Schedule ordinary work and overtime
Choose between Shift, Overtime - paid and Overtime - TOIL.
Create employee shifts that carry the full story of the work Scheduled hours, pay, duties and attendance
A FlowRota shift is more than a start and finish time. It connects the employee’s scheduled hours with their team, pay, duties, location, availability, attendance and TOIL.
Build ordinary shifts, paid overtime or overtime that earns time off in lieu—then publish, cost, swap, clock, duplicate and report on the same record.
included for £1 per user per month
Keep every scheduling decision attached to the shift it affects
FlowRota uses shifts as the central record of scheduled work. Managers can see who is working, where, for how long, what they should do and what the shift will cost—while employees receive the details they need in the same rota.
One shift record, connected to the whole scheduling workflow
Managers can build a detailed rota without maintaining separate records for pay, duties, attendance and employee flexibility.
See pay and cost before publishing
Apply pay rates and show what an hourly-paid shift will cost and earn.
Add duties and instructions
Use tags and notes to explain what the employee should do.
Record real attendance
Connect absence, lateness, paid leave and clocked time to the scheduled shift.
Give employees flexibility
Enable swaps, TOIL and open-shift claims without losing the rota record.
Build rotas faster
Drag, drop and duplicate shifts while tracking weekly contracted and scheduled hours.
Choose what kind of scheduled work the record represents
Each type appears in the rota as scheduled work, but its pay or TOIL outcome is handled differently.
Shift
Use a standard shift for the employee’s ordinary scheduled hours.
The record can include- The employee and team
- Start, finish and break times
- Pay rate and estimated cost
- Location, duties and notes
- Availability, clocking and attendance information
Overtime - paid
Schedule overtime that the employee will be paid for rather than receiving as banked time.
The record can include- The overtime duration
- The selected pay rate or multiplier
- The employee’s earnings from the work
- The team, location and duties
- The same attendance and rota options as a shift
Overtime - TOIL
Record overtime that adds its duration to the employee’s TOIL balance instead of paying the overtime record itself.
The TOIL treatment means- The overtime record itself is not paid
- Its duration is added to the employee’s TOIL balance
- The balance can shorten a later shift or overtime record
- The shortened duration remains paid using the banked TOIL
- The earned time stays traceable in FlowRota
TOIL is time earned back, not pay on the overtime record.
The employee works the overtime, banks its duration and can use that
balance to reduce future scheduled work while remaining paid for the
TOIL-covered time.
See the full paid overtime and TOIL workflow .
Show the financial effect of an hourly-paid shift
FlowRota can turn the scheduled duration and pay treatment into a visible shift cost before the rota is finalised.
Different pay rates
Apply the rate that reflects how the scheduled work should be paid.
Examples- 0.5x pay
- Standard 1x pay
- 1.5x overtime pay
- 2x enhanced pay
- Other pay types configured for the business
Shift cost and employee earnings
Where the employee is hourly paid, the shift shows how much it will cost the business and how much the employee will earn.
The calculation can reflect- The scheduled payable duration
- The employee’s hourly rate
- The selected pay multiplier
- Break and attendance treatment
- The individual shift’s pay settings
Per-shift hourly rate override
A manager can replace the employee’s usual hourly rate for one specific shift when the work needs different treatment.
Why it helps- Handle exceptional duties or temporary rates
- Keep the override attached to the relevant shift
- Show the updated earnings and cost
- Avoid changing the employee’s general rate
- Retain clear context for later reporting
Tell the employee where they are working and what they need to do
Operational detail stays with the scheduled hours instead of being scattered across separate messages.
Team, location and duties
Assign the employee within a distinct team, select the work location and add duty tags that describe their responsibilities.
Duty tag examples- Front of house duties
- Locking up
- Opening the site
- Stock count
- Any other repeatable duty label
Benefit: Managers can later understand scheduled hours by team and location while employees see the duties expected on the day.
