When I Work Reviews

Pros
When I Work is a simple and truly effective time scheduler for resourcing projects in your organization. You can track across one or more projects, as needed, and identify time availability for the work that needs to get done. This is often one of the most challenging aspects of keeping projects on track and very few project management tools can help you like When I Work can. Unlike the "capacity" view of other applications, When I Work gets down to the most granular details. It allows you to identify when and where a team member will be used, including time-off, breaks, lunches, meetings, etc. You can use these categories to identify how best to allocate their time. The scheduler allows you to see teams based on shift or positions (roles). You can track un-paid breaks and time off, as well as customize schedules and create templates for reuse. You can even create specific shifts for one time or recurring use and maintain notes on each entry. It also provides high level visibility of total individual team member capacity as well as what is scheduled and what has already been used. View your teams across one or more projects or job sites and distribute resources across them all as needed. It offers program-like management of projects and does not restrict you to individual projects, which can become cumbersome when re-allocating time of one team member across two or more projects. When I Work is a great tool for planning, or simply use it in addition to your project management application. Its scheduling features make it a powerful tool that lets you forecast as well, by easily making changes in schedules as needed. You will spend less time manually calculating your resources and where to place them, saving you time and money. Changes to any schedules are easy to see and the responses are easy to manage. When I Work also offers features like task management, which allows you to manage projects of less complexity in the same application. And if you are looking for integration, yes, you can use their library of APIs for that. But, you need to click on the developer link at the footer for more details. Their integration features are not prominently displayed on their website.

Cons
No cons I could personally find for the application and its use. Integration via APIs are present, but this is more for organizations who have techs who can implement them. I have seen organizations with limited development capabilities due to their areas of expertise, where integrations might pose a small challenge... but this should not necessarily pose as a true con for you.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It is EXTREMELY easy for the end-user to utilize this software. There are also some pretty good mobile applications that it offers which makes tracking your schedule very easy!

Cons
There are a lot of overly-helpful tips and suggestions that constantly spam the administrators' email accounts and scheduling interfaces. (Essentially the company does this to assist the administrators, but there is no way to stop it, which makes it very annoying after awhile). The mobile application can also be buggy at times, and the website schedule does not work properly on mobile phones that don't have a "desktop view", as the website does not have a mobile version designed for it. This forces you to use the mobile app on mobile devices unless your mobile phone can display it in a "desktop view". On a normal computer interface, this works just fine.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The ease of the program. It was very user-friendly. Scheduling used to take 2 hours, but it was cut down to 30 minutes with WhenIWork. I love that I could customize the shifts. I especially loved that employees had to acknowledge their shifts. There was no more miscommunication that an employee didn't see their schedule. It's also been a great tool to get staff on the same page. The ability to message everyone at once was awesome. Plus the program tells you which employees have viewed the messages. It also has the option for employees to clock in via the app and you can link it with payroll. Employees are able to submit requests for time-off or vacations. Everything you need is in one place. The customer support team is available immediately through their live chat. They have always been very helpful and friendly. Absolutely a wonderful program!

Cons
The only thing I would modify is to have the ability to block off certain dates for requests. That way an employee wouldn't be able to request off Black Friday for example.

Rating breakdown

Pros
I love that employees can indicate when they are available and when they are not available. I love that they can put in requests for time off which helps me not rely on myself for remembering. I love that there are additional features for rate of wage. I like the attendance and I can see if employees are showing up late or getting into overtime. There is a budget feature which I have not used but think would be very helpful in the future.

Cons
I wish that I could have the option of excluding some employees when sending a general email through WIW. I also wish that open shifts were always a different color especially when looking at the schedule by position. This would bring my attention to the open shift and alert me that someone is needed. I wish I could publish an employees schedule out for more than 1 week.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It's visual and simple. It schedules down to 15 minute increments. It makes a very dynamic schedule like ours, easy to manage and understand.

Cons
It would be good if a shift automatically started from the time you first click on the schedule. It would be good if they understood how tricking and overcharging their customers leads to a complete lack of loyalty. Buyer beware! Just keep on checking your subscription amounts each month. As if you don't have other things to be occupied with.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 4/10

Pros
We love the fact that our employees can access it on their phones. Our employees are college students, so being able to use it on a mobile device is crucial. Our old program didn't have that functionality. I also like that I can go in and move someone's shift to "open" for any other employee to accept. Since our employees are college students and anything required for a course is excused from work, so it is really nice to be able to go in and move a shift for an employee that has an exam or something like that. I also like that employees have to acknowledge their shifts.

