policy.
- Enter a brief name and description for the work schedule. This should help you identify the schedule’s settings at a glance. For example: "Flex, 4 days"
- Select Flexible schedule and set the weekly working days.
- Set a time off entitlement proration value.
- Save the changes to create the work schedule.
Time off entitlement proration based on working days
For time off policies set to prorate entitlements according to weekly working days, Personio compares the work schedule's days with the reference value you set here. This applies to both fixed and flexible schedules.
For example, if the schedule has 4 working days and the reference is 5, employees on that schedule get 4/5 of the regular entitlement.
For a multi-week work schedule, the system compares its average working days against the reference value.
Next steps
- Set your default work schedule and assign work schedules to your employees.
- Create time tracking policies.
- Optional: if your employees track overtime, create overtime policies.
- If you’ve created a flexible work schedule: