Shift roster and duty roster as a free Excel template

A rotating pattern in which employees alternate between two fixed weekly patterns, for example the early shift in the A week and the late shift in the B week. That distributes unpopular shifts fairly and makes the roster predictable.

By way of example: early 06:00–14:00, late 14:00–22:00, night 22:00–06:00. The times can be adjusted in the legend, and the formulas calculate with your values.

The warning column marks days where less than 11 hours of rest lie between two consecutive shifts (section 5 ArbZG). The check is informative, not a hard validation. MetronHR blocks conflicting shifts directly during planning.

Yes. You duplicate the B week sheet and name it C or D, and the hours total formulas adapt automatically. For most industries two rotating patterns are enough, though.

Early, late and night are prepared as a three-shift operation, with the times in the legend. For a four-shift model you enter the fourth shift in the legend and add a row to the weekly grid; the hours total includes the new row. What the template does not do is plan the staffing itself: who works which shift is your decision, and beyond a certain team size that is exactly the work MetronHR takes over.

In practice none: both terms describe assigning employees to working times. „Duty roster“ is more common in care, ambulance services and the public sector, „shift roster“ in manufacturing, retail and hospitality. This template fits both.