Two Ways to Plan Staff in PaxFlow
PaxFlow supports two planning workflows:
Independent Shifts (work schedule first)
Assignment Shifts (tour assignment first)
Different operators use different workflows, so PaxFlow supports both.
Independent Shifts
Independent shifts are used for workforce planning before staff have been assigned to specific departures.
For example, you may know that:
Sarah is working from 08:00–17:00
She will probably guide Golden Circle tours
But you don't yet know which departure she'll operate
In this case you create a normal shift.
The shift includes:
Start and end time
Position (Guide, Driver, Customer Support, etc.)
Staff member (optional)
Shift Location
Notes
Draft or Published status
What is Shift Location?
The Shift Location tells PaxFlow where the employee is expected to work.
This can be either:
a Tour / Product
City Centre Walking Tour
South Coast Day Tour
Whale Watching
or a Static Location
Head Office
Ticket Booth
Garage
Home office
The location helps PaxFlow recommend or automatically select the most suitable staff member later.
Important
Creating a shift on a tour location does not automatically assign that person to a departure.
Instead, it tells PaxFlow:
"This staff member is scheduled to work on this product during these hours."
Later, when you assign staff to departures, PaxFlow can prioritize staff members who already have matching planned shifts.
This gives operators the flexibility to:
build schedules weeks in advance
balance workloads
assign departures later as bookings become clearer
Tour Assignments
A Tour Assignment is different. Instead of planning someone's work day, you're assigning them to a specific departure.
For example:
Guide Sarah will work as a guide on → Golden Circle Departure on
June 25, 08:30–16:30
This means Sarah is now responsible for operating that departure.
When you create a tour assignment, PaxFlow checks whether the staff member already has a shift covering that time.
If a suitable shift already exists
Nothing new is created.
The assignment is simply linked to the existing shift.
If no suitable shift exists
PaxFlow automatically creates a new shift for the employee.
This ensures:
every assignment belongs to a shift
the employee has a complete work schedule
work reports and payroll remain accurate