5 Best Work Schedule Apps & Software for Employees (In-Depth Look)
Managing your team’s schedule and coordinating hourly employees is notoriously inefficient and frustrating.
To solve this, many businesses turn to a work schedule app that handles everything from:
- Creating and publishing shifts.
- Automatically notifying employees when a shift has been published (or when a change to the schedule has been made).
- Letting employees trade shifts, set their scheduling availability, and more — all within the app.
- And so on.
In this post, we’ll make a case for why Buddy Punch (our own product) could be a great fit for your business. Then, we’ll list four other employee scheduling apps.
Best Work Schedule Apps & Software
1. Buddy Punch
In this section, we’ll cover just a few of Buddy Punch’s key scheduling features. For the full list, visit this page.
Drag & Drop Schedule Creation
Buddy Punch allows for easy schedule creation in just a few steps:
1. Click on an open cell/area to create a shift.
2. Specify who the shift will be assigned to, the end and start time, location/department/position code, and more.
3. Drag and drop shifts as needed until the schedule is complete.
4. Hit “Publish”…
And you’re done!
Note: Click here to learn more about how easy it is to create a schedule with Buddy Punch.
Employees Will Automatically Get Notified When the Schedule is Published
Once the new schedule is live (or if a change has been made to it), an alert will automatically get sent to employees via your choice of email, mobile push notifications, or both.
This is a much more efficient process than manually coordinating shifts (i.e. texting or emailing employees).
Note: On the employee side, they can conveniently review shift times via the Buddy Punch app. They can also sync it with Google Calendar or iCal in just a few clicks.
Repeating Shifts
When adding a shift, you can optionally have it repeat at a frequency of your choosing (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, and so on).
Note: Click here to learn more about this feature.
Working Hours & Availability
Employees can easily input their scheduling availability within the Buddy Punch app. For example:
- Available from December 1 to December 7.
- Unavailable from December 8 to December 15.
You can then reference this information when creating a schedule (and avoid assigning shifts to someone who is unavailable).
Note: Click here to learn more about this feature.
Shift Trades
Employees can easily request a shift trade within the Buddy Punch app, subject to your approval.
Note: Click here to learn more about this feature.
Shift Start Reminder
With this feature, an alert (email or push notification) can optionally be sent to employees who forgot to clock in within X minutes of the start of their shift.
Note: Buddy Punch offers many other scheduling notifications, including but not limited to:
- Shift End Reminder
- Early In & Early Out Alerts
- Late In & Late Out Alerts
- Missed In & Missed Out Alerts
Additional Scheduling Features
So far, we’ve covered just a few of Buddy Punch’s key scheduling features. For the full list, visit this page.
Accountability & Payroll Features
Buddy Punch is not just limited to scheduling. We also offer features to help you:
1. Increase Accountability
- Punch Limiting Rules: Limit employee punches to X amount of minutes before and after a shift.
- Photos on Punch: Employees take a photo of themselves each time they punch in or out.
- Geofencing: Restrict employee punches to a radius around a specific location.
- IP Address Locking: Restrict employee punches to a specific Wi-Fi network or devices in your office.
- And more.
2. Save Time on Payroll
- On-Demand Payroll Reports: Employee hours are automatically calculated and available to export.
- Payroll Provider Integrations: Easily transfer employee hours to the payroll provider of your choice.
- Time Off Tracking: Time off requests and in-app time off summary.
- Accruals: Easy time off accrual setup.
- And more.
See What Customers Have to Say about Buddy Punch
At the time of writing, Buddy Punch has 646 reviews and 4.8 out of 5 stars on Capterra:
We’re grateful that many customers have taken notice of Buddy Punch’s stellar customer service and ease-of-use.
Reviews Highlighting Buddy Punch’s Customer Service
Reviews Highlighting Buddy Punch’s Ease-of-Use
Interested in Learning More about Buddy Punch?
- Visit our site.
- Sign up for a free trial.
- Request a live 1-on-1 demo (where we’ll show you how to tailor Buddy Punch to your specific needs).
- Watch our pre-recorded demo video (above).
2. When I Work
At the time of writing, When I Work has 4.5 out of 5 stars and 885 reviews on Capterra.
They offer various features, some of which include:
Here’s one review highlighting why it’s a great work schedule app for employees (see more reviews here):
3. Hubstaff
At the time of writing, Hubstaff has 4.6 out of 5 stars and 1192 reviews on Capterra.
They offer various features, some of which include:
- Employee Scheduling
- Automated Payroll & Invoicing
- Online Time Reporting
- Employee Productivity Monitoring
- GPS Location Tracking
- And more!
Here’s one review highlighting why it’s a great solution (see more reviews here):
4. Connecteam
At the time of writing, Connecteam has 4.8 out of 5 stars and 131 reviews on Capterra.
They offer various features, some of which include:
- Employee Shift Scheduling
- Employee Time Clock
- Employee Communication
- Checklists & Forms
- Employee Task Management
- Employee Training
- And more!
Here’s one review highlighting why it’s a great shift work schedule app (see more reviews here):
5. QuickBooks Time
At the time of writing, QuickBooks Time (formerly Tsheets) has 4.7 out of 5 stars and 5511 reviews on Capterra.
They offer various features, some of which include:
Here’s one review highlighting why it’s a great employee work schedule software (see more reviews here):
Interested in Learning More about Buddy Punch?
- Visit our site.
- Sign up for a free trial.
- Request a live 1-on-1 demo (where we’ll show you how to tailor our time tracking and work scheduling software to your specific needs).
- Watch our pre-recorded demo video (above).
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