How to design reusable roster templates
Save 5+ hours per week by building efficient template frameworks that adapt to any rostering period. Learn template design principles, demand planning strategies, and optimization techniques.
Written by
Georgia Morgan
General information only – not legal advice
This guide provides general information about roster templates for Australian businesses. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
New to rostering?
This guide assumes you understand basic rostering and focuses on building efficient, reusable templates. If you're creating your first roster, start with our comprehensive beginner guide.
Read the complete rostering guideWhy roster templates matter
Most managers spend 1-3 hours creating each week's roster from scratch. Roster templates cut this to 10-30 minutes by providing reusable frameworks that match your business patterns.
Save 80% of time
Stop rebuilding rosters from scratch. Apply templates and adjust for exceptions only.
Built-in compliance
Templates encode award requirements, ensuring every roster meets legal standards.
Consistent budgets
Reuse templates that hit your labour cost targets without overstaffing.
Template vs roster: What's the difference?
A roster template
- Reusable framework without employee names
- Shift structure only (times, roles, coverage)
- Applied repeatedly across weeks
- Date-agnostic
Think of templates as the "mold" you use to create rosters faster.
An actual roster
- Individual weekly schedule with names
- Specific employees assigned to shifts
- Created for one specific time period
- Tied to specific dates
A roster is what you publish to staff each week.
Want to learn basic rostering first? Read our complete guide to creating a roster →
Template design principles
Follow these principles to build templates that work across multiple rostering periods.
1. Flexibility vs structure
Templates need enough structure to save time, but enough flexibility to adapt. Don't lock in employee names—focus on roles and shift times.
2. Demand-driven design
Build templates around business needs (customer volume, sales data), not employee preferences. Staff availability comes second.
3. Compliance-first architecture
Bake award requirements into your template structure so every roster generated from it is automatically compliant.
4. Iterative improvement
Templates improve over time. Start with version 1, collect feedback for 4-8 weeks, then refine to version 2.
5. Clear documentation
Name templates clearly and document when to use each one. Future you (and your team) will thank you.
Example: "Dec-Busy-Weekends" or "Q1-Standard-Weekdays"
Create templates for different scenarios
Don't try to make one template fit all situations. Build a template library for different demand levels.
Standard week template
Your baseline template for normal trading conditions.
- • Expected customer volume
- • Regular staffing levels
- • Normal operating hours
Busy period template
20-30% extra coverage for peak seasons.
- • Christmas, school holidays
- • Sales events, peak trading
- • Extended trading hours
Quiet period template
Reduced staffing to control costs during slow periods.
- • Post-holiday lulls
- • Off-season periods
- • Skeleton crew coverage
Event template
Special templates for one-off situations.
- • Product launches, sales
- • Temporary demand spikes
- • All-hands coverage
Download ready-made templates
Get Excel templates for weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and event-based rosters with pre-built structures.
Browse 13 free roster templatesRoster template types
| Type | Best For | Award Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Most retail and hospitality businesses | General Retail Industry Award | Simple to manage, easy for staff to understand |
| Fortnightly | Healthcare, aged care, office-based roles | HPSS Award, Aged Care Award, Clerks Award | Balances hours over 2 weeks, essential for tracking care minutes in aged care |
| 4-week cycle | Shift work, 24/7 operations | Security, nursing, manufacturing | Allows for rotating shift patterns |
| Rolling pattern | Continuous shift operations | Mining, transport, emergency services | Fixed rotation (e.g., 4 on, 4 off) |
6-step template design guide
Follow these steps to design reusable templates that save hours every week
Analyse your demand patterns
Review historical data to understand when you need staff and how many.
Key actions:
- Review sales or customer traffic data by day and hour
- Identify peak periods and quiet times
- Consider seasonal variations (school holidays, events)
- Note any recurring patterns week to week
Define your shift structure
Create standard shift types that align with your operating hours and award requirements.
