A No-Nonsense Review of WhenToWork
Is WhenToWork the best app for your construction business? This in-depth review explores everything you need to make an informed choice!
WhenToWork is online employee scheduling software for teams and businesses. It claims to be the “Ultimate Solution for your Scheduling” for corporations, universities, housing companies, government, and community services.
WhenToWork’s main strength lies in its simple, one-click scheduling feature which promises to eliminate scheduling conflicts and minimize error.
Furthermore, the W2W app is designed for quick mobilization of teams and volunteers, thanks to its manager notice feature and automatic notifications.
But does W2W really have what it takes to ensure smooth scheduling for your construction workforce?
In this no-nonsense review, we will examine WhenToWork’s offerings and features to gauge whether it meets all your construction business’ needs.
Starts at $40 per mo.
Simple and clean design
Extensive scheduling features
Lengthy free trial
Web platform loads slowly
Outdated UI (ex. no text search)
No integrations
What Is WhenToWork?
WhenToWork was founded in 2006, nearly twenty years ago. Its aim is to provide scheduling and customer service at the lowest possible cost.
Curiously, there has not been much news surrounding the company since its debut 18 years ago. The company does mention Blacksburg Transit, which received an award for using WhenToWork’s software to streamline its scheduling. Apart from this piece of news, buzz about WhenToWork is hard to find.
The company published a press release in 2008 when it launched a mirror version of its scheduling app called WhenToHelp.
This sister app is targeted towards charities and volunteer-based organizations instead of corporations. It provides similar solutions for scheduling and online volunteer management. The company announced that it would provide free subscriptions to WhenToHelp to qualifying charity organizations.
Unlike WhenToWork, When To Help is not available on either the App Store or Google Play. It can only be accessed on desktop computers.
WhenToWork Overview
WhenToWork offers one-click scheduling, automatic notifications, and free mobile apps. It serves SMBs (Mom & Pop shops) and enterprises alike, providing scheduling solutions for single or multi-location businesses.
For this review, we will focus on WhenToWork’s online platform features, including scheduling, messaging, and reporting.
Sign-Up and Onboarding
Signing up with WhenToWork is easy. Simply provide your business email and business details, and you’re good to go.
The site emails your unique username and password for the first login. Then, you’re asked to create your own login credentials.
The platform then collects more info about your business, including location, category, and preferred starting day of the week. Notably, there’s no option for selecting construction or related industries in the list of business categories.
Next, you’re asked to add specific positions within your business or organization. You’re also required to fill in user information for your team members.
And that’s it – you’re ready to go.
The Web App Experience
The web platform is underwhelming, to say the least.
It feels like a page out of the original WhenToWork website in terms of design and layout. While it’s clean and easy to navigate, the web platform feels like it hasn’t been redesigned since the late 2000s.
The overhead menu consists of schedules, employees, trades, time off, messaging, reports, and ‘on now’ or employees currently on duty.
The left menu is populated by communications from WhenToWork, such as its upcoming 20th anniversary, a survey, free trial quick links, and payment information.
The main menu is situated in the center of the screen and mirrors the overhead menu items. These consist of:
- Schedules
- Employees
- Trades
- Time off
- Messaging
- Send Urgent Alert
- Bulletin Board
- Reports
- Who’s Scheduled Now
The right side menu houses widgets for ‘What’s New’ announcements and an Employee Home Page Notice for company-wide messages.
There’s no onboarding tutorial when you first access the platform. Instead, the app provides a 3-step setup overview to create and publish schedules for the first time. The Help section also provides guides and video demos for navigating the platform.
In addition to these, WhenToWork includes guide notes at the bottom of each section to guide you through quick actions or commonly asked questions.
The Mobile Experience
The mobile app also features a simple design and layout.
Users are greeted with a manager notice when they log in, emphasizing W2W’s (WhenToWork) focus on team communication and quick mobilization.
The dashboard page shows assignments for the current and next day, time off, shift trades, manager notice, and messages. The bottom of the dashboard page shows when it was last updated.
