How to build a guarding shift roster

1. Hours per post: a 24/7 post needs 24 × 7 = 168 hours a week. A shop post may need only opening hours and closing.
2. Shifts: split the hours into shifts with fixed start and end times, e.g. three 8-hour shifts for a 24-hour post.
3. People: full-time is 40 hours a week (art. 189 §1). 168 ÷ 40 = 4.2 full-time positions for one 24-hour post, before leave, sickness and training.
4. Reserve: add people who already know the post, so absences are covered without extending shifts.

For the calculation by type of site, see how many security guards do I need.

• Three 8-hour shifts: stay within the limit of 8 hours a day and 48 a week (art. 187).
• Forward rotation: mornings, then afternoons, then nights. Rotating backwards shortens the gap between two shifts and easily breaks the 11 hours of rest.
• Stable teams: the same people on the same post learn the site and its people.
• Shifts over 8 hours: art. 201 allows them in work that, by its nature, runs continuously with successive teams, provided the average stays at or below 48 hours a week, teams switch between nights and days every week, and anyone working a Sunday gets 24 hours’ rest on another day.

The 48-hour average is measured over a period of up to 4 months and includes overtime (art. 174). Check the whole period, not one week.

• Daily rest: at least 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period (art. 171). A shift ending at 06:00 cannot be followed by one starting at 14:00.
• Break: when a shift runs over 4 continuous hours, a break of 15 to 30 minutes, not at the start or end (art. 172 §1). On a one-guard post, the roster must say who covers the post during it.
• Weekly rest: 24 consecutive hours, in principle including Sunday, plus the 11 hours of daily rest (art. 173).
• Nights: normal working time for night workers may not exceed 8 hours per 24 hours on average over a one-week period (art. 176 §1).

Art. 182 §2 allows derogations for guarding only through a collective agreement or an agreement with worker representatives, and only with equivalent compensatory rest. It is not a tool for closing roster gaps. The limits in full: security guard shifts and working hours.

• A written rule: how nights, Sundays and holidays are shared, and how to request a change.
• Counters: for each guard, how many nights, Sundays and holidays they worked in the period. Whoever has the most gets fewer next time.
• Requests: logged with a date and answered in the same order for everyone.
• Swaps: allowed with the supervisor’s approval, and only if the new roster still respects the rest limits.

1. Reserve guards: they know the post and its post orders before they are needed.
2. Call order: whom the supervisor calls first, second, third, with numbers checked every month.
3. Limits check: before calling someone in, the supervisor checks their rest is not broken.
4. Record: every change goes into the roster, so actual hours are always known.

Covering absences is one of the core jobs of a security supervisor.

• Fixed rhythm: the roster comes out on the same day each period, several weeks ahead.
• One source of truth: one version of the roster, not copies that differ.
• Acknowledgement: each guard confirms they have seen the roster and every change to it.
• Plan against reality: at the end of the period, compare scheduled hours with hours worked.

At OVIT, each shift’s patrols, incidents and reports show live on the Guardly platform. If you want guarding on a roster that holds, ask for a proposal.