Cons
Two things - I can't go in and schedule just one person. We are on a college campus that operate on quarters. I would like to be able to look at an individual schedule for a certain time period and edit it as necessary, but that functionality doesn't exist. My employees are frustrated with the notifications. It is great that someone can do a "drop shift request" that goes out to all of the other employees, but it is frustrating to get 10 emails about that. We (mainly our hourly employees) wish there was an option to get the notifications in a digest once a day instead an email for every single notification.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
This product is super straight forward and very user-friendly. It is very easy to use the scheduler as well as keep up with employee hours on the Time Tracker. You can easily edit attendance if your employee forgets to clock out and sending messages to the whole group is super easy with the group message feature. The online based platform is great and the app is the perfect way to post the schedule without having to send out emails of spreadsheets etc. Notifications come straight to your phone regarding scheduling changes, shift swap requests, time off requests, and even when your employees forgot to clock in. Notification alerts are easy to change in settings. There's even a setting to get a reminder 2 hours prior to your shift so in case your schedule is constantly changing, its so easy to keep up with it!

Cons
The satellite/gps location isn't as good as it can be with regards to clocking in. Sometimes it will not let you clock in due to being "too far away" when you are standing right at your work. The app sometimes freezes up when clocking in/out or takes a while to process a clock in. So then when you press "clock in" again, it'll actually clock you out.

Rating breakdown

Pros
The site is very easy to understand especially for a software that is so robust. I can't tell you the value there, but it is so much appreciated. We have saved a lot of time and miscommunications while using When I work. The attendance notifications help me to keep track of where our team is hour-wise on an individual basis and as a whole. It's nice that I am alerted, one less thing I need to remember to check on. In conjunction with the Forcast reporting, I have a very clear view of the week ahead. The apps are handy, especially from the administration side. I am able to update time clocked hours on the fly, check everyone's schedule and separate out my own, I can even handle time off requests. I haven't ever attempted to schedule through the app, although knowing how intuitive everything is through their online site, I would venture to guess it would be a piece of cake. I know our team members enjoy having their schedules and hours readily available in their pocket as well.

Cons
We have had a couple issues with clock-ins through the apps. There have been times when it isn't recognizing the location or the punch doesn't make it all the way through. But that's it! I would love if this software could manage our PTO as well, but we haven't found a way to make it work with how our times are calculated.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
The ease of navigating the app. Being able to put the scheduling software directly on the phone of the employees is outstanding. We also really enjoy utilizing the messenger tool. Its a great way to speak to everyone in an efficient manner.

Cons
We dont like the add drop portion of shift scheduling and changes. As a management staff we would like to use this but it has been difficult to create a process do to implement this do to it not requiring a manager approval.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
Love the ease of the software, super user-friendly. Also, like that it is easy for all generations to use. Love that all requests can be made online, helping to eliminate paper.

Cons
Would like to see more options for tracking employee hours as far as the reporting goes. Also, other features like tracking employees who work different positions, and being able to report on those hours. Also would like for it to track employee hours who no longer work with us anymore. Don't like that once the employee is removed from When I Work, all of their history is removed as well.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
It simplifies communication with staff and freelancers, pushing updates to them en masse. It is an attractive UI and the app functions pretty well. Support is responsive and communicative.

Cons
The permission levels need a lot of work. They are limited and global so you really don't have much control over who sees what. You can't copy a shift from one week to the next, this seems kind of basic, especially if an event spans multiple weeks it's inconvenient to have to build the shift twice. It would also be nice to have the ability for someone to view a schedule at a location other than the one they are scheduled at...for example, someone in one office wants to see if someone in another office is scheduled to be available or not without showing up in that locations schedule. Currently this is not possible.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
This is a very user friendly software. We are able to quickly create, edit, and distribute schedules to our large staff. We love that the staff can quickly submit time off requests, send us messages about their schedules, and even drop/swap shifts if necessary, within moments of the schedule being published.

Cons
When I Work is a very proactive company, and they make software updates often. The only bad thing about this is that it can some time for us to adjust to changes that are made, and occasionally there are small glitches. But overall, I would say I am more satisfied that they are proactive in expanding what the software can do, than I am disappointed in these occasional issues.

Rating breakdown

Pros
It makes scheduling a simple task AND adds features like schedule templates open shift offering that are icing on the cake! Customer support is responsive and very helpful.

