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Guide · Template · Roster

Staff roster template for Excel and to print – weekly and monthly

Venheim editorial team

7 min read

Here are two printable roster templates: a weekly roster with one row per person and columns from Monday to Sunday plus a total of hours, and a monthly roster with one row per calendar day and columns for the early, midday and late shift. Both are ready to use straight away — no email address, no sign-up, as a PDF through the print dialogue.

A roster has to answer two questions: who works when — and does the total per person add up? This guide gives you two templates to print or rebuild in Excel, tips for filling them in with the limits backed by their sources, and an honest look at when a spreadsheet is enough and where it ends.

Two templates, two angles

Both templates plan the same thing, but from different directions — that is why they sit together on one page:

Weekly roster: one row per person

For teams where every person works different times. Each day's cell holds the shift time “from – to”, and the total column records the planned weekly hours.

Monthly roster: one row per day

For businesses with fixed shifts. For each calendar day, the names go into the early, midday and late columns — the notes column records swaps, sickness and holidays.

The templates to print

Both tables are deliberately kept simple — they work printed with a ballpoint pen just as well as rebuilt in Excel; the column headings are the building instructions. And expressly: there is no download behind an email form — printing is enough.

To put on the wall: this page has a print version — only the roster templates is printed, without header or advertising. On a computer press Ctrl/Cmd + P; the print dialogue can also save it as a PDF.

Template 1: weekly roster — one row per person

One sheet per week. Name and agreed weekly hours in the first column, the shift time “from – to” in the day cells; a day off stays empty.

Business / site: Week from: to:

Name (weekly hours)MonTueWedThuFriSatSunTotal (hrs)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

In each day's cell the shift time “from – to” (e.g. 9–17); at the end of the week, hold the total column against the agreed weekly hours. More than ten people: print a second sheet and keep counting.

Template 2: monthly roster — one row per calendar day

One sheet per month. Names or initials go into the shift columns; where a shift is not covered, the cell stays empty — that is information, not a mistake.

Business / site: Month / year:

DateEarlyMiddayLateNotes (swap, sick, holiday)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

A swap is recorded in the notes column — with initials and date, and the old name stays crossed out but legible. That way there is only one truth at the end of the month too.

Filling it in properly

Three principles decide whether the roster holds up — they apply on paper just as in Excel:

Write the weekly hours next to each person

Each name needs its agreed weekly hours next to it (“Anna — 30 h”). Only then does the total column on Friday show who is planned above or below their hours — otherwise it is a number without a yardstick.

Rest period: eleven hours between two shifts

Between the end of one shift and the start of the next, an uninterrupted rest period of eleven hours is required as a rule (§ 12 AZG in Austria; § 5 ArbZG in Germany). The classic trap in the grid: a late shift until 11 pm, an early shift from 8 am the next day — exactly nine hours. Only the collective agreement or the statutory exceptions allow it to be shortened, each with compensation.

Record swaps, never overwrite

Whoever swaps crosses out the old name and writes the new one next to it — with initials and date in the notes column. An overwritten roster only knows its last version; in a dispute about a missed weekend, though, what counts is who agreed what and when.

For context: for more than six hours of work, a rest break of at least half an hour is required (§ 11 AZG) — it belongs in the planned shift, not left to chance. And the roster remains the plan: the hours actually worked need their own records (§ 26 AZG).

When Excel is enough — and where it ends

The honest part first: for a small, well-practised team, a spreadsheet is a perfectly legitimate tool. If the week mostly repeats itself, one person maintains the roster and a copy on the noticeboard is enough, you need no software — the template above costs nothing and does exactly that. But there are four things a spreadsheet cannot do by design, and all four only start to hurt when the business grows or the roster still changes after it has been put up:

No conflict warning for sickness and holidays

Excel does not know who has approved holiday or has called in sick. The roster looks finished — and the conflict only shows on Tuesday at seven, when nobody opens up.

No balance of hours per person

The weekly total can be built as a formula, the balance over months cannot be done on the side: nobody recalculates by hand whether someone has been above their agreed hours for weeks — until that person hands in their notice or claims the overtime.

No phone access for the team

The roster hangs on the noticeboard or circulates as a photo in the group chat. After every change there are two versions — and whoever turned up according to Monday's photo was in the right and still not there.

