Shift scheduling for construction and real estate companies

Separate shifts for site, sales and head office

Define a few shifts and give each a clear purpose. A site shift of 8 am to 5 pm with a one-hour lunch suits engineers and supervisors, who need daylight and must be present when contractor crews start. The gallery shift runs 10:30 am to 7:30 pm, because buyers arrive late in the morning and stay into the evening. Head office keeps the General 9 to 6 shift with the 2nd and 4th Saturdays off. Each shift carries its own grace, full-day hours and weekly off pattern, so one attendance rule is not fighting three different working days.

• Site day shift: 8 am to 5 pm, Sunday off
• Sales gallery shift: 10:30 am to 7:30 pm, weekday off
• Head office: 9 am to 6 pm, 2nd and 4th Saturdays off
• Night pour shift: 10 pm to 6 am on planned dates only

Planning night pours

In many cities ready-mix trucks may enter only at night, so a raft or slab pour often runs from 10 pm into the morning. Move the engineers and supervisors on the pour to a night shift for that date in the roster, instead of leaving them on the day shift with a very late punch-out. Night shifts that cross midnight are filed to the shift's day, so the pour counts as one duty. Plan the next day as rest, and before rostering a woman engineer on a pour, follow the rules on night work for women: her consent and the safety conditions set by the government.

Weekday offs for the sales team

Sales staff cannot all take the same weekday off, or the gallery is empty on that day too. Stagger personal weekly offs: in a team of six, two are off on Tuesday, two on Wednesday and two on Thursday, and nobody is off on Saturday or Sunday. A rotation template can move the offs each month so nobody is stuck with the least popular day. Keep at least one senior sales manager on every weekday to handle walk-in negotiations and cheque collections.

Security supervisors and site stores

Where the developer employs its own security supervisors rather than an agency, the site needs cover through the night and on Sundays. Four supervisors on an eight-day cycle of two mornings, two evenings, two nights and two days off, each starting two days after the previous one, keep one supervisor on every shift every day. Rotation templates allow cycles of up to 62 days, staggered per person, and can be assigned in bulk for up to 92 days, so the roster changes only when someone leaves or the project enters a new phase.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. In Shifts & Roster, create the site day shift, the gallery shift, the head office General shift and a night pour shift, each with its own grace and full-day hours.
2. Flag the night pour shift as a night shift, so punches after midnight are filed to the day the pour started.
3. Give sales staff personal weekly offs on staggered weekdays, and keep Saturday and Sunday as working days on the gallery shift.
4. Build a rotation template for security supervisors or store keepers, stagger the start for each person and assign it in bulk for up to 92 days.
5. Let staff request shift swaps with a colleague, approved by the project or sales manager and then HR, so the roster changes only on final approval.
6. Check the day grid before each week to confirm every site and gallery has its minimum team.

Read more about shifts and rosters in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions