> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://beebole.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Work schedules: define and assign work patterns

> Define work schedules in Beebole — weekly or longer cycles — and assign them at the organization, tag, or person level, each from its own start date.

Work schedules in Beebole define the hours each person is expected to work on every day of a repeating cycle. Beebole uses them to show scheduled hours on the timesheet, calculate overtime in reports, and measure capacity in the Gantt workload heatmap — so setting them up is one of the first steps when configuring your account.

<Info>
  If no work schedule is assigned anywhere, Beebole falls back to a virtual **24/7 work schedule** that treats every day as a full working day. Assign a default schedule to your organization so scheduled hours reflect reality.
</Info>

***

## How work schedules work

A work schedule is a repeating pattern. Each day of the cycle defines the expected **Hours**, optional **Intervals** with **Start** and **End** times, and whether it is a **Work From Home** day. The cycle is 7 days by default — a weekly pattern — but the **Length in days** can be any number, so rotating patterns are possible too.

Beebole supports multiple work schedules in one account. Create one schedule per work pattern — full-time, part-time, shift rotation — and assign each to the right people.

***

## Creating a work schedule

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Work Schedules settings">
    Click the button with your initials at the bottom of the sidebar, then go to **Settings** > **Work Schedules**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the schedule">
    Click **Add Schedule**, type a name — for example "Full-time 40h" or "4-day week" — and click **Add Schedule** to confirm.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Define the daily pattern">
    In the **Details** panel, enter the **Hours** for each working day and leave non-working days empty. Use **Copy to next day** to repeat a day's setup and **Clear that day** to reset one. Every change is saved automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Refine each day if needed">
    Add **Intervals** with **Start** and **End** times to spell out when work happens, and turn on **Work From Home** for the days it applies.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Give each schedule a name your team recognizes at a glance — like "Full-time 40h" or "Night shift rotation" — so assignments stay easy to read.
</Tip>

***

## Cycles longer than a week

A work schedule doesn't have to repeat weekly. Increase the **Length in days** to build longer rotations — for example a 14-day cycle where the two weeks differ, or a 10-day shift rotation. Each day in the cycle gets its own hours, and Beebole repeats the full cycle indefinitely. Use **Start from** to anchor day 1 of the cycle to a calendar date, so Beebole knows where the rotation begins.

***

## Assigning a work schedule

You can assign work schedules at three levels. The most specific assignment wins: a person's own schedule overrides their tag's, and a tag's schedule overrides the organization default.

| Level        | Where to assign                                                                    | Use case                              |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Organization | **Settings** > **Account Settings**, in the **Work schedule** panel                | The default pattern for everyone      |
| Tag          | Click **Tags** in the sidebar, open the tag, then the **Work schedule** panel      | A team or department shares a pattern |
| Person       | Click **People** in the sidebar, open the person, then the **Work schedule** panel | An individual arrangement             |

In each **Work schedule** panel, use the **Select schedule** picker and type the name of a schedule to assign it. The assignment is saved automatically. On the schedule's own page in **Settings** > **Work Schedules**, the **Assigned to** panel shows where it is in use.

Which schedules an entity may *use* is managed separately from which schedule *applies*: the **Show all schedules** default (with per-entity **Show schedules** overrides) controls availability, while the dated assignment timeline records which schedule takes effect from when. That's what makes schedule changes over time possible without losing history — see the next section.

<Info>
  Configure exceptions only. Set the most common pattern on the organization, override it with tags for teams that differ, and override per person for individual cases.
</Info>

***

## Changing a schedule over time

Work patterns change — someone moves from full-time to part-time, or a team adopts a 4-day week. In Beebole, you don't end one assignment and start another: you simply assign the new schedule, and it takes over from its start date.

* While a single schedule is assigned, it applies without any date.
* When you assign a second schedule at the same level, each assignment shows a **Start date:** with a date picker so you can adjust when it begins.
* On any given day, the assignment with the most recent start date on or before that day applies. Days before the earliest dated assignment follow the first schedule in the list.

There is no end date to manage — a newer assignment supersedes the older one from its start date forward, and the history of past assignments is preserved.

***

## Archiving and deleting a work schedule

To retire a schedule you no longer assign, open it in **Settings** > **Work Schedules** and click the **⋯** action menu next to its name. The menu offers **Duplicate**, **Rename**, **Archive**, **Unarchive**, and **Delete**.

Archived schedules disappear from the list. Click **Show Archived** to display them, then use the **⋯** action menu and **Unarchive** to restore one.

<Warning>
  **Delete** removes the work schedule entirely. If you might need it again — or want to keep its history visible — choose **Archive** instead.
</Warning>

A schedule that is still assigned to people or tags can't be deleted — Beebole refuses the deletion until you reassign or remove those assignments, so nobody silently loses their working pattern.

***

## Where Beebole uses work schedules

* **Timesheets** — Each day's header on the timesheet shows time reported against scheduled hours, non-working days appear hatched, and the total row compares logged time with the scheduled total. See [Timesheets](/help/documentation/timesheets).
* **Reports** — Reports can compare worked hours against scheduled hours to surface overtime, and break down work-from-home time. See [Reports](/help/documentation/reports).
* **Time off** — When absences are tracked in days, a full day off converts to the hours defined in the person's schedule for that day. See [Time off](/help/documentation/timeoff).
* **Task planning** — The [Gantt chart](/help/documentation/gantt) workload heatmap measures planned effort against each person's capacity, which comes from their work schedule.

***

## Related content

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="People" icon="users" href="/help/documentation/people">
    Open a person's profile to assign their individual work schedule.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tags" icon="tags" href="/help/documentation/tags">
    Cascade a shared schedule to a whole team or department through tags.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timesheets" icon="clock" href="/help/documentation/timesheets">
    See how scheduled hours appear next to reported time on the timesheet.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Time Off" icon="calendar" href="/help/documentation/timeoff">
    Absences tracked in days convert to hours using the work schedule.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I have different work schedules for different teams?">
    Yes. Beebole supports multiple work schedules in one account. Create one schedule per pattern and assign each to the right tag or person — the most specific assignment overrides the organization default.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if a person has no work schedule assigned?">
    Beebole falls back to a virtual **24/7 work schedule** that counts every day as a full working day. The fallback appears grayed out in the **Work schedule** panel. Assign a default schedule to your organization so scheduled hours match your real working pattern.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I create a schedule that rotates every two weeks?">
    Yes. Set the schedule's **Length in days** to 14 and define each of the 14 days separately. Beebole repeats the full cycle indefinitely, and **Start from** anchors where the rotation begins.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I change someone's schedule from a specific date?">
    Assign the new schedule in the person's **Work schedule** panel and set its **Start date:**. Beebole applies the old schedule before that date and the new one from that date forward — there is no end date to configure.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I set up a part-time schedule in Beebole?">
    Create a new work schedule and enter **Hours** only on the days the person works — for example 4 hours from Monday to Friday, or full days from Monday to Wednesday. Then assign it to the person.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>