When I Work is a cloud-based employee scheduling and time tracking software that helps businesses of all sizes manage their workforce more efficiently and effectively. It has desktop and mobile apps that make shift management and time tracking easier. With its cloud-based and scalable platform, you can start with a single location subscription and easily scale up as your business expands to multiple locations.
When I Work earned an overall score of 3.72 out of 5 landing it a spot in our best employee scheduling software for small businesses guide. Starting at $1.50 per user monthly, it offers time clock and attendance features available on multiple devices, making it an affordable choice for businesses with dispersed employees.
Pros
- Offers a 14-day free trial
- Has robust employee scheduling and time management features
- Its starter plan is affordably priced (monthly fees start at $1.50 per user)
Cons
- Limited reporting; only basic options are available
- Lacks phone support; email and live chat support is not available 24/7
- Access to overtime alerts, POS and payroll software integrations, and mobile time clock apps with GPS enforcement cost extra
What We Recommend When I Work For
When I Work is a strong option for scheduling, time tracking, and attendance due to its functionalities and affordability. For businesses with shift-based workplaces, the tool offers a full-featured system that lets you create, share, and track staff shifts easily and efficiently. Setup is easy, plus you get robust shift and staff management tools, including schedule templates and employee time clock apps. When I Work is also affordably priced—monthly fees for its Essentials plan start at $1.50 per user.
In short, When I Work is best for:
- Companies looking for an affordable and comprehensive staff management solution: When I Work’s robust suite of features lets you manage scheduling, time tracking, and team communications from one dashboard. Its drag-and-drop scheduling tools help managers create new schedules easily. Employees can also tailor their schedules by swapping or bidding on shifts. There’s even a smart auto-scheduling tool that creates optimized work schedules for your staff.
- Growing businesses that need help with compliance: When I Work allows businesses to create and implement custom time and attendance policies, such as lunch breaks and sick leave. This can help businesses to ensure that employees are following all applicable policies and that the company is meeting all of its legal obligations.
- Employers that hire hourly employees across different locations: Its platform is built to scale with any size of business and can be used across single and multiple business locations, making the software an easy system to adopt. All of its plans support multiple locations and schedules.
When When I Work Would Not Be a Good Fit
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- Businesses that require robust point-of-sale (POS) and payroll software integration options: When I Work has limited third-party software integration options, having only one POS system and eight payroll solution partners as of this writing. Businesses that need employee scheduling and/or time tracking software that fully integrates with their POS and payroll software should consider Homebase. Check out our Homebase review for its full features.
- Budget-conscious employers needing free, basic employee scheduling software: Although affordable, When I Work no longer has a free forever plan. If you want to try a free solution, Deputy offers a free plan up to 100 shifts per month. Take note, however, that these are for US-based users only. Read our Deputy review to learn more about the software and its features.
- Businesses with complex scheduling: While it has scheduling and employee management tools, When I Work has limitations when it comes to complex scheduling, such as rotating shifts and seasonal fluctuations. For businesses with complex work shifts, 7Shifts has labor forecasting tools that can help businesses predict their labor needs based on historical data and current trends, ensuring they are adequately staffed, even when schedules become complex.
Looking for time tracking solutions for your business? Check out our buyer’s guide to the best time tracking software.
When I Work Alternatives at a Glance
Best for | Paid Plans Start at | SMS Push Notifications | Shift Swapping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Businesses with hourly employees in multi-locations | $1.50/user/month | ✓ | ✓ |
 | Businesses that need payroll software integration | $24.95/location/month | ✓ | ✓ |
 | Budget-conscious businesses | $3.50/user/month | ✓* | ✓ |
 | Businesses with complex scheduling | $29.99/location/month | ✓ | ✓ |
*Has an extra charge every time a notification is sent.
When I Work Pricing
When I Work has three pricing plans: Essentials, Pro, and Premium. It also offers a free 14-day trial, so you can try out the software before you commit to a paid plan. The software got a 3.13 out of 5 rating in this criterion because it does not have a free version and lacks transparency in some parts of its pricing.
Essentials | Pro | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
Recommended for | Businesses needing standard scheduling tools | Businesses that want to balance | Organizations looking for scheduling tools with on-demand pay features |
Monthly Pricing/User | $1.50; $3 (Time & Attendance Features Included) | $3; $5 (Time & Attendance Features Included) | $5; $7 (Time & Attendance Features Included) |
Maximum Users | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Auto Scheduling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Shift Bidding | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Custom Shift Reports | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Absence Tracking | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
API Key Access | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Global User Privacy | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Want to know which When I Work plan will fit your budget? Use our online calculator to compute the estimated monthly and annual fees.
When I Work Scheduling Functionality
When I Work got a perfect score in this criterion because it can efficiently handle employee time tracking and scheduling with its features. It also supports multiple pay rates, labor reports, and clock-in/out reminders. Like most software we’ve reviewed, it can be implemented on web browsers and mobile devices, which makes it easy for employees to clock in and out. Check out more of When I Work’s features to see if it’s a viable option for your business.
