How to set and change the working schedule

What is it for?

The working schedule says how many hours each employee works per day. On this screen you also fill in the schedule map, the document the law requires you to post at the workplace, and you record each change to the schedule, with the date it was posted. fiscaldoo compares that date with the required notice and tells you whether the change conforms.

When to use it?

• When the company starts using payroll and needs to post the map.
• When the schedule is going to change: record the change and the notice given to employees.
• When an employee moves to a different schedule from a given date.

Do not change the hours of a schedule already used on a closed payslip: fiscaldoo refuses (see “Common problems”). Duplicate it and apply the copy.

Where to find it?

• Schedule map: People › Configure › Time Management › Working Schedules › open the schedule › Schedule map (PT) tab.
• Changes: Payroll › Prepare › Work time › Changes of the working schedule. On the schedule form, the Changes of the schedule tab shows the same lines.

Before you start

• Your profile is Payroll Administrator: you can do every step in this article.
• The HR profile sees the changes and creates them, but does not have the Working Schedules menu. The Payroll Processor can only view the changes: it has no New button.
• Have to hand the activity, the address of the workplace and the period during which the company is open.

How to use it

Fill in and print the map

1. Open People › Configure › Time Management › Working Schedules and open the schedule, for example PT 40.0h/8.0h (demonstração), the one used by seven employees in the demonstration.
2. Click the Schedule map (PT) tab. While anything is missing, you see “The map of the schedule is incomplete (art. 215.º). Missing: activity, seat and place of work, operating period.”
3. Write the Activity carried out, for example Contabilidade e consultoria, and the Seat and place of work, for example Rua de Exemplo, 1, Lisboa.
4. In Operating period: start and Operating period: end, write the times, for example 8:00 and 19:00. In Closing day, write Domingo.
5. Fill in, if they exist, the Adaptability regime, the Number of shifts and the Collective agreement (IRCT). In Workers consulted on and Map posted on, write the dates, for example 15/10/2026 and 20/10/2026.
6. Save. If the schedule has more than one employee, the warning “This working schedule is used by 7 employee(s), are you sure you want change it for all employees?” appears: click Confirm. The warning also appears when you have only filled in the map.
7. Click Print the map to post and post the PDF.

Record a schedule change

1. Open Payroll › Prepare › Work time › Changes of the working schedule and click New.
2. In Working schedule, choose the schedule.
3. Write Applies from and Posted on. fiscaldoo calculates the Notice given (days) and shows the Notice required (days).
4. If you consulted the employees, tick Workers consulted and write Consulted on.
5. Tick, if applicable, Individually agreed schedule, Change of at most one week (then write Lasts (days) and tick Recorded in the book) or Increases the worker's expenses (write the Compensation).
6. If the collective agreement sets a different notice, write IRCT: notice (days) and IRCT clause: that notice replaces the legal one.
7. Save and read the Result.

Apply a new schedule to an employee

1. In Working Schedules, open the schedule, click Actions › Duplicate and change the name and the Hours of each day on the copy. Save.
2. Open Payroll › Prepare › Workers and contracts › Pay history and open the employee's line.
3. Click + and choose the effective date, for example 01/12/2026. The points to watch with the new version are in How to change the salary.
4. On the Payroll tab, under Plan, choose the copy in Working Hours. Save.

Expected result

• On the map, the “Missing” banner disappears. The PDF shows the employer, the activity, the seat, the operating period (“08:00-19:00 · Domingo”), the weekly rest, the normal periods of each day (“09:00-13:00 / 14:00-18:00”) and Posted on: 20/10/2026.
• The list of changes has one line per change, with the Result:

Example (in the demonstration)	Notice required	Given	Result
Consulted, applies on 20/11, posted on 10/11	7	10	Conforming
Consulted, applies on 20/11, posted on 15/11	7	5	Not conforming: posted too late
Not consulted	7	5	Not conforming: workers not consulted
Individually agreed schedule	7	8	Not conforming: individually agreed schedule
Collective agreement with 5 days, posted with 8	5	8	Conforming

• A non-conforming change shows at the top “This change does not respect art. 217.º of the Labour Code: … It is a serious administrative offence (art. 217.º/6).”, but it is saved: fiscaldoo warns, it does not block.
• A schedule applied through a version applies from the version's date. In the example, Diogo Ferreira Lopes's version of 01/12/2026 has the new schedule and the one of 01/02/2026 keeps the old one.
• None of this generates journal entries. The hours reach the payslips through each employee's contract.

Important notes

• Notice. The default notice is 7 days, 3 in a micro-company. The Micro-company field is ticked by itself, from Payroll › Configure › Company › Company size. A one-week change has its own rules and an annual limit. Pending validation by a certified accountant or employment lawyer: notices, short change and administrative offence under art. 217.º of the Labour Code (Código do Trabalho).
• The PDF is produced even when the map is incomplete. Print the map to post does not refuse: first check that the “Missing” banner has disappeared.
• The result only compares dates. fiscaldoo cannot see whether the map was really posted or whether the consultation took place: it trusts the dates and ticks you enter.

Common problems

The banner says the “start and end of the normal periods” are missing

• Symptom: on a schedule created with New, or on the demonstration's 40 horas/semana, the “Missing” banner adds “start and end of the normal periods”. The PDF shows “8.0 h, start and end not given” and the break “—”.
• Cause: the schedule only has the Hours for each day. The map must say when each period starts and ends.
• What to do: in the list of days, fill in Work from and Work to on every day and save. With 9:00 and 17:00, Monday shows “09:00-17:00” and the banner stops mentioning the times. To have a break in the middle of the day, start from a schedule that already has two periods, with Actions › Duplicate. Changing a day's Hours only changes the end time: with 3:30, Monday became “09:00-12:30 / 14:00-18:00”.

“The schedule … cannot be changed”

• Message: “The schedule “PT 40.0h/8.0h (demonstração)” cannot be changed. What happened: it is the schedule of a contract version that already has a validated or paid payslip, and a closed payslip keeps the hours it used. How to fix it: duplicate the schedule, change the copy and apply it in a new contract version with its start date. The attempt was recorded in the audit log.”
• Cause: you tried to change the Hours of a schedule already used on closed payslips. The map can still be filled in.
• What to do: follow “Apply a new schedule to an employee”. Closed payslips stay as they are. To correct amounts on a closed payslip, see How to correct a payroll run.

“The version of … was not created”: the Usual Work Location is missing

• Message: “The version of 01/12/2026 was not created. What happened: the contract of Diogo Ferreira Lopes has no Usual Work Location, and a new version copies it. How to fix it: fill in the Usual Work Location in the contract, save, and then add the version.”
• What to do: on the Work tab of the file, choose the location in Usual Work Location and save. If the location does not exist yet, type the name and choose Create “…” in the list. The Payroll Administrator can also create it.

Errors when saving a change

• “The change of the schedule was posted after it starts. What happened: “Posted on” (22/11/2026) is later than “Applies from” (20/11/2026). How to fix it: correct the dates.”
• “A change of at most one week has no duration. How to fix it: fill in “Lasts (days)”.”
• “The notice of an IRCT needs the clause and the clause needs the notice. What happened: “IRCT: notice (days)” and “IRCT clause” must be filled in together. How to fix it: fill in both or clear both.”

Correct the field the message points to and save again. On a change that Increases the worker's expenses, also write the Compensation: without it, fiscaldoo does not save.