The main menu is accessible through the center button. It shows you schedules, shift trades, time off, messaging, staff, and a button for launching the ‘full version’ or the web browser platform.
The mobile schedule shows you weekly and monthly schedules. It also provides a list of current and upcoming shifts via the ‘Who’s On Now’ and ‘Who’s On Later’ buttons.
You can add shifts, see schedule history, publish schedules, and filter schedule entries using the mobile app.
Back to the home screen, the last button (‘More’) allows you to access your profile info, add users, and explore the Help/FAQ section.
More construction companies trust Workyard for time tracking
Discover why
WhenToWork Key Features
What’s in WhenToWork’s ‘Schedules’?
‘Scheduling’ shows a weekly view of your team’s assignments.
You can customize calendar view by employee, position/role, chart, graph, and other configurations. Clicking on a cell brings up a pop-up box for quickly creating shifts.
The main scheduling menu above the calendar brings out pop-out boxes for adding shifts and importing schedules.
You can import schedule entries or templates by week or day. You can also search for shifts using date ranges, with additional filters for text, employee, category, and roles. A simple text-based search bar would be ideal, but WhenToWork’s search function does its job.
The scheduling tool also offers autofill for assigning open shifts to employees.
You can clear or delete schedules, save templates, and print and publish schedules. The platform also allows you to export and import schedule files in CSV.
The bottom of the page includes helpful information for navigating the calendar and an option for refreshing the page after every schedule change.
The app includes a quirky reminder to uncheck the ‘refresh’ box in case of slow connections, hailing back to the good old days when most PC users didn’t have access to broadband Internet connections.
What’s in WhenToWork’s ‘Employees’?
WhenToWork’s ‘Employees’ tab features shortcut buttons for viewing team members’ maximum schedule limits in days, shifts, and hours.
You can add employees, edit their positions, send sign-in instructions via email, and print and export employee information.
The platform also gives you the option to document employee actions such as shift trade requests, time-off approvals and denials, and changes in published shifts.
The app shows you default pay rates and alert dates for employees, along with their roles.
You can also access and restore deleted employees’ information within your platform account.
What is WhenToWork’s ‘Trades’?
The ‘Trades’ tab is where you can view and approve shift trade requests made by employees.
The platform provides weekly and monthly tradeboards so you can see all trade requests at a glance.
The platform lets you view up to 20 most recently posted tradeboard shifts made in the last day or two. You can also filter trade entries by category or positions.
What is WhenToWork’s ‘’Time Off?
The ‘Time Off’ tab lets you view, approve, and manage time off requests made by employees. It shows a list of pending requests by list and grid.
It also shows blocked days on your team calendar, which can be customized for roles ex. blocked days for workers only.
What’s in WhenToWork’s ‘Messaging’?
WhenToWork’s messaging functions are designed for quickly mobilizing teams. It lets you view new, old, and sent messages, or write new ones. It offers quick buttons for creating urgent alerts and homepage notices.
It also lets you send sign-in info via employees’ email. Lastly, it features a rather outdated bulletin board where employees can post entries (with your permission).
What is WhenToWork’s ‘Reports’?
You can build custom reports by date range, role, and categories using WhenToWork’s reporting tools. It provides drill-down detail into shift reports including assigned hours by date, category and position, and daily sign-ins.
You can also build reports by employee shifts/daily summaries/scheduled days, time off, tradeboard, and unassigned/open shifts.
You can export reports manually or automatically through synchronization with Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Apple, and other calendar systems. However, W2W mentions that first you need to export your schedule to Google Calendar, and then export it to other calendar systems.
It also offers its API to let you retrieve data from your account, but nothing more.
WhenToWork offers several standard reports and exports for easy processing. These include estimate payrolls, team availability and coverage, monthly schedules, time-off summaries, employee lists, and account payment history.
What is WhenToWork’s ‘On Now’?
