Shift Staffing Planner
Turn the coverage you have to provide into the headcount it takes to staff it. Set time off once, list each post, and the workbook returns coverage hours, the relief factor, and the people you need, with a payroll figure and a board-ready summary.
One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.
Built by expert HR practitioners and leaders
- Coverage turned into headcount, post by post: list each post with the people on at once, the hours per day, and the days per week, and the workbook returns the coverage hours, the relief factor, and the employees needed, so the number rests on the coverage you set, not on the schedule you can see
- Built on the hours one person works: holidays, PTO, sick, and training come out of the 2,080-hour paid year, leaving the hours a person delivers, about 1,768 in the worked example, and every post is sized against that figure
- The relief factor made explicit: the workbook shows how many employees it takes to keep one post filled, about five for a continuous post in the worked example, the gap between the people on a schedule and the people you have to employ
- The plan priced for a budget conversation: set a fully loaded cost per employee and the Summary returns the annual payroll to staff the coverage, the cost per coverage hour, and the cost per post
- Open, editable formulas in Excel or Google Sheets, with a worked example pre-filled and a one-page summary built for a leadership conversation
The workbook computes from the numbers you enter. Your posts, time-off assumptions, and cost per employee are yours to set.
Planning estimates and general business information, not legal or tax advice. It sizes the headcount coverage requires; confirm overtime, breaks, and scheduling against the wage and hour rules that apply to you, and read the result as a range you calibrate to your own time-off and absence data.
Not the right fit? Take the 60-second match.
Last reviewed June 2026
One Excel workbook that turns coverage into a staffing plan and a payroll figure
A working model, not a blank grid. You set the time-off assumptions once and list your posts, the workbook returns the relief factor and the employees each post needs, and it opens on a worked example so the logic is clear before you change anything.
Shift Staffing Planner
Set per-employee availability once, contracted hours, working weeks, holidays, PTO, sick or personal days, training, and hours per day, then list each post with the people on at once, the hours per day, and the days per week. The workbook builds the hours one person works after time off, then returns coverage hours, the relief factor, and the employees needed, post by post with a running total.
A board-ready summary, sourced benchmarks, and the method in plain English
A one-page Summary rounds the headcount to whole people, carries the blended relief factor and coverage, and prices the plan at a fully loaded cost per employee. A Benchmark tab holds coverage, relief-factor, and absence ranges from BLS and government and contact-center staffing models, and the Notes tab documents how each number is built.
Three steps from coverage to a staffing plan you can defend
You set the time-off assumptions, list the posts, and the workbook returns the relief factor and the employees the coverage requires, with a payroll figure.
Set the time-off assumptions
Fill the amber cells for contracted hours, working weeks, holidays, PTO, sick or personal days, training, and hours per day. These build the hours one person works after time off, the divisor for every post, about 1,768 in the worked example. Set sick or personal to reflect real unplanned absence, not only formal sick leave.
List each post
Enter each post or coverage area with the people on at once, the hours per day it runs, and the days per week. Coverage hours, the relief factor, and the employees needed calculate on the right, and a row with a blank post is ignored, so you can model three posts or a dozen.
Read the plan and the payroll
The Summary rounds the headcount to whole people and carries the blended relief factor and coverage. Set a fully loaded cost per employee to see the annual payroll to staff the coverage, the cost per coverage hour, and the cost per post.
The schedule shows the slots, not the people you have to employ
Two shortcuts get shift staffing wrong. The first staffs to the slots on a schedule, as if the people filling them never took a day off. The second plans on the 2,080-hour paid year, as if a person delivered every paid hour. Real staffing rests on the hours a person works after leave, and it takes more than one person to keep one post filled.
Who this planner fits and where to go if that is not you
It sizes the headcount that continuous or daily coverage requires and turns it into a payroll figure. For headcount driven by workload rather than coverage, or for the choice between overtime and one more hire on a known gap, the right tool is next to it.
Built for
- An operations or HR leader staffing posts that run on a fixed schedule, security, dispatch, a front desk, a plant line, or a clinic, who needs the headcount behind the coverage before taking it to finance.
- A finance or operations partner pressure-testing a staffing request, who wants the employees tied to coverage hours and the relief factor, and a payroll figure at the recommended headcount.
- An owner or department head who keeps covering gaps with overtime and wants to see whether a post is simply understaffed.
If you are looking for
- Sizing headcount from workload, tickets, orders, or cases, rather than from fixed coverage. The FTE Headcount Planner sizes that.
- Deciding whether to cover one steady gap with overtime or a new hire. The Overtime vs New Hire Planner runs that trade-off.
Before you buy
What format is it and can I edit it?
There is a free version of this. Why pay for this one?
How accurate is the result?
How do I set the time-off and absence figures?
What is the refund policy?
What happens after I buy?
Can I expense this purchase to my business?
Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant or tax professional. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.
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Turn coverage into a staffing plan
The relief factor, the employees each post needs, and a payroll figure for the coverage, in a file you keep.
Planning estimates and general business information, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed June 2026.