Rosters, pay and leave
10 min read
Managing staff on your dairy farm includes having effective systems for rosters, timesheets, pay, and leave. This page covers the essentials of creating rosters tailored to your business, recording actual working hours through timesheets, and understanding how to handle leave, holidays, and breaks for employee well-being. You'll also find guidance on fair salary and wages for different responsibilities, and information on payroll procedures. Tools like an annual leave calculator are provided to make managing your team's leave entitlements simpler and more accurate.
Getting good systems in place for rosters, timesheets, pay and leave is an essential part of managing staff.
Having the right roster in place is key for a sustainable, enjoyable, and rewarding work environment.
The DairyNZ Roster Builder tool was retired in July 2021, as new rostering tools became available in the market.
We've been working with PaySauce who have built a rostering system that we think you’ll love. It has features you’ve been asking for and the advantage of linking to their payroll system which we strongly recommend. You can find out more about PaySauce here.
Keeping accurate time records, having good farm systems and a focus on wellbeing are key components to achieve this. A well-designed roster ensures employer and employee needs are met, while also ensuring there are enough people with the right skills available.
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week | Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
5:2 | 104 | 261 | 5 | 20 | 9.5 |
Features of 5:2
5:2 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/ week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
7:2, 7:2, 7:3 | 91 | 274 | 5.25 | 21 | 7 |
Features of 7:2, 7:2, 7:3
7:2, 7:2, 7:3 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
6:2 | 90 | 275 | 5.27 | 21.08 | 9 |
Features of 6:2
6:2 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
8:2, 8:3 | 85 | 280 | 5.36 | 21.46 | 7 |
Features of 8:2, 8:3
8:2, 8:3 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
11:3 | 78 | 287 | 5.5 | 22 | 7 |
Features of 11:3
11:3 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
8:2 | 72 | 293 | 5.62 | 22.46 | 7 |
Features of 8:2
8:2 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
12:2 | 52 | 313 | 6 | 24 | 7 |
Features of 12:2
12:2 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week | Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
4:3, 6:1 | 104 | 261 | 5 | 20 | 9.5 |
Features of 4:3, 6:1
4:3, 6:1 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
5:2, 6:1 | 78 | 287 | 5.51 | 22 | 8.5 |
Features of 5:2, 6:1
5:2, 6:1 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Roster rotation (on:off) |
Rostered days off/season |
Working days/season (incl. leave) |
Working days/week |
Annual leave entitlement |
Max. hrs/day (to achieve a 48hr working week) |
9:3 | 91 | 274 | 5.26 | 21 | 7 |
Features of 9:3
9:3 works well for
Things you would need to manage
Creating a roster doesn’t have to be a complicated exercise, it can be as simple as a calendar or wall planner at the cowshed or a more complex spreadsheet. As long as it is visible to everyone on the team, shows days on and off, with breaks clearly marked, how it is done is up to you and your team.
The thinking behind a great roster
Write down things that are important to your business (e.g. maximum days on, minimum days off, maximum hours per day, training days per week, etc.). Prioritise the list in order of importance to you and your employees.
Ask employees what commitments or hobbies they have outside of work, and their preferences for time off. Do they prefer weekends or weekdays off? You may be able to accommodate some of their needs.
Rethink areas where team members work high hours:
Consider your own requirements for time off.
Consider the availability of relief milkers and part-time staff and your budget for them.
Break the farming year into work or seasonal periods. For example calving period, mating period, summer period, dry period. Start with only one work period at a time, and plan what tasks will be done in that time and by whom. Many employers change their roster throughout the year so staff get adequate rest over high workload periods, such as in spring.
Don’t forget to allow time for team meetings, planning, training, and managing (it’s all farm work!).
Select two or three roster rotations to play around with:
Draft up some rosters and consider the pros and cons of each:
Choose the best roster and communicate it to your team:
Review the roster:
Many employers find themselves under-staffed because:
This can result in fewer people available to complete the same (or more work) in a day, and it drives up the hours we expect our teams to work and leads to stress and fatigue.