Nail Tech Schedule Template: Weekly Staff Shifts for Salons (2026)
This is a weekly grid for a US nail salon: who's in, when they start and finish, where the break falls, which services each tech can take, which chair she works, how many hours she has, and who opens and closes. Copy the table, swap in your own names, and run the checklist before you post the week. The rows are a made-up example. They are not a target, and they are not Bukkii data.
Contents · 12 sections
What a generic grid misses
A free employee template gives you a name, a day, and an in and out time. That works for shifts where everyone does the same job. A nail week doesn't work that way. Lan can take a gel set but not acrylic. Kim can take a pedicure but not a gel set. Hoa is the tech clients ask for by name. Saturday piles the long sets onto the techs who actually do them. A square on paper that just says 10 to 7 tells the booking page none of that.
As of November 5, 2026, search results for a free schedule template are mostly employee grids and timesheets like Griddy, Clockify, and Template.net, plus weekly setup guides like Styloving. Those pages are built around who clocked in. A nail week also needs the service, the chair, and the client who will only sit with one tech. This page is that sheet, built for a US nail salon. It's an operations guide, not a software comparison, and it doesn't quote anyone else's price.
Use it whether your techs work on commission or rent a booth. The example further down is made up. The names aren't a real staff, the hours aren't a target, and none of it is Bukkii data. Delete the example once your own names are in.
The example week
The made-up shop is open Monday 10:00–6:00, Tuesday through Friday 10:00–7:00, Saturday 9:00–6:00, and Sunday 11:00–5:00. There are four techs. Lan, Hoa, and Kim are on commission, so the owner writes their shifts. Mai rents chair 3 and picks her own days. Those days still get written down, or Tuesday acrylic only exists in someone's head.
Lan, in chair 2, does gel sets, gel fills, dip, and manicures. She doesn't do acrylic or pedicures. Hoa, in chair 1, does acrylic sets and fills, gel sets and fills, and dip. She's the one regulars ask for by name. Kim, on the pedi chair, does pedicures, manicures, and gel polish on natural nails. Gel polish is not a gel set. Mai, in chair 3, does acrylic sets, acrylic fills, and dip. She doesn't do gel sets or pedicures.
We left a few holes in the example on purpose so the checklist has something to catch. On Friday, Lan and Hoa both break from 2:00 to 2:30, and they're the only two who take a gel set. Move one of those breaks before you post the week. On Wednesday Kim is off, so there's no pedicure all day. On Thursday nobody who does acrylic is in until Hoa arrives at noon. A booking page that ignores the grid will still sell those times.
Copy this template
The table lives right on this page. There's no file to download. Select it, copy it, and paste it into Google Sheets or Excel. Each tech gets one row per day, including days off, so a blank day is a choice and not a hole you missed. The services cell repeats on her day off so the mapping doesn't disappear when she's out. The last row is empty. Add six more rows for the rest of that tech's week, then add the next tech.
Weekly hours get their own table below instead of a column on every day, so you're not pasting the same number seven times. Breaks fall inside the start and end times. They aren't extra hours tacked onto the end of the day.