Version chaos

“Roster_final_v3_NEW.xlsx” is not a joke but everyday life: as soon as two people maintain the same file, the version of whoever saved last applies — and you only notice when a shift is covered twice or not at all.

The same roster without Excel

The same weekly grid as in template 1 — except that sickness and holiday conflicts are shown while you plan, the total of hours per person adds itself up and every change is on the team's phones at once:

One version instead of file versions: the roster adds up the hours per person, warns about conflicts while you plan — and the team sees changes on their own phones at once.Demo data from the sample business Cafe Sunshine, app shown in German

When the spreadsheet gets too small

The template carries a small team — and that is exactly where Venheim begins: for one site with up to 5 active people, the roster with preferences, swaps and the time clock is free for good, as a plan, not as a trial. Sickness and holiday conflicts appear while you plan, the balance of hours per person adds itself up, and every change is on the team's phones at once. Start for free, no payment details.

Start free

Try Premium for 30 days, no payment details. After that your business carries on free on the Start plan; records stay readable and exportable.

The sign-up form is in German for now. Inside the app, everyone picks their own language — nine languages, English included.

Important: not legal advice

This guide and the templates give a general overview and are expressly not legal advice. Rest periods, breaks and maximum working hours can differ under collective agreements, works agreements and sector exceptions — the individual case is what counts. If in doubt, ask the Austrian Economic Chamber, the Chamber of Labour or the Labour Inspectorate.

Related

Staff scheduling for hospitalityA weekly grid with drag and drop, preferences and swaps from the phone, staffing checked against opening hours.Working time record templateThe counterpart to the roster: the actual hours under § 26 AZG as a printable monthly sheet per person.Working time recording in AustriaWhat § 26 AZG requires, which fines apply and how long the records are kept.Working time recording in GermanyThe duty since the CJEU and BAG decisions, § 16 ArbZG, § 17 MiLoG and the state of the reform.

Frequently asked questions

Can I download the templates as an Excel file?
There is deliberately no file download — instead there are two things: the print version of this page (the “Print / PDF” button or Ctrl/Cmd + P; only the templates are printed) and the complete column structure, which lets you rebuild both tables in Excel or Google Sheets in a few minutes. Both without an email address and without signing up — a form does not have to be a trade for your address.
Weekly or monthly — which template suits my business?
The weekly roster suits a team where a few people work many different times: one row per person, each day's cell holds the shift time “from – to”, and the total column records the planned weekly hours. The monthly roster suits fixed rotating shifts: one row per calendar day, with names or initials in the early, midday and late columns. Many businesses keep both — the month as an overview, the week as the working plan.
How do I record a shift swap properly?
On paper: cross out the old name (leave it legible!), write the new name next to it, and add initials and the date of the change in the notes column. In Excel exactly that gets lost — a changed cell leaves no trace, and if in doubt it is one person's word against another's. Also important: the swap does not change the duties. Rest periods and maximum working hours apply to the person who stepped in too.
Does the roster replace working time records?
No. The roster is the plan — made before the week begins. In Austria, § 26 AZG additionally requires continuous records of the hours actually worked: start, end and rest breaks, per person and day; in Germany there is a duty to record working time as well. Filing only the roster documents an intention, not what actually happened. For the actual times there is a separate printable template among the guides.
What do I do with more than ten people?
Print a second sheet and keep counting from row 10 — or split the team by area (kitchen, service, bar) and keep one sheet per area. From that size on, though, an honest look at the section on the limits of Excel is worth it: the more people, the more often the roster changes after it has been put up — and that is exactly when the two versions appear, one of which is wrong.
Why are the templates available without an email address?
Because with many template downloads your email address is the price, and the newsletter follows — a poor deal for two tables. These templates are part of the guide and free to use; printing is enough. If you want more than paper later, you will find the digital roster in Venheim — but that is a separate decision, not a condition for printing.

Sources

About Venheim

Venheim is operations software for hospitality, studios and retail — built inside a real business and used there every day. Every feature and every guide comes from that daily work and is tested against it. More about Venheim. Not legal advice — where in doubt, the authority, the chamber or a law firm has the final word.