Shift Schedules

Shift Schedules Overview

Shift Schedules enables all users to check their shift schedule in list or calendar format from within the Beekeeper mobile app. Shift Schedules can be shared in Beekeeper via pre-formatted excel upload, or with a custom integration using the Shifts API. The Shifts widget for Home allows users to check their next shift directly from the Home tab.

If you're interested in building an integration, the Shifts API documentation can be found here. If not, you can upload your shift schedules to Beekeeper via a pre-formatted Excel template that you can download from the dashboard using the process listed below.

Additionally there is a possibility of out-of-the-box integrations, which you can learn more about on our Marketplace.

Please check our corporate site if this feature is available in your subscription plan.

Shifts Retention

The system will retain the shifts data of the last 4 months. Shifts older than 4 months are removed from our system for performance reasons. In case you want to keep older shift schedules on file, please download all past excel reports that are relevant to you before they reach the 4 months old threshold.

In case you want to get access to older data that got deleted, you can contact our Support team who will be able to help you in retrieving your data, this process will be subject to a fee.

Managing Shift Schedules

Global Group and Location Admins have the ability to set up and manage Shift Schedules, by following these steps:

1. Go to the Dashboard.
2. Click 'Toolbox' and then 'Shift Schedules'.
   
3. Create a schedule by clicking on '+ Add New'. 
   
   
   
   
4. Name the schedule.
    
   
   
5. Click into the Schedule you've created and click ‘Members’
   
   
6. Click ‘Add Member’ and select whether you’d like to add a Group or Individuals to the Schedule.
   
    
7. Click ‘Shift Definitions'

8. Click ‘Add Definition’ to add a kind of Shift that your team works in e.g. ‘AM Shift’

   Add a short ‘Title’ (we recommend ~1-4 characters) 

   Add a Start Time and End Time, or make it an all day shift (like vacation, off or sick leave)

   Optionally add a Description to share more information about the shift

   Click ‘Create Definition’ once you are satisfied

   Repeat this and add as many Shift Definitions here as you need

      

9. Click the icon in the top right corner and select ‘Download Schedule’.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                     Or you can download a previous file that you've created by clicking into the ‘Scheduled’ tab, then clicking the cog icon next to an existing schedule and clicking 'Download Shifts File'.            
   
   
10. Set the starting date for the template and the appropriate time zone for shifts, then click 'Download Schedule'.                                                                                                                                 
    
    
    
11. Open the downloaded Excel template and fill out shifts for users. The Shifts you schedule here should match what you defined in the Dashboard                                                                                  
     
12. Upload the filled out template to the dashboard.

Please note that the following constraints exist: 

• • Max. file size is 10MB
  • At most 18,000 shifts per file are allowed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Multiple Shifts for a User on a Day

There are a few ways to reflect multiple shifts for a person on the same day. It's important to note that in a schedule (e.g. "Supervisor Schedule"), a user can only be scheduled one time for a certain timeframe on a certain day. For example, if AM Supervisor goes from 8am-2pm and PM Supervisor goes from 1pm-6pm, this would not be allowed for one person in this one schedule because the times overlap. If AM Supervisor went from 8am-2pm and PM Supervisor went from 3pm-7pm, this would be allowed because the time frames do not overlap.

However, a person can have 'overlapping' shifts if they exist in separate schedules. For example, if there is a “Maintenance Supervisor Schedule” and a “Maintenance Schedule”, then a person could be scheduled in both schedules for overlapping timeframes and the user would be able to see both of these shifts in their calendar.

Another example of this is if you have a 'Mandatory Trainings' schedule and a 'Housekeeping' schedule, you could schedule someone to work a housekeeping shift from 10am-6pm and also schedule from 1pm-2pm a mandatory training. The housekeeping employee would see both shifts in their calendar.

If you decide to add new kinds of Shifts or to change the times for certain Shifts - for example, if you change your hours and need to make the AM Shift start at 6am instead of 7am, you should take the following steps: 

1. Go to the Dashboard 
2. Click into Toolbox > Shift Schedules > Shift Definitions
3. Edit the Shift that you want to change, by clicking on the pencil icon 
4. Make the changes you’d like and click ‘Update Definition’
5. Once you’ve added or edited the Shifts you would like, you should click again the icon in the top right corner and click ‘Download Schedule’ 
6. Continue scheduling, making changes in the new schedule
7. Return to the Beekeeper Dashboard to Import Shifts, which will trigger a push notification to all members of your team whose schedules have been updated.

Please note:

1. 1. All shifts are connected to a user’s unique Beekeeper User ID, so you’ll need to make sure the information in column B (hidden in the template) is copied in addition to the user name. This will happen automatically when you duplicate the row.
   2. Template format should not be altered to ensure a successful upload. Before uploading the schedule, make sure you have not removed the instructions row of each tab or added additional rows above the date row in the Schedule tab. In addition, any additional formatting such as freeze panes should be removed prior to uploading

Time zone handling in shifts

Shifts in Beekeeper have full support for time zones, guaranteeing that users view shifts according to their own local time.

Displaying Shifts

When displaying shifts, times are shown based on the time zone settings of the user’s device. For instance, a shift created in CET (e.g. Berlin) for EST (e.g. New York) will display the correct time difference if the local time of the device showing the shift is set to the EST time zone. Consequentially, if the morning shift was set for 7am CET in Germany, it will show as 1am EST in the eastern states of the USA.

This principle also applies to the admin view of shifts.

Uploading Shifts using Excel

When downloading the Excel file for export, you can choose the time zone to be used.

The selected time zone for the Excel file is saved within the Excel sheet. When an updated Excel file with modified shifts is uploaded, the same time zone will be applied.

Uploading shifts using the Excel Add-In

The Excel Add-In provides the option to adjust the utilized time zone:

Uploading shifts using the API

When utilizing the Shifts API, you can designate times in the complete ISO 8601 format, including a time zone in hours (e.g. 2023-11-21T00:46:35−07:00). All specified times are converted to UTC, which is also the time format employed when retrieving shift data from the API.

Viewing a Shift Schedule in the app

Make sure your Shift Schedule appears in the 'More' section of your app by adding [your-company].beekeeper.io/shifts as a Shortcut

The data center code DE, US or CH must be used if it is part of your app's main URL address, eg. [your-company].de.beekeeper.io/shifts.

Once your Shift Schedule has been added as a Shortcut you can view it in the app by following these steps:

1. Open the Beekeeper app on your phone.
   
   
2. Tap 'More' button or go to shifts directly, if a shortcut is available on the home screen.
                                                                                                                                                                        

3. Select 'Schedule' or 'Your Shifts' (this will vary by company).
                                                                                                                                                                        

4. You can view your shifts in a calendar view:
                                                                                                                                                                        

   Note: 
   - Dots = multiple shifts
   - Click on a date to see the title, date and times of your shift
   
   Or view your shifts in a list view:
   
   

   

Best Practice

You can easily share a link to shifts - [your-company].beekeeper.io/shifts .

The data center code DE, US or CH must be used if it is part of your app main URL address, eg. [your-company].de.beekeeper.io/shifts .

Some interesting ways you could use this:

• Send a campaign to your team with the link to shifts and ask them to confirm the campaign showing they’ve reviewed their shifts

• Send out a survey with a link to shifts and ask your team questions related to their shifts or the upcoming schedule

• Share the link in a group chat or post