Set Up Shift Pilot for Your 3PL Workforce

1. Create one accountable company workspace

Create the workspace with your 3PL operating name and primary timezone. The timezone is the default context for schedules, timecards, and payroll dates. Keep one owner accountable for the first setup and payroll review.

Company workspaces, memberships, settings, workforce records, invitations, payroll records, and document metadata are scoped to that company. Do not use another company’s workspace for a temporary warehouse or customer site.

2. Confirm the operating baseline

Before the first shift, review Settings for payroll-cycle dates, 15-minute rounding, break rules, normal workdays, and overtime policy. Shift Pilot uses the configured workweek for overtime review; a long shift is not automatically overtime unless the company has enabled a daily overtime rule.

Use your own approved payroll policy and qualified advice for these choices. Shift Pilot supports configured time and wage review, not legal worker classification, withholding, tax calculation, filing, or payment decisions.

3. Set roles, rates, and activation gates

Invite an office reviewer before adding a small pilot group of warehouse, fulfillment, dispatch, or cross-dock staff. Use the recipient’s exact email address for an email invitation. Each worker needs an appropriate role, active status, and effective-dated hourly rate before payroll review.

A company-selected W-2 employee must complete the in-app W-4 collection and certification flow before activation. A company-selected 1099 contractor must complete the W-9 collection workflow before activation. These operational gates do not determine legal classification.

4. Name the first operating location

Create a recognizable company-scoped location for the first warehouse, fulfillment center, cross-dock, or office site. The Starter trial supports the first active location. Confirm the active plan and configuration before relying on multiple-location workflows; the current public plan matrix lists that capability on Pro.

5. Run a controlled first shift

Start with a small group and have an office administrator or supervisor observe the mobile-browser clock-in, break, and clock-out flow. Completed shifts become available for Timecard review. Authorized office users can enter an audited manual shift with the intended date when necessary.

Use Jobs only when you want a documented assignment or work-unit workflow in Shift Pilot. Jobs do not manage inventory, orders, SKUs, picking, carrier activity, warehouse tasks, or customer billing.

6. Review time before payroll

Each day, review completed and open shifts, missed punches, pending corrections, employee status, and applicable rates. Resolve operational exceptions before calculating payroll. Open shifts are not completed time for payroll review.

The Labor Command Center can show completed-shift labor cost, estimated payroll, and overtime exposure as management context. Estimates are separate from payroll calculations and cannot approve, pay, edit, or recalculate payroll.

7. Close the first week deliberately

The owner and office reviewer should verify timezone, payroll dates, workweek, active roster, rates, invites, W-9/W-4 completion, timecards, and overtime flags. Mark a period paid only after your company has completed its external payment process. Paid records are read-only to preserve the audit trail.

For help, provide the company workspace, user email, role, page, action, and approximate time. Do not send passwords, W-9/W-4 values, Social Security numbers, bank details, payment-card data, or other sensitive information in a support request.

Quick answers

Frequently asked questions

Common first-week setup questions for a 3PL time-and-labor workflow.