Top 9 Staff Scheduling Software Tools in 2022

As a business owner, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done – from payroll, customer service, engaging employees, checking inventory… The list just goes on. And let’s not forget about the never-ending pile of timetables, schedules, availability calendars, and employee requests — that’s right, we’re talking about staff scheduling with all its typical issues. 

Business owners and managers alike know that staff scheduling is an important aspect of the daily grind. Managers feel pressure mounting when there isn’t an effective scheduling process. And employee morale takes a hit when a schedule that serves their skills and needs just doesn’t exist. But it also works the other way around: stable and efficient schedules are proven to boost team productivity and even revenue.

“Among the many roles of a manager in a business, one of the most important is scheduling staff. After all, you can’t complete work without any workers. It’s vital that you put thought into the scheduling process and treat your staff professionally.”

Small Business Chron

Take control over the time and hours you do have with a staff scheduling software that works for you. It’s time to ditch pen and paper, after all, it’s the 21st century and there are a number of staff scheduling software options that are perfect for your business.

Worry not, we rolled up our sleeves and hit the books. After all, finding the right software should be a breeze, and shouldn’t take up all your valuable time. That’s why we scoured the web, read countless reports, and spoke to a handful of experts — all so we could present you with 9 staff scheduling software options that should simplify and speed up your schedule creating process. If you don’t have time to read through our research, then take a look at our quick reference comparison table.

The Top 9 Staff Scheduling Software Tools In 2022

By far the easiest staff scheduling software, Connecteam allows you to schedule shifts and dispatch jobs easily and quickly. Create single, multiple, or team shifts, or just upload a bulk using an excel file. With calendar view, drag & drop options, and copying last week’s shifts, you save valuable time. 

Connecteam’s robust staff scheduling software tool can save you time and effort thanks to quick actions, easy customization, automated reminders, and an intuitive interface.

In addition, the Connecteam scheduling tool has other features for effective employee management. For example, it tags an employee’s GPS location when they clock in and clock out. And you can customize status updates for employees to check-in at the job location, so they check-in, reject, or complete their shift. Connecteam also allows for shift attachments so employees can add photos, videos, notes, etc. In addition, Connecteam has an in-app chat and employee directory so it’s easier than ever for employees to contact you if needed and vice-versa. In addition, they offer discounts to nonprofits and charities that meet a certain criteria.

For whom?

Ideal for businesses with deskless employees, small businesses, and Enterprises.

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Google’s free cloud spreadsheet software makes employee scheduling quite simple. The pre-fixed rows and columns offer organized options so you can set each individual employee in their own column within one spreadsheet. Or have one spreadsheet per employee and simply divide up their columns by days of the week. 

With its sharing feature, you can quickly share the spreadsheets with employees via email. Plus, it has an automatic-saving, cloud feature so you don’t have to worry about losing all the data.

For whom?

Ideal for small companies or freelancers. 

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

When I Work is a great employee scheduling software for businesses with less than 75 employees. They have a free version that doesn’t limit you to one company location but it doesn’t let you schedule weeks into the future. 

However, it does have scheduling features like GPS locations and job instructions. Also, admins can view historical timesheets of a user on mobile, but editing past user entries/ shifts from the mobile is not available, and you will need the desktop version for it.

For whom?

Ideal for small companies, non-profit, and multi-site businesses.

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Google Calendar is a cloud creation of Google. However, it is designed to be a calendar so you can view everything in a day, four-day, week, month, year, or schedule format. Easily add events and reminders into a calendar and add notifications so employees don’t miss a shift.

Create employee shift calendars and share with everyone so they can view the shared work schedule calendar from their own personal calendar.

For whom?

Ideal for small companies or freelancers. 

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Homebase has a number of features, like scheduling, timesheets, time clocks, and messaging, but it also has special recruiting software that can post to online job boards. Homebase can also sync data from many payrolls and POS companies.

For whom?

Ideal for brick and mortar businesses with hourly employees.

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Paycor Scheduling helps you focus on what’s important — increasing productivity and reducing labor costs. The built-in reporting provides insight into your shift hours and costs, and this scheduling software also offers AI so you can use historical data to assign the right staff to any shift.

It has an easy scheduling feature and it’s simple to create and reuse schedule templates. Aside from a time-tracking tool, it also includes a staff management feature that can help track time-off requests and employee availability.

For whom?

Ideal for small businesses. 

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Humanity is pretty easy to use and their apps make it simple to edit and check schedules straight from your phone. It is easy to manage schedules, all employee availability, employee shift trades, and day-off requests.

Humanity is known for its customer support team, and also offers lots of integrations with other software platforms, such as Oracle, Workday, BambooHR, as well as multiple payroll partners.

For whom?

Ideal for small companies like coffee shops or those on hourly wages.

