A sick night is a phone chain
Someone calls in after the day team has left. The cover depends on who answers, and the wall chart is already wrong.
Rota software for care homes, without the paper list
Days and nights blur at handover
A finish at 8am and a start the same afternoon can miss the rest between them. The paper list does not say so.
Leave is a note in the office
A request that lives in a notebook is invisible when you are covering the night. Two people can be off before anyone notices.
What you get
Home care rota software is the same week, for visits
Days, nights and the handover
Put the day and the night on the week as the shifts you publish. Saving a shift warns you about the 48-hour average, short rest and a missing weekly break. The warning never blocks the save. You still decide.
- Save a shift and it goes live, or hold it back as a draft
- Open shifts to cover a sick night
- Shift swaps that a manager approves
Leave and sickness on the home’s week
Carers request holiday from their phone. Leave and sickness sit on the rota, so you can see the gap before you publish the night. A sickness reason stays private.
- Holiday and sickness sit on the rota
- Leave in days or hours
- Private sickness reasons
Approved hours for payroll
Staff submit the hours, you approve them, and the approved hours download as a CSV. Approved hours can be sent to Xero Payroll UK as draft timesheets on the paid plan. Shiftbrook does not approve a pay run.
- Submit, approve, download
- CSV of approved hours
- Xero Payroll UK draft timesheets on the paid plan
Clock-in at the home
Carers clock in on their phone against the pin for that home. The default radius is 100 metres, set anywhere from 25 to 1,000. The phone is not tracked between punches. There is no photo.
- Clock-in on the phone
- Site pin with a radius you set
- Unpaid break deduction
What changes for you
A care home rota the manager, the nurse on shift and the carer can all read.
Registered manager
You see days, nights and approved hours for the home. A second home is a further location on the paid plan.
Shift leader
You cover a sick night with an open shift, approve a swap and keep the handover on the published week.
Carer
You see your published shifts on your phone, request leave, ask to swap and clock in at the home.
A night in the home
An example day. Names and times are for illustration.
19:30
The night starts
The night team clocks in at the home. The day team is still on the week until they clock out.
20:10
A sick call
A carer cannot come in. You record the sickness, the reason stays private, and you publish an open shift for the rest of the night.
21:00
Cover
Someone accepts the open shift. The week shows who is now on nights. A warning can flag short rest. It does not block the save.
7:30
Handover
The night clocks out and the day team clocks in. Unpaid breaks come off the hours. You approve the timesheet later.
Free for up to 5 staff
One organisation, one location and up to 5 staff, for as long as you like.
No card for the trial
The 14-day trial of the paid plan does not ask for card details.
Back to free when it ends
When the trial ends, the organisation returns to the free plan.
Clear pricing
The paid plan is £3 per user per month, with a £15 minimum.
What you do not get
Shiftbrook records who is on shift and the hours. It is not the care record.
No care planning
It is not a care plan, a care record or a medication system. Those stay in the system you already use for care.
No clinical notes
A sickness reason on the rota is about the employee’s absence. It is not a resident note.
No pay calculation
It does not calculate pay or a night premium. Payroll applies the contract to the approved hours.
No punch without a pin
Clock-in needs a pin on the home. There is no photo and no continuous tracking.
Nights, rest and more than one home
A night worker regularly works at least three hours in night time. Unless an agreement says otherwise, night time is 11pm to 6am. Normal hours for a night worker must not exceed an average of eight hours in 24. Offer a free health assessment before night work starts and at regular intervals. There is no higher National Minimum Wage for nights. A night that is worked through is not a sleep-in. Do not treat a waking night as if the person was expected to sleep. Shiftbrook records the shift you publish. It does not decide the health assessment, and it does not multiply the hour.
An adult should have 11 hours between working days, and a weekly rest of 24 hours or 48 hours a fortnight. The warning on save can say when a handover misses that. It does not delete the shift. When a date of birth is on the profile and the person is under 18, tighter limits apply, usually 8 hours a day and 40 a week, with no opt-out. If the date of birth is blank, those limits are not guessed. The free plan is one location. A second care home is a further location on the paid plan, with its own pin. This page is not legal advice.
Visits are still shifts
Domiciliary care rota software is not a separate product here. A visit is a shift you publish, with a start, an end and a place. Homecare rostering software, in the sense of a list of calls, is the same week. Shiftbrook does not plan a round, and it does not store a care plan. The carer sees the published shift on their phone and clocks in against that site pin.
Every sector plans differently
HospitalityPubs, bars and venuesRetailShops and branchesRestaurantsLunch and dinner serviceHotelsHousekeeping, desk and bar
Care homesYou are here
WarehousingNights and handoversManufacturingLines, nights and coverCleaningClient sites and roundsGyms and leisureEarly opens and late closesSecurityPosts across client sitesTransportDrivers and the depotAll industriesEvery sector on one listQuestions care teams ask
How do I cover a sick call on a night shift at short notice?
Record the sickness on the week. The reason stays private to the person and their manager. Publish an open shift for the hours you still need. Someone can pick it up. A warning can flag short rest. It does not block the save.
Does the rota warn me about working time limits and rest breaks?
Yes. Saving a shift can warn you about the 48-hour average, 11 hours between shifts and the weekly rest. The warning does not refuse the save. If a date of birth shows the person is under 18, the tighter limits apply. If it is blank, they are not guessed.
Can carers see their shifts and request leave from their phone?
Yes. Published shifts are on their phone, and in their own calendar if they subscribe. They request holiday from the phone. Drafts stay hidden until you publish.
Can I rota more than one care home in the same account?
The free plan is one location and up to 5 staff. Further homes are locations on the paid plan, which the 14-day trial includes. Each home needs its own pin.
Is Shiftbrook a care planning or medication system?
No. It does not store a care plan, a care record or a medication chart. It records who is on shift, the leave and the approved hours.