Key actions:
- Set standard shift start and end times
- Ensure shifts meet minimum engagement requirements
- Build in adequate break times
- Consider handover periods between shifts
Map roles to shifts
Determine which roles and how many staff you need for each shift.
Key actions:
- List all positions needed for each time slot
- Define skill requirements for each role
- Calculate minimum and optimal staffing levels
- Consider supervision and skill mix requirements
Build your template structure
Create the framework that will be reused each rostering period.
Key actions:
- Choose weekly, fortnightly, or 4-week roster template based on your award
- Create clear column headers for each day
- Include rows for each shift type or position
- Add space for employee names and shift times
Add compliance checkpoints
Build in safeguards to ensure each roster meets legal requirements.
Key actions:
- Include minimum hours requirements per employee
- Flag shifts that trigger penalty rates
- Track consecutive days worked
- Monitor weekly hour limits
Test and refine
Use your template for several roster periods and adjust based on feedback.
Key actions:
- Compare actual demand to template assumptions
- Gather feedback from managers and staff
- Adjust shift times or staffing levels as needed
- Save multiple roster templates for different scenarios
Essential template elements
Header row
Week commencing date, location/department name
Quick identification and reference
Day columns
Monday through Sunday (or operating days)
Organise shifts by day
Shift rows
Shift name, start/end times, role required
Define when staff are needed
Employee names
Assigned staff member for each shift
Clear accountability
Hours totals
Weekly hours per employee, daily staff count
Compliance and budgeting
Notes section
Special requirements, events, reminders
Context for that roster period
Managing multiple templates
Successful roster managers maintain a library of templates for different scenarios. Here's how to organize yours.
Template library structure example (Hospitality)
Mon-Fri-Standard
Normal weekday trading
Weekend-Standard
Saturday-Sunday coverage
School-Holidays-Busy
25% extra staff
Winter-Quiet
Reduced off-season coverage
Public-Holiday
Skeleton crew + penalties
Event-Day
All-hands for special events
Template naming convention
[Period]-[Demand Level]-[Special Conditions]
Use consistent naming so anyone on your team can find the right template quickly.
Dec-Busy-Weekends
Christmas weekend peak trading
Q1-Standard-Weekdays
First quarter normal operations
Easter-Peak-AllStaff
Easter holiday all-hands
When to use each template
Create a simple decision guide for your team:
Is it a school holiday period?
→ Use "School-Holidays-Busy" template
Is it June-August (winter)?
→ Use "Winter-Quiet" template
Special event scheduled?
→ Use "Event-Day" template
Otherwise
→ Use "Mon-Fri-Standard" or "Weekend-Standard"
Template testing & refinement
Templates improve through iteration. Follow this testing timeline to optimize your templates over time.
Week 1-2: initial test
- Apply template to real rostering period
- Track coverage gaps and overstaffing
- Note adjustments needed
- Document actual vs planned labour costs
Week 3-4: First iteration
- Fix obvious gaps in coverage
- Adjust shift start/end times based on demand
- Refine staffing levels per shift
- Save as Template v1.1
Week 5-8: stabilization
- Fine-tune based on actual performance data
- Gather feedback from managers and staff
- Compare actual demand vs template assumptions
- Finalize as Template v2.0
Monthly: ongoing maintenance
- Review labour costs vs budget targets monthly
- Update templates when award rates change
- Create seasonal variants (summer vs winter)
- Archive templates that are no longer used
Track template performance with reports
Use rostering reports to analyze template effectiveness: labour cost vs budget, coverage efficiency, and staffing patterns.
