Flexible and split shifts

How it works

1. HR adds a shift in Shifts and Roster and picks its type: Fixed, Flexible or Split.
2. For a flexible shift, HR can set a core start, from which late is counted, and a core end, before which early leaving is counted. Left empty, neither is counted.
3. HR can set the minutes of work a flexible shift needs for a full day, such as 480. Left empty, the shift's full-day hours apply.
4. For a split shift, HR sets the first window and a second window that starts after the first one ends, such as 11 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm.
5. People on a split shift punch out after the first window and in again for the second. The gap is unpaid, so no break is taken off for it.
6. Punches are graded against the type: a flexible day by the work done, a split day by both windows added together.

What you can set

• Core start: late is counted after it, plus grace. Empty means no late marks on the shift.
• Core end: early leaving is counted before it. Empty means early leaving is not counted.
• Full day for a flexible shift: minutes of work, such as 480. Empty means the full-day hours apply.
• Split shift second window: a start and an end, after the first window ends on the same day.
• Break minutes, grace and the weekly off pattern work for every shift type.
• Checks on save: core hours must end after they start, and a split shift's first window must end after it starts on the same day.

When flexible and split shifts make sense

Flexible shifts suit IT teams, design studios and back offices, where output matters more than arrival time but meetings still need people around at midday. Split shifts suit restaurants, hotels, dairies and hospital kitchens, where the work comes in two peaks. Recording these honestly avoids two common problems: flexible staff collecting late marks for a start time nobody expects of them, and split-shift staff looking as if they took a four-hour break.

Worked example: a Bengaluru studio and a Lucknow restaurant

A Bengaluru design studio sets a Flexible shift with core hours from 11 am to 4 pm and 480 minutes for a full day. Sneha Rao punches in at 10:20 am, takes a 45-minute lunch punched as a break, and punches out at 7:05 pm. Her gross time is 8 hours 45 minutes and her effective time is exactly 8 hours, which is a full day, and she is not late, because she arrived before the 11 am core start.

A Lucknow restaurant runs a Split shift for its kitchen, 11 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm, with 8 full-day hours and no break allowance. Cook Mohammed Salim punches in at 10:58 am, out at 3:02 pm, in at 5:57 pm and out at 10:05 pm. His two stretches add up to 8 hours 12 minutes, so the day is a full day, and the three hours between the windows are neither paid nor taken off as a break.

Tips for setting them up

Both shift types change how people are judged, so explain them to the teams before the first month closes. Most confusion comes from core hours set too wide, or from split-shift staff who forget to punch out when the first window ends.

• Keep core hours short enough that people can really plan around them.
• Set the full-day minutes to the work you expect, not the length of the day.
• Remind split-shift staff to punch out at the end of the first window, or the gap counts as one long stretch.
• Use a fixed shift for roles that open a counter or a gate at a set time.

Frequently asked questions