Knowing how to build a roster from the work, rather than from last week's names and start times, can cut idle hours at midday and gaps at the peak. This guide is for supervisors of warehouses in Victoria. The hours and consultation rules it quotes come from the national Fair Work system, and the fatigue guidance comes from WorkSafe Victoria.
Start from the work by hour, not from last week's names
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman guide to rosters, a roster is a timetable that shows the days and times employees are required to work. The useful question is not who worked Tuesday last week but how much work lands on Tuesday, hour by hour.
Demand based rostering starts with a workload line: for each hour, the work the building has to finish. Use what the site already holds, such as trucks booked for receiving, order lines released to pickers and carrier collection times. Convert each hour into people by dividing the work by what one person finishes in an hour, measured on your own floor. The guide to working out headcount from volume shows how to set that output figure and turn weekly volume into headcount, so start here with numbers you already have.
This guide builds the whole week from hourly demand. Planning one late-day peak backwards from a carrier's collection time is covered in a separate guide on dispatch cut-off times.
Turn the workload into a coverage grid
A coverage grid has the hours of the day down one side and the days of the week along the other. Each cell holds the people needed in that hour. Add the cover the workload does not show, such as a forklift licence holder and a supervisor. Build one grid for each type of day, such as a heavy day and a light day. Roster coverage is then the test: for every hour, count the people rostered and compare.
Example: an hourly workload line turned into a coverage grid
Here is an example with illustrative round numbers. The day runs from 6.00 am to 4.00 pm, and the workload line, converted to people, gives these needs:
- 6.00 to 7.00 am. 2 people.
- 7.00 to 8.00 am. 4 people.
- 8.00 am to 12.00 pm. 6 people.
- 12.00 to 2.00 pm. 4 people.
- 2.00 to 4.00 pm. 2 people.
Three groups of two people cover every hour with staggered starts at 6.00 am, 7.00 am and 8.00 am, each working eight hours. The spare people from 12.00 to 3.00 pm give six spare person-hours, which is where meal breaks can be covered. Last week's habit of six people from 6.00 am to 2.00 pm uses the same 48 person-hours, but ten of them sit in hours that need fewer people and nobody covers the last two hours.
Choose shift starts and lengths that match the grid
- Start when the work rises. Put a new group's start at the hour the grid steps up, and a finish where it steps down.
- Match length to the work. Check your award's minimum engagement rules before you set a short shift for a short peak.
- Pick the right lever for each gap. Permanent staff suit the base of the grid, and casual or labour hire cover suits a peak that repeats. The guide to the permanent and casual mix covers that choice.
Chandler Personnel supplies labour hire through Chandler Services and permanent staff through Chandler Recruitment. If the same gap appears every week, its page on warehousing and logistics staffing is the place to start, and you can request staff once you know the start times.
Start times must also sit inside the hours your award allows, and spreads differ. The Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 sets day workers' ordinary hours between 7.00 am and 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday, movable up to one hour by agreement (clauses 13.1 and 13.2). The Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 sets 6.00 am to 6.00 pm, also movable by up to one hour (clause 17.2(d)). In the example, the 6.00 am start sits one hour before the Storage award's spread begins, so read its shiftwork clauses first.
The Storage award "covers employers throughout Australia in the storage services and wholesale industry", and the Manufacturing award covers employers of employees in its industries who are covered by its classifications (clause 4.1 in each). Check which award or enterprise agreement covers your people, then read that one.
Check the roster against hours rules before you publish
Run two checks before any names go on the draft.
- Weekly hours. An employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours in a week unless the additional hours are reasonable (section 62 of the Fair Work Act 2009). For others the limit is the lesser of 38 hours and their ordinary hours. Reasonableness turns on factors such as health and safety risk and notice given.
- Gaps between shifts. WorkSafe Victoria's work-related fatigue guide for employers, which you can reach from the WorkSafe fatigue guidance page, lists shift work controls including start times after 7 am where possible, at least 12 hours between shifts where you can, and consecutive days off including some weekends. That is WorkSafe guidance, not law.
Consult before you change a regular roster
Changing a roster that people already work can trigger a consultation duty. Modern awards must include a consultation term (section 145A of the Fair Work Act 2009), so the duty sits in the award. The term requires the employer to give information about the change, invite employees' views on its impact and consider those views.
The Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 (clause 31) and the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 (clause 42) both apply this term to a proposed change to a regular roster or ordinary hours, other than for an employee whose working hours are irregular, sporadic or unpredictable. An enterprise agreement may have its own term, so check it. A separate guide covers notice and swaps once a roster is published.
A roster template you can copy
A shift roster template can live in a spreadsheet or on paper. It needs these fields:
- Header. Site or area, week starting date, who prepared it and the publication date.
- Coverage line. People needed each hour, with people rostered beside it.
- Employee and role. Name, employment type and any licence the shift needs.
- Days and times. Start, finish and break times for each day.
- Weekly hours and gap check. Total hours, and the hours between shifts.
- Cover and changes. Who covers absence, and a record of any change and its consultation.
After a few weeks, compare the coverage line with what happened, using the workforce measures you already track.
Related Resources
- Warehousing and logistics staffing
- Headcount from volume
- Workforce KPIs for site managers
- Fair Work rosters guide
- WorkSafe fatigue guidance
Common Questions About Building a Roster That Fits the Work
1. How do I make a roster for a warehouse?
Work out the people needed in each hour from your workload, put them in a coverage grid, then choose shift starts and lengths that match it. Check the draft against your award, the 38-hour weekly line and the gaps between shifts, then add names last.
2. How far ahead should a roster be published?
No single rule applies to every workplace. The Fair Work Ombudsman says awards and agreements can set out extra rules about how and when employees are given rosters. Under the Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020, shifts are rostered at least 48 hours in advance (clause 20.5, shiftwork), and changing starting and finishing times needs one week's notice (clause 13.3). WorkSafe Victoria's fatigue guide says to set rosters ahead of time and avoid sudden changes. Check your own award.
3. How many hours can I roster an employee for in a week?
An employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours in a week unless the additional hours are reasonable (section 62 of the Fair Work Act 2009). For others the limit is the lesser of 38 hours and their ordinary hours. Check your award for averaging.
4. Do I have to consult staff before changing the roster?
Yes, for a change to someone's regular roster or ordinary hours. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the employer has to give information about the change, invite employees' views on its impact and consider those views. The Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2020 (clause 31) and the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020 (clause 42) exclude an employee whose working hours are irregular, sporadic or unpredictable. An enterprise agreement may have its own term, so check.
5. What should be on a simple roster template?
Put the site, week starting date and publication date first. Then list the people needed per hour, each employee's role, start and finish times, breaks, weekly hours and the gap between shifts. Add a line for who covers absence and a record of any change and its consultation.
Roster to the work, then check the rules
A roster built from demand starts with the hourly workload and finishes with names. The hours checks catch a week that runs long or a gap that runs short. This week, draw a coverage grid for your busiest type of day and compare it with the roster you run now.
