For home care agencies
Home care scheduling for caregivers, with clients covered and weekends shared
Morning, afternoon and evening care, caregivers who know some clients and not others, and a weekend that must still be covered. ScheduleSolve drafts who covers each client group on each shift, and keeps rest and fair weekends in your rules.
The short answer
Home care scheduling software decides which caregiver covers which clients, on which shift, so every client gets care and every caregiver gets rest. In ScheduleSolve, each client or client group is an area, each part of the day is a shift, and you mark which caregivers know which clients.
ScheduleSolve then drafts the period. It puts caregivers with clients they know, keeps rest between an evening and the next morning, and shares weekends fairly. It does not plan the route between homes or the times of single visits. You plan those inside each shift.
Written by Maren Vellory, Operations Manager · Updated October 19, 2026
Sound familiar?
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Each client needs a caregiver they know.
With ScheduleSolve: Make each client group an area and mark who knows it. Only they are put there.
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Evenings and weekends are hard to cover.
With ScheduleSolve: Try to: weekends are shared fairly. The draft spreads them and shows why.
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A caregiver who is sick leaves clients without care.
With ScheduleSolve: Home shows the free caregivers who know those clients. One tap, and only they are told.
An example week: Eastside clients
8 people and 3 shifts in one area, filled by the same engine as the app. Gray cells are days a person said they can’t work. The rules: at least 10 hours of rest between shifts (Must), nobody works more than 5 days in a row (Must), and weekends are shared fairly (Try to).
- Morning 7–1: 3 a day (2 on Sat and Sun)
- Afternoon 1–7: 2 a day
- Evening 6–10: 1 a day
| Person | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosa | Afternoon1–7 | Morning7–1 | Off | Off | Afternoon1–7 | Afternoon1–7 | Afternoon1–7 | 30 |
| Abdi | Morning7–1 | Off | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | Afternoon1–7 | Morning7–1 | Off | 30 |
| Joy | Off | Morning7–1 | Off | Afternoon1–7 | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | 30 |
| Marcus | Morning7–1 | Afternoon1–7 | Afternoon1–7 | Morning7–1 | Off | Afternoon1–7 | Off | 30 |
| Linh | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | Afternoon1–7 | Morning7–1 | Can’t work | Can’t work | 30 |
| Patrice | Afternoon1–7 | Off | Morning7–1 | Morning7–1 | Off | Off | Morning7–1 | 24 |
| Irene | Evening6–10 | Evening6–10 | Evening6–10 | Evening6–10 | Evening6–10 | Off | Evening6–10 | 24most 24 |
| Sam | Off | Afternoon1–7 | Afternoon1–7 | Off | Morning7–1 | Evening6–10 | Afternoon1–7 | 28 |
Every shift is filled: 40 places, and every Must rule holds.
In the app, the same week also takes in each person’s areas and skills, time off and the days they would rather not work. Open this example in the free schedule maker →
How to schedule home care
A home care schedule has two layers. The first is who works when, and for which clients. The second is the visits inside each shift: the times, the order and the travel between homes. ScheduleSolve plans the first layer. It does not plan routes between visits or the times of single visits. These steps are how to set it up so the first layer is solid.
1. Group your clients into areas
Make each client group an area, for example “Eastside clients” or “Overnight care”. A group can be a part of town, a set of clients with similar needs, or one client who needs care around the clock. Use plain area names, not a client’s full name or health details.
2. Set shifts as blocks of the day
Make shifts for the parts of the day your caregivers work, such as Morning 7 to 1, Afternoon 1 to 7 and Evening 6 to 10. The visits happen inside these blocks. Plan the order of visits in each block outside ScheduleSolve, by hand or in your visit tool.
3. Say how many caregivers each area needs
Count the caregivers each client group needs in each block: for example 3 in the morning, when most clients need help to get up, and 1 in the evening. Weekends often need fewer, but never none. Write the least you can work with and the number you want.
4. Keep caregivers with clients they know
Clients want a face they know. Mark which caregivers know each client group. Only those caregivers are put there, offered an open shift there or offered in a swap. A new caregiver can shadow as “training”, so you see it on the grid.
