When do I use a Working Pattern?

If an employees' hours stay the same week by week, you can set up a reusable working pattern. e.g. 9-5 with a 30 minute break.

In their working pattern, you can set their contracted hours and overtime settings, including multiple overtime rates for different days. You will also need to set which days they can book off on leave, and how many hours one leave day is equivalent to. If an employee has a fixed Working Pattern set, they'll still show on the rota planner, but their fixed Working Pattern can only be amended in their employee profile.

A Team that has the Same Hours?

Teams can be set up to help organise employees with similar roles, schedules, or working hours. More details on how to set up a team here. If your whole team works the same hours, you can set up a shared working pattern;

1. Go to Configure > Working Pattern
2. Create your Working pattern and save it.
3. Apply the saved working pattern to all the relevant team members via Employee Profile > Working Pattern > Use this Working Pattern

When do I use Shifts?

If an employee's schedule changes from week to week, you can tick that the employee is a shift worker (employee profile > working pattern tab > works shifts ✅ > save).

You can then use the Rota Planner to assign shifts to your employees. The employee's hours is determined by the rota planner.

FAQs

Does the working pattern mean it won't count hours outside of this?

No, by default. Employees can still clock in outside of their working hours, and their hours would be counted. If you'd like to only count hours within their scheduled start and end times, you can enable Rounding Rules under your Account Settings and untick "Count Time Worked Before Expected Start Time" and "Count Time Working After Expected End Time".

What if employees don’t have set shifts, but their start and finish times vary each day?

If an employee doesn’t work fixed shifts but their start and end times change from day to day (for example, 6am–4pm one day and 3pm–11pm the next), they can still have a Working Pattern rather than assigned shifts.

In this case, you can set the Working Pattern to cover a full day, e.g. 00:00–23:59, so that all hours clocked within that window count as regular working hours.

This allows flexibility for variable daily start and end times without needing to create separate shifts.

How do I set up a reusable working pattern?

We go through how to set up a reusable working pattern in this guide here.

Can it handle shift employees who work 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off?

Yes, we have the option to setup a reusable shift template.

Who can I contact with further questions?

Don't hesitate to reach out to us via live chat (Account > Support) or via email at support@timekeeper.co.uk

Updated on: 13/11/2025