This section lets you view employees who are currently on shift (‘on now’) or are assigned to upcoming shifts (‘on later’).
Interestingly, it has a dedicated section for employees scheduled for midnight shifts. The platform lets you view current and upcoming shifts by category and role as needed.
Integrating Other Business Apps With WhenToWork
There appear to be no integrations available for WhenToWork.
It only offers synchronization with Google Calendar. While it offers API access, this is only to extract account information and not for integrations with third-party apps.
WhenToWork Might be a Good Fit for You If…
…you want a simple-to-use, easy-to-navigate platform for scheduling. But that statement only applies to teams with very basic scheduling needs.
If you don’t need anything more than a scheduler for weekly and monthly team calendars – without GPS tracking, live map views, job tracking, job costing, and other modern tools – then WhenToWork might work for you.
If you’re a modern manager with modern scheduling needs, however, you’re in for a slow, slow ride.
You Might Not Want to Use WhenToWork If…
…you don’t want to use an outdated scheduling system for business needs.
It might sound harsh, but that’s the simple truth. WhenToWork is no spring chicken, and it shows in the lack of modern tools and functionality.
It might help you organize next week’s schedule in a point-and-click kind of way, but it can do little more than that. While it offers surprisingly extensive scheduling functions and drill-down detail, it can’t really get out of its antiquated box to compete with modern software solutions.
More construction companies trust Workyard for time tracking
Discover why
WhenToWork Cost/Pricing
WhenToWork doesn’t offer traditional tiers. Instead, it offers a monthly pricing that lets you save the more you purchase.
You can sign up for a month for 40 bucks and add 10 employees to your account. Or you can prepay for WhenToWork’s services for a full year and save nearly half the price.
1 Year |
1 Month |
|
Base Cost |
$24 per mo. ($288 per year) |
$40 per mo. |
Free Trial? |
30-day free trial |
30-day free trial |
WhenToWork Reviews
WhenToWork users appreciate the app’s main selling point – quick and simple scheduling – but felt it never moved forward from its founding days.
WhenToWork user Aidan B. says WhenToWork is effective at scheduling, but has become outdated:
Capterra Review:
Simple, Basic – Has never changed with the ages ⭐⭐
Overall: Simple, low quality we long outgrew thisPros: Simple – Effective scheduling software – Nothing more
Cons: Has never evolved with the ages, there is so many ways this can increase/improve. App doesnt do enough. Website does everything. No automatic book on/off. No automatic alerts when someone isnt on shift. No automation at all.
WhenToWork user Rebecca S. echoes the sentiment above, though she praised the app’s strengths:
Capterra Review:
Works pretty well, could use some updates ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall: This software has worked very well for us so far. It is not perfect, but is better than what we had before.Pros: This was easy to set up, and has many features that are a vast improvement over the free app we were using before. I like the bulk edit feature, as before I had to edit each shift individually.
Cons: The bulk edit feature should also allow you to assign shifts. There are many times when I want to assign a whole group of shifts to a certain person, and it doesn’t allow that. It can edit everything else about the shifts, and can unassign or delete shifts, but it can’t assign them. Also, there was some talk about making it possible to to bulk edits over a month instead of a week, but that doesn’t seem to have happened yet. We repeat the same schedule over an entire semester, so if someone quits or changes schedules, I have to repeat the same edits on every week. It would be nice to just do it once!
Our Score (and Why We Chose It)
Based on our sign-up and onboarding experience with the free trial, here’s how we scored WhenToWork:
WhenToWork Alternatives
WhenToWork offers extensive scheduling tools, but there are plenty of alternatives offering modern solutions for team managers and admins.
14-day free trial
14-day free trial
7-day free trial
Demo available upon request
30-day free trial
The Bottom Line
While WhenToWork is optimistic about its features being “The Ultimate Solution For Your Scheduling,” the reality is that it’s made for another era – a time when scheduling and workforce management were less digitized.
WhenToWork is not pretentious, however, about its target: educational institutions, charity organizations, and volunteer groups are in the same crowd as Fortune 500 companies in its book. This ultimately shows in its feature set and platform offerings.
