Free HR calculator
Shift Staffing Calculator
See how many employees it really takes to keep your shifts covered. Coverage is the number of people who have to be working at once. Staffing is more than that, because everyone takes days off and time off. This applies the relief factor method so you can staff the schedule without running on overtime.
Before you start
What you will need. Positions to cover at once, Hours / day, Days / week, Shift length
Your coverage
Time off per employee (relief)
Employees you need
How the number is built
The method
How shift staffing and the relief factor work
Coverage is the number of people who have to be working at any given moment. Staffing is the number of people you have to employ to deliver that coverage. The two are different because no one works every hour of the year. Take out weekends and days off, vacation, holidays, sick time, and training. Each person only fills part of the hours a post needs. It takes more than one employee to keep one seat filled around the clock.
How this is calculated
Coverage hours divided by what one person works
The method here is the standard relief factor approach. First it works out the coverage hours a post needs in a year, the hours per day times the days per week times 52. A single position open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week needs 8,736 hours of coverage a year. Then it works out the hours one employee works after time off. Dividing the first by the second gives the relief factor, the number of employees it takes to keep one position filled. Multiply by the positions you must cover and round up, and you have the headcount.
Why the number is bigger than the schedule
A schedule shows the slots: two positions on three eight-hour shifts looks like six people. But those six slots run every day of the year, and the people filling them take days off and leave. That is why an around-the-clock post that looks like six slots usually needs ten or eleven employees. The gap between the slots you see and the people you need is exactly what the relief factor captures. Ignoring it is what forces the overtime.
Set the assumptions from your own data
A relief factor near 1.4 to 1.6 per eight-hour shift is common for moderate leave use. Much above 1.7 usually means heavy time off, lots of training, or a schedule that could be tightened. Track your real leave usage and absence rate, then set the time-off days to match, because that is what moves the number most.
Carry this into the decision
Plan every post in one workbook
The in-depth Excel version plans staffing across multiple posts and coverage patterns at once, shows the relief factor for each, and totals the headcount you need to cover them all.
$29. 30 days. Reply to your receipt or email support@truestephr.com for a full refund. No form or explanation is required, and you keep the files.
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This tool estimates from the figures you enter. It is general information rather than legal, tax, or accounting advice, so check the result against your own records before you rely on it.