If you already know the basics of planning, you can use automatic schedule generation — it speeds the work up, takes labour law rules into account and helps lay out the staffing faster. Proplanum offers several generation methods; this article describes the method based on unassigned shifts: first you prepare a package of shifts with nobody assigned, then the system distributes them among employees.

How it works

For the system to lay out a schedule, it needs a basis — information on which shifts are to appear, in which positions and at which hours. An empty schedule tells the system nothing. So you first prepare a package of unassigned shifts (or load one from a template) and then run the generation, which will assign those shifts to particular people.

Step 1: Prepare a package of unassigned shifts

Plan the shifts as the schedule is meant to look, but without choosing an employee. Every such shift goes into the "Unassigned" row at the top of the schedule.

1. Click an empty cell in the "Unassigned" row and the chosen day.
2. In the "New shift" window set the position and the work time (start, end, any breaks) — without choosing a person.
3. Repeat for every shift you want staffed.

Instead of laying out the package from scratch every time, you can save it once as a template and load it for subsequent periods.

Step 2: Run the generation

1. In the toolbar on the right open the "Generate" menu and choose "Assigning unassigned shifts".
2. The "Automatic schedule configuration" window opens. Set the generation conditions (described below).
3. Click "Start generation".

In the configuration window you have:

• Generation mode — Economical (faster) or Optimal (picks the staffing more precisely).
• Constraints — among others "Do not exceed the hour limit" (the system will not assign more hours than the limits and labour law allow), "Respect unavailability" (skips dates reported as unavailable), "Allow multiple shifts per day".
• Priority preferences — tiles indicating what counts most (for example Minimum costs, Rotation, Prioritise availability).
• Preference balance — a slider weighting the chosen priorities.

After a moment the system will propose a schedule as a draft, distributing the shifts with regard to among others labour law, positions and skills, and leave and absences.

What if some shifts stay unassigned

If something is still left in the "Unassigned" row after generation, the system found no way to staff those shifts. The most common causes:

• labour law constraints,
• the full-time equivalent or working pattern of the people concerned,
• too few employees available (for example during the holiday season).

You can then:

• assign the shift by hand — hover over it, click Edit and choose an employee,
• delete the shift if it is not needed.

Step 3: Publish the schedule

A generated schedule is a proposal in draft — you can keep editing it. Once it is ready, click "Publish" in the top right corner; the number of unpublished shifts is shown in brackets. Employees with active accounts will get a notification in the mobile app and by email.

Automatic generation really does speed planning up, but at the start give yourself a moment to learn how the system distributes the shifts. You can generate several times and correct it until it comes out best. You will find the other methods in [Planning using templates](Automatic schedule from templates) and Demand-based planning.

Updated on: 07/08/2026