Schedules

Schedules define when your workers are expected to be on shift. FabWise generates shifts automatically from your schedule templates.

Why it matters

Without schedules, every shift is unscheduled — no timing prompts, no auto-approval, no entitled breaks, and every shift flagged for review. Schedules turn FabWise from a basic time clock into an intelligent system that knows what to expect and flags only what's unusual.

Schedules also drive:
- Entitled breaks — meal breaks are generated based on the scheduled shift duration
- Timing prompts — the kiosk knows if a worker is early, on time, or late
- Auto-approval — clean shifts (on time, breaks taken, no overtime) skip the review queue
- Attendance tracking — missed shifts are detected automatically

How it works

Three layers

1. Schedule template — a weekly pattern. "Day Shift: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM."
2. Department assignment — each department gets one schedule. "Production runs the Day Shift."
3. Shift generation — FabWise creates individual shift records for each worker in the department.

When a worker starts their shift at the kiosk, FabWise finds their scheduled shift for today and matches them up. If the schedule says 8:00 AM and they arrive at 8:03, the system knows they're on time.

Automatic generation

A recurring job generates shifts from your schedule templates every week. It creates shifts for each worker in each department based on their department's assigned schedule. You don't create individual shifts manually — the schedule does it for you.

Schedule changes

When you update a schedule template:
- Future shifts are regenerated — the old shifts are replaced with new ones matching the updated schedule
- Past shifts are not affected — historical data is preserved
- In-progress shifts continue — a worker currently on shift isn't disrupted

Where to find it

• Path: Admin > Settings > Schedules (schedule templates), Admin > Settings > Departments (your team structure), and Admin > Settings > Scheduling (shift types, scheduling preferences, and schedule actions like Rebuild Schedule)
• Who can change it: Account admins

What you'll see

Schedules page

A list of your schedule templates, each showing the schedule name and how many departments use it ("Not assigned" if none). Create schedules and edit their entries here (one row per day of the week with start time, end time, and shift type).

Departments page

A list of departments with employee count and active/inactive status. Each department is assigned to one schedule. Use Add Department to create one.

Scheduling page

Configure the shift types (e.g., Day, Swing, Overnight) you assign to schedule entries, set scheduling preferences, and run schedule actions.

Rebuild Schedule

On the Scheduling page, under Schedule actions, Rebuild Schedule deletes all future scheduled shifts and regenerates them from the current templates. Shifts already worked are not affected. Use it after changing a schedule template.

What to do

Setting up your first schedule

1. Create departments — organize your team (Production, Assembly, QA, Shipping) on the Departments page
2. Create a schedule on the Schedules page — give it a name (e.g., "Day Shift," "Swing Shift")
3. Add entries — one per workday. Set the day, start time, end time, and shift type
4. Assign schedules to departments — each department gets one schedule
5. Add workers to departments — Admin > Users > edit each worker's department

FabWise starts generating shifts automatically. Workers see their scheduled shifts at the kiosk the next time they start a shift.

Common schedule patterns

FabWise handles overnight shifts that cross midnight — the shift is attributed to the day it started.

When schedules change

If you change shift times (say, moving from 8-4 to 7-3:30):
1. Update the schedule template entries
2. Click Rebuild Schedule — this regenerates future shifts with the new times
3. Workers see the updated times at their next shift

Common questions

Q: Can different workers in the same department have different schedules?
A: Yes. Each worker has a Schedule field on their profile (Admin > Users > [worker] > Edit). Set it to a specific schedule to override their department's schedule, or leave it as "Inherit from Department" (the default) to use the department's schedule. The per-user assignment wins when both are set. If most of your team is on one schedule with only a few exceptions, this is the right tool. If half your department is on a different schedule, split the department instead.

Q: What if a worker doesn't work every day on the schedule?
A: The system generates a shift for every scheduled day. If a worker doesn't show up, the shift is marked as missed. For planned absences, turn on the Time Off module (Settings > Features) — an approved time-off request covers the scheduled day so it isn't marked missed.

Q: Can I create one-off shifts without a schedule?
A: Workers can start unscheduled shifts at the kiosk. These are flagged for review (unless you auto-approve unscheduled shifts) but tracked normally.

Q: How far ahead does FabWise generate shifts?
A: About three months ahead, refreshed weekly by the schedule generation job. This gives workers visibility into upcoming shifts without creating too many records.

Related

• [Start Shift](../kiosk/start-shift.md)
• [Unscheduled Shifts](../kiosk/unscheduled-shifts.md)
• [Shift Approval](shift-approval.md)

Last updated: 2026-08-11