| Tech | Day | Start | End | Break start | Break end | Services this week | Chair or station | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lan | Monday | Off | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | |||||
| Lan | Tuesday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | Yes | — |
| Lan | Wednesday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | — | — |
| Lan | Thursday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | — | Yes |
| Lan | Friday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | — | — |
| Lan | Saturday | 9:00 | 6:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | Yes | — |
| Lan | Sunday | Off | Gel set, gel fill, dip, manicure | Chair 2 | |||||
| Hoa | Monday | 10:00 | 6:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Hoa | Tuesday | Off | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | |||||
| Hoa | Wednesday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:30 | 3:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | Yes | — |
| Hoa | Thursday | 12:00 | 7:00 | 3:30 | 4:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | — | — |
| Hoa | Friday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | — | Yes |
| Hoa | Saturday | 9:00 | 6:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | — | Yes |
| Hoa | Sunday | 11:00 | 5:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, gel set, gel fill, dip | Chair 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Kim | Monday | 10:00 | 6:00 | 1:00 | 1:30 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | — | — |
| Kim | Tuesday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:30 | 3:00 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | — | Yes |
| Kim | Wednesday | Off | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | |||||
| Kim | Thursday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | Yes | — |
| Kim | Friday | 11:00 | 7:00 | 3:00 | 3:30 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | — | — |
| Kim | Saturday | 9:00 | 5:00 | 12:30 | 1:00 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | — | — |
| Kim | Sunday | 11:00 | 5:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 | Pedicure, manicure, gel polish | Pedi chair | — | — |
| Mai | Monday | Off | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | |||||
| Mai | Tuesday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | — | — |
| Mai | Wednesday | 12:00 | 7:00 | 3:00 | 3:30 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | — | Yes |
| Mai | Thursday | Off | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | |||||
| Mai | Friday | 10:00 | 7:00 | 1:30 | 2:00 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | Yes | — |
| Mai | Saturday | 9:00 | 6:00 | 2:00 | 2:30 | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | — | — |
| Mai | Sunday | Off | Acrylic set, acrylic fill, dip | Chair 3 | |||||
| Your tech | Monday |
Weekly hours
Hours on the clock run from start to end. Break hours are blocked on the book, so the hours left to book are fewer. Lan is on the clock 45 hours with 2.5 hours of breaks, which leaves 42.5 hours a client can actually sit with her. Hoa is on the clock 48 hours, with 3 hours of breaks and 45 left to book. Kim's numbers match Hoa's. Mai, on the days she chose, is on the clock 34 hours, with 2 hours of breaks and 32 left to book.
Write down which of those two numbers you pay a commission tech for, and don't switch the rule in the middle of the week. This page doesn't pick a pay rule, and it isn't legal advice. Booth rent isn't calculated from these hours. Mai's number stays on the sheet anyway, so her agreed days are visible before Monday.
| Tech | How this example pays | Hours on the clock | Break hours blocked | Hours left to book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lan | Commission | 45 | 2.5 | 42.5 |
| Hoa | Commission | 48 | 3 | 45 |
| Kim | Commission | 48 | 3 | 45 |
| Mai | Booth rent | 34 | 2 | 32 |
Booth rent and commission
With commission techs, you set the shifts. You also name the opener and the closer. If Kim is in the building but doesn't have the keys, she isn't the closer. The closer is the person whose end time matches the shop's closing time and who's marked Closes on the row.
A booth renter usually picks her own days. Mai picked Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. If those days live in a text message and never make it onto the grid, two things go wrong. Her chair gets offered on Monday, when she's out. And Saturday can look fully staffed on paper while the person who actually locks the door was never written down. Put her days on the same grid as the commission techs before the week opens. You're not setting her hours for her. You're making the hours she already chose visible to the book.
A tech who's still learning acrylic doesn't go on the acrylic list this week. The services cell lists what she'll do for clients now, not what she hopes to be doing by summer.
Services and the name they ask for
Read the services column across the whole week, not down a single day. Gel sets and gel fills are Lan and Hoa. Acrylic sets and acrylic fills are Hoa and Mai. Dip is Lan, Hoa, and Mai. Pedicures and gel polish are Kim only. Manicures are Lan and Kim. Hoa doesn't take plain manicures in this example, which is normal for a tech whose chair is full of sets.
The any-available option means the techs who do that service, are inside their start and end times, aren't on break, and aren't already with a client. It doesn't mean everyone in the building. A pedicure request can't land on Lan. An acrylic full set can't land on Kim. Gel polish can't quietly turn into a gel set just because the gel tech happens to be free. Those are different services at different prices.
A named request uses one column only. A client who asks for Lan for a gel fill sees Lan's Monday and Sunday as off, not Hoa offered in her place. Offer the other tech only if the client asks to switch. A client who asks for Hoa on Thursday morning sees no acrylic time until noon, because that's when Hoa's row starts, and Mai is off. A client who asks for Kim on Wednesday sees no pedicure times at all.
How that column gets built in software is covered in nail salon scheduling software. The sheet on this page is what you fill in before that column exists.
Breaks, open, and close
Stagger breaks for any service two techs can do. On Saturday the breaks run Kim 12:30–1:00, Lan 1:00–1:30, Hoa 1:30–2:00, and Mai 2:00–2:30. While Lan is on break, Hoa can still take a gel set. While Mai is on break, Hoa can still take acrylic. A service only one tech can do goes dark during her break no matter how you stagger everyone else. Saturday pedicures go dark from 12:30 to 1:00, and again after 5:00 when Kim leaves. Block both. Don't leave the pedicure menu looking open.
