Drag and drop shifts
Move scheduled work around the visual rota as plans take shape.
Build staff rotas faster with drag-and-drop scheduling Plan, check, fill and publish in one workflow
Create a clear working week by dragging shifts around the rota, duplicating repeated work and seeing each employee’s scheduled hours as you build.
FlowRota brings availability, shift rules alerts, clash checks, open shifts, employee swaps and rota notifications into the same practical scheduling view.
Included for £1 per user per month
Go from an empty rota to a published week without rebuilding the schedule elsewhere
FlowRota keeps every scheduling decision connected. Managers can create the work, assign the right people, respond to live warnings, offer uncovered hours and tell employees when the finished rota is ready.
Everything managers need to turn staffing demand into a workable rota
Build quickly without losing the information that makes a schedule realistic, affordable and easier for employees to follow.
Duplicate repeated work
Reuse an existing shift instead of entering the same details again.
Schedule around availability
See when employees can work and spot conflicting assignments.
Catch problems live
Review clash checks, leave blocks and working-rule warnings in the rota.
Fill gaps flexibly
Offer open shifts or let employees arrange controlled shift swaps.
Publish and notify
Tell staff when the rota is ready and when their own shift changes.
Build the week visually with drag-and-drop shifts
The rota stays at the centre of the task. Managers can create a shift, move it to a different place and duplicate it when the same work needs scheduling again.
Turn repeat scheduling into a quicker editing job
Start with one complete shift, then drag, drop and duplicate it across the rota. The copied record provides a practical starting point for the next assignment while the manager remains in the weekly schedule.
A shift can carry- The employee and team assignment
- Start, finish and break times
- Role, location and duty tags
- Notes and instructions
- Pay type, pay rate and estimated cost
- Reduce repeated data entry
- Make changes in the context of the whole working week
- Keep detailed shift records behind a simple visual rota
Explore everything that can be recorded on FlowRota shifts .
See whether the person, hours and cost fit before you publish
Useful scheduling context appears alongside the work being assigned, helping managers make a better-informed choice while there is still time to change it.
Employee availability
Use availability submitted by employees when deciding who can cover each part of the week.
FlowRota can- Show availability during rota planning
- Highlight when a proposed shift disagrees with it
- Alert the manager before the assignment is relied upon
- Keep the final scheduling decision with the manager
- Support a more workable employee rota
Learn how to collect and schedule around employee availability .
Contracted and scheduled hours
Compare the hours an employee is contracted to work in the week with the hours currently assigned.
Managers can see- The employee’s weekly contracted hours
- Their current scheduled hours
- The difference between contract and rota
- How many hours remain available to schedule
- Where the working week may need rebalancing
Visible shift cost
For hourly-paid employees, see what a scheduled shift will cost and what the employee will earn.
The calculation can reflect- The scheduled payable duration
- The employee’s hourly rate
- Rates and multipliers such as 0.5x or 2x
- A manager’s rate override for one shift
- The selected paid overtime treatment
Catch scheduling problems while the rota is still being built
FlowRota checks each assignment against several kinds of scheduling information and brings potential problems to the manager’s attention in real time.
| Check | What FlowRota compares | What the manager can spot |
|---|---|---|
| Availability warning | The shift and availability submitted by the employee | Work proposed when the employee says they are unavailable |
| Clash check | The shift and the employee’s other assigned shifts | Two shifts that overlap each other |
| Rules warning | The shift pattern and the team’s configured work rules | Insufficient rest, a long shift or a shift without a break |
| Leave or absence block | The shift and recorded time away from work | Work scheduled while the employee is recorded as off |
Working-rule warnings
Configure local rules for areas such as minimum rest between shifts, maximum shift duration and required breaks. FlowRota can then alert the manager when a rota pattern may break those rules.
See how rota rules and live warnings support the scheduling review.
Clashes and time away
An employee cannot be in two places at once, and recorded leave should not quietly disappear beneath a new shift. Dedicated warnings make both conflicts easier to see.
Explore shift clash checks , leave management and absence periods .
Warnings help managers identify a potential scheduling problem. They support review and decision-making; they do not replace the employer’s responsibility to apply the correct rules and legal requirements.
Fill rota gaps without taking every conversation outside the schedule
Use open shifts when work needs an employee, or enable shift swaps when employees want to reorganise already assigned work.
Offer an open shift
Make a shift unassigned and offer it to eligible staff in the team. Employees can claim or bid for it while its times, duties, notes and location remain attached.
Choose how it is filled- Automatic assignment when an eligible employee claims
- Employee bids followed by manager selection
- Notifications based on the employee’s settings
- A clear move from uncovered work to an assigned shift
Explore the complete open-shift workflow .
Let employees request a shift swap
Where swaps are enabled for the team, an employee can request a same-team exchange or offer to take another employee’s shift without giving one back.
Keep the process controlled- Enable or disable swaps for each team
- Choose automatic or manager approval
- Let employees mark individual shifts as non-swappable
- Respect an employee’s wider swap preferences
See the full employee shift-swap process .
| Cover route | Best used when | Manager control |
|---|---|---|
| Open shift | Work is unassigned and needs an eligible employee | Use automatic assignment or choose between employee bids |
| Shift swap | An assigned employee wants another employee to take or exchange work | Allow automatic swaps or require manager approval |
Schedule more than a start and finish time
The rota stays easy to scan while each shift holds the detail needed to run, pay and explain the work.
