# Creating a staff schedule in Austria: a step-by-step guide > Creating a staff schedule in seven steps: demand, shifts, availability, assignment, checks under Austrian labour law, announcement and handling changes. 1. [eutempus](https://eutempus.at/en/) 2. [Staff scheduling in Austria](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/) 3. Creating a staff schedule Guide # Creating a staff schedule, step by step How opening hours, staffing needs and the team's wishes become a schedule that complies with Austrian labour law. With checklists and typical mistakes. [By DI Florian Gusenbauer](https://eutempus.at/en/about/#florian-gusenbauer) · Last updated: October 6, 2026 · 5 min read General information, not legal advice. The law, your collective agreement and your works agreement prevail. ## Contents 1. [Before you start](#before-you-start) 2. [Step 1: Determine demand per hour and area](#step-1-determine-demand-per-hour-and-area) 3. [Step 2: Define shifts](#step-2-define-shifts) 4. [Step 3: Collect availability and absences](#step-3-collect-availability-and-absences) 5. [Step 4: Assign shifts](#step-4-assign-shifts) 6. [Step 5: Check against labour law](#step-5-check-against-labour-law) 7. [Step 6: Announce in time](#step-6-announce-in-time) 8. [Step 7: Handle changes](#step-7-handle-changes) 9. [Five typical mistakes](#five-typical-mistakes) 10. [Spreadsheet or software?](#spreadsheet-or-software) Creating a staff schedule means distributing a period’s staffing needs across the team so that every hour is covered by enough people with the right qualifications, while contracts, wishes and labour law are respected. The following seven steps apply to a shop just as much as to a doctor’s practice or a bank branch. ## Before you start You need five things in one place: - opening or surgery hours, including preparation and closing, - staffing needs per area and qualification, - contracts with weekly hours and agreed working days, - leave, sick leave, vocational school days and wishes, - the collective agreement and any works agreement. ## Step 1: Determine demand per hour and area Decide how many people with which qualification are needed at what time. Distinguish **minimum staffing**, which must never be undercut, from **desired staffing** for peak times. Example store: at least one person at the checkout from 7 am to 7 pm, two from 4 pm; one person at the deli counter from 8 am to 6 pm. ## Step 2: Define shifts Demand turns into shifts: early, middle and late shifts with fixed breaks. More than 6 hours of working time requires a break of at least 30 minutes (§ 11 AZG), for young workers from 4.5 hours (§ 15 KJBG). Keep these shifts as a **template** so you don’t have to reinvent them every week. ## Step 3: Collect availability and absences Record what is fixed for each person: leave, sick leave, vocational school days, agreed days off and day patterns such as “mornings only”. Then add wishes: preferred days and days on which someone would rather not work. The earlier this information is in, the fewer changes are needed later. ## Step 4: Assign shifts Assign the hard-to-fill shifts first: those requiring a rare qualification, long Saturdays and early or late hours. Then the rest. Keep three things in view at once: - **Qualification:** whoever takes the shift must be allowed to do the work. - **Hours:** weekly hours should match the contract; deviations go to the time account. - **Fairness:** share Saturdays, late shifts and unpopular days evenly and meet wishes where possible. ## Step 5: Check against labour law Check every person and every week. The most important points: Rule Adults Young workers under 18 Pregnant and breastfeeding employees Hours per day at most 12 h including overtime 8 h, at most 9 h with averaging normal working time, never over 9 h Hours per week at most 60 h, 48 h on average over 17 weeks 40 h, at most 45 h with averaging at most 40 h Rest between two shifts 11 h 12 h 11 h Night no general ban no work 8 pm to 6 am generally no work 8 pm to 6 am Sundays and public holidays under the Rest Periods Act free generally free The details are in the guides on [working hours and rest periods](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/working-hours-rest-periods/), [apprentices and young workers](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/apprentices-young-workers/) and [maternity protection](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/maternity-protection/). In retail, the Saturday rules of the [retail collective agreement](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/retail-collective-agreement/) apply on top. ## Step 6: Announce in time If the employer sets working hours without an agreement, they must be communicated **at least two weeks in advance** for each week (§ 19c AZG). Announce the schedule in a way that reaches everyone and lets you prove the date: on a notice board, by e-mail or in an app. More in [Changing the schedule](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/schedule-changes-notice/). ## Step 7: Handle changes Sick leave, swap requests and short-notice absences are part of everyday life. Record who agreed to which change, recheck rest periods and maximum limits after every change and inform everyone affected. For the records under § 26 AZG, what was actually worked is what counts. ## Five typical mistakes 1. **Late shift, then early shift:** ending at 9 pm and starting at 6:30 am leaves only 9.5 hours of rest. 2. **Apprentice until closing time:** under 18, work ends at 8 pm. 3. **Unnoticed additional hours:** part-timers slip over their hours week after week without anyone tracking it. 4. **Saturday after the long Saturday:** in retail, after working on a Saturday after 1 pm, the following Saturday must stay entirely free unless another model has been agreed; exceptions apply, for example, to the four Saturdays before Christmas. 5. **Schedule too late:** a schedule that only arrives on Friday for the next week and has not been agreed falls short of the two-week notice. ## Spreadsheet or software? A spreadsheet is enough while the team is small and the shifts stay the same. The more part-timers, apprentices and locations come in, the more time steps 4 and 5 take, and the easier it is for a violation to slip through. What to look for in software is covered in the guide [Staff scheduling in Austria](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/). > **In eutempus:** You set up steps 1 and 2 once as a template; you and your team keep step 3 up to date, including leave requests in the app. The optimiser takes over step 4 and checks part of step 5 along the way: qualifications, absences, the 12-hour limit, the limits for young workers and pregnant employees and the Saturday rotation as hard rules, the 11-hour rest period as a soft rule. What it does not check is listed in the guide. One click publishes the schedule in the app; optionally it also goes as a PDF by e-mail to chosen recipients. ## Sources 1. [Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, AZG), RIS, current version (German)](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008238) 2. [§ 25 AZG: posting requirement, RIS (German)](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008238&Paragraf=25) 3. [§ 19c AZG: timing of normal working hours, RIS (German)](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008238&Paragraf=19c) 4. [Employment of Children and Young Persons Act (KJBG), RIS, current version (German)](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008632) 5. [Maternity Protection Act (MSchG), RIS, current version (German)](https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008464) ## Frequently asked questions How do I create a staff schedule? In seven steps: determine staffing needs per hour and area, define shifts with breaks, collect contracts, availability and absences, assign shifts, check the schedule against the Working Time Act, the KJBG, maternity protection and the collective agreement, announce it in time and handle changes transparently. How far in advance should I create the schedule? If the employer sets working hours without an agreement, they must be communicated at least two weeks in advance for each week (§ 19c AZG). In practice, rolling planning with at least three weeks always fixed works well. What must the employer post about working hours? The start and end of normal working time, the breaks and the weekly rest period must be posted or made available electronically (§ 25 AZG). ## Read on - [Staff scheduling in Austria →](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/) - [Working hours and rest periods →](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/working-hours-rest-periods/) - [Changing the schedule: the two-week rule →](https://eutempus.at/en/staff-scheduling/schedule-changes-notice/) ## See eutempus run on your own rules. In 30 minutes we show you how a roster for your business comes together, with your opening hours, your qualifications, your collective agreement. [Request a demo](https://eutempus.at/en/contact/) [Watch the video (2 min)](https://eutempus.at/en/#video) No obligation. 30 minutes. We look at your business and your rules instead of showing slides.