Industry solution
Care scheduling: 24/7 rotas with rest-period hints.
The shift schedule for home care, nursing homes and clinics, without paperwork.
No credit card required · Built on GDPR principles
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24/7 operation, night shifts, strict rest-period requirements — Shiftdesk supports care facilities with efficient staff scheduling oriented toward working-time law.
* Informational notes based on statutory default values. Not legal advice. Collective-bargaining, company-specific and industry-specific special rules must be reviewed on your own responsibility.
Challenges of scheduling in care and hospitals
Every business knows these problems — Shiftdesk solves them digitally.
24/7 staffing
Around-the-clock operation requires seamless shift planning with early, late and night shifts.
Strict rest periods
11 hours of minimum rest between shifts — violations can have employment-law consequences.
Skilled-worker shortage
Tight staffing means every shift has to be optimally covered and absences compensated quickly.
Night-shift premiums
Accurate recording of night, Sunday and public-holiday premiums for payroll.
Sensitive staff data
Health data and absence reasons are subject to special GDPR protection (Art. 9).
High sickness rate
Above-average absences require fast rescheduling and substitute management.
How you plan care teams with Shiftdesk
From the weekly schedule to the analytics dashboard — one system for wards, home care and administration.
Weekly schedule for early, late and night shifts
Plan rotating shift systems by drag & drop. Shiftdesk flags potential rest-period and maximum-working-time conflicts under ArbZG right in the schedule.
- Early, late and night-shift templates for rotating duties
- Notices on the 11-hour rest period and night shifts directly in the weekly plan
- Publish open shifts — fill an absence in minutes
- Store qualifications per shift (e.g. skilled staff, assistant staff)
Hours, premiums and workload at a glance
Night, Sunday and public-holiday premiums, hour accounts and sickness rate — bundled in one analytics dashboard you hand over to payroll prep.
- Night, Sunday and public-holiday premiums recorded automatically
- Hour accounts per employee, exportable for payroll prep
- Sickness rate and substitute demand visible per ward
How Shiftdesk supports scheduling in care facilities and hospitals
24/7 shift models
Early, late, night — with templates for rotating shift systems. Weekends and public holidays included.
Rest-period check
Automatic warning when the 11-hour rest period is not met. Visible directly in the schedule.
Time tracking with night shifts
Accurate recording of shifts past midnight. Automatic premium calculation.
Sick-leave tracking
Record sick reports instantly, plan substitutes and document days of medically certified leave.
Data storage with a GDPR focus
Staff data encrypted in Frankfurt. Special care for health data under Art. 9 GDPR.
Qualification planning
Make sure every shift is covered with the right qualifications (e.g. skilled staff, assistant staff).
Simple, transparent pricing
A base fee plus a fair per-employee tier. All prices net, plus VAT.
Basic
per month · 6 employees included
- Shift scheduling with drag and drop
- Time tracking (timer + manual)
- Absences with leave balance
- Up to 3 locations
Pro
per month · 12 employees included
- All Basic features
- Unlimited locations
- Payroll preparation & DATEV
- Tablet time clock (kiosk mode)
Enterprise
per month · 30 employees included
- All Pro features
- Public REST API
- Budget management & custom fields
- SLA support (8-hour response time)
All prices exclude VAT · Cancel anytime · No credit card required
Scheduling app for your care team
View shifts, swap them and let others know — without a notice board, without a chaotic WhatsApp group.
Swap a shift without the phone chain
A nurse requests, the care manager confirms — done. Cover a sick day in minutes instead of after-hours phone calls.
Schedule changes straight to the phone
Push notification for new shifts, schedule changes and open duties — live on every device.
Download for free — now on the App Store and Google Play
Tablet time clock for care facilities
Record clock-in and clock-out right at the ward entrance — by PIN, without every care worker needing their own smartphone.
Clock in by PIN at the ward entrance
Pick your name, confirm your PIN, done. No personal account and no private smartphone needed for staff.
Built for 24/7 continuous operation
Fixed to the location, lockable as a single app, with automatic reconnection after a network outage.
Get it now — on the App Store and Google Play
Scheduling for home care, residential elderly care and hospitals
Whether home care service, residential elderly care or hospital — the demands on the schedule are similar yet differ in the detail. What they share is 24/7 operation with early, late and night shifts, a high need for cover during sickness, and the duty to document working and rest periods cleanly. Shiftdesk models this shift logic in one system — from the small home-care service to a facility with several wards.
In home care, fast rescheduling matters most: if someone drops out, cover has to be in place within minutes. In residential elderly care and hospitals, rotating shift systems, the qualification mix per shift and the correct recording of premiums take centre stage. Shiftdesk covers both via templates, open shifts and a mobile app.
Rest periods and night shifts under ArbZG in view
German working-time law generally requires 11 hours of minimum rest between two shifts and sets special requirements for night work. When planning, Shiftdesk flags potential shortfalls of the rest period and critical shift sequences — as an informational notice in the schedule, not as legal advice. Collective-bargaining and company-specific special rules are reviewed on your own responsibility.
Staff scheduling despite the skilled-worker shortage
Tight staffing means every shift must be covered with the right qualification, and absences must not jeopardise care. With stored qualifications, open shifts for self-sign-up and a transparent substitute search, Shiftdesk reduces the planning effort and makes free duties visible to the team.
Care rotas in practice: example of a home care service
How a home care service with 18 employees plans its routes and shifts in Shiftdesk, from setup to the published schedule.
- 1
Set up the team and qualifications
All 18 employees are created once with weekly hours, contract type and qualification (qualified nurse or care assistant).
- 2
Model routes as shift templates
Morning route, evening route and weekend route become reusable shift templates, including times and required staffing.
- 3
Fill the weekly schedule with rest-period hints
Planners drag employees onto the routes. Shiftdesk flags rest periods under the German Working Time Act and overlaps right inside the schedule.
- 4
Publish and adjust as you go
One click sends the schedule to the employee app. Sick leave is covered via open shifts, swap requests run through the app with approval.
Fictional example scenario for illustration, not a customer reference.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shiftdesk suitable for home-care services and residential facilities?
Does Shiftdesk flag rest periods and night-shift requirements?
How are night, Sunday and public-holiday premiums recorded?
Is there an app and a time clock for the ward?
How secure are health and staff data (Art. 9 GDPR)?
Can employees enter preferred shifts and swap duties?
How does Shiftdesk help with qualifications and skill mix?
What does Shiftdesk cost for a care service with 20 employees?
Ready for better shift scheduling?
Start your 14-day free trial now — free and no credit card required. Or book a personal demo.