Shift scheduling for bank, NBFC and microfinance branches

The shifts a lending business actually needs

Start with a short catalogue rather than one shift per branch. A typical lender needs a branch general shift, an early shift for whoever opens the vault, a field shift for loan officers, a calling shift for the collection desk and a flexible head office shift with core hours. Each shift carries its own grace, break and half-day hours. Keep the codes short so a branch manager reads the roster at a glance.

• BR: branch general, 9:30 am to 6:30 pm
• CS: cash and vault, 9 am to 6 pm
• FD: field, 7 am to 4 pm with a one-hour break
• CL: collection calling, 10 am to 7 pm
• HO: flexible, with core hours from 11 am to 4 pm

Extended-hours and seven-day branches

Some bank branches open from 8 am to 8 pm or work on Sundays in markets and malls. Two overlapping shifts cover that window. Take a seven-day branch with seven staff and give each person a different weekly off through a staggered rotation: six people are on duty every day. Put three on an 8 am to 4 pm shift and three on a 12 pm to 8 pm shift, and the branch has six people across the busy hours from noon to 4 pm and three at each end of the day. Check that each shift includes someone who can authorise transactions and hold the second key.

Field and collection rosters

Microfinance loan officers work to a fixed meeting calendar, with each centre meeting on the same weekday every week or fortnight. The shift is steady, but the weekly off must never land on a meeting day, so give each officer a personal weekly off. Collection tele-callers work inside the calling hours set by your collection and fair practices policy, and an early and a late calling shift reach borrowers who can only talk after work. Field collection staff follow EMI due dates, so the first ten days of the month need full strength and weekly offs should fall later in the month.

Swaps and cover without losing dual control

Staff will swap shifts and weekly offs among themselves, especially around festivals. Allow it, but route every swap through the branch manager and HR, so no swap leaves the vault shift without a second keyholder. The roster should change only on final approval, and the branch manager should look at the day grid before approving. For an absent cashier, the cover comes from the cluster's list of trained staff, not from whoever happens to be free that morning.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. In Shifts & Roster, create the branch, cash, field, calling and head office shifts with timings, breaks, grace in and out, and full-day and half-day hours.
2. Set each shift's weekly off pattern, with the second and fourth Saturday rule for bank branches, and give loan officers personal weekly offs away from their meeting days.
3. For seven-day branches, build a seven-day rotation template staggered per person, so each employee gets a different weekly off.
4. Assign shifts in bulk for up to 92 days at a time, then check each branch in the day grid for opening and closing coverage.
5. Allow Shift Swaps so staff can exchange shifts or weekly offs, with the colleague accepting first and the branch manager and HR approving before the roster changes.

Read more about shifts and rosters in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions