Workforce optimisation engineered around demand
Design complex rotas around real business demand
Built for warehouses, distribution centres and food production. Stack shift patterns, set the headcount each shift needs, check every person against their pattern, and see the labour cost against budget.
Runs in your browser. Your rota and staff list are never uploaded to us.
The name
Nine things a rota has to get right
Rota plus algorithm. Each letter is a job the planner does for you.
- Requirements
Set the headcount every shift needs, by job title and pattern.
- Optimisation
Find gaps, over-cover and rest-rule breaches before the rota goes out.
- Timetabling
Layer fixed, 4 on 4 off, continental and overlap patterns into one rota.
- Allocation
Load your staff list and place each person on the right pattern, checked against their contract and job title.
- Resourcing
See every vacancy by line and fill it from people not yet placed.
- Intelligence
Labour cost by department and cost centre against budget, by week, month, quarter or year.
- ThroughputComing next
Turn forecast volumes and pick or production rates into the hours each shift needs.
- Headcount
Posts, filled and vacant, across every crew, pattern and shift.
- ModellingComing next
Try a new pattern or pay change side by side and see the cost before you commit.
How it works
From demand to rota
Start from what you already have. Nothing to install and no account to set up.
Start from a template or your current rota
Pick a food production, 24/7 warehouse or despatch template, or upload last year’s rota from Excel. Rotarithm works out each person’s repeating pattern for you.
Set patterns, headcount and people
Layer rotations and bank holiday closures onto base patterns, set how many of each job title every line needs, and load your staff list.
Check, cost and export
See rest-rule problems, contract mismatches and vacancies, track cost against budget by cost centre, then export a 52-week rota to Excel.
What’s in the planner
Complex workforce scheduling, simplified
Layered patterns
Fixed weeks, 4 on 4 off, continental 2-2-3, earlies and lates, or your own cycle. Add rotations such as nights every second block, plus fixed dates.
Rota lines and crews
A job title on a pattern with a headcount. Stagger crews through the cycle and give lines their own start times.
Staff checks
Each person is checked against their line: job title, contract hours, current pattern and the 48-hour opt-out.
UK rest rules
11 hours between shifts, weekly rest, the 48-hour average week and night-work limits, flagged on the day that breaks them.
Cost centres and budgets
Departments, cost centres and job titles from templates or your own upload. Hourly and salaried pay, shift premiums and on-costs.
Roll forward
Turn this year’s rota into next year’s with everyone kept in sequence and bank holidays moved to the new dates.
Your data
Your rota never leaves your computer
Most rota software stores your staff list on someone else’s servers. Rotarithm runs entirely in your browser, so you can use it without putting company data on a third-party website.
- No uploadStaff names, pay and rotas stay on your device. The planner makes no network requests once it has loaded.
- No accountNothing to sign up for, and no cookies.
- Your files, your storageSave a rota file to your own SharePoint, OneDrive or Teams folder and share it the way you already share work.
- Check it yourselfOpen the planner, switch off Wi-Fi, and it keeps working.
Questions
Shift rota questions, answered
Which shift patterns can Rotarithm plan?
Fixed weekly patterns such as Monday to Friday, 4 on 4 off, 4 days then 4 nights, continental 2-2-3, earlies and lates, the 4 on 3 off Wednesday overlap, and any cycle of your own up to a year long. Patterns can be layered, for example turning every second block into nights, and bank holiday closures can be added on top.
How does a Wednesday overlap rota work?
Two crews each work four 12-hour shifts a week: one Wednesday to Saturday, the other Sunday to Wednesday. Both are in on Wednesday, which gives a day for handover, training, deep cleans or a mid-week peak. Rotarithm has a ready-made template for it, with days and nights.
Does it check UK working time rules?
Yes. It flags fewer than 11 hours between shifts, missing weekly rest (24 hours a week or 48 hours a fortnight), averages over 48 hours a week without an opt-out, and night work averaging over 8 hours in 24. It is a planning guide based on the Working Time Regulations, not legal advice.
Is my staff data safe?
The planner runs entirely in your web browser. Staff names, pay rates and rotas are never uploaded to Rotarithm or anyone else. You save rota files to your own computer, SharePoint or Teams.
Can I bring in last year’s rota from Excel?
Yes. Upload or paste a rota with names down the side and dates across the top. Rotarithm works out each person’s repeating pattern, groups people into crews and lines, and can roll the whole rota forward to the next year with bank holidays moved to the new dates.
Can I see labour cost against budget?
Yes. Set up departments and cost centres from a template or your own list, give each job title a pay rate or salary, and Rotarithm shows planned cost against budget by week, month, quarter or financial year.
How much does Rotarithm cost?
The planner is free to use. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
Engineer the workforce your operation actually needs
Free to use. Open the planner and start from a template.