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

As far as staff scheduling goes, TSheets, now QuickBooks Time, offers similar scheduling and time-tracking software as other software tools do. Its mobile app sends your employees updates about their upcoming shifts and shift changes, then it sends you a notification if an employee is late or forgot to clock in.

However, the system is a little complicated and does need a lot of implementation training. In any case, two main features are worthy to mention. One, the GPS Time Tracker maps employee locations from when they clock-in to when they clock-out and the second feature allows employees to attach photos to timesheets.

For whom?

Ideal for service businesses. 

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Here’s the thing, you really need to know IT & software if you are going to use Deputy. And they know it. That’s why they ask for all your pen and paper timesheets and scheduling in advance, so they can customize the software for you, and then you can begin onboarding. 

Deputy is a scheduling and time management software that overall is well-rounded and time-efficient. Additionally, it easily integrates with other business systems; it integrates with more than 35 payroll, POS, and accounting programs. Use Deputy to forecast sales traffic and schedule shifts automatically. They offer special pricing for nonprofits, charities, and community organizations. 

For whom?

Ideal for small companies and multi-location businesses. 

Key Features:

PROS & CONS

Pricing:

Quick Comparison Of The Top 9 Staff Scheduling Software Tools

Benefits of Using a Staff Scheduling Software Tool

Save Time & Money

By using a staff scheduling software tool you can greatly reduce the time it takes management to schedule employees. It also helps reduce the amount of mistakes made during manual pen and paper scheduling. By using an automatic scheduling tool, you can reduce the time spent on creating employee shift schedules by 80% and cut your labor spending by 3%.With a robust scheduling software like Connecteam, you can easily view scheduling conflicts, employee availability, and even let employees claim open shifts. By reducing the time spent scheduling employees, management can focus on the bigger picture and daily tasks that are more important.

On-The-Go Access

Almost every single staff scheduling software allows for mobile access. This gives employees full visibility and access to their working schedule at any time and any place. With a powerful scheduling software, employees can set their availability, request PTO, and claim open shifts; allowing them more control over their schedule and creating a better work-life balance. When employees feel that they have more control and stability in their work schedule, it positively affects employee satisfaction and productivity. 

Overtime, Tax, and Labor Compliance

Due to specific laws and regulations regarding overtime, it’s imperative to be on top of your employee’s schedules to make sure they haven’t been scheduled for too many hours in the work. With a staff scheduling app you have complete oversight and control over employee overtime and schedules, reducing overtime errors and complying with regulations. You should ensure that your staff scheduling software is in compliance with local and state labor and tax laws.

Frequently Asked Questions About Staff Scheduling Software

Will a Free Scheduling Software Meet All My Needs?

Not all free staff scheduling softwares are made equally. Some provide features that, while not directly related to scheduling, can assist and streamline scheduling issues even more than just a simple and free scheduling software. For example, not all free versions come with an in-app chat. With an in-app chat, employees and managers can efficiently and effortlessly get in touch with other employees directly on their mobile devices. This can reduce the time it takes to resolve scheduling issues or misunderstandings. In addition, there are only a few staff scheduling softwares that are also an all-in-one employee management software, like Connecteam. 

Do All Staff Scheduling Softwares Charge Per User?

No, not every staff scheduling software charges per user, or employee. Some charge per location. Additionally, there are some that charge a monthly base fee or require a minimum amount of users per month. With Connecteam, premium plans don’t charge per user. In fact, plans start at just $39/month for the first 50 users! It’s important to read the fine print and ensure that the software tool you have picked doesn’t have any hidden fees or costs. 

Should I Start With A Free Trial Before Choosing A Staff Scheduling Software?

Yes! Definitely take advantage of free trials when offered! This is the best way to determine if the staff scheduling software solution is the right fit for your business. While some companies don’t provide free trials, those that do usually allow users to experience all features included in higher, more advanced plans. That way you can determine if you need more advanced plans to fit your scheduling needs.

Find The Best Staff Scheduling Software Tool For Your Business

The benefits of using a staff scheduling software will be apparent and felt within your business immediately! With the right staff scheduling software, you’ll save valuable time and money! You will also increase employee satisfaction and productivity by providing them a stable and flexible working schedule. 

Employees are much happier with a schedule that genuinely works for them. By doing so, you can also reduce employee turnover and keep the talent you employed. 

You want your scheduling tool to be as simple as possible, and your end schedule to be employee-friendly, otherwise, you are going to have a hard time trying to make your employees actually use it. 

If you’re looking for more than just a staff scheduling software, you may be interested in an all-in-one employee management tool. For example, with Connecteam, you can manage employee communication, daily tasks and checklists, and even onboarding and training new employees, just to name a few. Go through the nine software solutions we highlight above and choose the one that fits your company best.