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AI scheduling · Working-time checks · Mobile
Scheduling software that builds the rota — not you.
The AI builds your whole rota in seconds and checks every shift against the working-time rules. All you do is approve.
- UK GDPR compliant
- EU data centres
- Payroll export
- 30 seconds
- for a whole month's rota
- 6 hours
- saved per week
- 11 hours
- rest between shifts, checked automatically
The essentials in 30 seconds
In short: PlanState plans, you review.
- Auto-planning fills the whole week's rota in one click — you review and approve.
- 11 hours' rest between shifts, a cap on consecutive working days and the 48-hour average week — enforced on every assignment, not just flagged.
- If someone calls in sick, the system spots the gap and suggests suitable cover.
- From £8 per employee/month on the Core plan, billed annually, £39 minimum monthly invoice, no setup fee.
- Employee app with preferences, shift swaps and push notifications · UK GDPR, EU data centres, payroll export.
The problem
The rota eats up your Sunday.
Spreadsheet, WhatsApp group, notes on the noticeboard — and someone's still missing on Monday morning. Here's the difference.
Without PlanState
- 4–6 hours of planning a week, mostly at the weekend
- Recalculating rest periods and maximum working hours by hand
- Changes via WhatsApp — nobody knows the current version
- Someone calls in sick on Monday morning = ring-round
2 open shifts
With PlanState
- A whole week in one click — auto-planning makes the suggestion
- Rest periods, weekly hour limits and consecutive days — any assignment that would break them is blocked
- One version for everyone — changes are visible in the app instantly
- Absence approved? The gap is flagged, replacement suggestions are ready
Preview checked · gaps marked
The basics
What is AI scheduling?
AI scheduling means software that doesn't just manage the rota but builds it. Instead of filling shift after shift by hand, you set up the basics of your business once: which shifts exist, how many staff each shift needs, your working days, who is available when. From this, the AI works out a complete rota — taking into account all the rules that otherwise live in the planner's head.
The difference from classic shift planning in Excel is fundamental. A spreadsheet is a blank sheet with a calculator: it doesn't check whether there are eleven hours of rest between a late shift and an early shift, it doesn't warn you when someone works a seventh day in a row, and it doesn't notice when nobody is scheduled on Thursday. With automated scheduling these checks are part of the system — the working-time rules run automatically with every suggestion.
Important: AI planning doesn't mean the software decides on its own. It makes a suggestion; you stay in control. The AI does the work — all you have to do is confirm. That shifts the effort from “building the rota” to “reviewing the rota”, and that's exactly where the time saving lies: half a weekend becomes a few minutes at your desk. Setup takes about half an hour, once — after that, a new rota is ready in seconds.
Rota · Saturday
Customer footfall
09–1111–1313–1616–1818–20
Checkout
Shop floor
Stock
Click “Plan automatically”
How it works
How the AI plans — in three steps
You set the framework — PlanState fills the whole rota in one click, you review and approve.
Auto-planning at the push of a button
In the “AI auto-planning” dialog, choose a period and templates, set a goal — and PlanState generates the complete staffing preview for the whole week. Every assignment carries a suitability score.
balancedby preferencecost-optimised
Review & approve
You see the preview including open gaps where no suitable person was available, make adjustments and approve. Only then does the rota go live and get published to the team.
adjustapprovepublish
Rule checks
Strictly enforced — violations are blocked
Every assignment runs through the same checks, whether it comes from the AI or from you.
Reg 10 · 11 h daily rest
Reg 4 · 48-hour average week
Max days in a row · set per person
no overlaps
approved absences
availability windows
Suitability score 0–100
Who gets a shift is decided by a ranking from four factors.
Availabilityworked vs. contracted weekly hoursPreferencesWilling to work nights, weekends & bank holidays
In day-to-day use
Sickness and shift swaps — without the ring-round
Sickness, special requests or other last-minute changes — plans change fast. For the two most common disruptions, PlanState has a set process.
Absence & cover
Once an absence is approved, that person comes off the rota. The system spots the resulting gap in shifts that are already planned and alerts the manager.
Gap: Tue, late shiftLena called in sick
Suggested coverShift swap with approval
Employees arrange the swap among themselves, management approves. On approval the system checks the working-time rules for both sides — only then are the shifts swapped.
requestedaccepted
Jonas offers
Sat, early shift
Nadja accepts
Sat, early shift
Working-time check passed for both
Features
Everything a rota needs
Good to know
Why AI planning is becoming the standard in 2026
Staff shortages make every shift more valuable, while the demands on record-keeping and working-time compliance keep rising. Manual planning hits its limits as soon as qualifications, preferences and rest periods all have to line up at once. That's exactly the puzzle an AI solves in seconds — and the business gets back what's scarcest: the manager's time.
