Free tool
Free shift coverage planner
Plan a support week, see the hours that are short of people, and estimate how many full-time staff the cover needs.
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How the planner works
The week you pick is split into half hours of real time, then drawn as clock hours in the desk zone. For each slice the planner stores how many people are required and how many are on a shift. People on overlapping shifts add together. A shift that crosses midnight is counted on both days. A shift entered in Manila is converted onto the desk clock, including the weeks when local time jumps forward or back.
Coverage is covered minutes divided by required minutes. If the desk should be open all week and one eight-hour block is empty, coverage is (168 − 8) ÷ 168, or 95.24%, on a normal 168-hour week. A daylight-saving week uses its real length instead.
Required full-time staff is required person-hours divided by paid weekly hours times (1 − shrinkage), rounded up. For one seat open all of a 168-hour week, a 40-hour week, and 25% shrinkage, that is 168 ÷ 30, which rounds up to 6. The same sum with two people required at once is about 12. This estimates demand for shifts. It does not name employees, cap their hours, or apply a country’s night-work rules.
Presets drop in office hours (Monday–Friday 09:00–17:00), extended cover (every day 08:00–00:00), or three eight-hour watches. Generate coverage plan tiles the required hours with the shift length you chose. You can still add, edit, and remove shifts. Breaks, if you set them, come out of that shift’s cover.
Export gives a CSV of the grid, a calendar file of the shifts in the selected week, or a text copy. Calculate staffing cost opens the cost calculator with the same cover, shrinkage, and weekly hours. An open gap is a reason to ask for a quote, not a booking.
Frequently asked questions
Why are three named shifts not enough for 24/7?
Three shifts can cover the clock once. They do not cover it seven days with a 40-hour week. One seat open all week is 168 person-hours. After 25% shrinkage a person provides 30 hours, and 168 ÷ 30 rounds up to 6 full-time people. Two people on duty at once is about 12.
What is the difference between uncovered hours and missing person-hours?
Uncovered hours are intervals that miss the required headcount. Missing person-hours add up how many people are short. Four hours with one person instead of two is four uncovered hours and four missing person-hours.
Does every week have 168 hours?
A normal week does. The week you pick is a real range of dates in the desk time zone. When the clocks move, that week can be 167 or 169 hours. The totals use the real length.
What does a break do to the grid?
The break sits in the middle of that shift and removes those people from the half hours it covers. If nobody else overlaps the break, the cell goes short. The generator leaves breaks at zero so it does not open a hole and then fail to fill it.
Can a shift be entered in another city?
Yes. Each shift has its own time zone. The grid draws every shift in the desk zone, so a 09:00–17:00 shift in Manila shows up on the London morning. The export uses absolute times for the week you picked.
Will this page fill an open night?
No. It shows the gap. Hearthvane can quote after-hours or 24/7 cover after you describe the queue. The planner does not assign a person, and it does not claim a roster is legal in any country. Working-time limits differ, so they stay as settings rather than a built-in law.