Get Started with Square Shifts

1. Log in to your online Square Dashboard and click Staff > Team > Team Members.
2. Click Team member
3. Fill in the team member’s profile. Enter the team member’s name, email addres, and phone number. The email address and phone number fields are optional. The team member ID is optional, but we recommend filling it in.
4. Click Next.

Note: Adding an email address will invite the team member to sign up for Square, receive their personal passcode and access their timecards in the Square Team App. If you are a Square Payroll user, team members can also view their pay stubs in the Square Team App.

On the Jobs screen, you can assign job titles and wages to track your labour cost and view team members’ time spent performing one or multiple job functions at your business.

1. On the Jobs screen, provide a primary job title and pay type (hourly or salary). Note: If the job already exists, click Primary job title to access a drop-down menu of existing jobs.
2. Based on the selected pay type, enter an hourly rate or annual salary and weekly hours.
3. If the employee will have multiple jobs, click Add another job.
4. Click Next.

Note: While adding a job title is required, wage information is optional.

If your team member has additional job responsibilities that require a secondary wage and you’re using Square Shifts, select Add Another Wage to add another job title and pay type. The team member will be able to choose from a job title when clocking in/out in the Square app, and the wage for that job will be tracked in your labour cost reporting. For example, a team member can clock in as a Host for part of their shift and then switch to Manager.

On the Access screen, you can assign permissions to the team member. With permissions you can allow your team members to log in to the Square app to accept payments, clock in and out using the Square app or access your online Square Dashboard.

1. From the Access screen, select an existing Permission set or click Add permission set. Note: custom permissions are available to Team Plus paid subscribers. Creating new permission sets is only available through the online Square Dashboard and cannot be done in-app.
2. Click Locations to select the location your team member will work from. Note: If you’re using multiple locations and want to give your team member permission for each, toggle on Assign to All Current and Future Locations.
3. Create a personal passcode the team member will use to log in and track time. You can customize this passcode or create it randomly by clicking Generate.
4. Click Save & review.

Note: Make sure to keep this passcode for your records and provide it to your team member. Each passcode is unique per team member; this is how they’ll access the Square app on any device paired to your business location.

1. From the Navigation panel in your Square Point of Sale app, tap Team.
2. Tap the + icon to pull up the Create team member screen.
3. Enter the team member’s name, email address and phone number.
4. From here, tap Primary job title to assign the team member a job title or tap Create job to assign them a newly created job title.
5. Tap the back arrow to return to the Create team member screen and enter the team member’s hourly rate. Note: This field is not required to save your team member’s profile information.
6. Tap Permission set to assign your team member to an existing permission set. Note: Team members will automatically be assigned to Team permissions upon creation. Creating and editing new permission sets is only available on Square Dashboard at this time. Shifts Plus subscribers also receive access to a second customizable permission set in addition to team permissions access.
7. Tap Personal passcode if you’d like to create and assign a custom passcode to the team member, then tap Done. Note: An automatically generated passcode will be assigned to new team members, but you’ll always have the option to assign a custom passcode from this section.
8. Tap Location to select the appropriate location(s) for the team member and choose to toggle on/off the option to Assign to all current and future locations. Note: The Location section will default to the current location associated with your Square Point of Sale account during the creation of your team member(s).
9. After returning to the Create team member screen and confirming all information is accurate, tap Save.

Once you’ve added team members, you can assign custom permissions that give different levels of access to your online Square Dashboard or your Point of Sale.

In addition to a set of team permissions, Shifts Plus subscribers have access to a second customizable permission set. This custom permission can be assigned to multiple employees and used to give your team access to complete certain shift-related tasks, like approving timecards or managing schedules.

Learn more about creating and assigning team permissions and custom permission sets.

1. Log in to Staff > Shifts in your online Square Dashboard > Settings.
2. Under Overtime, set a daily, weekly and double-time limit. Make sure to review your province’s overtime rules.
3. Click Save.

1. Log in to Staff > Shifts in your online Square Dashboard > Settings > Breaks.
2. Click Add new break to add your first break.
3. Add a name and duration, and select the compensation setting (paid or unpaid) for the break.
4. Click Save to confirm the break settings.

Add up to three breaks in total for each of your locations.

To help stay compliant with local labour regulations requiring employee breaks, Shifts Plus allows you to enable settings that prevent team members from ending their breaks early. To get started:

1. Log in to Staff > Shifts in your online Square Dashboard > Settings > Breaks.
2. Toggle on Block Ending Breaks Early.
3. If applicable, enter a time under Allow Within and toggle on Only This Location or All Locations.
4. Click Save.

You’ll also have the ability to restrict your team members from clocking in early for their shift or on days when they’re not scheduled to work. To get started:

1. Log in to Staff > Shifts in your online Square Dashboard > Settings > Clock in/out.
2. Toggle on Block early and unscheduled clock-ins.
3. If applicable, enter a time under Allow within and toggle on Only this location or All locations.
4. Click Save.

Note: If you’ve enabled the settings to block ending breaks and clocking in early, your team member(s) will see a notification in the Square Team app if they attempt to do so.

To help maintain the accuracy of your timecards, Shifts Plus allows your team members to request changes to their timecards for past shifts. Once the appropriate setting is toggled on, team members can request changes directly from the Square Team app, and you can manage the requests through the online Square Dashboard. To get started:

1. Log in to Staff > Shifts in your online Square Dashboard, and select Settings > Clock in/out.
2. Toggle on Timecard editing.
3. Click Save.

Note: Account owners and team members with the Respond to timecard requests permission enabled will receive a notification when team members request edits to their timecard(s). These requests can be approved or declined directly from the email notification, Square Team app or online Square Dashboard. Edit requests will expire after 30 days.