Top Shift Work Scheduling Software Solutions to Improve Efficiency, Compliance, and Fatigue Management (2024)

As most HR leaders, managers, and supervisors know, managing shift work schedules, especially for 24/7 operations, isn’t as easy as it looks. In fact, it can be downright complex: You need to consider operational demands, ensure compliance with labor laws, factor in employer availability and shift preferences, and consider fatigue management for worker health and safety.

Read the Fatigue Management Guide to learn everything you need to know about fatigue in the workplace. 

Varying start and end times, rotating shifts, adequate rest periods, commute times, and shift overlap compound the issue of shift work scheduling. Creating schedules manually can lead to scheduling conflicts, errors, inefficiencies, and unintentional compliance violations. Poor scheduling can increase fatigue risk, reduce productivity, and damage morale. In fact, if you’re facing high turnover, absenteeism, and reduced productivity, it might be partly due to your shift work scheduling practices. That’s why so many leaders are switching to shift work scheduling software. 

What Is Shift Work Scheduling Software?

Shift work scheduling software is an automated tool that makes it easy to schedule complex shift work. With shift work scheduling software, it’s easier to ensure adequate coverage for operations, while improving productivity and scheduling efficiency, ensuring compliance, and keeping employees safe and happy. It can reduce the risk of over- and under-scheduling. 

Different shift work scheduling software solutions have features that are designed for different use cases and industries.

Key features of the different scheduling tools on the market include:

Automated scheduling: Reduces the time required to manually schedule shifts and minimizes errors.

Fatigue management: Provides a fatigue risk profile for your shift schedule, so you can schedule safer, more productive shifts.

Payroll integration: Makes it easy to keep track of hours worked for simplified payroll processing.

Compliance tracking: Alerts you to compliance issues with your schedule to ensure you’re complying with both company policies and local and federal labor laws.

Self-scheduling: Makes it easy for workers to schedule their own shifts, view their schedules, and swap shifts as needed.

Who Can Benefit from Shift Work Scheduling Software?

Certain industries are more likely than others to benefit from an investment in shift work scheduling software, including those with:

• 24/7 operations with non-traditional hours, night shift
• Shifts that impact safety and operational efficiency
• Stringent compliance requirements
• Rotating shifts
• Large workforces
• A higher fatigue risk

These industries include:

• Healthcare: Hospitals need to maintain 24/7 coverage and have a high risk of consequences associated with fatigue.
• Mining: Mining companies use shift work to maintain 24/7 operations. The high-hazard and safety-sensitive nature of the industry means fatigue must be taken into account when scheduling shifts.
• Transportation: Long hours and the high-risk task of driving coupled with strict delivery dates requires master scheduling.
• Oil & Gas: 24/7 operations, long hours, long commutes, and consecutive days of work can be difficult to schedule safety and efficiently. 
• Utilities: Scheduling is required both on a day-to-day basis and during power outages and emergencies. 
• Manufacturing: Factories often operate in shifts to meet demand and maintain continuous production.
• Construction: Tight deadlines, overtime, long hours, and high-hazard job duties using heavy machinery means scheduling shift work must be done with care and thought to reduce risks of fatigue and ensure operational efficiency.
• Restaurants: Restaurants, bars, hotels, and other hospitality businesses schedule complex shift work schedules to manage large workforces, high turnover, employee preferences, and off-hours work, while ensuring staff availability during peak hours without over-staffing.

7 Shift Work Scheduling Software Solutions Compared: Quick Comparison Chart

Top 7 Shift Work Scheduling Software Solutions for 2024

1. Instant Insights by Fatigue Science

While Instant Insights does not automate the entire scheduling process, it is a shift roster tool that uses predictive fatigue modeling to help forecast fatigue risk caused by shift scheduling.

It calculates individual worker fatigue risk based on your shift patterns and their sleep opportunities. 

Insight Insights is specifically built for safety-sensitive industries with strong safety protocols that require advanced fatigue management, such as mining and transportation.

Core Features:

• Uses the SAFTE Biomathematical Fatigue Model to predict fatigue risk
• Can compare different shift patterns, start times, and end times to find the safest, most productive schedule for your workforce
• Review comparisons of different shift patterns on fatigue levels with automatically produced charts and heat maps 

Pricing
Custom pricing based on industry and team size.

Best for: Safety-sensitive industries, including mining, fleet, oil & gas, and utilities

2. When I Work

When I Work is versatile and user-friendly shift work scheduling software with a focus on flexibility. It allows employees to self-schedule and manage shifts directly, making it ideal for businesses in the retail and healthcare sectors. 

Core Features

• Self-Scheduling and Shift Swapping: Empowers employees with scheduling control
• Automated Scheduling: Reduces manual errors in shift planning
• Mobile Access: Enables scheduling on-the-go

Pricing
Starts at $2/user/month.

Best For
Retail, healthcare, and other customer-facing industries needing flexible scheduling. Limited fatigue management features - therefore not ideal for safety-heavy industries

3. Planday

Designed for hospitality and manufacturing, Planday integrates payroll and provides real-time schedule adjustments to ensure smooth, compliant operations.

