Online staff rota software
Staff Rota Software for Easier Scheduling and Cost Control
WorkPilotAI helps UK businesses create rotas, publish shifts, collect staff availability, manage leave and shift swaps, track clock-ins and prepare approved hours for payroll — in one place instead of spreadsheets and group chats.
Managers stay in control throughout: nothing reaches employees, and no hours go to payroll, until a manager has reviewed and approved it.
Card required to start. Nothing charged for 30 days. Your selected plan begins automatically unless cancelled.
Week of 9 November · Northgate Depot
Ready for manager review| Employee | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priya N.Team lead | 08–16 | 08–16 | Off | 08–16 | 08–16 | 10–18 | Off | 37.5 |
| Marcus L.Associate | Off | 12–20 | 12–20 | 12–20 | Off | 09–17 | 09–17 | 37.5 |
| Elena S.Associate | 06–14 | 06–14 | 06–14 | Off | Off | 06–14 | Off | 30 |
| Jamal H.Part-time | Off | Off | 16–21 | 16–21 | 16–21 | Off | 12–17 | 18.5 |
Scheduled this week: 123.5 hours · not yet published
Why traditional staff rotas become difficult
Most rotas start life in a spreadsheet or on paper. That works for a handful of people, but as the team grows the rota is copied, edited and re-shared until nobody is sure which version is current.
Too many versions of the truth
A photograph of a whiteboard, a PDF in one group chat and an edited spreadsheet in another can all describe the same week differently. Staff turn up for shifts that were moved, and managers spend time answering “am I working Saturday?”.
Information scattered across messages
Availability, holiday requests and swap agreements often live in private messages. When someone calls in sick at short notice, finding who is free means scrolling back through conversations.
Problems found after the fact
- Overtime building up without anyone noticing
- Two people on leave on the same busy day
- Missed or very early clock-ins
- Hours re-typed by hand for payroll
- Last-minute absences with no quick way to cover
- Separate rotas for each site that never line up
Create and publish rotas in one place
Build the week by hand, reuse a rota template for regular patterns, or start from an AI-assisted draft. While you plan, you can see each person's availability and approved leave, and the scheduled hours for every employee update as you go.
When the rota is ready, publish it. Employees see the latest published version on their phone, so there is only ever one rota to follow. If you change a shift later, the update reaches them too.
AI suggestions are never published automatically. A draft is only a starting point — a manager reviews it, makes changes and decides whether to accept it.
Control labour costs before payroll
Labour is usually the largest cost in a shift-based business, and most surprises appear only when payroll is run. WorkPilotAI brings those figures forward so managers can act while the rota is still being planned.
- See scheduled hours while building the rota
- Enter pay rates for labour-cost estimates
- Identify potential overtime before publishing
- Review early clock-ins
- Spot unusually long shifts
- Resolve missing clock-outs
- Approve hours before export
- Reduce avoidable admin and payroll corrections
WorkPilotAI provides visibility to help managers identify avoidable hours and potential overtime. Actual savings depend on each organisation’s staffing arrangements and decisions.
Bring scheduling, attendance and leave together
Every part of the working week sits in one system, so a change in one place — an approved holiday, a swap or a missed clock-out — is visible everywhere it matters.
Rota creation and publishing
Build, review and publish weekly rotas from one screen.
Staff availability
See who can work before you assign a shift.
Leave requests and approval
Approve or decline leave with the rota in view.
Shift-swap requests
Swaps take effect only after manager approval.
Clock-in and clock-out
Staff clock in from their phone, tablet or computer.
Attendance exceptions
Missed, early and unusual clocks flagged for review.
Scheduled-hours monitoring
Running totals per person and team as you plan.
Overtime visibility
Hours over your threshold highlighted early.
Estimated labour costs
Projected cost from the pay rates you enter.
Payroll-ready CSV exports
Export approved hours with your own column names.
Multi-site workforce management
Separate rotas and manager access for each site.
Manager-reviewed AI suggestions
Draft rotas to speed up planning — you decide.
See the full list of WorkPilotAI features.
How WorkPilotAI works
- 1
Step 1: Collect availability and approved leave
Employees record when they can work and request leave from their own account. Approved leave and availability appear automatically when you plan.
- 2
Step 2: Create, review and publish the rota
Build the week manually, from a template or from an AI draft. Check coverage, hours and estimated cost, make changes, then publish when you are happy.
- 3
Step 3: Track attendance and manage changes
Staff clock in and out against their shifts. Swaps, sickness and late changes are handled in the same place, and exceptions are queued for review.
- 4
Step 4: Approve and export hours for payroll
Resolve exceptions, approve timesheets and export a CSV of approved hours for your payroll provider or accountant.
See the main screens
These examples show how rotas, availability, attendance and labour cost look in WorkPilotAI. All names and values are invented for illustration and are not promises of savings.
