Employee schedule templates can be built one shift at a time, or can be copied from other templates. Additionally, a template can be created from a pre-existing schedule, and if departments are enabled, each department will have individual schedule templates.

There are no limits to the number of schedule templates that can be created at a location.

Several schedule templates can be combined together into weekly templates, and supervisors and managers can use weekly templates to build entire schedules with a single click.

Templates can be assembled in different orders to handle labor scheduling across different seasonalities, holidays, or business requirements.

Changing the employee security level is simple. The Employee Type field is listed at the bottom of the Employee Information page.

TimeForge Supervisor capabilities can be configured on a per-site basis. Supervisors can be configured to have limited labor management capabilities, or can be configured with the same permission levels as a TimeForge Manager.

To view Schedule Snapshots, or create a new one, click on the “View Schedule Snapshots” button at the bottom of the Schedule Detail page.

Click on “Create a Snapshot” to create a schedule snapshot. Schedule snapshots can only be used with schedules that are not yet posted.

Previous Schedule Snapshots are visible in the “View Schedule Snapshots” pop up window.

Listed with each snapshot is the date and time the snapshot was created, the number of shifts in the schedule, the total number of labor hours scheduled, and the estimated labor cost (schedule cost) for the snapshot.

To restore a schedule snapshot, simply click on the radio button next to the desired snapshot, and then click on “Restore a Snapshot“. After a few seconds, your schedule will be restored to the selected snapshot.

When operating with multiple locations inside of TimeForge, a drop-down box will appear in the top right hand corner. This drop-down box allows managers and supervisors to switch locations with a single click.

In addition to the drop-down box, a new link “Corporation Settings” is available to allow manipulation of Corporate level data.

At the corporation level, many of the menus are similar to the menus at the location level, including the ability to change position names, set request types and certifications, configure sales forecasting, and manage departments across all locations.

Additional capabilities include multi-location / multi-store reports, a corporate level dashboard (displayed above) with indicators for labor costs, posted schedules, and shift satisfaction among employees.

When operating a single location, the location drop-down (picture above) will not appear, nor will the Corporation Settings link.

When operating with multiple locations inside of TimeForge, a drop-down box will appear in the top right hand corner. This drop-down box allows the manager (or supervisor) to switch locations with a single click.

Locations in need of manager attention will be displayed with an asterisk next to their name (indicating shift swaps or employee requests that are pending).

When more than 10 locations are present, the drop-down box will become a search box, allowing you to quickly search through tens, hundreds, or thousands of store locations by name, store number, address, or zip code.

First, navigate to the “Schedules” tab, and then the “Other Employee Schedules” sub-tab.

From the “Today” Tab, you can click on the Schedules tab, or click on the Other Employee Schedules button.

TimeForge will allow you to view the schedules of other employees / staff members.

To view the schedule, enter a date range into the boxes, and click on Go.

The planned work schedule for the selected time period can be seen on the Other Employee’s Schedules page. Employees are listed, along with the dates and their scheduled work shifts.

Login to the TimeForge web application using your username and password (or fingerprint scanner, if you have one), and you will be presented with the “Today” tab. On this page, you will a similar a screen similar to the above picture. Choose the “Setup Wizard” from the Setup tab.

Step 1 of the Setup Wizard includes basic company or location settings, such as the name, address, phone, and fax number of your store. Additionally, set the day of the week that your schedule starts (if you use bi-weekly or monthly schedules, choose the most appropriate date).

Make sure that the information on the Company Settings is correct before continuing, as TimeForge will automatically choose your time zone and download weather information based on the information entered on this page.

On Step 2 of the Setup Wizard, enter the positions or job codes that your business uses to schedule employees. Base payrates and pay scales can also be entered for each Position (you can override these rates on a per-employee basis). Payrates will be useful later to compute schedule costs, and determine sales to labor ratios, and are also used when employees clock in and clock out (if you are using TimeForge Attendance).

For example:
- A table service restaurant might have positions for: Waiter, Food Runner, Busser, Bartender, Delivery Driver, Cook, Assistant Manager, Bar Manager, etc…
- A quick service restaurant might have positions for: Cashier / Register, Drive Through, Cook, Assistant Manager, Manager, etc…
- A car wash retail business might have positions for: Cashier, Assistant Manager, Manager, etc…
- Other retail businesses could have positions for: Register, Security, Carry Out, Delivery Driver, Assistant Manager, Manager, etc…

If a Pay Scale is chosen as “Annually” (for example, a salaried manager), the software will automatically compute an equivalent hourly rate in the “Hourly Rate” column. You may override this field if necessary.

In this step, begin entering the employees at your business that will be on the schedule. Each employee will need to have a first and last name (the middle name or initial is optional). If you know the employee’s email address, you can enter their email address – TimeForge will automatically send them an email to allow them to access TimeForge.