Cons
I would really like a link to view an employee’s full availability directly from the weekly schedule. I have made a request, which was acknowledged in a very positive way. It hasn’t happened yet, though.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Create's a standard line of communication between management and field personnel. Also helps the field personal to be prepared for their next task.

Cons
I work on the road a lot. The program is much easier to schedule personal from the desktop than it is from using the app on a device. Although it does not affect me all the time, it would be nice to see an interface on the device that was more similar to the one on the desk top. At least just for scheduling.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Easily the most attractive thing about this software is the approachability and ease at which one can create a dynamic employee schedule as well as an open line of communication between employees. Everything about When I Work is very intuitive and malleable, and thus is a good solution for those operating a business.

Cons
The least attractive thing about this software is the cost of it compared to other similar products, and the lack of flexibility inherent in the availability of employee function.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
ease, functionality, rollover capability , copy and paste function, excellent customer support. Staff really like the app function of the software. I prefer to do things on desktop, I enjoy that. I can easily add/remove/assign staff as is necessary. I can block days easily. requests arrive immediately.

Cons
it is more expensive than other similar products. I cannot limit each employee's availability (I called and tried, found a solution, not best, but still a solution)

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
When I Work seems to be the culmination of every scheduling manager's "But I wish I could......" statements. It is intuitive, flexible, and easy both during set up and for the end users. It also helps that the customer support and company culture are inviting and informative.

Cons
What I like the least is the fact that my company is currently stuck using a different Time Clock system so we don't use that specific functionality that When I Work offers.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
It is really easy to use and employees really like being able to see their schedule and coworker's schedules/time off and that they can be notified when something changes. Setup was really easy too, and so is the maintenance of positions and shifts - so much better than paper calendars and pencil.

Cons
The time tracking doesn't meet par - there are gaps in what you should be able to track - like someone on a 4-10 schedule needs to have different OT parameters than others ( not possible to do).. things like that.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
This app takes all the hassle of building schedules and covering shifts completely our of the operation. It's versatile working across iphones and droids, has a web interface, and can even send direct text messages to your employees. I'm a big fan of the approval process for managers regarding time off and shift swap. I also like the employee export features that show time off used and (a different kind of export) a quick contact sheet when needed.

Cons
The option to print a schedule always prints in alphabetical employee order. I'd like an option to print in employee POSITION order.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
When I Work makes schedule making so simple. I love the fact that I can just copy over the previous week to the following week rather than starting from scratch each week. It has made scheduling a painless task now. The ability to drag and drop each shift to the appropriate employee is also another great thing about this app.

Cons
I wish there was a way that you can pay to add 1 or 2 employees rather than having to move between tiers. Especially when you need just one more employee but the price increase is very steep.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 9/10

Pros
I can view my schedule as well as the full staff schedule. It's easy to request time off, even months in advance. When signing in and out you can add a note and I can access it anywhere! Also easy to go back and tally your hours.

Cons
I just wish you could program it to accrue your time off and sick time automatically.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
Both teenage employees and retirees are able to use the program with limited difficulties. It also allows flexibility in programs and cost which is ideal for a season company like ours. We have over 100 employees in-season, and less than 10 in the off-season and we make adjustments all year long.

Cons
The availability feature is not as user friendly as it could be, and has some limitations regarding users and changing availability after schedules have been posted.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10

Pros
The new update that allows me to open up my app and see todays shifts right away. Makes looking at my daily schedule so easy. I also like the ability to create holiday schedules and save them as templates.

Cons
Maybe Im just not sure how to do it but I would like to be able to click on a shift and change the persons name who the shift is assigned to. Currently it only allows me to change the location, hours, job title (I think).

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
I love how easy this software is to use for all of my employees and myself. It has taken scheduling to the next level and I can't imagine using anything else now!

Cons
Honestly, I have not found anything that I would really complain about. The only thing that would make it easier for my personal use is the preferred work time could be a little easier to see with all my employees. I would like a generalized option for them instead of a daily change.

Rating breakdown

Pros
It makes scheduling so much easier with the "copy previous week" feature. Also, the fact that employees are able to edit their own availability helps the scheduling process go smoother.

Cons
You can't delete/erase chats! It's literally the most infuriating thing to just have them pile up. Especially when you have various employees plus group chats. I wish I was able to delete the threads as soon as I'm done with them.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10