When I Work has robust scheduling features which include multi-location scheduling, shift replacements and swapping, and schedule templates. It has shift eligibility and smart auto-scheduling tools that quickly match shifts with employee availability and work qualifications.
With When I Work’s online schedule builder, you can easily assign shifts to employees given its drag-and-drop functionality.
Employees can also identify and share their shift preferences online, providing you instant visibility into your staff’s preferred schedules. In addition, When I Work lets you list the expected shift and team tasks on employee schedules. This helps you manage employees more efficiently by helping you monitor the completion rates of listed tasks on a per-day and per-activity basis (such as opening tasks and closing shift activities).
When I Work also has break management features, such as break schedule planning and notifications that inform employees of upcoming rest periods and the end of break times.
It also comes with paid time off (PTO) management, digital time sheets with edit histories, and early clock-in prevention tools. You can even set up different pay rates for each position that employees are qualified to work in, allowing you to efficiently track and control labor costs.
With When I Work mobile apps, system administrators and authorized managers can review, edit, and approve time sheets even while on the go.
If it fits your process, you can enable employee time sheet editing, allowing staff to manually add details for missing time entries online. Employees can then forward the edited time sheets to their managers for approval and payroll processing.
With the mobile app, employees can clock in, access schedules, and communicate with managers and co-workers. On the manager’s side, however, the mobile app is fully featured, allowing them to create schedules, manage time off, and communicate with employees.
When I Work’s mobile app allows users to create groups for easier communicating with team members.
When I Work offers time tracking apps that work on computers, tablets, and mobile devices (with iOS and Android systems). Your remote workers can record their time entries via their smartphones. You can also set up geofencing and geolocation tracking to restrict and monitor where offsite employees clock in/out. However, you have to purchase the time and attendance add-on to gain access to its mobile GPS enforcement functionalities.
Like Deputy, it has a “photo clock-in” feature that captures snapshots of your employees when clocking in and out, which prevents buddy punching. System administrators and authorized managers can access, review, and delete the employee pictures taken for each time transaction. Note that this functionality works only on iOS devices.
When I Work Reporting Features
When I Work scored 2.5 out of 5 in its reporting features. Though it has a wide range of pre-built reports, these are not customizable (you cannot change the layout, content, or format of the reports). This is limiting for businesses that need custom reports for specific needs, as you won’t be able to add or remove columns, change the order of the columns, or filter the data in a specific way.
However, it is important to note that the pre-built reports in When I Work are very comprehensive and cover a wide range of metrics. This means that most businesses will be able to find the reports that they need to track their workforce management operations.
These are some types of reports it offers:
- Shift reports: Shift reports provide information about employee schedules, including start and end times, breaks, and overtime.
- Time reports: Time reports provide information about employee hours worked, including regular hours, overtime hours, and vacation hours.
- Attendance reports: Attendance reports provide information about employee attendance, including tardiness and absenteeism.
- Labor cost reports: Labor cost reports provide information about employee labor costs, including wages and benefits.
These reports can be viewed in a variety of formats, including tables, charts, and graphs. Users can also export reports to PDF, CSV, or Excel formats for further analysis.
When I Work Ease of Use
- Easy to set up and use
- In-app help tools
- Library of how-to guides
- Instant notifications and alerts
When I Work has a cloud-based platform that’s easy to set up, plus its mobile apps are easy to use for both your managers and employees. While its interface is generally user-friendly, some of the features take time to get used to. You also need to have a good understanding of how scheduling and timekeeping work to maximize all of its online tools.
In terms of customer service, When I Work doesn’t provide live phone support, but you can submit online tickets and contact its support team through live chat. If you prefer a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to getting answers to your system queries, you can check its library of how-to guides, training resources, and webinars.
Popularity: What Users Think About When I Work
| User Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
| Affordably priced | Some tools aren’t intuitive (like making mass schedule changes) |
| Efficient time tracking and scheduling tools | Occasional lags and glitches |
| Easy to set up and convenient to use | Slow customer service |
Many users who left positive When I Work reviews online highlighted its ease of setup, affordability, and efficient scheduling tools as its best features. They added that it helps them easily create schedules for multiple employees and work locations. However, some reviewers said that its mobile app can be glitchy at times.
At the time of publication, When I Work reviews earned the following scores on popular user review sites:
- Capterra: 4.5 out of 5 based on 1044+ reviews
- G2: 4.4 out of 5 based on 276+ reviews
- TrustRadius: 8.5 out of 10 based on 61+ reviews
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a flexible and affordable employee scheduling and time tracking tool, When I Work offers the essential features you need for your business. Apart from letting you create schedules, capture employee clock-ins/outs, and monitor attendance online, it has labor cost forecasting and team messaging tools that enable you to efficiently manage your hourly workforce and team communications. Sign up with When I Work for a 14-day free trial—no credit card required.