Employees can have more than one job code or position assigned to them. To assign multiple job codes, simply check each of the necessary positions for the employee.

Creating a schedule is very simple, using the “Add or Edit A Schedule” screen.

To begin scheduling employees, enter this information:

- Start and end dates for your work schedule (these are the begin and end dates for the schedule)

- A descriptive name to remember the schedule (the software will suggest a name for your schedule)

- If your account is configured for multiple Departments, you can choose an applicable Department

- If your account is configured with Sales Forecasting, you can choose an appropriate Sales Type

TimeForge allows you to build a labor schedule in different ways – depending on your needs. TimeForge includes a Daily View, which includes a bar chart to easily determine staffing levels, as well as a Detail View, which resembles Microsoft Excel, and allows you to work on an entire week at a time.

Pictured above is the Schedule Daily View. Some of the powerful features and benefits of the Daily View include:

1. The schedule can be built by employee (Schedule By Employee), or by position (Schedule By Position). Switch back and forth with a single click.

2. Make a template from the shifts you have created, or use a previously created schedule template to make a schedule fast!

3. Choose Daily Labor Costs to review a graph of labor costs by position.

4. Important messages about the schedule, including scheduling rule problems and best practices are displayed at the top of the Daily View.

5. Adding a shift is easy – just pick the start and end times, then choose the employee or position from the drop-down. That’s it!

6. A graphical chart is shown next to each shift to allow you to easily staff your business.

TimeForge allows you to build a labor schedule in different ways – depending on your needs. TimeForge includes a Daily View, which includes a bar chart to easily determine staffing levels, as well as a Detail View, which resembles Microsoft Excel, and allows you to work on an entire week at a time.

Pictured above is the Schedule Detail View. Some of the powerful features and benefits of the Detail View include:

1. The schedule can be built by employee (Schedule By Employee), or by position (Schedule By Position). Switch back and forth with a single click.

2. Group summaries (such as the total hours, number of shifts, and labor costs) can be switched on and off by clicking on Hide Group Summaries or Show Group Summaries.

3. Clicking on Show Shift, Show Hours, or Show Cost to quickly display each shifts start and end times, hours of duration, or the cost of the shift. No more sorting through Excel for this data!

4. Important messages about the schedule, including broken scheduling rules and best practices are displayed at the top of the Detail View.

5. Click on the date header (such as Sat 08/08 or Sun 08/09) to view a pop-up window of additional actions, such as switching to the Daily View, creating a template, copying shifts from one day to another day, and much more!

6. The group summaries can be seen for the position or employee, as well as totals for the entire week and each individual employee, position, and day.

7. Click on Add Shift or the start and end time of the shift to add or edit a new shift for the employee.

In the Detail View, clicking on Add Shift will show the above window.

This window allows you to quickly add a shift to an employee / position combination, and also shows any other shifts that the employee is already scheduled for, and requested time off. Shifts can also be copied to other days of the schedule with a single click!

In the Detail View, select an employee (or position) and drag it to another employee (or position). Release your mouse button when you see a “check” icon, and then you will then see the window displayed above.

You can choose to copy (duplicate) or move the shifts from one employee to another. Copy the shifts to copy any upcoming shifts, leaving the original shifts intact. Move the shifts to move shifts from one staff member to another.

Instead of using the Detail View to add shifts and manage the schedule, many TimeForge users will use the Daily View.

To add shifts while using the Daily View:

- Pick the appropriate Start Time (when the employee should arrive) and End Time (when the employee will likely leave) for the shift. Instead of choosing from the drop-down box, you are free to enter your own start and end times (such as 2:12pm)

- Choose the position for this shift from the Position drop-down box. (Positions that do not have employees assigned will not be shown)

After choosing start and end times on the Daily View, and a position for the shift, click on the Employee drop-down. TimeForge will display a listing of all possible employees that are available to fill this shift.

Information about each employee will be shown, including their name, skill level for this position, an approximate cost to have the employee work this shift, and any notes about employee availability or requests.

Additionally — the “AutoSchedule” option is available. When you choose the “AutoSchedule” option, TimeForge will automatically look for the employee that is a “best fit” for the schedule, based on available hours, employee constraints (such as their availability), cost of labor, and a number of scheduling best practices.

When the schedule is complete, it should be Posted. Posted schedules can be seen by all other staff members that have access to TimeForge. Schedules that are not yet posted cannot be viewed by employees.

The schedule can only be posted from the Detail View, giving you one last chance to see the entire schedule before giving it to your employees.

If you would like to come back later and continue editing the schedule without allowing other employees to see the schedule, simply leave the page – all of the changes are already saved.