For multi-site service contractors with 20–250 frontline staff
The roster that covers itself when someone calls in sick
Build the week around sites, qualifications, contracts and the working-time rules you set. Publish it. When the plan breaks at 05:41, Fivexer finds qualified cover and writes down why — without touching the shifts that were fine.
- Keeps your payroll
- Your rules, not a template’s
- First draft in one working session
Cover record · Northgate · Thu 17 Sepone shift, start to finish
Anna Sild reported sick. Main lobby evening, 14:00–22:00, is now open. Her four other shifts this week: untouched.
Six people considered. Two ruled out, each with its rule:Rein Tamm — 9 hours’ rest since the night shift · Jaan Saar — no reception qualification
Marek Kask recommended. Based at Northgate, qualified, 14 hours’ rest, six hours below contract.
Assigned by Priit, area manager. Marek notified on his phone. The reason is on the record, in one sentence, for the person who asks why it was not them.
The same rules that built the week. The same people. No spreadsheet reopened.
Sunday · 21:14Can you check Thursday nights again? I think Rein is on Wed night and Thu night, and the client wants the IPAF guy at South wing all week.
Also Anna’s mum is in hospital so probably not Thursday.
The message every planner gets, in every contractor over about forty staff.
- 3–5planners
Hold the whole rota in their heads. When one is off, the roster is off — and the spreadsheet is a record of what they remembered, not of what the rules require.
- 1call-in
Costs the morning. Who is qualified, who is allowed on that site, who has had eleven hours’ rest, who is already at 48 — five phone calls to find out, and the answer is written down nowhere.
- 0record
Of why it was him and not her. The first time a worker, a client or an inspector asks, the answer is a shrug — and a contractor cannot afford the shrug twice.
A real week, with the two things that always go wrong in it
Twelve staff, three sites, one approved leave period, one rest conflict the planner missed, and Thursday’s call-in. Readable without touching it.
| Post | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main lobby · day06:00–14:00 · reception cert | M. KaskNorth | M. KaskNorth | P. LepikNorth | P. LepikNorth | P. LepikNorth |
| Main lobby · evening14:00–22:00 · reception cert | T. RebaneNorth | T. RebaneNorth | Uncovered | M. Kaskwas A. Sildcovered 05:47 | L. IlvesSouth, 50 min |
| Service level · night22:00–06:00 · anyone · counts as working time | R. TammNorth | R. TammNorth | R. TammNorth | R. TammNorth | K. PärnNorth9h rest after Friday’s 05:00 depot early |
| South wing · day07:00–15:00 · IPAF | L. IlvesSouth | L. IlvesSouth | L. IlvesSouth | H. LillSouth | J. SaarSouth |
| Depot · early05:00–13:00 · anyone | K. PärnDepot | K. PärnDepot | K. PärnDepot | K. PärnDepot | K. PärnDepot |
Scheduling tools stop at publish. Routing tools start after the job arrives.
Fivexer carries one model across both — the same sites, people, qualifications and rules decide the plan on Sunday and the replacement on Thursday.
The five things that stop a contractor buying
Said out loud, and answered here rather than on the third call.
“We are not ripping out payroll for a rota tool.”
Good — Fivexer is the plan and the cover, not the pay run. Your payroll, accounting and HR system stay exactly where they are; the roster exports hours and premiums as a record they can read.
“My planners will not trust a black box.”
There is no box. Every verdict is a sentence — “not eligible: only 9 hours’ rest since the previous shift” — and automation is a ladder: validate what they typed, recommend one person, fill the gaps they tick, and only then solve the week. The planner approves every result.
“Our rules are ours. A template will get them wrong.”
Fivexer ships no country’s legal limits as defaults. Start from a published pack if you like, then edit every figure in place — the sentence beside it says where it came from and whether you moved it. A blank rule is not checked; a configured rule is enforced and explained.
“We will be “implementing” for six months.”
The first draft is one working session: import the people from the spreadsheet you already have, name the sites and posts, pick or write the rules, solve. Then run it in shadow beside the old rota for a fortnight before anyone’s shift depends on it.
“What does it actually cost?”
Published pricing, from free, per workspace — not per seat, so growing the crew does not grow the bill. Enterprise is a conversation; everything else is a card.
From the spreadsheet to a roster you can defend
Two working sessions and a shadow fortnight. Nobody’s shift depends on it until a planner says it is right.
The CSV you already keep. Qualifications, contracted hours, home site. Blanks are allowed, and each says what it falls back to.
→ 12 people, 3 sitesA post is a responsibility at a site with a requirement on it. Travel minutes between sites, stated where you know them.
→ 7 posts, 3 bandsFrom a published pack or a blank sheet. Rest, hours, nights, contract, fairness — as sentences with your figures set into them.
→ 14 rules, 2 editedSolve beside the old rota and compare. Publish when the planner — not the software — says it is right.
→ first roster publishedWhat this replaces, what it sits beside, and what it does not do
Replaces
- The rota spreadsheet and the copy of it on somebody’s laptop
- The group chat used to find cover
- Rest and hours checked from memory
Works beside
- Your payroll and accounting software
- Your HR system of record
- Your invoicing and client reporting
Does not
- Ship any country’s legal limits as defaults — a blank rule is not checked
- Forecast demand or headcount
- Prove attendance by GPS or photograph
Fivexer ships no country’s legal limits as defaults. Rules vary by jurisdiction, sector, agreement and person. A blank rule is not checked; a configured rule is enforced and explained.
Questions we get asked first
Does Fivexer replace our payroll system?
No. Fivexer builds and covers the roster; your payroll, accounting and HR systems stay where they are. The roster exports planned and worked hours, including premiums, as a record payroll can read.
Whose working-time rules does it enforce?
Only the ones you configure. Fivexer ships no country’s legal limits as defaults. A blank rule is not checked; a configured rule is enforced and explained in plain language.
Can a planner still change the roster by hand?
Yes, and that is the normal case. Automation is a ladder: validate a roster somebody typed, recommend one person for one shift, fill only the gaps you tick, or solve a whole period. The planner approves the result at every rung.
How long before we have a first roster?
One working session to import people, name sites and posts and agree the rules, then a solve. Most teams run the result in shadow beside their existing rota for a fortnight before anyone’s shift depends on it.
What happens when somebody calls in sick?
Reporting the absence turns their affected assignments into openings and leaves every other shift untouched. Fivexer ranks the people who are qualified, permitted at that site, rested and close enough, and records why everyone else could not.