The practice day from the spreadsheet, just without the spreadsheet
MetronHR's shift planning grew out of work with a veterinary practice that until then ran its day in a table with a 30-minute grid. Consultation, surgery, anaesthesia, lab, ward, reception: every task appears in the plan with a person and a time.
No credit card required · Cancel monthly
- Daily plan in a 30-minute grid, printable as a PDF
- The rule „veterinarians require a veterinary nurse“ checks staffing along the way
- Ambulatory visits and emergency duty recorded on mobile
In shortLike every employer, veterinary practices have to record all working time, including emergency duty and farm visits (section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG, Federal Labour Court, 13 September 2022). Stand-by duty at the practice counts in full as working time. In the Professional plan, MetronHR plans consultation, surgery, ward and emergency duty in a 30-minute day plan and records times on the road in the app.
- Made in GermanyDeveloped and hosted in Germany
- Certified data centreISO 27001, located in Germany
- Web, app and terminalBrowser, iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows
- GDPR compliantServers in Nuremberg and Falkenstein
What sits above time tracking in a veterinary practice
Here emergency duty is not a voluntary extra but an obligation under the professional code of the state veterinary chamber. And because it falls outside opening hours, it determines who is allowed to work the next day.
- Typical size
- 4 to 10 employees
- Price for 8 people
- 40 euros on Team, 80 euros on Professional
- Matching template
- Duty roster for the month, free of charge
- Rest period after the duty
- 11 hours, section 5 ArbZG
Emergency duty obligation from the professional code
Veterinarians in private practice are obliged under the professional codes of the state veterinary chambers to take part in emergency duty, unless it is secured on a voluntary basis.
The arrangements differ by chamber district: in Bremen, for example, the duty runs on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 8 am to 10 pm and on working days from 6 pm to 10 pm. For part-time staff the obligation is calculated pro rata to regular weekly working hours, and on request the chamber may grant an exemption for serious reasons.
The rest period applies after emergency duty
Eleven uninterrupted hours of rest lie between two working days, and emergency duty worked pushes back the possible start on the following day accordingly.
This is exactly where the most common planning error arises: the emergency duty sits in one list, the consultation hours in another, and nobody does the arithmetic. MetronHR checks the rest period while you plan, not only in the reporting.
Not all standby is the same
Whether standby counts as working time depends on how heavily it restricts the free use of that time. Anyone required to stay at the practice is working.
The distinction between on-call availability and standby duty is not a formality; it determines pay and compliance with maximum working time. That is why MetronHR records it as its own type instead of hiding it inside ordinary working time.
Emergency duty obligation with part-time work, example of one chamber's rules
| Weekly working time | Share of the emergency duty obligation |
|---|---|
| up to 10 hours | 0,25 |
| over 10 up to 20 hours | 0,5 |
| over 20 up to 30 hours | 0,75 |
| over 30 hours | 1,0 |
Example from the professional code of a state veterinary chamber, retrieved on 4 September 2026. The scale differs by chamber district; the chamber responsible for your practice is the authoritative one.
up to 10 hours
- Share of the emergency duty obligation
- 0,25
over 10 up to 20 hours
- Share of the emergency duty obligation
- 0,5
over 20 up to 30 hours
- Share of the emergency duty obligation
- 0,75
over 30 hours
- Share of the emergency duty obligation
- 1,0
Example from the professional code of a state veterinary chamber, retrieved on 4 September 2026. The scale differs by chamber district; the chamber responsible for your practice is the authoritative one.
Further reading: Professional codes of the state veterinary chambers (emergency duty obligation, pro rata calculation for part-time work) · Section 5 of the Working Time Act (rest period) · Section 7 of the Working Time Act (deviating rules for standby duty)
As at: September 2026. This is not legal advice; for a specific case in your business it is better to ask someone with a licence to practise.
Between consultation, surgery and emergency duty
A vet's day jumps between the treatment room, surgery, ward and reception. Who is assigned where and when sits in a table that one person maintains and everyone else only knows as a printout.
- Problem
Surgery is running, reception is empty
When two vets are in surgery at the same time, someone is missing at the front. You cannot see that on the printout, but you can at the door.
- Problem
Assistance is assumed, not planned
Anaesthesia and monitoring need a veterinary nurse. Whether one is free becomes clear at the moment of induction.
- Problem
Emergency duty and ambulatory visits get lost
Hours outside the practice end up on scraps of paper, and whatever appears in the payroll at the end of the month is an estimate.
One sheet that reflects the practice's day
The veterinary template comes with the groups veterinarians, veterinary nurses, trainees and reception, plus seventeen activities from consultation and surgery through anaesthesia and monitoring, lab, x-ray and ward to ambulatory visits, emergency duty and instrument reprocessing. Grid interval 30 minutes, day window 08:00 to 19:30, exactly as in the template from the practice.
Emergency duty and practice time planned and recorded separatelyThe plan says what was intended. Time tracking says what came of it. Both from one system.
How it works in the practice
Plan, work, invoice. Three steps in one system.
Adopt the veterinary template
Qualification groups, seventeen activities with colour and abbreviation, the 30-minute grid and two staffing rules are preset: „veterinarians require a veterinary nurse (1)“ and „reception at least 1 from 08:00 to 12:00“.
