Moving your rota off paper in one week
A day-by-day plan for teams that still pin the rota on the staff-room wall (sample guide).
The week's rota on every phone by Friday
Rotaline (sample) is an online rota service for cafés, shops, kitchens and care teams. Plan the shifts, let staff swap them, clock in at the door and send approved hours to payroll.
30 days free, no card. From $29 a month (example prices).
Rotaline, last 90 days
All five parts are working. Checked every minute from three regions; updated 09:40 today (sample).
Part of the service
90 days ago30 days agoToday
Uptime
Shifts, swaps and holiday requests on every phone.
99.97%
1 slow day, 1 planned maintenance
Shift reminders
A text and an email the evening before each shift.
99.92%
1 incident, 3 slow days
Timesheets and payroll export
Approved hours to your payroll file on pay day.
100%
1 planned maintenance
Full bar: working all day Short ochre bar: slow for part of the day Red stub: incident Hollow bar: planned maintenance
One bar per day, oldest on the left; phones show the last 30 days. Uptime leaves out planned maintenance, announced a week ahead (sample figures).
How a week runs
From Monday’s plan to pay day, in the order your week goes. Most teams spend about 20 minutes a week on the rota once it is set up (sample).
Monday
Plan the week
Copy last week, drag the gaps closed. The planner shows hours and wage cost per day as you go.
Tuesday
Publish it
One button sends every person their shifts by app, text and email.
Wednesday
Swaps sort themselves
Staff offer a shift, a colleague takes it, you approve with one tap.
Every day
Clock in at the door
On the shop tablet or a phone near the site. Late and early starts show up at once.
Pay day
Send the hours
Approve the timesheets and download the file your payroll software reads.
Built for teams that work in shifts
Teams of 5 to 150 people with early starts, split shifts and weekend cover. One account can run several sites.
Cafés and bakeries
Early openings, weekend cover and students who swap shifts around lectures.
Typical set-up: one site, 12 people, two shifts a day (sample).
Shops
Opening and closing cover, late nights before holidays and staff shared between two branches.
Typical set-up: two sites, 25 people, staff shared between them (sample).
Care and home help
Visits that must be covered, rest between shifts and the hours each carer can work.
Typical set-up: 40 carers, day and night rotas, rest-time rules on (sample).
Restaurant kitchens
Split shifts, prep before service and a wage cost you want to see before you publish.
Typical set-up: one kitchen, 18 people, split shifts, cost per day shown (sample).
From the paper rota to every phone
What changes in the first week, side by side.
On paper or in a spreadsheet
In Rotaline
The rota is a photo in the group chat.
Each person sees only their own shifts, in the app and by text.
A swap means three messages and a crossed-out name.
A swap is offered, taken and approved in the app; the rota updates for everyone.
Hours are added up from the signing-in book on pay day.
Clock-in times are already on the timesheet; you approve them.
Nobody knows the wage cost until the payroll run.
The planner shows hours and wage cost per day while you plan.
Plans and prices
Every plan has the rota planner, the staff app and shift reminders. Pay monthly and stop when you like.
Starter
One site and up to 15 people. Rota planner, staff app, shift reminders and clocking in on phones.
Email support, a reply within one working day
$29
a month for the whole team
Team
Up to three sites and 60 people. Adds the shop-tablet time clock, timesheet approval and payroll export.
Email and chat, 7:00 to 19:00 every day
$3
per person a month
Multi-site
Any number of sites and people. Adds rota rules per site, cost reports and single sign-on.
A named contact and phone support, 6:00 to 22:00
$4
per person a month
Example prices, before tax. 30-day free trial on every plan.
Your staff's data
Names, phone numbers and hours worked are personal data. This is how Rotaline (sample) keeps them.
Where it is kept
Data centres in the EU or the US; you choose when you sign up (sample).
Backups
Every hour, kept for 30 days in a second region (sample).
Signing in
Two-step sign-in for managers; staff sign in with a link sent to their phone.
Taking it with you
Download every rota and timesheet as a spreadsheet at any time.
When you leave
Your account is deleted 30 days after you cancel, backups 30 days later (sample).
Questions before you start
Do my staff need to download an app?
No. The staff app is the easiest way, but every person can also see their shifts in a browser and get them by text message.
What happens after the 30-day trial?
Nothing, unless you choose a plan. We do not take card details for the trial, and your rotas stay in the account for 30 days after it ends.
Can I import my current rota?
Yes. Upload your staff list as a spreadsheet; we set up the first week with you on a short call, or you can copy it in yourself.
Does it work with my payroll software?
The payroll export writes a spreadsheet file, plus the import formats of the most common payroll packages (sample list on the Product page).
What if Rotaline is down when the shift starts?
The staff app keeps the week’s shifts on the phone, and clock-in times are saved on the device and sent when the connection is back.
Guides for shift managers
Shift swaps without the group chat
Why swaps go wrong in a chat thread, and a simple rule that fixes most of it (sample guide).
Rotas for housekeeping teams in small hotels
Check-out peaks, part-time staff and a rota that follows the bookings (sample guide).
Try it with next week's rota
30 days free, no card. Send us your staff list as a spreadsheet and we set up the first week with you on a 20-minute call (sample).