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 6am, Fivexer finds qualified cover and writes down why — without touching the shifts that were fine.

See the sample roster Start free

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

6am

Anna Stone reported sick. Main lobby evening, 14:00–22:00, is now open. Her four other shifts this week: untouched.

6am

Six people considered. Two ruled out, each with its rule:~~Robert Turner~~ — 9 hours’ rest since the night shift · ~~James Shaw~~ — no reception qualification

+1 min

Mark Kelly recommended. Based at Northgate, qualified, 14 hours’ rest, six hours below contract.

+6 min

Assigned by Peter, area manager. Mark 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.

Watch a rota plan itself

Set up once. The crew sends wishes, the rota is planned under your rules and goes out on time, and a sick call is covered by the people your rules allow.

Sunday · 9pm
Can 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 wide warehouse aisle at shift change, several workers walking through it, caught mid-stride. — A shift changing over. Everybody in this aisle had to be qualified for the post, permitted on the site and properly rested before they walked into it — and somebody had to work that out on Sunday, for every one of them, on every site.

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.

Northgate Centre · week of 14 September3 sites · 12 staff · 1 uncovered · 1 rule brokenScroll sideways for Wed–Fri

Post	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Main lobby · day06:00–14:00 · reception cert	M. KellyNorth	M. KellyNorth	P. LewisNorth	P. LewisNorth	P. LewisNorth
Main lobby · evening14:00–22:00 · reception cert	T. ReedNorth	T. ReedNorth	Uncovered	M. Kellywas A. Stonecovered by 6am	L. EllisSouth, 50 min
Service level · night22:00–06:00 · anyone · counts as working time	R. TurnerNorth	R. TurnerNorth	R. TurnerNorth	R. TurnerNorth	K. ParkerNorth9h rest after Friday’s 05:00 depot early
South wing · day07:00–15:00 · IPAF	L. EllisSouth	L. EllisSouth	L. EllisSouth	H. LloydSouth	J. ShawSouth
Depot · early05:00–13:00 · anyone	K. ParkerDepot	K. ParkerDepot	K. ParkerDepot	K. ParkerDepot	K. ParkerDepot

Nobody configured satisfies every rule A rule you set is broken here Covered today, with the reason recordedSite under each name — the travel gap depends on it

A woman with pink-streaked hair laughing in a bright room, another woman smiling behind her. — Every shift is somebody’s day, and most of them go well.

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.

ModelSites, posts, shift templates, people, qualifications, contracts, availability.

BuildAssign by hand, rank candidates, fill the gaps you tick, or solve a period.

PublishReview the diff, answer pending leave, publish to the team’s phones.

It breaksSickness, a no-show, an urgent job. The plan is now wrong for two shifts.

CoverRank who is qualified, permitted, rested and close. Offer or assign. Record why.

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 does not apply legal limits automatically. Start from a published country pack or configure rules manually, then review every figure. The sentence beside each rule says where it came from and whether you changed 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?”

Rota pricing depends on the number of people, and task routing on usage. Start with the free allowance; check the pricing page for your team.

Published rule packs

The law we have read, and the day we read it

Every pack names its instrument and when a person last checked the figures against it. You review it and save it — nothing here is applied to your roster for you.

EU minimum

Directive 2003/88/EC

checked 2026-08-30

United Kingdom

Working Time Regulations 1998

checked 2026-09-16

Ireland

Organisation of Working Time Act 1997

checked 2026-09-16

Estonia

Töölepingu seadus

checked 2026-08-30

Latvia

Darba likums

checked 2026-09-15

Lithuania

Darbo kodeksas

checked 2026-09-15

Finland

Työaikalaki 872/2019

checked 2026-09-15

Sweden

Arbetstidslagen (1982:673)

checked 2026-08-30

Norway

Arbeidsmiljøloven

checked 2026-09-15

Denmark

Arbejdsmiljøloven

checked 2026-09-15

Germany

Arbeitszeitgesetz

checked 2026-09-15

Netherlands

Arbeidstijdenwet

checked 2026-09-15

Poland

Kodeks pracy

checked 2026-09-15

13 jurisdictions, each read against its own statute

A pack is a starting point, not legal advice. A blank rule is not checked; a configured rule is enforced and explained. See how working rules are checked.

Two servers in aprons laughing together on a café staircase. — When the rota is settled, a team can look forward to the shift.

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.

Session 1Import the people

The CSV you already keep. Qualifications, contracted hours, home site. Blanks are allowed, and each says what it falls back to.

→ 12 people, 3 sites

Session 1Name the sites and posts

A post is a responsibility at a site with a requirement on it. Travel minutes between sites, stated where you know them.

→ 7 posts, 3 bands

Session 2Agree the rules

From a published pack or a blank sheet. Rest, hours, nights, contract, fairness — as sentences with your figures set into them.

→ 14 rules, 2 edited

Week 2Run it in shadow

Solve beside the old rota and compare. Publish when the planner — not the software — says it is right.

→ first roster published

What 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

Apply legal limits automatically — country packs are editable starting points and a blank rule is not checked
Forecast demand or headcount
Prove attendance by GPS or photograph

Fivexer does not apply legal limits automatically. Start from a published country pack or configure rules manually. Because requirements vary by jurisdiction, sector, agreement and person, review every rule before use. A blank rule is not checked; a configured rule is enforced and explained.

Two colleagues in a call centre laughing, one with a headset around his neck. — Cover found before anyone had to ask.

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. Start from a published country pack or enter the rules yourself. Packs are editable starting points, not rules Fivexer applies automatically. 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.

Plan the next step for your team

Work through a specific staffing problem, or compare how you would handle the same week in another system.

Security guard scheduling softwarePlan security guards across sites and posts. Check qualifications, availability and rest, then find eligible shift cover when someone calls in sick.Excel rota replacementMove from a rota spreadsheet to a checked, publishable schedule. Test one real week, review conflicts and practise absence cover before switching.Skills-based scheduling softwareSchedule staff against required qualifications and site eligibility. Inspect why a worker is excluded before assigning or offering a shift.Automatic scheduling softwareSet it up once. Autopilot asks your crew for wishes, plans each rota under your rules, sends it out or waits for your yes, and can cover sick calls.Staff scheduling rulesTurn working rules into roster checks your planner can explain. Review rest, hours, qualifications and availability before publishing a schedule.Time and attendance softwareHours recorded from the shift itself, not typed in afterwards. Corrections keep their author, the worker reads their own record, and it exports for payroll.Worker app for shifts and tasksA branded portal your crew opens from a link — tasks, shifts, cover offers, time off and their own time record, with a PIN login that works on a shared device.

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