Born out of a customer conversation, not invented at a desk
Template for the veterinary practice Ready for the industry
The groups, time grid and rules of a practice are already there. You only change what differs for you.
Activities with short codes
Every activity has a short code for the plan and is marked billable or internal.
Template for the practiceGroups, activities, grid, rulesGroupsDoctors, medical assistants, trainees, reception, labGrid30 minutes, 08:00 to 19:30RulesDoctors require a medical assistant, reception at least 1Consultation hoursCON · Doctors, medical assistantsbillableBlood testsBT · Medical assistantsbillableReceptionREC · ReceptioninternalPlan the day in blocks
Drag a time span in a person's column and pick an activity. A surgery day or a consultation day can be saved as a day pattern and applied to further days.
Understaffing shows up before publishing, not during the day
Activity block in the 30-minute grid Day in activitiesAylin Demir · ThursdayThat day9:00hBillable6:00hConsultation hoursbillable4:45hDocumentation1:30hMaintenancebillable1:15hHandover0:45hBreak0:45hRecord hours and balance them
Hours from emergency duty, ambulatory visits and long practice days are recorded, on mobile too. MetronHR calculates overtime from the working-time model; the team decides between payout and time off in lieu.
Compensation is governed by rules, not negotiated
Payout or time off in lieu Use overtimeMara Wolf · balance +13:45hTypeTime off in lieudayFriday, 6 NovemberHours8:00hBalance after+5:45h
With Dr. Lindner for approvaljust nowopen
Features for everyday practice life
Planning and time tracking mesh instead of living in two tools.
- Planning
A day plan in a 30-minute grid
The plan reflects the day, not just who is present.
You set the day window and the grid interval yourself.
- Team
No consultation without a veterinary nurse
The staffing rule checks the whole course of the day.
Plus reception staffed at least once between 08:00 and 12:00.
- Time
Target and planned per person
The hour balance sits below the plan, not in a second file.
Holiday and public holidays count as credit.
- Apps
Ambulatory visits and house calls on mobile
Time outside the practice is recorded instead of estimated.
A timer and later entry in the app for iOS and Android.
- Time
Emergency duty as its own block
Emergency duty hours are planned and recorded.
MetronHR checks the rest period afterwards while you plan.
- Reports
Export for the payroll office and tax adviser
Hours as a number, not as a retyped printout.
Excel and CSV, plus an export with one row per block.
- Documents
Digital Employee File
Contracts, references and certificates in one place.
With a reminder about expiring deadlines.
- Security
The ArbZG checked while you plan
Maximum working time and rest periods are checked before the plan takes effect.
Particularly relevant on days with emergencies.
How it helps the practice team
From the practice owner to the veterinary nurse.
- Practice owner
The day is planned, not just staffed
- One person maintains the table, and if they are away nobody knows the schedule.
- Template and day patterns make the schedule visible and transferable.
- Veterinarians
Surgery time is protected time
- Consultation and surgery get rescheduled against each other until both are too tight.
- The block is in the plan, and the rule makes sure assistance is scheduled.
- Veterinary nurses
Fair hours from long days
- Extra hours from emergency duty and late consultations get lost.
- Recorded time lands on the hours account, and your own daily plan is in the app.
- Accountant
Clean data for payroll
- Incomplete timesheets have to be reworked every month.
- Excel and CSV export with hours as a number, no follow-up questions.
Data secure, GDPR compliant
Employee data is sensitive. MetronHR protects it reliably.
- Hosting on German servers, GDPR compliant
- Role-based access to hours and reasons for absence
- Encrypted transfer and storage of data
- Every change to the plan documented traceably
The day plan in detail
Activities, staffing rules, hour calculation, PDF printing and Excel export explained on one page.
Related
Where to go from here, and what waits for you there.
Frequently asked questions from veterinary practices
Everything that matters for practice and hospital, explained clearly.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
Send us a messageCan we reproduce our existing Excel plan?
That is exactly what the shift planning was built for. The template adopts the 30-minute grid and the day window from 08:00 to 19:30, with people as columns and activities as coloured blocks inside. The PDF printout replaces the sheet on the wall.
Does MetronHR make sure a veterinary nurse is always present?
The template contains the rule „veterinarians require a veterinary nurse (1)“. MetronHR checks it across the day and flags the time windows where it is not met before the plan is published.
How do we record times in a hectic practice day?
With the stopwatch in the app or on the computer, started and stopped with one click. Times can also be entered afterwards when things have to move fast in the treatment room. Blocks that have passed can be taken over from the daily plan as a suggestion.
Does this work on ambulatory visits too?
Yes. With the app for iOS and Android, vets record times on the move, on house calls, on ambulatory visits and on emergency call-outs. Their own daily plan is available there as well.
Is overtime from emergency duty calculated automatically?
Yes. MetronHR compares the recorded times with the stored working-time model and credits the difference to the personal hours account. You decide on time off in lieu or payout.
Can veterinary nurses and vets have different working-time models?
Yes, every employee gets their own model, including Saturday duty. The daily target in the plan follows from it, as does the overtime calculation.
How quickly is MetronHR set up?
Register, choose the veterinary template, invite the team. After that the first day can be planned. It runs in the browser and as an app, without installation and without a setup appointment.
Practice planning and time tracking in one
Try MetronHR free for 14 days, no credit card.
- No credit card required
- Ready quickly
- Cancel monthly
- Full access to every feature