Creating & Assigning Shifts

Shifts define the expected working hours for employees. Udyamo HRMS uses the Shift model to configure one or more shift patterns, assign them to employees, and use them as the basis for attendance calculations, late-marking, and payroll. This chapter covers creating shifts, setting a default shift, assigning shifts to employees, and managing rotating shift patterns.

Prerequisites

Required: Before configuring shifts, ensure:

• At least one office exists (see Offices & Locations)
• Your work week is configured with the correct working days (see Work Week, Timezone & Fiscal Year)
• Employees have been added to the system (see Adding Your First Employee)

Navigating to Shift Management

1. From the sidebar, click Attendance.
2. Click Shifts from the submenu.
3. The Shifts list page displays all configured shifts.

Understanding the Shift Model

Each shift in Udyamo HRMS has the following attributes:

Creating a New Shift

Step 1: Open the Create Form

1. On the Shifts list page, click Add Shift or Create New Shift.
2. The shift creation form opens.

Step 2: Enter Shift Details

1. Name — Enter a descriptive name. Use names that clearly indicate the shift pattern (e.g., "Morning Shift", "Evening Shift", "Night Shift", "General 9-6").
2. Start Time — Select the shift start time using the time picker. Use 24-hour format.
3. End Time — Select the shift end time. For overnight shifts, the end time will be earlier than the start time (e.g., start 22:00, end 06:00).
4. Grace Period — Enter the number of minutes after the start time that an employee can check in without being marked late. For example, a 15-minute grace period on a 09:00 shift means check-ins up to 09:15 are considered on time.
5. Break Duration — Enter the total break time in minutes. This is deducted from the gross working hours to calculate net working hours.

Step 3: Configure Applicable Days

1. Select the days of the week this shift applies to.
2. Typically, this matches your work week configuration (e.g., Monday to Friday or Monday to Saturday).
3. Deselect any days that should not use this shift.

Step 4: Save the Shift

1. Review all fields.
2. Click Save.
3. The shift appears in the Shifts list.

Setting a Default Shift

The default shift is automatically assigned to newly added employees who do not have a specific shift assignment. Only one shift can be the default at a time.

To Set a Default Shift

1. Navigate to Attendance > Shifts.
2. Locate the shift you want to make the default.
3. Click the Actions menu (three dots or gear icon) for that shift.
4. Select Set as Default.
5. The shift is now marked with a "Default" badge.

Alternatively, when creating or editing a shift:

1. Check the Is Default checkbox.
2. Save the shift.

Tip: Set your most common shift as the default. For most Indian organizations, a 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM shift with a 60-minute lunch break is standard. Setting this as default saves time when adding new employees.

Warning: If you change the default shift, existing employee assignments are not affected. Only newly created employees (who are not explicitly assigned a shift) will receive the new default.

Common Shift Configurations

Here are typical shift configurations for Indian organizations:

Tip: For organizations with flexible timings, set a wide start-to-end window and a large grace period. The system calculates actual working hours from check-in and check-out times regardless of the shift window.

Assigning Shifts to Employees

Individual Assignment

1. Navigate to Employees and open the employee's profile.
2. Go to the Attendance or Shift section of the profile.
3. Click Assign Shift or Edit Shift.
4. Select the desired shift from the dropdown.
5. Optionally, set an Effective Date from which this shift assignment begins.
6. Click Save.

Bulk Assignment

To assign a shift to multiple employees at once:

1. Navigate to Attendance > Shifts.
2. Click the shift you want to assign.
3. On the shift detail page, click Assign Employees or Manage Assignments.
4. A list of all employees appears. Use checkboxes to select employees.
5. Use filters (department, office, designation) to narrow the list.
6. Click Assign to apply the shift to all selected employees.

Tip: When onboarding a new department, use bulk assignment to assign the correct shift to all department members at once.

Multiple Shifts

Organizations that operate across multiple time zones or run 24-hour operations often need multiple shifts.

Managing Multiple Shifts

• Create each shift with a distinct name and time range.
• Assign different shifts to different employee groups based on their role, department, or office.
• Each employee can have only one active shift at a time.

Shift Change Process

When an employee's shift changes (e.g., rotation from morning to evening):

1. Open the employee's profile.
2. Navigate to the Shift section.
3. Change the shift assignment to the new shift.
4. Set the Effective Date to the date the new shift starts.
5. Save.

The system retains historical shift data, so attendance calculations for past dates use the shift that was active at that time.

Rotating Shift Patterns

Some organizations rotate employees through different shifts on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Setting Up Rotation

1. Create all the shifts that are part of the rotation (e.g., Morning Shift, Afternoon Shift, Night Shift).
2. Assign the initial shift to each employee.
3. At the rotation interval, update the shift assignment for each employee to the next shift in the rotation.

Tip: For frequent rotations, maintain a shift rotation calendar (outside Udyamo HRMS or as a reference) and update assignments at the beginning of each rotation period. The bulk assignment feature can speed up this process.

Rotation Example

Impact on Attendance Calculations

The shift configuration directly affects how attendance is evaluated:

Warning: Changes to a shift's start time, end time, or break duration affect all future attendance calculations for employees on that shift. Review the impact before modifying an existing shift that has active assignments.

Editing an Existing Shift

1. Navigate to Attendance > Shifts.
2. Click the shift name to open its details.
3. Click Edit.
4. Modify the desired fields.
5. Click Save.

Warning: Editing a shift does not retroactively change past attendance records. Changes apply to attendance records from the current date forward.

Deleting a Shift

1. Navigate to Attendance > Shifts.
2. Click the Actions menu for the shift.
3. Select Delete.
4. Confirm the deletion.

Warning: You cannot delete a shift that is currently assigned to employees or is set as the default. Reassign all employees to a different shift and remove the default status before deleting.

Common Errors and Solutions

Next Steps

• Configure daily check-in and check-out for employees — see Daily Check-In & Check-Out
• Set up attendance policies for late-marking and absence rules — see Attendance Policies & Rules
• Connect attendance devices for biometric check-in — see Attendance Devices & Face Recognition