Week of 9 November · Northgate Depot
Ready for manager review| Employee | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priya N.Team lead | 08–16 | 08–16 | Off | 08–16 | 08–16 | 10–18 | Off | 37.5 |
| Marcus L.Associate | Off | 12–20 | 12–20 | 12–20 | Off | 09–17 | 09–17 | 37.5 |
| Elena S.Associate | 06–14 | 06–14 | 06–14 | Off | Off | 06–14 | Off | 30 |
| Jamal H.Part-time | Off | Off | 16–21 | 16–21 | 16–21 | Off | 12–17 | 18.5 |
Scheduled this week: 123.5 hours · not yet published
Availability · week of 9 November
| Employee | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priya N. | Available | Available | Unavailable | Available | Available | Available | Unavailable |
| Marcus L. | Leave | Leave | Leave | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Elena S. | Available | Available | Available | Available | Pending | Pending | Unavailable |
Leave request · Elena S.
Fri 13 – Sat 14 November · 2 days annual leave
Wednesday 11 November
2 exceptions awaiting review| Employee | Scheduled | Clocked | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priya N. | 08:00–16:00 | 07:58–16:04 | On time |
| Marcus L. | 12:00–20:00 | 11:21–20:02 | Early clock-in · review |
| Elena S. | 06:00–14:00 | 06:03– — | Missed clock-out |
| Jamal H. | 16:00–21:00 | 16:00–21:00 | Reviewed · approved |
Scheduled
556 h
Projected cost
£7,206
Potential overtime
14.5 h
- Warehouse · 312 h£4,056 of £4,200
- Dispatch · 148 h£1,998 of £1,900 · over budget
- Front desk · 96 h£1,152 of £1,300
All values are examples only and are not a promise of savings.
Suitable for shift-based organisations
WorkPilotAI is built for any organisation where people work shifts and hours need to be approved before payroll, including:
- Care homes
- Hospitality businesses
- Retailers
- Cleaning companies
- Security companies
- Healthcare teams
- Warehouses
- Salons
- Garages and workshops
- Multi-site organisations
Running a care setting? Read about care home rota software for staffing coverage and agency cost. For cafés, shops and other smaller teams, see small business rota software.
Free plan, trial and growth
Every new workplace starts with a 30-day trial of the plan you choose. Card required to start. Nothing charged for 30 days. Your selected plan begins automatically unless cancelled.
- Free: a limited plan for up to five active employees, which an account moves to if a payment fails after the trial
- Starter: up to 10 active employees
- Team: up to 25 active employees
- Growth: up to 50 active employees
- Professional: up to 250 employees across up to 3 sites
- Enterprise: larger organisations across up to 10 sites
For current prices and what each plan includes, see the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
What is staff rota software?
Staff rota software replaces spreadsheets, paper rotas and group-chat messages with one online system for planning shifts, publishing them to employees and keeping track of availability, leave, swaps and attendance.
Can I create and publish rotas online?
Yes. Managers build the rota in WorkPilotAI manually, from a saved template or from a manager-reviewed AI draft, then publish it. Employees only see the rota once it has been published.
Can employees view their shifts on their phones?
Yes. WorkPilotAI works in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, and can be added to a phone's home screen. Staff see their own upcoming shifts and the latest published version of the rota.
Can staff submit availability and leave requests?
Yes. Employees record when they are available or unavailable and submit leave requests from their own account. Managers approve or decline requests, and approved leave is visible while the rota is being built.
Can employees request shift swaps?
Yes. Employees can ask to swap a shift, and the change only takes effect once a manager approves it.
Does WorkPilotAI track clock-ins and attendance?
Yes. Staff clock in and out from a phone, tablet or computer. WorkPilotAI compares clock records with scheduled shifts and highlights exceptions such as missed clock-outs, early clock-ins and unusually long shifts for a manager to review.
Can I monitor scheduled hours and potential overtime?
Yes. Scheduled hours are shown while you build the rota, and hours above the overtime threshold you set are highlighted so you can adjust shifts before publishing.
Does WorkPilotAI calculate labour costs?
WorkPilotAI estimates labour cost from the pay rates you enter, so you can see the projected cost of a rota while you build it. These are estimates to support planning, not payroll calculations.
Can I export approved hours for payroll?
Yes. Once attendance exceptions are resolved and hours approved, you can export a CSV file with column names you map to match your payroll provider.
Does WorkPilotAI process payroll?
No. WorkPilotAI prepares approved hours for payroll. It does not run payroll, calculate tax or make payments to employees.
Can I manage more than one workplace?
Yes. Higher plans support several sites, each with its own rotas and teams. Managers can be limited to the sites they look after, and owners can view reports across all sites.
Does AI publish rotas automatically?
No. AI suggestions are drafts only. Nothing is saved or published until a manager has reviewed the draft, made any changes and accepted it.
Is there a free plan?
There is a limited Free plan for up to five active employees. An account moves to it if a payment fails after the trial; new workplaces start with the 30-day trial of a paid plan.
What happens after the 30-day trial?
Card required to start. Nothing charged for 30 days. Your selected plan begins automatically unless cancelled.
Read how we handle data in our privacy notice, or contact us with any other question.
Create clearer rotas and spot avoidable labour costs before payroll
Try WorkPilotAI with your own team, or book a live demonstration and we will walk you through rotas, attendance and payroll exports.
Card required to start. Nothing charged for 30 days. Your selected plan begins automatically unless cancelled.