Overview
When I Work offers time zone settings that determine how schedules and time entries are viewed and created. This article covers best practices for Admins configuring the time zones for your workplace and users through example scenarios.
For information on configuring time zone settings, see Setting Time Zones.
Considerations
- Only users with admin level access can change the workplace time zone.
- The workplace is set for a single time zone in General Settings.
- Changing the workplace’s time zone setting will adjust shift times on the schedule. If you use When I Work Time Clock & Attendance, time punches are also adjusted.
- By default, all users are set to the workplace’s time zone.
- Start of day, start of week, and start of pay period are all set in the workplace’s time zone.
- Individual users can customize their profile’s time zone if needed.
- When I Work does not reference the time zone that your device is set to (computer, iOS device, or Android device). If you move to another time zone, adjust your profile’s time zone setting.
Example scenarios
The following section outlines examples of how to configure time zone settings for common scenarios as well as how to view the Scheduler in your user’s time zones.
The time zone settings are defined as:
- Workplace time zone: The time zone set for the entire workplace account in the General Settings.
- Custom time zones for users: The custom time zone set on the user’s behalf by a Supervisor, Manager or Admin in the Advanced Details section of their User profile.
- Custom time zone for your profile: The custom time zone set in your personal profile.
Example #1: You manage a large workplace with teams of users across multiple different time zones.
Time Zone Settings:
- Workplace time zone: Set the workplace time zone to match the time zone of your scheduling users or of your workplace’s headquarters.
- Custom time zones for users: Set user’s profiles to their local time zone.
- Custom time zone for your profile: Set your personal profile to your local time zone.
Viewing the Scheduler:
Create multiple Schedules; one Schedule for each team, region, or time zone. For more information see Making Separate Schedules. Assign user’s to the Schedule in which they work. See Assigning Users to Positions and Schedules.
To view the Scheduler in a different time zone, adjust the time zone menu on the Scheduler page.
Example #2: You schedule for a small remote team. All of your users are in different time zones but you also want to see all of your users on one Schedule to ensure proper coverage.
Time Zone Settings:
- Workplace time zone: Set the workplace time zone to match the time zone of your scheduling users or of your workplace’s headquarters.
- Custom time zones for users: Set user’s profiles to their local time zone.
- Custom time zone for your profile: Set your personal profile to your local time zone.
Viewing the Scheduler:
Assign user’s to a single Schedule. See Assigning Users to Positions and Schedules.
To view the Scheduler in a different time zone, adjust the custom time zone in your personal profile.
Example #3: You are located in the Eastern Standard Time but you schedule for users in Pacific Standard Time.
Time Zone Settings:
- Workplace time zone: Set the workplace time zone to match the time zone of the majority of your users. In this example, Pacific Standard Time.
- Custom time zones for users: No custom time zone will need to be set in user profiles. As new profiles are created, user’s time zones are automatically set to the workplace time zone.
- Custom time zone for your profile: Set your personal profile to your local time zone.
Viewing the Scheduler:
To view the Scheduler in a different time zone, adjust the time zone menu on the Scheduler page.
Example #4: You schedule for yourself and your team in Central Standard Time but you have a few remote users in Mountain Standard Time and in Pacific Standard Time.
Time Zone Settings:
- Workplace time zone: Set the workplace time zone to match the time zone of your scheduling users or of your workplace’s headquarters. In this example, Central Standard Time.
- Custom time zones for users: Set remote user’s profiles to their local time zone.
- Custom time zone for your profile: Set your personal profile to your local time zone.
Viewing the Scheduler:
Assign user’s to a single Schedule. See Assigning Users to Positions and Schedules.
To view the Scheduler in a different time zone, adjust the custom time zone in your personal profile.