Add an Employee Shift
A shift defines the employee’s working days and times: the start and end of the shift, the period in which sign-in is allowed, the period in which sign-out is allowed, and the lateness grace period. Based on it, the system evaluates the employee’s attendance logs when calculating attendance. This guide explains adding both types of shift, setting up night shifts that end the next day, assigning the shift to employees, and all restrictions and messages, including the “out of shift range” message.
Contents
The two shift types
| Type | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Standard | The same times for all the selected working days. |
| Advanced | Different times for each day, such as a shorter working day at the end of the week. |
Steps to add a shift
- From the main menu, click Attendance, then Shifts Management.
- Click New Shift.
- Enter the Name (required and unique), choose the Type, and you can choose a Color to distinguish the shift.
- In the Week Days table, turn on Work Day for each day the employee works. Days that aren’t turned on are considered weekend days. You can also turn on Calculate Attendance on Off Days if you want attendance calculated even on days off.
- Enter the attendance rules: once for the Standard type, and for each day in the Advanced type.
- Check the Shift Preview; it shows the Sign-in window and the Sign-out window on a timeline, and shows what falls on the Next day (marked +1).
- Click Save.
Attendance rules
All times use the 24-hour format.
| Field | Meaning | Default |
|---|---|---|
| On Duty Time | The work start time, and lateness is calculated from it. | 09:00 |
| Off Duty Time | The work end time, and early leaving is calculated from it. Expected working hours = off duty time − on duty time. | 17:00 |
| Start of Sign-In | The earliest time a sign-in log is accepted. | 07:00 |
| End of Sign-In | The latest time a sign-in log is accepted. | 11:00 |
| Start of Sign-Out | The earliest time a sign-out log is accepted. | 15:00 |
| End of Sign-Out | The latest time a sign-out log is accepted. | 19:00 |
| Lateness grace period | The minutes allowed after the on duty time without counting lateness. | 15 minutes |
| Start late time | After On Duty Time + Lateness grace period: lateness is counted only after the grace period ends. From On Duty Time: if the employee exceeds the grace period, the full lateness is counted from the on duty time. | After On Duty Time + Lateness grace period |
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Note: When creating a new shift, changing On Duty Time or Off Duty Time fills in the sign-in and sign-out times automatically (two hours before and after each time if the shift is longer than 4 hours, and one hour if it’s shorter). Always review these times, especially in night shifts. There’s no grace period field for early leaving; early leaving is handled with leave permissions.
How attendance logs are evaluated
When calculating attendance, the system classifies each log based on the period it falls in:
| Log | Treated as |
|---|---|
| Between Start of Sign-In and End of Sign-In | The first log = Sign In, and the ones after it = Repeated Sign In. |
| Between Start of Sign-Out and End of Sign-Out | The last log = Sign Out, and the ones before it = Repeated Sign Out. |
| Outside both periods | An invalid log that isn’t included in the calculation. See The “out of shift range” message. |
The day status: valid sign-in and sign-out logs = present; sign-in only = Sign In Only; sign-out only = Sign Out Only; no valid logs = Absent (or Day Off if it’s a weekend day).
Night shifts that end the next day
The system supports shifts that start on one day and end on the next day, and you don’t need to edit any dates manually. If the Off Duty Time is earlier than the On Duty Time, the system considers it on the next day, and the same goes for the sign-out period if its times are earlier than End of Sign-In.
Example: a shift from 18:00 in the evening to 09:00 the next morning:
| Field | Value | Day |
|---|---|---|
| Start of Sign-In | 16:00 | Shift day |
| On Duty Time | 18:00 | Shift day |
| End of Sign-In | 22:00 | Shift day |
| Start of Sign-Out | 06:00 | Next day |
| Off Duty Time | 09:00 | Next day |
| End of Sign-Out | 11:00 | Next day |
This way, the sign-in log is accepted from 16:00 to 22:00, and the sign-out log from 06:00 to 11:00 the next morning, and the attendance day is recorded on the sign-in date.
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Warning: The automatic fill when creating a night shift may set unsuitable log times (such as sign-out from 08:00 to 10:00), so a sign-out log at 07:00 is rejected. Set the four times manually as in the example. The system doesn’t prevent you from saving overlapping or out-of-order times; check the preview before saving.
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Note: A night shift follows the sign-in day. For example, Thursday night into Friday follows Thursday‘s rules, so Thursday must be a Work Day, even if Friday is a day off.