Ordinary shifts, paid overtime and TOIL
Set scheduled work as a standard shift, paid overtime or overtime whose duration is added to the employee’s TOIL balance.
TOIL can then support- Shortening a later scheduled shift
- Shortening a later overtime record
- Paid time covered from the employee’s balance
- Conversion between TOIL and annual leave by a manager
- A traceable alternative to paying the overtime record
Compare paid overtime and Overtime - TOIL .
Teams, roles, duties, locations and notes
Give each assignment enough context for the employee to understand where they are working and what is expected.
Add details such as- The employee’s team and role
- A location within that team
- Duty tags such as front of house or locking up
- Instructions from the manager
- Notes added by the employee
Attendance and clocking
Keep the planned shift connected to what happened: clocked time, a late start, paid leave or full and partial absence.
The shift can record- Pay based on scheduled or clocked duration
- Paid or unpaid lateness
- Paid leave within part of a shift
- Paid, unpaid or part-paid absence
- An absence type for later reporting
Explore GPS clock-ins and shift absence records .
Publish the rota and keep employees informed when it changes
Scheduling is only useful when staff know what they are expected to work. FlowRota connects publishing and change notifications to the manager’s rota workflow.
Send the right rota alert at the right moment
Once all shifts for the week are published, FlowRota asks whether the manager wants to notify staff that their rota week is ready. If a manager later changes one employee’s shift, they can choose to notify that employee separately.
Notifications can include- A rota week is ready alert after publication
- A new-shift notification
- A notification when an existing shift changes
- Push or email delivery according to employee settings
- Other employee and manager workflow notifications
- Give staff a clear prompt to check the published rota
- Keep targeted shift changes connected to the affected person
- Avoid relying on a separate group message for every update
Learn more about rota alerts and push and email notifications .
Turn the completed rota into useful workforce information
The same records used to build and run the schedule feed FlowRota’s reporting view, reducing the need to reconstruct the working month by hand.
Hours, pay and overtime
Review scheduled and worked hours alongside the resulting pay and time balances.
- Net pay, tips and overtime pay
- Total hours from leave and shifts
- Worked, regular and overtime hours
- Day hours and night hours
- TOIL earned and TOIL used
Leave, absence and spend
Connect scheduled work to time away, attendance and operational cost.
- Paid, unpaid, contracted and overtime leave
- Absence periods and shift absence
- Late starts and late duration
- Team spend and location spend
- CSV export for further payroll or analysis work
Plan once, report from the same records.
Explore the full set of
hours, pay, leave and spend reports
.
Make rota planning faster without making the finished schedule vague
FlowRota combines quick visual editing with the checks, cover options and detail managers need once the rota becomes real work.
Build faster
Drag, drop and duplicate detailed shifts instead of recreating every assignment from scratch.
Find hidden conflicts
Review availability, clashes, rules and time-away warnings before the schedule is published.
Share responsibility for cover
Let eligible employees claim open work or request controlled same-team swaps.
Publish a clearer rota
Give every shift its team, location, duties, pay treatment and instructions, then notify the people affected.
Explore the features behind smarter staff scheduling
Go deeper into the connected tools that help managers build, validate, fill and communicate the rota.
Frequently asked questions about staff scheduling
What is staff scheduling in FlowRota?
FlowRota staff scheduling brings employee shifts, teams, availability, pay, warnings, cover changes and publication into one live rota workflow.
Can managers drag and drop shifts on the rota?
Yes. Managers can drag and drop shifts around the rota and duplicate existing shifts to schedule repeated work more quickly.
Does FlowRota use employee availability while scheduling?
Yes. Managers can view availability while building the rota and receive a warning when a proposed shift conflicts with information supplied by the employee.
Can managers compare contracted and scheduled hours?
Yes. FlowRota shows the employee’s contracted hours, currently scheduled hours and the remaining difference for the week.
What real-time rota warnings does FlowRota provide?
FlowRota can warn about insufficient rest between shifts, excessive shift duration, missing breaks, overlapping assignments, availability conflicts and work scheduled during leave.
Are clash checks the same as working-rule warnings?
No. Clash checks identify overlapping assignments for the same employee, while working-rule warnings review patterns such as rest, break and shift-duration rules.
Can managers fill rota gaps with open shifts?
Yes. Managers can publish an unassigned shift for staff in the team to claim or bid for, using automatic assignment or manager selection.
Can employees arrange their own shift swaps?
Yes. Where enabled for the team, employees can request same-team exchanges or take another employee’s shift, with automatic or manager approval.
Can FlowRota alert staff when the rota is ready?
Yes. After all shifts are published, FlowRota asks the manager whether staff should be notified that their rota week is ready.
Can an employee be notified when their shift changes?
Yes. When a manager changes a shift, they can choose to notify the affected employee by push or email according to the employee’s settings.
Can shifts include pay, duties, notes and locations?
Yes. Shifts can include pay rates, cost information, duty tags, notes, roles and work locations within the team.
Can managers report on the completed rota?
Yes. FlowRota reports bring together employee hours, pay, overtime, TOIL, leave, absence, lateness, team spend and location spend.
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 in less time
Drag and drop the shifts, check the schedule, fill the gaps and publish a clearer working week. 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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