Monthly rota template

Use a monthly rota when shifts follow a repeating pattern or your team needs plenty of notice; use a weekly one when staffing changes a lot week to week or demand is too unpredictable to plan a month out. Monthly rotas are common in UK sectors that run steady shift cycles, like care, hospitality, retail, and security, where a month's visibility helps everyone plan ahead. A monthly rota makes it clear who's working, when, and for how long across the whole month, so you can balance cover across busy and quiet spells and spot holiday clashes early. Many businesses run both: a monthly view for the big picture, a weekly one for the detail.

Set the first day of the month at the top of the sheet and the dates populate automatically. For each person, enter their shift start and end times on the days they're working, and leave a day blank if they're not scheduled. Under each shift you can set a shift type: workday, time off, sick leave, or holiday. The sheet then totals each person's hours and works out labour costs from the hourly rates you've entered, both per week and across the month.

Your team's names and hourly rates live in the staff tab. To add a new person, insert three rows, copy an existing person's block into them, then update the name and rate in the staff tab. Their totals and labour costs then calculate the same way as everyone else's. Shift types work the same way in their own tab: if you need one that isn't there, like a specific role or a bank holiday, add it and it becomes available to select against any shift.

Block in the fixed points first, opening hours, known busy periods, and booked annual leave, then build the rota around them. Work role by role rather than person by person, so you can confirm every part of the operation is covered on each day before deciding who fills each slot. A month-long view lets you catch a thin day weeks ahead and fix it in good time.