Explore rostering analyticsCompliance checklist for your template
Minimum shift hours met
Most awards require 3-4 hour minimum engagement
Tip: Set up alerts for short shifts
Break requirements included
Typically 30-min break after 5 hours
Tip: Build break times into shift templates
Maximum hours not exceeded
38 ordinary hours/week (most awards)
Tip: Track totals automatically
Rest between shifts
Usually 8-11 hours between shifts
Tip: Flag close-close or close-open patterns
Consecutive days limit
Varies by award (often 5-6 days max)
Tip: Monitor days worked in sequence
Penalty rate periods marked
Evenings, weekends, public holidays
Tip: Highlight penalty periods in template
Common template mistakes
Template too rigid
Cant adapt to demand fluctuations, over or understaffing
Create multiple templates for different demand levels
Ignoring award minimums
Shifts shorter than minimum engagement, underpayment claims
Set minimum shift length in template structure
No buffer for absences
Understaffed when someone calls in sick
Build in slight overstaffing or have casual backup pool
Static templates never updated
Template no longer matches business needs
Review and update templates quarterly
Using roster templates in software
While you can manage templates in Excel, rostering software offers significant advantages for template management.
| Feature | Excel Templates | Software Template Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Apply template | Manual copy/paste | One-click application |
| Staff assignment | Manual entry | Auto-assign by availability |
| Compliance checking | Manual verification | Automatic warnings |
| Formula errors | Common when copying | No formulas needed |
| Multi-site templates | Separate files | Share across locations |
| Award rate updates | Manual recalculation | Automatic updates |
RosterElf template manager features
Save unlimited templates
Build a library for every scenario without file clutter
Copy last week instantly
Duplicate previous roster in seconds
Auto-assign staff
AI matches best available employees to shifts
Built-in compliance
Automatic checks for award requirements
Multi-site sharing
Copy templates between locations
Live updates
Templates automatically reflect staff availability
How template managers work
- 1 Build your ideal roster structure (shift times, roles, coverage needs)
- 2 Save as template with a descriptive name
- 3 Apply template to any future week with one click
- 4 Make minor adjustments for leave or special requirements
- 5 Publish to staff instantly via mobile app
Free roster planning tools
AI roster generator
Let AI build your roster automatically based on staff availability and business needs.
Try free toolFree roster tool
Simple online tool to create rosters without Excel or complex software.
Try free toolRoster cost calculator
Estimate labour costs including penalty rates before publishing your roster.
Try free toolFrequently asked questions
- Create your master templates well in advance of needing them—ideally when setting up your rostering system or at the start of a new season. The template itself is reusable; you then populate it with employee names each roster period. For the actual roster based on your template, we recommend publish at least 7 days in advance, though many awards require this as a minimum. Some businesses publish 2-4 weeks ahead to give staff more certainty.
- While Excel can work for small teams, dedicated rostering software offers significant advantages: automatic compliance checking, integration with time and attendance, employee self-service for availability and shift swaps, and automatic costing. As your team grows beyond 5-10 staff, software typically saves more time than it costs. Software templates also update automatically when award rates change.
- Most businesses benefit from having 2-4 templates: a standard week roster template for normal operations, a busy period template for peak seasons or events, a quiet period template for slower times, and potentially templates for school holidays or special events. Having multiple templates ready means you can quickly adapt to changing demand without building rosters from scratch.
Regulatory sources
Official resources for rostering requirements:
Create rosters faster
RosterElf lets you build and save roster templates, then auto-fill shifts based on staff availability. Built for Australian small businesses.
Related guides
Related rostering resources and tools.
Complete Rostering Guide
New to rostering? Start with our comprehensive beginner-friendly guide with Excel tutorials and industry examples.
Read guideFree Roster Templates
Download 13 free Excel templates for weekly, monthly, rotating, and industry-specific rosters.
Download templatesAged Care Rostering Guide
Industry-specific guide covering care minute compliance, Aged Care Award rules, and RN coverage requirements.
Read guidePublic Holiday Rostering
Navigate public holiday rostering with correct penalty rates, request procedures, and compliance requirements.
Read guideTemplate Manager Software
Save unlimited templates, copy last week, and auto-assign staff with one click.
Explore featureAI Roster Generator
Let AI build your roster automatically based on availability and demand patterns.
Try free tool
Simplify your rostering today
Join thousands of Australian businesses using RosterElf to create compliant rosters in minutes. Built for Australian small businesses.