- What is an Area in Deputy?
- How do I set up an Area?
- How to delete an Area
- Watch a video on customising Areas
- FAQs and tips for using Areas
What is an Area in Deputy?
As explained in Organisations, Locations and Areas set up, Areas are the teams, groups or roles that work together at each Location in your organisation.
Example: At a cafe, you might create these Areas in Deputy:
- Barista
- Waitstaff
- Manager
- Kitchen
Example: At a hair salon, you might create these areas in Deputy:
- Front desk
- Junior stylist
- Senior Stylist
- Apprentice
We set up Areas in Deputy for a variety of reasons including:
- ensuring each team member that is scheduled knows where they are working for their shift
- allowing managers to designate certain team members to be preferred as working in a specific area
- ensures team members are trained for the shift they are scheduled for
- allows correct payment depending on the role a team member is performing when using Pay by Area
How do I set up an Area?
1. On the Location page, click on Edit Settings for the Location you would like to add an area to.
2. Select the Areas tab from the menu on the left-hand side, type the name of your new area (up to 32 characters) and click Add.
3. To further configure your Area (optional) click on Edit
4. Here is where you can configure your Area including:
- edit the name of the Area if you need to change it
- Assign a colour to the Area to make it easier to identify in the Schedule.
- Assign training requirements to the area.
- Assign Preferred Team members to the area.
- Access advanced settings
Click Save when you are done.
Set up Advanced area settings
1. Click on the link to Advanced area settings.
2. On this popup you can:
- Assign an Export code so that shifts completed in this Area can be easily mapped to your payroll system. Read more.
- Choose whether shifts worked in this Area count toward worked time or whether this is a Non-worked Area.
- Assign a physical address to your Area (if this area's physical location differs from your location address). This is useful when using Geofencing.
Click Save when done.
How to delete an Area
Areas can be deleted but please be aware that the action is final and deleted Areas can not be restored.
1. On the Locations tab select Areas from the left-hand side menu and click Delete on the Area you wish to delete.
2. You will be asked to confirm your action, click Delete if you wish to remove the Area.
The area will now be removed from your location and will no longer be displayed in the Schedule.
For places where records must be kept of information associated with previous Areas, such as timesheets that were worked the Area will be displayed with the "Dlt" prefix before the Area name as shown in this example timesheet below.
Watch a video on customising Areas
FAQs and tips for using Areas
Is there a character limit for Area names?
Yes, Area names can be up to 32 characters long.
Can I change the order that which the Areas appear on the Schedule?
Yes, you can drag the order of the Areas on the Locations > Edit Settings > Area page to control the Area order in the Schedule.
I have lots of Locations, can I add Areas to multiple Locations in a bulk action?
Yes, if you have lots of Areas to add to multiple Locations use our Bulk Update / Import Locations tool.
I want only the staff I designate to be able to work in this Area
Please add these team members' names to the Preferred Team members field when setting up your Area.
Note: other employees will be able to be scheduled in this area but only if the scheduling manager overrides a warning to let them know that the team member is not preferred for this area.
Can I approve timesheets for Areas that 'Don't count towards worked time'?
No. If you create a shift in an area where 'Don't count towards worked time' is enabled, you will not be able to approve the timesheet that is automatically generated for that shift.
What are some other ways I can use Areas?
If you have a mobile workforce visiting customers's sites at different addresses you could set up Areas as your customers' addresses so that when your team members arrive at the customer's site they can clock in for a shift. To do this you would need to add the customer's physical address in Advanced area settings.
How can I track time worked in specific areas for the purpose of invoicing clients?
If you have an organisation that needs to track time worked at each client site, you can set up each Area in Deputy to represent each client and add a unique Area export code to each of those Areas. This Area export code will be exported with each timesheet worked. When the Area export code matches the code in the system you are exporting timesheets to (such as a payroll system) then you can collate all the timesheets associated with that client for invoicing purposes.
What happens to past timesheets when an area is deleted?
See our industry-specific help articles for tips and tricks on customising Deputy for your business.