Industries
Scheduling is different in every industry
Care
Night and rotating shifts create tight rest windows, and staffing has to be in place on every shift. PlanState checks the eleven hours' rest and the 48-hour average week on every assignment and marks the shift as soon as no suitable person is available.
Scheduling for care →Restaurants
Friday evening needs twice as many staff as Tuesday lunchtime, and last-minute absences are part of daily life. Auto-planning plans around your peak times and instantly suggests available cover when someone calls in sick — with a push notification to everyone who could step in.
Scheduling for hospitality →Hotels
Reception, housekeeping and breakfast run to different rhythms, plus night shifts and seasonal peaks. PlanState plans each department with its own shift template and keeps the rest period even on late-to-early transitions.
Scheduling for hotels →Retail & Fashion
Opening hours set the framework; part-time and casual contracts fill in the detail. The suitability score weighs hours worked against contracted hours, so the shop floor is covered without anyone going over their hours.
Scheduling for fashion & retail →Beauty & Wellness
Appointments determine staffing, and absences hit utilisation immediately. Auto-planning spreads shifts across opening hours, preferences feed into the suitability score, and the team can pick up open shifts themselves.
Scheduling for beauty & wellness →Construction & Trades
It's not shifts but sites that shape the day. Crews are assigned to jobs, and travel times and trades have to fit together. PlanState plans the allocation and shows who's needed where tomorrow.
Scheduling for construction & trades →Testimonials
What our customers say
Buyer's guide
What to look for in scheduling software
Seven points that make the difference day to day — no matter which provider you choose.
- Rule checks that block violations instead of just flagging them
- An employee app with swaps and open shifts, not just a PDF on the wall
- Time tracking that's tied directly to the rota
- A payroll export your payroll software or bureau can take
- EU data centres, UK GDPR compliant, data processing agreement
- Fair pricing with no setup fee
- Onboarding in days, not months
Pricing
Transparent from £4 per employee, billed annually
incl. scheduling, absences and the employee app
No setup fee
Support included
No credit card for the trial
What it costs
12 employees£48 / month
25 employees£100 / month
50 employees£190 / month
100 employees£360 / month
All prices exclude VAT. Volume discounts are already applied.
The comparison
PlanState vs. “business as usual”
Excel & silos
Business as usual
Auto-planning for the whole weekNo
Working-time rules block violationsNo
Employee app includedNo
Onboarding timeManual
CostNo extra licence, but hours of work
EU data centresDepends on the tool
PlanState
Everything in one platform
Auto-planning for the whole weekYes
Working-time rules block violationsYes
Employee app includedYes
Onboarding timeDays
Costfrom £8 / employee (Core)
EU data centresYes
Frequently asked questions
What you want to know
Can't find your question? Write to us — we reply within one working day.
PlanState costs from £4 per employee per month billed annually, £5 billed monthly, with a £39 minimum monthly invoice. That is the Start plan, with rota planning, absences and the employee app; AI auto-planning is included from the Core plan, from £8 per employee per month. There's no setup fee and weekday support is included. All four plans are laid out on the pricing page — work out the price for your team size there, volume discounts already applied.
On every assignment PlanState checks: at least 11 hours' rest between two shifts (Working Time Regulations 1998, reg 10), a cap on consecutive working days you set per person, and the 48-hour average week over 17 weeks (reg 4). There is no UK daily maximum for adults — the ceiling comes from the 11 hours' rest either side of a shift. Weekly rest under reg 11 isn't modelled as its own check yet, and neither is the individual opt-out from the 48-hour week (reg 5) — so staff who have signed one are still warned about. On top of that come overlaps, approved absences and the stored availability windows. Violations are blocked, not just flagged — whether the assignment comes from the AI or from you.
Initial setup takes about half an hour: you create your shift templates, set your working days and capture your team's availability. After that, a complete rota is ready in seconds. Most businesses are up and running in a day — not weeks.
Yes. Your team enters availability, preferred shifts and absences in the app themselves. Auto-planning factors them into the suitability score, so preferences are taken into account without rest periods or minimum staffing suffering. You keep final approval.
Yes. Every employee has their own app with their personal rota, push notifications when the rota is published and for shift swaps and absences, plus the option to pick up open shifts and enter preferences.
Yes. Time tracking, the rota and payroll prep all live in one place: clock-in and clock-out times are tied directly to the rota, premiums are calculated automatically and exported as a CSV for payroll.