Employee Shifts & Planning in Odoo 18
By Braincuber Team
Published on December 26, 2025
Restaurants, retail stores, and service businesses managing shift schedules with spreadsheets face daily headaches: double-booking employees, calling team members to cover no-shows, manually tracking who's worked overtime, and scrambling to answer "Who's working Tuesday night?" Employees don't know their schedules until managers post them in the break room, leading to conflicts with personal commitments. When busy periods hit, there's no visibility into which skilled workers are available to pull in.
Odoo 18's Planning module centralizes shift management in a visual Gantt calendar where managers drag-and-drop assignments, automatically publish schedules via email, copy recurring patterns with one click, and leverage auto-planning to fill open shifts based on role availability. Employees access their schedules through a personal portal to request changes, view upcoming shifts, and manage time-off. Resource allocation across projects, sales orders, and departments becomes visible at a glance instead of buried in spreadsheets.
Planning Module Features:
- Visual Gantt calendar (day/week/month/year views)
- Drag-and-drop shift assignment
- One-click schedule publishing with notifications
- Auto-planning based on roles and availability
- Employee self-service portal for viewing schedules
- Shift templates for recurring patterns
- Integration with Projects, Sales Orders, and Payroll
Understanding the Planning Module
The Planning module manages resource allocation—not just employees, but also equipment, vehicles, and materials—across time periods and organizational contexts (projects, departments, sales orders).
Core Concepts
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Resource | Person or thing being scheduled | John Smith (employee), Van #3 (vehicle) |
| Role | Job function or skill set | Chef, Developer, Technician |
| Shift | Scheduled time block for resource | 8 AM - 4 PM, Monday, John (Chef) |
| Template | Reusable shift configuration | Morning Shift (8AM-4PM, 8hrs) |
Step 1: Access Planning Module
Installation
If Planning module isn't visible:
- Navigate to
Apps - Search for "Planning"
- Click
Install - Wait for module to activate
Enterprise Feature: Planning module requires Odoo Enterprise license. Not available in Community edition.
Step 2: Configure Settings
Accessing Configuration
- Go to
Planningmodule - Click
Configuration→Settings - Configure options
Key Settings
Employee Unavailabilities
Allow employees to unassign themselves from shifts
- Set deadline (e.g., 24 hours before shift)
- Gives employees flexibility for emergencies
- Requires manager approval if enabled
Recurring Shifts
Define how far in advance to generate repeating shifts
- Default: 6 months ahead
- Adjust based on planning horizon
- Longer periods = more advance visibility
Project Planning
Enable scheduling shifts linked to projects
- Allocate employees to project tasks
- Track time against project budgets
- Essential for consulting/service firms
Step 3: Define Roles
Roles categorize employees by skill set, enabling auto-planning and ensuring qualified workers fill shifts.
Creating Roles
- Navigate:
Planning→Configuration→Roles - Create Role: Click
New - Configure:
- Role Name: Descriptive title (e.g., "Chef", "Cashier", "Developer")
- Resources: Assign employees or materials to this role
- Color: Select color for visual identification in Gantt view
- Save
Example Roles
Restaurant
- Chef
- Sous Chef
- Server
- Bartender
- Host
Retail Store
- Cashier
- Stock Associate
- Sales Floor
- Manager
- Loss Prevention
IT Services
- Developer
- QA Engineer
- Project Manager
- Support Analyst
- DevOps Engineer
Step 4: Configure Employees
Assign roles and working hours to employees for accurate shift allocation.
Employee Configuration
- Navigate:
Planning→Configuration→Employees - Select Employee: Choose employee to configure
- Planning Tab: Set planning-specific details
- Roles: Assign multiple roles employee can fill
- Default Role: Primary role for auto-planning
- Working Hours: Standard schedule (e.g., 9 AM - 5 PM, Mon-Fri)
- Save
Working Hours Impact: Scheduled shifts outside working hours trigger overtime tracking and affect payroll integration.
Step 5: Create Shift Templates
Templates streamline scheduling by saving common shift patterns for reuse.
