Work schedule template
A work schedule template is an employee’s typical week: where they work on Mondays, where on Tuesdays and so on. Once a week the system carries the template over to the following week and fills in the days the employee has not filled in themselves. This article covers how the template is built, what exactly it does to the schedule and to bookings, and why it is sometimes unavailable. Filling days in by hand is described in “Statuses in the schedule”.
What a template is
A template is your typical week: seven days, each of which holds either an office or a status. There is one template per employee and it is not tied to specific dates — it describes what your week usually looks like.
- A day can hold either an office or a status, never both. Selecting an office in a day that had a status clears the status, and the other way round.
- “In office” is expressed in a template as an office, not as a status. The template has no separate “In office” mark: you state which office you plan to work from on that day of the week.
- Sub-statuses work in the template — they are picked the same way as when setting a status on a day.
- An assigned desk is not part of the template. It comes from the desk assignment settings and is shown in the template for reference only.
How to switch the template on and fill it in
- Open the Work schedule section and switch on Repeat using template in your own row.
- Fill in the days of the week: choose an office or a status for each. Days you leave empty are not touched by the template.
- Check the line next to the toggle — “Apply template on Fri, …”. It states the day and time when the template is carried over to the next week.
Switching the template off clears all seven days. Switching it back on does not restore them — they have to be filled in again. If you only need to pause the automatic filling for a week or two, it is cheaper to fill the days of the next week by hand in advance: a manually filled day cannot be overwritten by the template.
When and how the template is applied
The template is carried over to the schedule once a week and only to the single next week. It fills nothing beyond that horizon — further days stay empty until the next carry-over reaches them.
| The day in the schedule | What the template does |
|---|---|
| Already filled in by hand | Skips it. A manual status always wins over the template |
| Empty, the template holds an office | Creates a desk booking in that office by the quick booking rules |
| Empty, the template holds a status | Sets that status, including a sub-status |
| Empty, the template holds nothing | Skips it |
| A holiday in the public holiday calendar | Skips it |
| A weekend in the company week schedule | Does not skip it — if Saturday or Sunday are filled in the template, they will be set |
After the carry-over you receive an email and a push telling you whether the schedule could be repeated. The full list of notifications of the section is in “Work schedule notifications”.
The template and assigned desks
If a desk is assigned to you, bookings for it are created automatically 28 days ahead. The template interferes with that process:
- A day of the week that holds a status in the template is excluded from automatic booking — the assigned desk is not booked for you on that day.
- A day that holds a different office is excluded as well.
- When you change a day of the template from an office to a status, the automatic bookings already created for that day of the week are deleted starting from the next week. The current week is not touched.
- The opposite change — from a status back to an office — triggers the bookings to be created again.
If the template is locked or disabled
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| “The schedule template is fixed by the manager” | Your manager switched on the ban on changing your template. It is changed by them, not by you — through the “Work schedule” window and the “Prevent employee from changing template” toggle |
| “The use of templates is prohibited by company policy” | The administrator disabled templates for the whole company. Schedule days then have to be filled in manually |
The two situations look the same — the toggle is inactive — but they are lifted by different people: the lock by your manager, the company policy by an administrator.
Limits and common misconceptions
| Misconception | How it actually works |
|---|---|
| The template fills the schedule months ahead | Only the single next week, one carry-over per week |
| The template overwrites what I set by hand | It does not: a filled day is skipped |
| If I switch the template off it is kept and comes back later | Switching it off clears all days with no way to restore them |
| The template books parking | It does not. Only desk bookings are created from a template |
| The template is required for an assigned desk to work | It is not — desk assignment works on its own. The template can only exclude individual days of the week from it |
| “Status unavailable” in the template is a malfunction | It is a sub-status deleted by the administrator or a hidden office. The day has to be chosen again |
