> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ontimebookings.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Working schedule

> Set when a staff member works, what they deliver, and how they travel between bookings.

A working schedule says when a staff member is available, which services they deliver, and — for mobile teams — the areas they cover and how far they'll travel between bookings. Customers can only book a service staff member during the times in their schedule.

The working schedule is only for **service staff** — the people who deliver services to customers. Open a staff member from **Settings → Operations → Staff**, then select **Working Schedule**.

## How schedules work

A staff member can have more than one schedule, set **per location**. For example, one schedule for mornings at your city branch and another for weekends at a second branch. Pick the location at the top, then add or edit schedules for it.

## Add a schedule

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose the location">
    At the top of Working Schedule, choose the location this schedule is for.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a schedule">
    Select to add a schedule, then give it a name for your own reference, such as "Mon–Wed mornings". Customers don't see this name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the days and hours">
    Choose the working days and the hours for each, and how the schedule repeats (such as weekly).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the services">
    Pick **All Services**, or **Selected Services** to limit this schedule to certain services.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the area and travel (mobile only)">
    For mobile work, choose the serving area, and turn on travel optimisation if you want.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Save the schedule. If it clashes with another one, you'll see a warning to fix first.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Which services this schedule covers

Each schedule sets what the staff member can deliver during those hours:

* **All Services** — they can deliver any service offered at this location.
* **Selected Services** — they can only deliver the services you tick.

This is how you control who delivers what. For example, a junior staff member's schedule might cover only a few services.

## Serving areas

For mobile work, a serving area limits a schedule to certain suburbs — only customers in those suburbs see this schedule's available times. This lets a staff member serve different areas at different times, such as suburbs near home in the mornings and further out in the afternoons.

A serving area is a **named list of suburbs**, set per location. You build it from the location's [catchment areas](/set-up/locations/catchment-areas), and you can reuse the same list across schedules.

In a schedule, choose one of:

* **Serve all suburbs** — accept bookings from anywhere in the location's catchment area. This is the default.
* **A named list** — only customers in that list's suburbs see this schedule's times.

### Create a serving area

In the **Serving Areas** section of Working Schedule, select **New List**, give it a name such as "Eastern suburbs", and add suburbs in one of two ways:

* **Manual pick** — tick suburbs from the location's catchment areas.
* **Find nearby** — set a base address and a radius from 3 to 100 km, then tick the suburbs within range.

A list needs a name and at least one suburb. Once saved, you can point any schedule at this location to it.

<Note>
  You can only add suburbs that are in the location's catchment areas. If a suburb you want isn't there, add it to the location's [catchment areas](/set-up/locations/catchment-areas) first.
</Note>

<Warning>
  You can't delete a serving area while a schedule still uses it. Switch those schedules to another list, or to **Serve all suburbs**, first.
</Warning>

## Travel between bookings

For mobile teams, a schedule can plan the staff member's day around travel between customers. Turn on **Optimise travel between bookings** to set:

| Setting                                   | What it's for                                                             |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Maximum distance between two bookings** | The furthest they'll travel between back-to-back bookings, in kilometres. |
| **Reservation window**                    | How much time to hold between bookings for travel.                        |

With this on, the platform fits new bookings into the day in a way that keeps travel within these limits.

<Tip>
  Travel optimisation suits mobile services such as driving schools or at-home visits. For fixed-location work, leave it off.
</Tip>