Shift Rules are the building blocks of your Rota. They contain information regarding working hours, rates of pay, break patterns and so on. They are used by Focus to ensure that employees get paid the correct amounts for working the correct number of hours on any given day. Think of them as 'shifts'. By adding Shift Rules to the Rota, you are simply adding 'shifts'.

In this guide you will learn how to:

• Add a Shift Rule
• Duplicate a Shift Rule
• Duplicate an employee's weekly schedule
• Duplicate a daily schedule
• Duplicate a weekly Rota

Add a Shift Rule

Imagine you are building a new Rota. This is the first step of that process, adding one 'shift' at a time to your week.

Drag and Drop (recommended method)

1. Select ‘Rules’ from the Menu Bar.
2. Open the 'Shift Rules' folder in the Menu Tree.
3. Drag and drop a Shift Rule from the list into the required cell on the Rota.

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Alternative method

1. Select your required cell in the Rota.
2. Select a Shift Rule from the menu.
3. Select 'OK'.

Alternative method

1. Right-click on a cell in the Rota.
2. Select 'Add Shift Rule'.
3. Select a Shift Rule from the menu.
4. Select 'OK'.

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Duplicate a Shift Rule

This can speed up your Rota-building. Where several employees are going to be working the same 'shift', they require the same Shift Rule to be applied.

Shift + Drag and Drop (recommended method)

Holding the Shift key, 'grab' a Shift Rule from within the Rota using the 'grab bar' on the right of the cell, then drag and drop it to another cell.

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If you don't hold the Shift key, the Shift Rule will not duplicate but will move instead.

Alternative method

1. Right-click on a Shift Rule in the Rota.
2. Select 'Copy Schedule'.
3. Right click on a cell.
4. Select 'Paste Schedule'.

Duplicate an employee's weekly schedule

Where two or more employees share the same weekly shift pattern, you can use this time-saving method to duplicate someone's 7-day schedule.

1. Right-click on the employee's name.
2. Select 'Copy Schedule'.
3. Right click on the employee where you'd like to copy the schedule to.
4. Select 'Paste Schedule'.

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Duplicate a daily schedule

If you have completed Monday’s schedule and wish to replicate it on another day of the week, then follow the steps below.

1. Right-click on the day that you wish to duplicate.
2. Select ‘Copy Schedule’.
3. Right-click on the day that you wish to copy the schedule to.
4. Select ‘Paste Schedule’.

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Duplicate a weekly Rota

Now that the weekly Rota is complete, it's time to look at the entire month. If Weeks 2, 3 and 4 are going to be exactly the same as Week 1, then follow the steps below.

1. Right-click in the empty cell on the top left of the Rota.
2. Select 'Copy Schedule'.
3. Navigate to a new week using the Calendar above the Rota. You will be prompted to 'Save' your Rota before doing so.
4. Right-click in the empty cell on the top left of the Rota.
5. Select 'Paste Schedule'.

Additional information

You can duplicate more than one Shift Rule at a time by selecting multiple cells. However, unlike Excel or Google Sheets, you need to select exactly the same number of cells to paste into. You will be prompted to do so if your cell selections don’t match.