Notes from managers and employees
Both the manager and employee can add notes to the shift, keeping instructions and useful context beside the schedule.
Notes can support- Instructions for completing the work
- Information about the location or handover
- Context added by the assigned employee
- Updates that should stay with the shift
- A clearer record than an isolated chat message
Benefit: Anyone reviewing the shift sees its instructions without hunting through another communication channel.
Location-based hours and spend can be reviewed through FlowRota reports .
Let a published shift change hands through a controlled workflow
FlowRota supports employee-led swaps and manager-created open shifts without losing the team and shift context.
Employee shift swaps
Where the team permits swaps, employees can request to exchange shifts or take another employee’s same-team shift.
Approval can be- Automatic under the team’s swap setting
- Held for manager approval before proceeding
- Controlled by each employee’s preferences
- Limited by whether the shift is swappable
Explore the complete employee shift swap workflow .
Open shifts
A manager can remove the employee assignment and publish the shift as open for other staff in the team to claim or bid for.
The shift retains- Its team and scheduled times
- Its duties, notes and location
- The work being offered
- The route from unassigned work to a new employee
See how employees claim and bid for open shifts .
Record what happened when the scheduled shift was not fully worked
Absence, lateness and paid leave remain attached to the shift they affect, preserving both the planned schedule and the actual exception.
Full or partial shift absence
Mark the whole shift absent or record absence between specific times within it.
Shift absence can include- A custom absence type
- An unpaid absence period
- A fully paid absence period
- A rate such as 0.5x pay
- Exact partial-absence start and finish times
Absence types make the record more useful for absence management and reporting .
Paid or unpaid late starts
Mark that the employee began late, record the duration and choose whether the missed time remains paid.
The record can show- The scheduled start time
- The employee’s late duration
- Whether the lateness is paid
- Whether the lateness is unpaid
- The resulting attendance information for reports
Paid leave within a shift
Add a defined amount of paid time away from the scheduled shift, such as 60 minutes of appointment leave.
Why it helps- Keep a short leave period attached to the day’s shift
- Show the amount of paid leave granted
- Avoid converting a brief appointment into full-day leave
- Preserve the remaining scheduled work
- Carry the leave information into reports
Connect scheduled hours with the time actually clocked
Employees can clock on to a shift, allowing managers to compare the planned duration with the time recorded in practice.
Choose how clocked time affects pay and TOIL
Managers can set the shift so only the employee’s clocked duration is payable. Where clocked time differs from the schedule, FlowRota can use TOIL to handle the difference instead of treating every minute as ordinary shift pay.
Clocking options- Employees clock on to the scheduled shift
- Only the clocked duration can be made payable
- A late clocked start can remain paid
- The paid late duration can be deducted from TOIL
- Excess clocked duration can be added to TOIL instead of paid
- Keep actual attendance connected to the scheduled record
- Give managers control over payable duration
- Handle timing differences through banked time where suitable
Explore employee GPS clock-ins and connected clock-card records.
Late clocked starts and excess time can follow different rules
A paid late duration can use the employee’s existing TOIL balance, while time clocked beyond the schedule can be added to that balance instead of paid on the shift.
Build shifts around contracted hours and employee availability
FlowRota gives managers scheduling context before a new shift becomes part of the published rota.
Contracted versus scheduled hours
The rota shows how many hours the employee is contracted to work in the week and how many hours are currently scheduled.
Managers can see- The employee’s weekly contracted hours
- The hours already scheduled
- The difference between contract and rota
- How many hours remain available to schedule
- Whether the week needs more or less work assigned
Availability-led scheduling
Managers can build the rota using availability supplied by the employee.
FlowRota can- Show availability alongside scheduling decisions
- Highlight when a shift disagrees with submitted availability
- Alert the manager before relying on the assignment
- Keep the final decision in the rota workflow
- Support a more workable employee schedule
See how to collect and use employee availability .
Drag, drop and duplicate
Move a shift around the staff rota or duplicate it when similar work needs scheduling again.
