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Bulk create and assign work schedules

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Create and assign work schedules in bulk via Import Data by following the steps below. We'll show you how to:

  1. Download the CSV template

  2. Put your data in the template file

  3. Import your file into Ento

Not sure what work schedules are? Learn work schedule basics first in Create or update a work schedule for a single employee.

Not what you're looking for? Head back to ento.com/support for help on other topics.

Step 1: Download the CSV template

  1. Go to Core HR > Account Data > Import Data

  2. Click Create New

  3. From the Type dropdown, select Work Schedules

  4. In the purple bar, select Click here to download a template file.

  5. A CSV file will download. Save it with a meaningful title.

Step 2: Enter your workschedule data in the template file

  1. Open your template file.

  2. Put your data in the template, following the guidance below 👇 and making sure

    • all start and end time columns are formatted as hh:mm

    • the spread of hours entered covers 7 days (for a weekly pay cycle) or 14 days (for a fortnightly pay cycle)

    • you have one row per staff member.

  3. Save your template file.

Guidance on entering your data in the template

ID

If entered, this value will become the unique ID of the workschedule you are creating. If left blank, Ento will generate a new unique work schedule ID when processing the import.

 

If entering ID values yourself, note they may be text and/or numbers up to 20 characters in length and must never have existed in your account. To check your existing active workschedule IDs, head to Rostering > Workschedules.

Pay schedule*

The existing name the pay cycle the employee is on, eg 'Weekly' or 'Fortnightly'.

 

To export the names of your employees' pay cycles:

  • Set up an employee export template via Settings > Export Templates that includes the fields Employee ID and Employee pay cycle name.

  • Run your export report from Core HR > People > Employees.

Name*

What you want the work schedule to be called. The work schedule name can be included in future custom employee exports, which you can set up in Settings > Export templates.

Start Date*

The start date of the work schedule, which must match the start date of the pay cycle the employee is on and be formatted as YYYY-MM-DD.

To check which pay cycle an employee is on, head to Core HR > People.

To find out the next start date of the pay cycle, check Company Settings > Core HR or Payroll & Leave > Pay cycles.

Once populated, the first few columns in your file will look something like this 👇

WS_Import_first_four_columns.png

Entering the spread of hours

Ento calculates the total worked hours in a workschedule day as

  • the duration between Start and End time,

  • minus unpaid break minutes.

To create the correct shift and unpaid break length for each day, there are three ways you may enter the spread of hours for each workschedule day:

  1. Daily Ordinary Hours with Start Time and End Time.

  2. Start Time and End Time.

  3. Daily Ordinary Hours and Start Time.

If you enter an unpaid break or paid break, you must have both a break start time and a break length.

 

Repeat the format for each day of the workschedule, until you have entered the spread of hours for 7 or 14 days (whichever you need). Remember, the number of days you need to include hours for must match the number of days in the pay cycle, ie:

  • for weekly work schedules only include hours for days 1-7.

  • for fortnightly work schedules include hours for days 1-14.

Monthly work schedules are not currently supported.

Day 1 ordinary

The total number of ordinary hours worked on the first day of the work schedule.

Example: 7.6

Day 1 Start Time and Day 1 End Time

The start and finish time for when the ordinary hours are usually worked.

Must be formatted as hh:mm

Example: 09:00, 17:00

Day 1 Unpaid Break Start Time and Day 1 Break Minutes

Enter the start time of the unpaid break, and (in the next column) the duration of the break as whole number of minutes.

Example: 13:00:00, 30.

This indicates the break begins at 1pm and is 30 minutes duration.

Repeat the above format for

  • Paid Break 1 Start time

  • Paid Break1 Minutes

  • Paid Break2 Start time

  • Paid Break2 Minutes

If you don't need to record Paid Breaks, leave the cells blank.

Employee ID

The ID of the employee to whom you wish to assign the workschedule. To assign a work schedule to multiple employees, create a new row for each employee ID keeping the values in the other columns the same.

 

Go to Core HR > People > Employees to find employee IDs, or run an employee export to work in a spreadsheet.

Step 3: Import your file into Ento

Once you've put your data in the template file, you're ready to import it into Ento! 😃

  1. Go to Core HR > Account Data > Import Data

  2. Click Create New

  3. From the Type dropdown, select Work Schedules

  4. Under File, click Select and choose your saved file.

  5. Under Mode select Create and Update

  6. Click Save

  7. Ento will begin processing your import and display a progress bar. When your import is complete, there will be a summary of results and alerts displayed for any errors in your data.

Ento Tip: All past imports are listed on Core HR > Account data > Import data, where you can download and view the file that was imported.

Need more? Head to ento.com/support for more help articles.

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