WhenMathShift Handoff Planner
Enter an outgoing shift and an incoming shift to see whether they overlap, meet exactly, or leave a coverage gap between them, and exactly how long that overlap or gap lasts.
Worked example
An outgoing shift from 09:00 to 17:00 and an incoming shift from 16:00 to the following midnight overlap for exactly one hour, from 16:00 to 17:00, since that is the only stretch of time both shifts actually cover at once. Shift the incoming shift's start to 17:00 instead and the two shifts meet exactly, with no overlap and no gap, a clean handoff at a single instant. Push the incoming start to 18:00 and a real one-hour coverage gap opens up between 17:00 and 18:00, a stretch of time neither shift actually covers, which is exactly the kind of gap worth catching before it happens on a real schedule.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to check the next-day box for a shift that crosses midnight, which makes an otherwise correct overnight shift look like it ends earlier than it actually does.
- Assuming any shared clock hour automatically means overlap. Two shifts on opposite sides of midnight need their next-day flags set correctly for the comparison to mean anything.
Limitations
This compares two shifts anchored to the same calendar day only. It does not check business-day status, holidays, or staffing requirements beyond the two shift windows you enter.
Frequently asked questions
- What if the two shifts do not touch at all, with a large gap?
- The gap length is reported the same way as a one-hour gap, just larger, along with a plain notice that a coverage gap exists.
- Can this compare more than two shifts at once?
- Not directly. Run it once per adjacent pair of shifts in a longer rotation.