---
title: Creating and publishing a schedule
description: Create draft shifts, repeat them, save time with templates and copying, handle conflicts, then publish, unpublish, import and export the schedule.
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/scheduling-create-and-publish/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: Scheduling
---

# Creating and publishing a schedule

A schedule is built as a draft, then published. While it is a draft, nobody is notified and nothing changes for the employee. This article follows that path, from creating a shift to publishing it; it is for schedulers.

## Before you start

- The Scheduling module must be active: [Getting started with Scheduling](https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/scheduling-getting-started/).
- Creating, editing, repeating, copying, importing or auto-assigning shifts requires the "Schedule: read (Access), create and edit shifts (Execute) of one’s population" right at the **Execute** level. Publishing, unpublishing or withdrawing a batch requires the **Admin** level.
- Day and week templates also require the "Shift templates: read (Access), manage (Execute)" right.
- Planning periods are set in the module settings, with the "Scheduling module settings" right.

## Creating a shift

1. Open "Schedule".
2. Click "Add", then "Single shift" or "From a template". You can also click a cell in the grid.
3. In the "New shift" form, choose the employee (their contract), the date and the times, or tick "All day".
4. Add details if needed: "Shift title", "Position / Job", "Location", "Breaks" (paid or unpaid), "Colour", "Notes", "Tags".
5. Add tasks under "Shift tasks". A task can be "Required" or "Optional".
6. Click "Save".

The shift is created as a draft. The times suggested for a new shift are the work hours from the settings. The "Activity" tab of the form traces the shift's history: creation, changes, publication, responses.

## Repeating a shift

The "Recurrence" section of the form creates real shifts, all as drafts.

- Choose "Daily", "Weekly" (with the days of the week) or "Monthly (same day of the month)".
- Set the interval with "Every".
- Set the "End of recurrence": after a number of occurrences, or on a date.

A series has at most 100 occurrences and spans at most 366 days. An occurrence that falls on a public holiday or an absence is still created, and flagged as a conflict.

To edit or delete a shift in a series, choose the scope: "This shift", "This shift and the following ones" or "The whole series". If you change the date of an occurrence, it leaves the series.

## Saving time

**Shift templates.** The "Templates" section holds the "Shift Templates": a name, times, a break, a colour. Pick one in the shift form. A template can also carry a "Minimum staffing", for certain days or for all of them: the schedule then flags the days when the shift is short of people (see "Periods and staffing", below).

**Day and week templates.** In "Actions", choose "Save this day as a template" or "Save this week as a template". To reuse a template, choose "Apply a template", then the date to apply it to. The shifts are placed as drafts. Ended contracts or contracts outside your scope are ignored.

**Copying a week.** In "Actions", choose "Copy the previous week" or "Copy to the next week". Illizeo asks "What should happen to existing drafts?": "Add" or "Replace drafts". Shifts that are already published are never replaced.

**Clearing.** "Clear the week" and "Clear the day" delete the drafts shown. Drafts hidden by a filter stay. Published shifts are not touched.

## Conflicts: you are warned, never blocked

Illizeo calculates conflicts from the attendance profile of each employee's contract:

- two overlapping shifts;
- an absence or a public holiday;
- insufficient rest between two shifts;
- maximum hours per day and per week (the week runs from Monday to Sunday);
- the profile's sequence rules, if they are set: consecutive days or nights, rest after a series, free Sundays, reduced rest;
- an unavailability declared by the employee;
- the legal checks, when a legal baseline is installed on the contract (for example the Swiss Labour Act): young workers, pregnancy, night and Sunday work, working hours, overtime for the year.

As a scheduler, you are warned but never blocked. The "Conflicts" section sorts them by family ("Overlap", "Insufficient rest", "Unavailability", "Legal limit", "Other"); the "All", "Overlaps", "Insufficient rest", "Unavailabilities" and "Legal limit" filters show how many there are. "Fix" opens the shift, "Ignore" sets a conflict aside, "Restore" brings it back. Only employees' actions are refused by the server: for example, claiming an open shift that would exceed their limits.

![Conflicts section with the All, Overlaps, Insufficient rest, Unavailabilities and Legal limit filters](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/scheduling-create-and-publish-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The "Conflicts" section and its filters.

A check that the installed law declares blocking carries the mention "Blocking legal control". You can still save the shift, but this conflict cannot be ignored. It also prevents an employee from claiming the open shift, and auto-assignment sets the candidate concerned aside.

## Publishing

1. In the grid, click "Publish the week". In the "Day" or "Month" view, the button becomes "Publish the day" or "Publish the month".
2. The "Publishing" section opens, with the drafts for the period already selected. Give the batch a name and, if needed, a note.
3. Click "Publish". The button shows the number of shifts in the batch.

You can also start from the "Publishing" section: "New batch", then select the drafts yourself.

![Publishing section: the list of batches, a published batch and the New button](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/scheduling-create-and-publish-04.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
Batches in the "Publishing" section.

Publishing requires the Schedule right at the Admin level.