Core Features

• Real-Time Schedule Adjustments: Quickly adapt schedules based on real-time demands.
• Payroll Integration: Simplifies payroll processing for hourly workers.
• Analytics: Data insights on shift productivity and staffing needs.

Pricing
Contact Planday for custom pricing.

Best For
Hospitality and manufacturing sectors needing payroll integration and real-time adjustments.

4. Deputy

Deputy is ideal for companies requiring compliance tracking, like healthcare. It offers fatigue management alerts and integrates with payroll for seamless compliance.

Core Features

• Compliance and Fatigue Tracking: Ensures shifts meet legal and safety standards.
• Payroll Integration: Connects easily with payroll for accurate payments.
• Communication Tools: Managers can communicate directly with employees.

Pricing
Starts at $3.50/user/month.

Best For
Healthcare and transportation sectors with complex compliance needs.

5. Shiftboard

Overview
Shiftboard is a powerful tool for large industries, using AI-driven scheduling to support fatigue monitoring, real-time optimization, and employee satisfaction. However, it does have a higher learning curve and higher pricing that is tailored to large organizations.

Core Features

• AI-Driven Scheduling: Uses AI for efficient, balanced shift scheduling.
• Fatigue Monitoring: Tracks and manages employee fatigue proactively.
• Real-Time Analytics: Data-driven insights for optimized operations.

Pricing
Custom pricing; contact Shiftboard for details.

Best For
Energy, logistics, and other high-demand industries with complex scheduling.

6. TimeTrex

TimeTrex is designed to manage complex multi-week rotating schedules, making it ideal for industries with intricate shift patterns. It also includes features for time tracking, payroll, and attendance management. However, it is not built for fatigue management and the interface may require customization. 

Core Features

• Multi-Week Rotating Scheduling: Handles complex scheduling patterns.
• Time Tracking: Tracks hours worked in real time.
• Payroll Integration: Built-in payroll processing to simplify administration.

Pricing
Offers both free and paid options based on feature needs.

Best For
Industries needing complex rotation schedules, such as manufacturing and healthcare.

7. Homebase

Homebase is a simple, user-friendly scheduling software that is ideal for small businesses and startups. It includes scheduling, time tracking, and team messaging features. Its compliance and fatigue management features, however, are limited, which does not make it ideal for safety-sensitive industries like healthcare, mining, or transportation. 

Core Features

• Easy Scheduling: Quickly create schedules and make adjustments.
• Time Tracking: Track employee hours for accurate payroll.
• Team Communication: Messaging feature to keep staff connected.

Pricing
Free for basic features; paid plans available with advanced features.

Best For
Small businesses and startups that need straightforward scheduling tools.

How to Choose the Right Shift Work Scheduling Software for Your Business

As you can see, many of the shift work scheduling software solutions available include unique features and are built for specific industries.

Of course, as when choosing any type of software, you should consider things like ease of use, cost, scalability, and integration.

However, it’s arguably more important to choose shift scheduling software that’s built for your industry. This way, you’ll be sure to narrow down your options to the tools that have the specific features you need – such as fatigue risk management, compliance tracking, or self-scheduling.

Here are the best shift work scheduling software based on key features:

Best Shift Work Scheduling Tool for Fatigue Management: Instant Insights by Fatigue Science is specifically designed for fatigue management in high-hazard industries where managing fatigue risk is critical for compliance and safety.

Best Shift Work Scheduling Tool for Labor Compliance: Deputy has strong compliance tracking features, making it the ideal tool for businesses that need to ensure their schedules adhere to labor laws to prevent legal issues and costly fines.

Best Shift Work Scheduling Software for Employee Satisfaction: When I Work is the best option if you want employees to have some scheduling autonomy, control, and flexibility over their shifts.

Best Shift Work Scheduling Tool for Payroll Integration: Planday is ideal for businesses with complex or multi-location operations that need to ensure workers are paid accurately according to their shifts worked.

Best Scheduling Software for Complex, Rotating Shifts: Due to its ability to handle complex, multi-week rotating schedules, TimeTrex is your best choice if you have intricate shift patterns and long scheduling cycles.

Best Scheduling Tool for Small Businesses: Homebase is easy to use, simple, and lower cost, making it great for small businesses with simple scheduling needs.

Best Shift Scheduling Software by Feature

FAQs

What is shift work scheduling software?
Shift work scheduling software automates the assignment and management of shifts for businesses that operate around the clock. It’s ideal for industries that rely on shift work and need tools to optimize scheduling, manage compliance, and reduce employee fatigue.

How does scheduling software reduce fatigue?
Advanced scheduling tools include features like fatigue risk monitoring and alerts, helping managers prevent burnout by scheduling shifts with adequate rest periods.

What are the best shift scheduling software options?
Some of the top options include Instant Insights, When I Work, Planday, Deputy, Shiftboard, TimeTrex, and Homebase, each offering unique benefits tailored to different industry needs.