For cafés

Staff scheduling for cafés

A small team, many part-timers and a week that moves with timetables and exams. helloswap is the rota, and the place where shifts get swapped.

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What a café's week is like

The team is small

When one of three people on a shift is away, a third of the shift is missing. Today the search for cover usually goes through a group chat.

Many part-timers and students

When they can work changes with timetables and exams. Some want more hours and some fewer, and you only find out by asking.

The rota is a spreadsheet

It works until two people swap a shift in a message, and the sheet on the wall is no longer right.

What helloswap does about it

Everything below is in the product today. A function marked Growth needs the Growth plan or Enterprise. The rest is in every plan.

A message to those who want more hours

Staff who want extra shifts put themselves on a list. When you publish an open shift, they get a message, and the first to take it has it.

Enough people, and one who can open

Say how many people each shift needs on each weekday, and that one of them must be a barista or a key holder. The schedule shows every day against it.

Time off next to the rota

Staff ask for holiday or a day off in helloswap and you decide. An approved day blocks shifts on it.

Start from the rota you already have

Copy the week from Excel or Google Sheets and paste it in. helloswap matches the names to your staff and creates the shifts as drafts for you to look over.

Young staff after school

With a date of birth on the person, helloswap checks every shift against the rules for under-18s and refuses one that breaks them.

Shift swaps without the group chat

A shift is offered to one colleague or to the whole team in helloswap. You approve the swap, and the rota is right for everyone at once.

What it costs

You pay per employee per month. There is no minimum and no base fee. The first 14 days are free and need no card.

Everything on this page is in every plan, Starter included.

See what is in each plan
  • Starter€3per employee / month
  • Growth€5per employee / month
  • Enterprise€8per employee / month

Questions

We are only 6 people. Is there a minimum?

No. You pay per employee per month, with no minimum and no base fee. Starter is €3 per employee, so 6 people is €18 a month. The first 14 days are free and need no card.

Can I bring in the rota I keep in Excel?

Yes, on every plan. Add your people first, then paste the week from Excel or Google Sheets, or choose a CSV file. You see how it was read before anything is saved, and everything is created as drafts.

What happens when someone calls in sick shortly before a shift?

They tap “I'm sick” on the shift, which they can do for a shift today or tomorrow. You are told at once, the day is recorded as sick leave and the shift goes on the swap board for the colleagues who are free that day. It stays in the sick person's name until someone has taken it and you have approved. If nobody is free, you are told that too, and you can give the shift to someone on the schedule yourself.

How does helloswap handle staff under 18?

When a person's date of birth makes them under 18, helloswap checks every shift against the rules for young workers: hours per day and per week, rest between shifts and the hours they may not work. These rules block; they are not warnings. A collective agreement or a sector rule can differ, and on the Enterprise plan you can change the figures.

Is there a free rota template?

Yes. Under Free tools there is a weekly schedule template as an Excel file and a printable PDF, with no sign-up.

Try it on your own week

14 days free, no card. Import your people from CSV and publish in an afternoon.

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helloswap

Workforce scheduling for shift-based teams — build the week, let people trade shifts under your rules.