What Is Job Sharing?
Job Sharing is when two more workers share coverage of a single position (1 FTE) by taking turns being allocated the rostered shifts over time.
ROSTERkey does not invent new shifts. It decides which worker is allocated to the shifts that already exist on each date by asking:
"Which worker is 'on the job' on this date?"
Without the Job Share feature, you would often need to create special roster definitions (or duplicate/split rosters) for each different sharing arrangement just to make allocation alternate between people.
With Job Share, you can keep a normal roster definition for the crew and simply configure the sharing arrangement (workers, cycle, dates, offset/overlap).
Simple Mode (shared crew / shared patterns)
In Simple Mode, all workers in the Job Share must be aligned to the same:
- Crew (mandatory - required for shift allocation)
- Role Pattern Group (Optional)
- Location Pattern Group (Optional)
This ensures the workers are genuinely sharing the same underlying job pattern (and, if configured, the same role and location pattern).
Configuration
| Date Range (From / To) | Sets the calendar window where Job Share rules apply. Outside of this range, normal allocation rules apply |
| Offset Days | Starts the Job Share partway through the repeating notation, without changing the Worker Order or Cycle Days. Think of the Worker rotation as a continuous loop. Offset Days tells ROSTERkey how many days into that loop the From date should begin. |
| Workers (Order Matters) | Workers are assigned shifts in the order shown in the grid. Top-to-bottom. ROSTERkey evaluates each date and assigns the rostered shift(s) to the worker who is on the job that day. |
Offset Days
Offset Days controls where in the Job Share rotation the From date begins.
The Job Share rotation is defined by:
- the order of Workers in the table (top to bottom), and
- each worker’s Cycle Days (how many calendar days they are “on the job” during their turn), and
- (optionally) Overlap (handover days shared with the next worker)
By default, the From date is treated as the first day of the first worker’s turn. Offset Days shifts that starting point forward by a set number of days, without changing the Cycle Days pattern.
What Offsets Actually Do
- Offset Days = 0: start the rotation at the beginning (Worker 1, Day 1 of their block)
- Offset Days = N: start the rotation N days into the repeating cycle
This is useful when the real-world job share arrangement begins mid-swing (e.g., someone has already worked part of their block before the configured start date), or when you're aligning an existing arrangement to a new start date.
Overlap
Overlap controls whether there is a shared handover day between workers.
- Overlap = 0: clean handover (no shared days). If Worker A finishes on Day 14, Worker B starts on Day 15.
- Overlap = 1: one shared handover day. Worker B's first day is the same calendar date as Worker A's last day
Example: Overlap = 1
If each swing is 15 days long and Overlap is 1 day, the next swing starts every 14 days (15 - 1 = 14).
This keeps the rotation moving forward while creating a shared day for handover.
Advanced Mode (override by tables)
Advanced Mode is enabled when you populate the Crews table (and optionally the Role/Location tables). In Advanced Mode:
- Workers do not need to belong to the same Crew by default
- The crews listed in the Crews table are used for allocation instead of each worker's normal crew assignment (for the duration of the Job Share date range)
When you add rows to the Crews table (and optionally Role/Location tables):
- the "Simple Mode" requirement that all workers share the same crew/patterns is ignored
- the job share configuration overrides workers' normal crew/role/location settings during the job share
ROSTERkey allocates shifts in Advanced Mode by repeatedly answering:
"Who is on the job today, and which crew pattern applies for that swing?"
This produces this repeating sequence of "swings" (in this case, 14-day blocks):
- Days 1-14: Carli gets shifts from Crew B
- Days 15-28: Johnie gets shifts from Crew D
- Days 29-42: Young gets shifts from Crew B
- Days 43-56: Carli gets shifts from Crew D
- Days 57-70: Johnie gets shifts from Crew B
- Days 71-84: Young gets shifts from Crew D
...then continues the same way, repeating.