Template Creation
- Navigate:
Planning→Configuration→Shift Templates - Create Template: Click
New - Configure:
- Template Name: "Morning Shift", "Evening Shift", "Weekend"
- Start Hour: Shift start time (e.g., 8:00)
- Duration: Hours (e.g., 8 hours)
- Role: Default role for this template
- Project: Optional project linkage
- Save
Example Templates
| Template Name | Start Time | Duration | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning Shift | 8:00 AM | 8 hours | Standard day workers |
| Evening Shift | 4:00 PM | 8 hours | Retail/restaurant closing |
| Night Shift | 11:00 PM | 8 hours | 24/7 operations |
| Part-Time | 10:00 AM | 4 hours | Lunch rush, peak hours |
Step 6: Schedule Shifts
The Schedule menu provides a Gantt calendar for creating and managing shifts.
Creating Individual Shift
- Navigate:
Planning→Schedule - Select View: Choose scheduling perspective:
- Schedule by Resource: Assign shifts to specific employees
- Schedule by Role: Organize by job functions
- Schedule by Project: Allocate resources to projects
- Schedule by Sales Order: Link shifts to customer orders
- Create Shift: Click
Newor drag on calendar - Configure Shift:
- Resource: Select employee
- Role: Assign job role
- Start/End Time: Define shift hours
- Project: Optional project linkage
- Sales Order Item: Optional customer order link
- Save
Recurring Shifts
For repeating patterns (e.g., same schedule weekly):
- Create first shift as described above
- Enable "Repeat" checkbox
- Configure:
- Repeat Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Monthly
- Until: End date for recurrence
- Save - shifts auto-generate per frequency
Copy Previous Week
Duplicate entire week's schedule with one click:
- Navigate to target week in Gantt view
- Click
Copy Previous Weekbutton - All shifts from prior week copy to selected week
- Adjust individual shifts as needed
Step 7: Auto-Planning
Let Odoo automatically fill open shifts based on employee availability and roles.
Using Auto-Plan
- Create Shifts Without Resources: Define shifts with role but no employee assigned
- Click Auto Plan Button: In Gantt view toolbar
- Odoo Assigns: System automatically allocates employees based on:
- Employee roles matching shift requirements
- Availability (no conflicting shifts)
- Working hours preferences
- Workload balancing
- Review & Adjust: Manually change assignments if needed
Time Saver: Auto-planning is particularly useful for large teams or when filling last-minute shift openings.
Step 8: Publish Schedules
Publishing makes schedules visible to employees and sends notifications.
Publishing Process
- Select shifts to publish (or publish all for a period)
- Click
Publishbutton - Employees receive email notification with schedule details
- Shifts become visible in employee portal
Published vs Unpublished Visual Indicators:
Solid color = Published (employees can see)
Diagonal stripes = Unpublished (draft, managers only)
Step 9: Employee Self-Service
Employees access their schedules through the My Planning menu or portal.
Employee Features
View Schedules
Employees see their assigned shifts in calendar view
- Filter by date range
- Filter by role or project
- Print or export schedule
Request Changes
If enabled, employees can request unassignment
- Subject to deadline restrictions
- Requires manager approval
- Useful for emergencies/conflicts
Accessing Employee View
- Employees log into Odoo
- Navigate to
Planning→My Planning - View personal schedule
- Alternatively, access via employee portal
Integration with Other Modules
Planning module seamlessly connects with other Odoo modules for comprehensive workforce management:
Payroll Integration
Scheduled hours automatically flow to payroll for accurate wage calculations, overtime tracking, and timesheet validation.
Project Integration
Link shifts to project tasks, track billable hours, and manage resource allocation across multiple client engagements.
Sales Integration
Schedule employees for specific sales orders (e.g., event staffing, service appointments), ensuring customer commitments are fulfilled.
Time Off Integration
Approved leave automatically blocks scheduling during time-off periods, preventing double-booking and conflicts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Odoo 18's Planning module eliminates shift scheduling chaos by centralizing resource allocation in a visual, drag-and-drop interface accessible to managers and employees alike. With automatic shift generation from templates, one-click schedule publishing, intelligent auto-planning that respects availability and roles, and employee self-service portals for transparency, you transform spreadsheet headaches into streamlined workforce management.
Whether you're managing restaurant staff across breakfast/lunch/dinner rushes, retail teams handling variable customer traffic, or project consultants billing clients by the hour, the Planning module provides the structure and flexibility to optimize resource utilization. Integration with Payroll ensures accurate compensation, Project links track billable hours, and Sales Order connections guarantee customer commitments are resourced properly—all from a single, unified scheduling system.
Need Help Implementing Shift Management?
Our HR technology experts can help you design shift templates, configure role hierarchies, set up employee portals, integrate with payroll and attendance systems, train scheduling managers, and implement complete workforce planning solutions tailored to your industry.
