Getting started with Zoho Shifts (For Admins)
Zoho Shifts is employee scheduling software that helps plan your schedules beforehand, making it effortless for businesses of all sizes to schedule, track, and communicate with their team members. The purpose of this guide is to assist you in the initial setup of Zoho Shifts, ensuring a smooth and trouble-free onboarding process.
Note: We provide a free 30-day trial of our Standard plan to all new customers. You can explore Zoho Shifts' advanced features during this period and select the subscription that suits your needs.This document will guide you through the setup process to help your business start using Zoho Shifts effortlessly.
- Set up your Zoho Shifts account
- Configure your account
- Add employees to your account
Set up your Zoho Shifts account
If you are a new Zoho user, follow these steps:
- Click GET STARTED in the top-right corner. The Create new account window will appear.
- Enter your details, such as Full Name, Email, Password, and Organization Name.
- Mark the I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy checkbox after carefully reviewing it.
Click SIGN UP NOW. This will create a new Zoho Shifts account for your business and take you to the Enter organization details window.
Note: You can also use your Google or LinkedIn account for a quicker sign up.
Note: You can also use your Google or LinkedIn account for a quicker sign up.
If you are an existing Zoho user, follow these steps:
- Go to the Zoho Shifts homepage, then click Access Zoho Shifts.
- Click Create New Organization.
- Provide your organization details such as Organization Name, Workweek Starts On, Date Format, and Time Format.
- Click Get Started. You have now successfully added your organization's details.
Configure your account
Configure your Zoho Shifts account to add more information about your organization, employees, their attendance, work schedules, and other details. To do this, access the Settings icon on the homepage, which will open the Settings window.
Here, you can add or edit settings related to your:
- Organization
- Schedules
- Employees
- Time off
- Time and attendance
Organization settings
Add more details about your organization, such as business locations, positions, time zones, and other relevant information.
General Settings
The General tab under the Organization settings allows you to configure essential business information, such as Organization Name, Timezone, Country, Currency, and Language. You can also set your preferred time format and specify your preferred start day of the workweek here.
Schedules
Effectively create multiple schedules by selecting the +Add Schedule option, allowing the seamless addition of multiple workplaces, teams, departments, and groups.
Positions
Set up different job titles within your company for quick assignment to employees. Simply provide the Position Name and select the appropriate schedule. To differentiate between multiple positions, you can assign color codes to each position.
Add multiple positions by clicking +Add Position in the top-right corner. You can also edit or delete the created job positions whenever required.
Job Sites
Job Sites are for employees who work away from the business location at offsite addresses like clients' sites or venues. For example, you are operating a corporate event management company where your staff members have to go to different job venues on a daily basis. Using job sites, you can give them the right information about the venue addresses.
Here, you can add the job venues by entering the details, such as Site Name, Timezone, and Address.
If you have a list of job sites, you can also import them using the Import option from the More dropdown menu.
Messages
Enabling messages allows your employees to communicate and collaborate with both you and their colleagues by sending instant direct messages. To do this, navigate to the Messages tab under Organization and use the toggle switch to Enable messaging.
Note: The message feature is currently in Beta version.Schedule settings
Shift Schedule settings help streamline the scheduling process effectively by enabling the addition of preferences to meet individual needs, breaks, and customization of Shift Templates.
Schedule preferences
A flexible schedule allows employees to swap, offer, drop, or pick up available shifts according to their preferences. These settings are designed to efficiently manage and accommodate sudden changes and constraints in employee shift schedules.
- Swap Shifts: Foster flexibility among employees by enabling them to exchange shifts with other employees possessing similar experience and skill sets.
- Offer Shifts: Allow employees to transfer their assigned shifts to other employees, particularly during unseen circumstances or emergencies.
- Drop Shifts: Grant employees the right to surrender or release their scheduled shifts, enabling other employees to readily fill the vacancies.
- Open Shifts: Facilitate your employees to volunteer and take up the additional shifts based on their availability.
To add shift preferences:
- Go to Preferences under Schedule.
- Use the toggle to add the preference settings and control to Swap Shifts, Offer Shifts, Drop Shifts, and much more.
4. Click Save.
Add breaks
The inclusion of breaks in job schedules helps maintain employee health and well-being contributing to a more productive and positive business environment.
- Go to Breaks under Schedule.
- Click + Add Break.
- Add a break by providing details like name and duration, and select the type of the break.
4. Select Save Break.
Configure Shift templates
Shift templates help you customize and save standard or recurring schedules as templates to save time and avoid reworking schedules from scratch.
- Navigate to the Shift Templates tab under Schedule.
- Select + Add Shift Template.