**With an approval workflow.** Illizeo provides in Workflows (Attendance category) a "Schedule published" workflow, approved by the manager of the person who publishes. It is **inactive**: until you activate it, publication is immediate.

- Active workflow: the batch shows "Pending — decision in Workflows". It is published once approved. If it is rejected, it shows "Rejected by the workflow".
- Workflow limited to a scope (office, department, role…): it only applies to a person who publishes and is covered by that scope. For everyone else, the batch is published straight away.
- Workflow without an approver (for example, the person who publishes has no manager): the workflow is cancelled and the batch is published directly. The reason is noted on the batch: "No one can approve this batch in the circuit: it was published directly."
- Pending batch: "Withdraw" cancels its workflow. The shifts become free drafts again, which you can edit or publish again.

In "Publishing", each batch shows its status: "Pending — decision in Workflows", "Published", "Withdrawn", "Rejected by the workflow" or "Cancelled".

On publication, employees are notified according to the notification settings. A published and then confirmed shift becomes the planned schedule for the day. A rejected or cancelled shift hands back to the standard week, and the scheduler is alerted.

**Editing after publication.** A published shift that is edited stays published and the employee is notified. If the date, the time or the contract changes, the employee must confirm it again. A deletion is also announced.

## Short notice

If the week concerned starts in less than 72 hours (default value), Illizeo opens the "Short notice" window: "This week starts soon: employees will be notified at short notice." Click "Confirm anyway" to continue.

The rule applies to creating, editing, deleting, publishing, unpublishing or withdrawing a batch. It also applies to bulk actions: copy, template, clear, import, auto-assignment. A week that has already started counts as short notice.

## Unpublishing

"Unpublish" (in the form), "Unpublish the day" or "Unpublish the week" turn shifts back into drafts. No employee is notified. Pending responses and replacement requests are cancelled, as are pending applications for unpublished open shifts. Calendar events are removed and planned time reverts to the standard week.

In "Publishing", "Withdraw" does the same for a whole published batch, without notifying employees.

## Importing and exporting

**Import.** In "Import / Export", choose "Import".

1. Drop a CSV or Excel file: one row per shift, the employee identified by their employee ID or e-mail. "Download the file template" gives you the expected layout.
2. Match the columns in "Column mapping".
3. Click "Simulate the import": nothing is saved yet, valid rows and rows with errors are shown.
4. Run the import. Shifts are created as drafts: nothing is published by the import.

The "Import history" keeps every import. "Cancel the import" deletes its shifts that are still drafts; those already published or confirmed are kept, and flagged.

**Export.** Choose the period, the filters (location, position, status) and the format: CSV, Excel or JSON. Tick "Include open shifts" to add them.

## Periods and staffing

**Planning periods.** A period says by when its schedule must be published, and approved if an approval workflow follows it. Periods are set in **Settings › Periods**:

1. Choose the "Start", the "Weeks per period" and the "Number of periods".
2. Set the deadlines: "Publish (days before)" and, if needed, "Approve (days before)".
3. Click "Create periods".

The list shows the status of each period: "Published", "To publish", "Late" or "Approval late". A period is removed with "Delete". The people who schedule receive the "Planning period late" notification, once per period and per deadline.

**The "To watch" banner.** At the top of the grid, it flags understaffed shifts, day by day, based on the minimum staffing of the shift templates, and late periods, with the number of drafts still to be published.

## End of contract

The schedule follows the contract dates.

- When a contract ends, its shifts after the end date are cancelled. Their reminders stop.
- The person who scheduled these shifts receives the "Shifts cancelled by the end of a contract" notification (bell and e-mail): "The contract of [name] ends on [date]: [number] later shift(s) were cancelled." The notification is on by default; it is set in **Settings › Notifications**.
- The notification's link opens the grid on the first day concerned, with the "End of contract" banner. "Reopen as open shift" recreates, in one click, each cancelled shift as a draft open shift: same date, same times, same location, same position, one spot. If a shift has no location, the banner asks you for the location of the open shifts, suggesting the office of the ended contract. Then publish the open shifts like the other shifts. "Dismiss" closes the banner.
- Reopening as an open shift requires the Schedule right at the Execute level.
- Creating, editing, reassigning, importing, copying or auto-assigning a shift outside the contract dates is refused, with the message: "The contract of [name] ends on [date]: no shift can be scheduled after that date." Before the contract starts, the message says the same: "The contract of [name] starts on [date]: no shift can be scheduled before that date." For an import, a copy or an auto-assignment, only the row concerned is set aside, with this reason in the summary.

## Good to know

- While a shift is a draft, the employee does not see it and is not notified. Copying, templates, importing and auto-assignment place drafts: they never publish anything.
- Conflicts warn you without blocking you; only a "Blocking legal control" cannot be ignored.
- An office or a position used by upcoming shifts, open shifts or templates cannot be deleted. Illizeo shows the counts (upcoming shifts, open shifts, templates) and a link to the grid, on the first day concerned. The past does not prevent anything.

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