Benefits- Adjust dates and assignments more quickly
- Reuse an existing shift as a starting point
- Reduce repetitive data entry
- Keep the rota visual while making changes
- Review warnings as the schedule develops
Use real-time rota rules and warnings alongside the planning process.
Replace an unworkable bank-holiday shift with a paid day off
If an employee is contracted to work on a day when the company is closed for a bank holiday, FlowRota can create a paid day off shift instead.
Show that the employee should not work but remains paid
The paid day off still appears in the rota like a shift, preserving the employee’s scheduled record for the day. Its status makes clear that no work is expected while pay is retained as though it were a normal shift.
Features- Created for a contracted day affected by closure
- Displayed within the employee’s rota
- Clearly indicates that the employee should not work
- Retains pay for the scheduled day
- Keeps weekly contracted-hour context visible
- Avoid showing work at a closed workplace
- Explain the paid day directly in the rota
- Preserve a clearer record of scheduled paid time
Make the shift useful before, during and after the working day
A complete shift record helps managers plan the work, employees understand it and the business explain what actually happened.
Before the shift
Plan around contracts and availability, calculate cost and share duties and instructions.
During the shift
Let the employee clock on, follow notes and see the team and location where they are working.
When plans change
Use swaps, open shifts, partial leave, absence and lateness without losing the original schedule.
After the shift
Carry pay, TOIL, clocking, attendance and location information into reports.
Explore the FlowRota features connected to every shift
These pages go deeper into employee flexibility, attendance and availability—the workflows that sit around the core shift record.
Frequently asked questions about FlowRota shifts
What is a shift in FlowRota?
A shift is a record of the scheduled hours an employee is expected to work, with its team, times, pay and other operational details.
Which shift types can managers create?
A shift can be set as Shift, Overtime - paid or Overtime - TOIL.
How does Overtime - TOIL work?
The overtime record itself is not paid. Its duration is added to the employee’s TOIL balance, which can later be used against scheduled shifts or overtime.
Can TOIL shorten a shift while the employee remains paid?
Yes. Available TOIL can be used to shorten a scheduled shift or overtime record while covering the shortened paid duration from the employee’s balance.
Can shifts use different pay rates and show their cost?
Yes. Shifts can use pay multipliers such as 0.5x or 2x. For hourly-paid employees, FlowRota can show the shift cost and employee earnings, and a manager can override the hourly rate for that shift.
Can shifts include duties, notes and locations?
Yes. Shifts can include duty tags, notes from managers or employees, and a work location within the team.
Can employees swap shifts or claim an open shift?
Yes. Employees can use the shift-swap workflow where enabled, and managers can unassign a shift and make it open for other team members to bid for or claim.
Can a shift record absence and lateness?
Yes. A shift can record full or partial absence with an absence type and pay treatment, and late starts can be paid or unpaid.
Can pay be based only on clocked duration?
Yes. Managers can set the shift so only the clocked duration is payable. Late or excess clocked time can also interact with the employee’s TOIL balance.
Can a shift contain paid leave or become a paid day off?
Yes. Managers can add a defined amount of paid leave within a shift, and can create a paid day off shift when an employee is contracted to work on a closed bank holiday.
Does FlowRota compare scheduled hours with contracted hours and availability?
Yes. The rota shows contracted and currently scheduled hours for the week, and warns managers when a proposed shift conflicts with availability supplied by the employee.
Can managers drag, drop and duplicate shifts?
Yes. Managers can drag and drop shifts around the staff rota and duplicate them to speed up rota creation.
How much does FlowRota cost?
FlowRota costs £1 per user per month after a 30-day free trial. No credit card is required to start the trial. Visit the pricing page for full details.
Build your next staff rota with smarter shift records
Schedule the hours, calculate the cost, add the details and keep attendance, clocking and employee flexibility connected. The trial is free for 30 days, no credit card is required, and continued access costs just £1 per user per month.
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