It’s a good tool for organizing basic team shifts, but if you’re looking for modern scheduling solutions like GPS tracking or automated scheduling, then it’s best to look elsewhere.
Construction managers and field workers love the Workyard mobile experience. Our iOS and Android apps are designed around the needs of team managers in the construction business. Our web platform offers cutting-edge solutions for scheduling, team management, and time tracking for construction managers.
Try Workyard free for 14 days and see how we can simplify your field service management and make your business more profitable!
WhenToWork is an online employee scheduling software that helps organizations manage their staffing needs. It was developed by a team of math PhDs and is used by a wide range of businesses, from small “Mom & Pop” shops to large Fortune 500 companies.
The software allows employees to view and manage their schedules online, and provides employers with tools to create and optimize schedules based on their unique staffing requirements. Key features of WhenToWork include the ability to do everything online without requiring a credit card or phone number, and the software is described as being “intuitive and cost-effective”.
Customers have reported that WhenToWork has made a “dramatic impact” on their scheduling processes and that their staff enjoys the online accessibility.
WhenToWork offers affordable online employee scheduling with pricing based on the number of employees and duration of the subscription. Key details about their pricing:
- Pricing starts from $16/month
- The cost is based on the number of employees and duration of the subscription (monthly, quarterly, or annually)
- One price covers unlimited use by all managers and employees up to the paid maximum employee level
- Pricing includes a free mobile app
- The first 30 days are free, with no credit card or phone number required to start the trial
- Payments are accepted by credit card or check in US dollars
- An optional Pro Plan is available with added features if needed
To get a specific quote, users can hover over “Settings” in the top menu and choose “Payments – Pricing – Billing” or view the regular sales pricing on the main pricing page
To get a specific quote, users can hover over “Settings” in the top menu and choose “Payments – Pricing – Billing” or view the regular sales pricing on the main pricing page
WhenToWork is an online employee scheduling software that provides the following key features:
- Affordable Pricing: Pricing starts at $16/month and is based on the number of employees and subscription duration. The first 30 days are free to try.
- Intuitive and Easy to Use: The software is described as “intuitive and cost-effective” with an interface that allows employees and managers to learn it quickly.
- Online Accessibility: Employees can view and manage their schedules online without requiring a credit card or phone number. The software also has a mobile app.
- Automated Scheduling: WhenToWork can automatically schedule employees based on their work time preferences to optimize staffing.
- Schedule Management: The software allows managers to create, publish, and manage employee schedules easily. It also has features like shift swapping, schedule reminders, and bulk editing.
- Improved Communication: The software helps improve communication between managers and employees by providing tools like team messaging and schedule confirmations.
- Reporting and Analytics: WhenToWork offers reporting and analytics features to help managers track labor costs and staff utilization.
In summary, WhenToWork is an affordable, user-friendly employee scheduling software that helps businesses streamline their scheduling processes, improve communication, and optimize staffing
Here is how to use WhenToWork, the employee scheduling software:
- Sign Up: Go to the WhenToWork website and sign up for a free 30-day trial. No credit card is required.
- Add Employees: Add your employees to the system, including their contact information and work preferences.
- Create Schedules: Use the intuitive drag-and-drop interface to build employee schedules. The software can also automatically generate schedules based on preferences.
- Publish Schedules: Publish the schedules so employees can access them online or through the mobile app.
- Manage Changes: Approve shift swaps, time-off requests, and other schedule changes through the software.
- Communicate: Use the built-in messaging tools to communicate with employees about schedule updates and other important information.
- Track Time and Attendance: Integrate the software with your time tracking system to monitor employee hours and attendance.
- Generate Reports: Utilize the reporting features to analyze labor costs, staffing levels, and other key metrics.
The combination of affordable pricing, ease of use, and robust scheduling tools makes WhenToWork a popular choice for businesses looking to streamline their employee scheduling processes.
