Shift scheduling for hotels and resorts

Department patterns on common shifts

A shared shift catalogue keeps the property consistent: one code per shift, the same break and full-day hours everywhere, and a colour on the roster grid. Departments differ in how many people they put on each shift, not in what the shift means. ZeniaHR ships with General 9 to 6, Morning 6 to 2, Evening 2 to 10 and Night 10 to 6, and each can be edited to your own A, B and C timings.

• Front office: A, B and C, with the night auditor on C
• Housekeeping: most room attendants on A, a smaller B team for turndown, a skeleton team at night
• F&B service: a breakfast team from 6 am, split shifts for the restaurant, late banquet shifts
• Kitchen: breakfast prep from 5 am, then lunch, dinner and banquet shifts
• Engineering and security: A, B and C in rotation
• Back office: general shift, 9 am to 6 pm

Housekeeping follows occupancy

Housekeeping staffing depends on how many rooms need cleaning. If a room attendant cleans 14 rooms in a shift and tomorrow's forecast shows 168 departures and stayovers to service, the department needs 12 room attendants on the A shift. At 84 rooms, 6 are enough, and the rest can take weekly offs or leave. Build the roster a week ahead from the occupancy forecast and adjust it daily; assigning shifts day by day or in bulk keeps the published roster in step with the forecast.

Rotation across nights and weekly offs

Nobody should be on night duty forever. A rotation template of one week on A, one on B and one on C, staggered per person, spreads nights fairly across front office and security, and cycles can run up to 62 days if your pattern is longer. Weekly offs rotate too: a hotel has no quiet Sunday, so each person gets a personal weekly off on a varying day, shown in their roster in the app. Women on the C shift need their consent recorded, since the OSH Code allows women to work nights only with consent and the safety conditions the government sets.

Swaps and last-minute changes

Hotel staff swap shifts for family events, exams and trips home. In ZeniaHR a swap starts with the employee asking a colleague for their shift, on one date or across two, and weekly offs can be traded too. The colleague accepts or declines, then the head of department and HR approve, and only the final approval changes the roster. This matters most at night: security and the night auditor must be present, and an informal swap that falls through leaves the property uncovered at 3 am.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Edit the default shifts in Shifts & Roster to your A, B, C and general timings, with break, full-day hours and grace, and flag C as a night shift.
2. Add split shifts for F&B service teams, with both windows placed around breakfast, lunch and dinner.
3. Create a three-week rotation template for A, B and C and stagger it per person in front office, security and engineering.
4. Give each employee a personal weekly off, and assign department rosters by day or in bulk from the occupancy forecast.
5. Let staff trade shifts through swap requests in the mobile app; the head of department approves first and HR second.

Read more about shifts and rosters in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions