PRACTICAL GUIDE / 02
A simple employee availability template.
The best template is short enough to complete and detailed enough to prevent another round of questions. Use one row per person and one clear scheduling period.
Fields to collect
Name and the role or station they can cover.
Days and time windows they can work.
Hard blocks that should not be assigned.
Requests such as mornings, evenings or a particular day.
Context that helps the owner make a fair decision.
When the answer was last confirmed.
Copy-and-adapt example
Period: 1–7 September · Person: Maya · Role: Bar · Available: Mon 17:00–22:00, Sat 09:00–15:00 · Unavailable: Wed · Preference: One morning shift · Notes: Can cover a late close with notice.
The point is not to force every team into the same wording. It is to keep hard constraints, preferences and context separate enough to review.
When a template stops being enough
A document becomes hard to maintain when people edit different copies, reply late or need to see the published result. That is the moment to move from collecting answers to a shared availability workflow.
See Shift Helper’s availability workflow → · Compare availability and preferences →
Keep the final rota separate
Availability is an input, not the schedule itself. Review coverage and clashes before publishing a clear answer for the team.