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GUIDES

How to schedule staff across multiple locations

Updated 2026-11-12 · By the Assistlify team · AI-assisted, every fact linked to its source below

To schedule staff across multiple locations, build every store's weekly schedule from one shared staff list, so each person's hours at all stores add up in one place before you publish. The US Department of Labor counts overtime on hours worked in a fixed 168-hour workweek and does not allow averaging across weeks, so a person who works 24 hours at one store and 22 at another is at 46 hours, not two part-time weeks.

The steps below work for 2 stores or 5. They assume one owner employs everyone; if each store is a separate company, ask an employment lawyer how hours combine before you share staff.

The 8-step process

  1. Fix one workweek for every store. Under the FLSA a workweek is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period that may start on any day and hour (DOL Fact Sheet #23). Using the same start, for example Monday 12:00 a.m., at all stores makes the 40-hour check one sum per person.
  2. Keep one staff list. For each person record a home store, the other stores they are trained for, their pay rate at each store, and their availability.
  3. Set coverage targets per store, per day. Write the minimum headcount for opening, midday and closing (template below).
  4. Enter approved time off first, then fill each store from people whose home store it is.
  5. Fill gaps with cross-trained staff from other stores, starting with whoever has the fewest hours that week.
  6. Check each person's total across all stores against 40 hours before publishing.
  7. Count travel between stores during a shift as work time. DOL Fact Sheet #22 says travel from job site to job site during the workday is work time and must be counted as hours worked; ordinary home-to-work travel is not.
  8. Publish, then keep the schedule. DOL Fact Sheet #21 lists "work and time schedules" among records to keep for two years.

Coverage target template (copy per store)

BlockMonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Open (first 2 hours)1111221
Midday2222332
Close (last 2 hours)2222232
Keyholder on shiftYesYesYesYesYesYesYes

The numbers are placeholders: replace them with your own counts per block.

Example: one employee, two stores, two pay rates

Example: Maria works 24 hours at Store A at $16.00 and 22 hours at Store B at $17.00 in one workweek, 46 hours in total. Fact Sheet #23 says that when an employee works at two rates in one workweek, the regular rate is the weighted average of all earnings divided by all hours.

LineMathAmount
Straight-time pay24 × $16.00 + 22 × $17.00$758.00
Regular rate$758.00 ÷ 46 hours$16.478
Overtime premium0.5 × $16.478 × 6 overtime hours$49.43
Total for the week$758.00 + $49.43$807.43

Neither store schedule shows overtime on its own (24 and 22 hours). It appears only when both are added, which is why step 6 checks the combined total.

Example: travel between stores

Example: an employee ends a shift at Store A at 2:00 p.m. and starts at Store B at 2:20 p.m. The 20 minutes of driving is travel from one job site to another during the workday, so it is 20 minutes of hours worked under Fact Sheet #22. Schedule the Store B start at 2:20, not 2:00, and pay the gap.

Check local notice rules before you publish

Federal law has no scheduling notice rule for adults: the FLSA has no provisions on scheduling employees except certain child labor rules (DOL elaws FLSA Advisor). Some places do. Oregon requires covered retail, hospitality and food service employers with at least 500 employees worldwide to post schedules 14 calendar days ahead (Oregon BOLI), and Los Angeles requires 14 calendar days for retail employers with 300 or more employees globally (LA Office of Wage Standards). The full table is in predictive scheduling laws explained; the rules for moving one person between two stores are in sharing employees between stores.

Doing it in one tool

Assistlify assigns each staff member to one or more locations and builds the weekly schedule by hand or from staff availability and approved time off, then publishes it to the team. See how it handles multiple locations.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state labor department for current rules.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state labor department for current rules.

Questions

Do hours at two of my stores count together for overtime?

Yes, when both stores are the same employer: the FLSA requires at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, and averaging hours over two or more weeks is not allowed (DOL Fact Sheet #23).

Is driving between my stores paid time?

Yes. DOL Fact Sheet #22 says travel from job site to job site during the workday is work time and must be counted as hours worked.

Can each store use a different workweek?

The FLSA allows different workweeks for different employees as long as each is a fixed, recurring 168-hour period (DOL Fact Sheet #23); one shared start day makes cross-store totals easier to check.

How long do I keep old schedules?

DOL Fact Sheet #21 lists work and time schedules among records to keep for two years, and payroll records for at least three years.

Sources