The “out of shift range” message
After attendance is calculated, any log that doesn’t fall within the sign-in period or the sign-out period of any day becomes invalid, and its reason appears. The reasons, in order:
| Reason | When |
|---|---|
| No shift assigned | The employee doesn’t have a shift. |
| Weekend | The log’s day isn’t a working day in their shift. |
| Leave | The employee is on approved leave. |
| Out of shift range | Other than the above: the log is outside both the sign-in and sign-out periods. |
In a night shift, this usually appears for the morning sign-out log, because the sign-out period doesn’t include the log time, so the day becomes Sign In Only.
The fix:
- Open the shift from Shifts Management, and click Edit.
- Widen the log period that doesn’t include the logs, such as Start of Sign-Out 06:00 and End of Sign-Out 11:00 in the night shift.
- Click Save.
- Recalculate attendance for the previous days as in the next section, so the logs are evaluated again.
Recalculate attendance after editing the shift
Editing the shift doesn’t recalculate previous days automatically. To apply it to a full period (such as a month) at once:
- Open Attendance Days and click Calculate Attendance.
- Set the period From and To, and the employees. In night shifts, make the To date one day after the last night, so the last night’s sign-out log is read.
- If you edited days manually before and want them recalculated too, select Overwrite Manual Attendance Day; otherwise the manual days stay as they are.
- Click Calculate; a message appears confirming that the days in the period were calculated successfully.
- The calculation uses the employee’s current shift, not the shift they had on the previous days.
- Days included in approved attendance sheets aren’t recalculated.
- To recalculate a single day, open it and click Recalculate; if it was edited manually, you’re asked to confirm deleting the edits.
- The To date must be after From (otherwise the message To date must be greater than from date appears), and must not be more than 3 months from today.
Assign the shift to employees
| Method | Details |
|---|---|
| Base Shift | From the employee’s profile → Edit → Base Shift. |
| Secondary base shift | After enabling Employee Secondary Base Shifts from Attendance → Settings → Attendance Configurations, select the option to allow the secondary shift in the employee’s profile. |
| Bulk assignment | From the shift page, click Assign To Employees and choose the employees. |
| Temporary Shifts | To change the shift of employees, a branch, or a department for a specific period; it replaces the primary shift during this period. |
Edit and delete a shift
- You can edit the shift at any time, even if it’s assigned to employees or has attendance days. The edit applies on the next calculation only.
- You can’t delete a shift assigned to an active employee (as a base, secondary, or booking shift), linked to temporary shifts, or set as the default bookings shift.
- Having previous attendance days doesn’t prevent deletion.
Error messages and solutions
| Message | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| This Name is Already Exists | The shift name is already used. | Choose another name. |
| The shift must contain at least one day | You didn’t select any working day. | Select at least one working day. |
| Please enter a valid time | An empty time or a wrong format. | Enter the time in the 24-hour format, such as 18:00. |
| You can’t enter a lateness time later than the end of the attendance time | On duty time + the grace period exceeds End of Sign-In. | Reduce the grace period or make the end of sign-in later. |
| You can’t delete this shift because it’s assigned | The shift is assigned to an active employee. | Change these employees’ shift first. |
| You can’t delete this shift because it’s linked to temporary shifts | The shift is used in a temporary shift. | Delete the linked temporary shifts first. |
| Out of shift range (on the log) | The log is outside the sign-in and sign-out periods. | Widen the right period, then recalculate attendance. |
FAQs
The employee is on a shift from 18:00 to 09:00, and the morning sign-out log shows “out of shift range”. Why?
Because the log time doesn’t fall between Start of Sign-Out and End of Sign-Out. Set up the shift as in the night shift example (for example, sign-out from 06:00 to 11:00), then recalculate attendance for the month at once from Calculate Attendance; there’s no need to edit each day manually.
Does the system support shifts that end the next day?
Yes; enter an off duty time earlier than the on duty time (such as 18:00 to 09:00), and the system considers it on the next day, and records the day on the sign-in date.
I edited the shift, but the previous days didn’t change. Why?
Because editing the shift doesn’t recalculate automatically. Run Calculate Attendance for the period, and select Overwrite Manual Attendance Day if the days were edited manually.
What’s the difference between the on duty time and the beginning of sign-in?
The on duty time is the work start time, and lateness is calculated from it. The beginning of sign-in is the earliest time a log is accepted, and it’s usually before the on duty time.