Shift Staffing Planner

Calculate how many employees you need to maintain coverage across your shifts. Enter employee time off and the requirements for each post. The workbook calculates coverage hours, the relief factor, and required headcount, along with annual payroll and a summary you can present to your board.

A working model with the structure in place

Set employee availability first: contracted hours, working weeks, holidays, PTO, sick days, training, and hours per day. Then enter each post, including the number of people needed at once, hours per day, and days per week. The workbook calculates available working hours after time off, about 1,768 in the worked example, followed by coverage hours, the relief factor, and employees needed for each post. The one-page Summary rounds headcount to whole people, includes the blended relief factor, and calculates annual payroll, cost per coverage hour, and cost per post using a fully loaded cost per employee. The Benchmark tab includes coverage and relief-factor ranges from BLS and contact-center staffing models. It opens with a worked example so you can see how the calculations work.

The headcount behind your shift coverage

Coverage tells you how many people must be on duty at once. Staffing tells you how many employees you need to maintain that coverage throughout the year, including holidays, PTO, sick days, and other leave. The planner uses each employee's available working hours after leave rather than assuming the full 2,080-hour paid year is available for coverage. With moderate leave, a relief factor near 1.4 to 1.6 per eight-hour shift is common. A factor much above 1.7 can signal heavy time off or a schedule worth tightening.

Built for

• Operations and HR leaders planning fixed-schedule staffing for security, dispatch, a front desk, a plant line, or a clinic, with headcount figures they can take to finance.
• Finance and operations partners evaluating staffing requests using coverage hours, the relief factor, and payroll costs at the recommended headcount.
• Owners and department heads covering staffing gaps with overtime who want to determine whether a post needs additional employees.

For headcount planning based on workload rather than fixed coverage, see the FTE Headcount Planner. To compare overtime with a new hire for one steady staffing gap, see the Overtime vs New Hire Planner.

Before you buy

What format is it, and can I edit it?

You receive one Excel workbook that also works in Google Sheets. The download is five files: the workbook, a Start Here, the one-page Quick Reference, the product license, and a short guide to using it in Google Sheets. Every input and formula is editable. Insert rows inside the table to add posts, and duplicate the file to plan a second site. Your download link appears immediately after checkout, and the same link is emailed on your receipt.

What does the paid workbook do that a free calculator does not?

The workbook brings staffing and costs together for every post. Enter your fully loaded cost per employee to calculate annual payroll, cost per coverage hour, and cost per post. Open formulas let you use your own payroll and attendance data, adjust assumptions as coverage changes, and share the Summary with leadership. The browser calculator sizes one set of posts. This workbook plans every post and calculates coverage costs. For sick or personal time, use actual unplanned absence, including time beyond formal sick leave. BLS 2025 data show full-time wage and salary workers lost about 1.7% of usual hours to absences, on top of planned PTO.

What is the refund policy?

Digital products are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. To request a refund, email support@truestephr.com or reply to your receipt within 30 days of purchase. Questions? Email support@truestephr.com.

How the download works

Your files arrive as a single ZIP download, best opened on a computer. Save it, extract it (right-click and select Extract All on Windows, or double-click on a Mac), then open the Start Here file first. PDFs open in any reader, and editable files work in Microsoft Excel or free equivalents, including LibreOffice and Google Sheets. No other software is needed. Step-by-step help for every device is at truestephr.com/pages/download-help.

Scope

This planning and analysis model produces estimates based entirely on the inputs and assumptions you enter. Use those estimates to support decisions, rather than as accounting, tax, or legal conclusions. Check the assumptions against your own data. Have qualified counsel review decisions involving pay, headcount, or separation against applicable law before acting. General information, not legal, tax, or financial advice.