How to Make a Staff Roster in 7 Steps (Without Rebuilding It Every Week)
30 October 2026 · The Rosterly team · 4 min read
To make a staff roster, map when you're busy, list who can do which job, collect availability and leave, build one base week that covers every shift with the right skills, check it against your labour budget, publish it, and then reuse that week as the starting point next time. The seven steps below take a first roster from blank page to published.
Most rosters go wrong for one of two reasons: they're built around people instead of the work, or they're rebuilt from scratch every week. Fix both and the weekly job shrinks from an evening to half an hour.
Step 1: Map when you actually need people
Start with the work, not the staff list. For each day, write down your opening and closing times and the busy periods in between: the breakfast rush, lunch, the after-school peak, Saturday night.
For each block, decide how many people you need and in which roles. A café might need two baristas and one on the register from 7 to 10am, then one barista and one all-rounder until close.
If you have sales by hour from your till, use it. If not, a week of tally marks on busy periods is enough to start.
Step 2: List the skills each shift needs
Some jobs can only be done by some people: opening and closing, making coffee, serving alcohol, handling cash, a keyholder. Make a simple list of skills, then tag each person with the skills they have.
This is the step most spreadsheet rosters skip, and it's the one that causes the Saturday where nobody on shift can close.
Step 3: Collect availability and approved leave
Ask everyone for their regular unavailability (study, school pick-ups, second jobs) and check approved leave for the period. Put it somewhere you'll see while building the roster, not in a message thread.
Step 4: Build one base week
Now fill the blocks from step 1 with people from step 2, avoiding the gaps from step 3. A few rules keep it fair and workable:
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spread the unpopular shifts (closes, Sundays) around
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keep enough time between a late finish and an early start
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give part-timers their usual hours before topping up casuals
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check each shift has at least one person with every required skill
In the UK, adult workers are entitled to 11 consecutive hours' rest in each 24-hour period and a 20-minute break if they work more than six hours, so a close followed by an open needs care. Other countries have their own rules.
Step 5: Check the cost before you publish
Add up the hours and multiply by each person's rate, then add employer on-costs. Divide by expected sales for the week to get your labour cost percentage. If it's well above your target, trim the quietest blocks first. Our labour cost percentage guide has the formula and a calculator.
Step 6: Publish it early and in one place
Give staff the roster as early as you can, in one place everyone can check. In Australia, many awards require consultation before changing someone's regular roster, and some set minimum notice for changes, so a settled roster published in good time saves trouble later.
Step 7: Reuse the week instead of rebuilding it
Most weeks look like the last one. Copy last week forward, then adjust for leave, events and known quiet days. If your team works a fixed cycle, a rotating shift pattern can do most of the work for you.
Build your first roster in Rosterly
Add your skills and people, build one week, and copy it forward. 14-day free trial, no card needed.
Rostering to people, not demand. Starting from "who wants hours" leaves the rush short and the quiet hour overstaffed.
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One person holding every key skill. If only one person can open, their sick day becomes your problem. Train a second.
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Changing the roster in messages. Every change made outside the roster makes it less trustworthy. Update the roster first, then tell people.
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No buffer for the unexpected. Know who is happy to pick up extra shifts before someone calls in sick.
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Never checking actual hours. Compare rostered and worked hours each week; the gap is where labour cost creeps.
Spreadsheet or app?
A spreadsheet is a fine place to start. Our free staff roster template works in Excel and Google Sheets and adds up paid hours, including overnight shifts. It won't check skills or leave for you, though, or tell staff when something changes.
A rostering app such as Rosterly does those checks before anyone is assigned:
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Before assigning: it checks each shift's skill and each person's leave and clashing shifts.
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Publishing: staff see their own shifts in any phone browser as soon as you publish.
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Next week: you copy the week forward, then assign the copies.
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Open shifts: auto-fill can fill them within a weekly hour limit you set.