5. Protect rest between an evening and a morning
An evening that ends at 10 pm and a morning at 7 am leaves 9 hours, before travel. Set the rest you want between shifts as a Must rule, for example at least 10 hours. Some places also have rules for rest or overtime in care work; check the rules where you work.
6. Share weekends and evenings
Weekends and evenings are the hardest blocks to fill, and caregivers leave when they get too many. Set “Try to: weekends are shared fairly” and “Try to: Evening shifts are shared evenly”. The draft counts them for each caregiver.
7. Let caregivers say when they can work
Many caregivers work part time around family or study. In the staff app, they say which days they can’t work and which they would rather not, and ask for time off. Every draft takes it in.
8. Have a plan for a sick caregiver
When a caregiver is sick, the clients still need care. ScheduleSolve shows on Home the free caregivers who know that client group, then the people from groups with more than they need, then an offer to everyone who can work it. Only the person who takes the shift is told. You then pass on that block’s visits.
For care homes and clinics, see healthcare staff scheduling. For a fixed week, see the 5/2 schedule.
Your words, your rules
ScheduleSolve does not come with fixed job types or codes. You name your areas and shifts, and your rules read as plain sentences. For example:
- Areas
- Eastside clientsWestside clientsOvernight careLive-in
- Shifts
- Morning 7–1Afternoon 1–7Evening 6–10
- People needed
- Eastside clients, mornings: at least 3 caregivers, 2 on weekends.
Start blank and add your own areas and shifts in a few minutes, or upload the spreadsheet you use today.
The rules you would set
Each rule starts from one of the app’s rule templates, with your own numbers.
- Must: at least 10 hours of rest between shifts.
- Must: nobody works more than 5 days in a row.
- Try to: weekends are shared fairly over 12 weeks.
- Try to: Evening shifts are shared evenly, within 2 of each other each month.
A Must rule always holds. A Try to rule holds when it can. You can also type a rule in your own words; ScheduleSolve shows the rule it understood before it is added. How rules work
Shift patterns that fit home care
Each pattern page has a calendar for each crew, the hours per week and a file to download.
- 5/2 schedule · 8-hour shifts, Weekdays, days only
- 8-hour rotating shift schedule · 8-hour shifts, 24/7
- Compare all shift patterns →
What changes for you
A draft, not a blank grid
ScheduleSolve drafts the whole period from your people, needs and rules.
Only the decisions
Home, your list of decisions, shows time off requests, open shifts and changes to approve.
Only the right people told
Post once. Each person gets their shifts. After a change, only the people affected hear about it.
Sick calls, fixed fast
Someone can’t come? Home shows the smallest fix: a free person, a spare person or an offer.
What ScheduleSolve does not do
- ScheduleSolve does not plan routes between visits, travel time or mileage.
- It does not book single client visits at set times, and it has no client records or care plans. Each area is a client or a group of clients, and each shift is a block of time.
- It has no visit check-in, GPS or electronic visit verification, and it does not bill clients or funders.
- It does not run payroll. It exports the hours by pay code.
Questions
Can ScheduleSolve plan visits and routes?
No. ScheduleSolve does not plan routes between visits, travel time or mileage, and it does not book single visits at set times. It plans who works which shift for which clients. Many agencies plan the visits inside each shift in another tool or by hand.
How do I keep caregivers with the clients they know?
Make each client or client group an area, and mark the caregivers who know it. The draft puts only those caregivers there, and a sick-call fix or an open shift goes only to them.
Can caregivers say when they can work?
Yes. In the staff app, caregivers say which days they can’t work and which they would rather not, and ask for time off. Every draft takes it in.
How are weekends and evenings shared?
Turn on “Try to: weekends are shared fairly” and “Try to: Evening shifts are shared evenly”. The draft spreads them over the weeks you choose, and Why? on a cell explains each one.
Is a client’s data kept in ScheduleSolve?
Only what you type as an area name. ScheduleSolve has no field for client health details, and we suggest area names such as “Eastside clients” in place of a person’s name.
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