- Enter the details, such as shift start time and end time, schedule to which they belong, position to which they belong, and any notes.
4. Click Save Shift Template.
Employee settings
Employee settings help you manage employees based on job positions, and also help you add skill requirement for different job positions.
Access Levels
Configure the access levels of employees based on job positions to manage and control their job role effectively.
- Navigate to the Access Levels tab under Employee.
- Select Edit. The Edit Access Level window will appear on your screen. Based on the job position, select the checkboxes and grant access to specific roles.
4. Click Save Access Level.
Time Off settings
Customizing your time off settings helps ensure efficient resource management and improved work-life productivity by adding information about working hours, time off types, important days, and holidays.
Preferences
The Preferences tab under the Time Off settings allows you to configure time off preferences.
Using the toggle, you can enable or disable Time Off.
Using the toggle, you can enable or disable Time Off.
Time Off Types
Effeciently manage and personalize breaks by selecting the Time Off Types under Time Off settings.
It helps tailor both breaks (paid and unpaid), to align with employees specific needs.
It helps tailor both breaks (paid and unpaid), to align with employees specific needs.
Blocked Days
To ensure that business days or periods are adequately staffed and business operations remain uninterrupted, simply click the Blocked Days tab under Time Off settings.
Holidays
Give employees a better understanding of the days when the organisation is closed or when employees are entitled to time off by selecting the Holidays tab under Time Off settings.
Time and Attendance settings
Configure the actual clock-in and clock-out times of your employees, set up overtime rules and policies, and their payroll-related settings by accessing the Time & Attendance window.
Time Clock
The Time Clock tab under Time & Attendance settings helps you set up a centralized attendance management system for employees and their working hours.
Enable GPS tracking for mobile applications or web browsers, set notifications before shifts, and much more.
Enable GPS tracking for mobile applications or web browsers, set notifications before shifts, and much more.
General settings
The General field in the Time Clock tab enables you to allow or restrict employees to check in out using multiple devices.
You can also enable the track employees' GPS locations to ensure they sign in only by accessing their desired workplace.
You can also enable the track employees' GPS locations to ensure they sign in only by accessing their desired workplace.
Early In and Late Out Restriction
Enable or disable to restrict clock in and clock out timings before and after shifts.
Rounding
Configure settings by adding GPS coordinates, such as clock in and clock out time, direction, increment, and much more, allowing for flexible customization of employee time tracking preferences for an accurate attendance record.
Missed Clock In/Out Notifications
Missed clock in and out notifications help remind both employees and managers regarding their shifts, fostering compliance with organizational policies and regulations, so they are accountable for their working hours and responsibilities.
Overtime Rules
Overtime rules can significantly vary by country, state or region as they are usually defined by labor laws. To do this,
- Navigate to the Overtime Rules tab under Time & Attendance.
- Select Edit next the overtime rule you want to add details to. The Edit Overtime Rule window will appear.
- Add details such as Name, Overtime rate and Double time rate, to ensure accurate time tracking and compensation across various timeframes like Daily, Weekly, and others.
- Click Save Overtime Rule.
Payroll
The Payroll tab under the Time & Attendance settings allows you to configure the Payroll Period and Pay Period Start Date. By using the toggle switch, you can either enable or disable overtime across multiple schedules.
Add employees to your account
Adding employees to your Zoho Shifts accounts helps streamline employee scheduling, track employee attendance, and facilitate team communication. It also helps in effective workforce management, seamless coordination, and comprehensive reporting. To do this, access the Employees tab on the homepage, which will open the Employees window.
Here, you can add employees in two ways:
- Batch invitation to multiple employees
- Manual invitation to each employee
Batch invitation to multiple employees
- Click the Employees tab in the top-left corner and click the More actions icon (...).
2. Select Import. The Import Employees window will appear.
Note: You need to upload a .csv file in a specific format. Click on the sample .csv file link in the Upload File field to download the sample .csv file. Refer to this sample and add member details by filling the appropriate data fields. After entering the details in the suggested format, click Save.
3. Click Browse files, select the file, and click Open. Once done, click Next.
4. Preview employee details and select Next.
5. Click Import to finish importing the file. Your employees data is recorded.
6. Click the More actions icon (...) and click Invite. An employee invitation window will appear. Perform the necessary actions and click Invite Employee.
An invitation will be sent to your employee's registered email address.
An invitation will be sent to your employee's registered email address.
Manual invitation to each employee
- Click the +Add Employee in the top-right corner.
This will open the Invite employee window. - Enter details such as Employee's First Name, Last Name, Email, Mobile and other details.
- Select Save & Invite. An invitation will be sent to your employee's registered Email address.
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