Weekly driver schedule template for a NEMT fleet: shifts, vans, and coverage

Build the week as one grid: a row for each driver, a column for each day, and a total at the end of each row. The driver shifts guide explains how to decide how many drivers each hour needs. This template is the sheet you fill in once that is settled, with the van next to each driver, the backup for each day, time off, and a signed copy for the drivers. Hours past 40 in a workweek earn overtime, so the total column is the last check before you post, and the overtime guide covers the math.

The weekly schedule

The grid covers one workweek, so note at the top which day and hour that week begins and keep it the same as payroll’s. The start of the workweek is one of the items 29 CFR 516.2(a)(5) has employers record for each employee.

Part 1: Drivers and vans

Fill each day cell with the start and end time, or OFF, or TIME OFF for an approved request. For a split shift, write both blocks. Weekly hours are the paid hours only: take out the unpaid meal and any gap the driver is fully released for.

Example (made up, for illustration only; the straight shifts include an unpaid 30-minute meal and the split shift has none):

Part 2: Backup and spare vans

Part 3: Time off and swaps

A swap is two entries: the driver giving up the shift and the driver taking it. Name the one person who approves swaps, and change the grid before the new shift starts, so the posted copy is always the real one.

Part 4: Posted copy

Set each start time from the first pickup

A driver’s start time is the first pickup time minus the drive from the lot to that pickup minus the vehicle check. Both of those are paid time. If drivers have to stop at your lot before the first rider, the leg from the lot to that rider is paid work (29 CFR 785.38). Preparing the tools of the job, which for a van means the walk-around and equipment check, is also part of the work (29 CFR 785.24).

As an example, say a dialysis rider is due at 6:40 AM and the lot is 18 minutes from the rider’s door. A 15-minute vehicle check puts the clock-in at 6:07, so the shift is posted for 6:00 AM, which leaves 7 minutes of margin. Posting 6:30 AM would have the driver reaching the rider late or doing the check unpaid. Drivers who take a van home start from a different place, and the take-home vehicle guide explains when the first drive counts as paid.

Run this for the earliest pickup each driver covers, not the average one. Standing orders such as dialysis hold the same times every week, so the first pickups in a typical week are the ones to protect.

Check the grid before you post it

Check four things on every row before the schedule goes up.

1. Paid hours. Add the paid hours across the week. Anyone over 40 needs a reason and a plan, because hours past 40 earn overtime. A few states also count overtime by the day, which the overtime guide lists.
2. A day off. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets no limit on weekly hours, so it does not require a day off. Some states do. Illinois requires a minimum of 24 hours of rest within every consecutive 7-day period, and a driver who works the seventh day needs the state’s permit and must have agreed to it voluntarily (Illinois Department of Labor). Seven-day service is where this check matters. Which states require one is in one day of rest in seven laws.
3. The van. A van is on only one driver’s shift at a time. A van due for service or inspection is blocked out, and every wheelchair trip in the day has a wheelchair van on the grid behind it.
4. The gap. Each split shift has a gap long enough that the driver can use it, with the return time written on the schedule. The split shift entry covers when that gap can stay unpaid.

Do posting laws apply to your schedule?

Probably not, but check your city and state. Federal wage law sets no cap on weekly hours for workers 16 or older, and it does not require premium pay for weekend or holiday work unless the hours are overtime. A handful of local and state laws require advance notice of schedules for named industries:

• Seattle. Its Secure Scheduling Ordinance covers hourly employees at retail and food services establishments with 500 or more employees worldwide, and employers publish schedules at least 14 days in advance.
• Oregon. Its predictive scheduling law covers employers primarily engaged in retail, hospitality, or food services with 500 or more employees worldwide, and requires a written schedule at least 14 calendar days before the first day it covers. The schedule must be posted where employees can see it and list all work and on-call shifts.

Neither law names passenger transportation. A NEMT company with a few dozen drivers is also well under the headcount. Other cities write their own lists of covered industries, so your city labor office has the current one. Whatever the law says, a posted schedule with a date on it is the record you want when a driver says they were never told about a shift.

Changing a schedule after it is posted

Post a new copy and mark the old one replaced. Strike through the changed cell instead of erasing it, write the new times, and add the date and time of the change and the name of the driver who was told. A driver sent home early after a cancelled run may be owed pay in some states, which the no-show pay guide covers, so confirm morning riders the evening before and call drivers before they leave home.

Keeping the week in HealthRide

HealthRide keeps each driver’s shifts as a weekly pattern, with one-day changes for a substitute or a sick call, and the dispatch board lists only the drivers who are on shift. Hours on the timecards are built from each driver’s actual clock-ins, so the hours column on this grid can be checked against what happened in the reports before the next schedule goes up.