Friday is the overlap to fix. From 2:00 to 2:30, Lan and Hoa are both on break. Mai doesn't do gel sets, and neither does Kim. For that half hour, the example has nobody who can do a gel set. Move either Lan's Friday break or Hoa's, then check the row again.
Opening and closing are assigned to named people on the grid. Every day the shop is open needs one person whose start matches opening time and one person whose end matches closing time. On Monday and Sunday, that's Hoa for both. Tuesday, Lan opens and Kim closes. Wednesday, Hoa opens and Mai closes. Mai doesn't start until noon, which is fine because she's the closer, not the opener. Thursday, Kim opens and Lan closes. Friday, Mai opens and Hoa closes. Saturday, Lan opens and Hoa closes.
| Day | Shop hours | Opens | Closes | What goes dark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 10:00–6:00 | Hoa | Hoa | Lan and Mai are off. Acrylic and gel are Hoa only. |
| Tuesday | 10:00–7:00 | Lan | Kim | Hoa is off. Acrylic is Mai only. |
| Wednesday | 10:00–7:00 | Hoa | Mai | Kim is off. No pedicure and no gel polish. |
| Thursday | 10:00–7:00 | Kim | Lan | No acrylic until noon, when Hoa starts. |
| Friday | 10:00–7:00 | Mai | Hoa | Lan and Hoa both break 2:00–2:30. No gel set in that half hour. |
| Saturday | 9:00–6:00 | Lan | Hoa | Pedicure ends at 5:00, when Kim leaves. Peak day for sets. |
| Sunday | 11:00–5:00 | Hoa | Hoa | Lan and Mai are off. Hoa opens and closes. |
A fill and a full set
Set the length on each service, using the times already on your menu. A gel fill is shorter than a new gel set. An acrylic fill is shorter than a new acrylic set. This page doesn't publish a standard minute count, because a number copied from another shop's menu won't match yours.
If the booking page uses the same length for a fill and a set, the Saturday column will be wrong in one of two ways. Either two clients get stacked in one chair, or the page shows an opening that isn't really free because the set ran long. The grid on this page holds the shift. The service length holds the visit inside that shift. Keep them as two separate facts.
Weekly checklist
Run through this before you post the week. The example fails item 3 until you move the Friday break. That's exactly why we left it in.
| # | Before you post the week |
|---|---|
| 1 | Every open day has a named opener and a named closer, and their start and end cover the shop hours. |
| 2 | Saturday has the techs who do gel, acrylic, and the names clients ask for. A pedicure column does not cover a full set. |
| 3 | Breaks for the same service do not land on top of each other. In the example, Friday 2:00–2:30 puts both gel techs on break. Move one. |
| 4 | A service only one tech can do is blocked during her break and on her day off. Wednesday has no pedicure. Thursday morning has no acrylic. |
| 5 | The services on the row are the services she will do this week. Someone still learning acrylic is not on the acrylic list yet. |
| 6 | Any available is limited to techs on that service. A named request uses only that tech's column, including her day off. |
| 7 | Weekly hours are added up. Write down whether the break counts as paid. This page does not pick a pay rule. |
| 8 | A same-day call-out closes that column on the booking page the same morning. A line through the paper does not close the page. |
| 9 | Next week starts as a copy of this grid. Change the days off. Do not rebuild it from a blank sheet on Sunday night. |
From the sheet to the booking page
The sheet is the plan. The booking page is what the client sees. A break that exists only on paper is still a time the page will sell. Copy the grid over in this order.
Working hours. The start and end on each row become that tech's hours for the day. A row marked Off is closed. It isn't a 10-to-7 day with no appointments yet. If you leave the hours open and hope nobody books, somebody will.
The break. Block from break start to break end on her column. Do it even if she says she'll only take the break when things are slow. If a break is optional, it isn't really a break. Write down the one she'll actually take, then block that one.
Services. Turn on only what her row lists. Don't turn on acrylic for Kim just because the menu has acrylic. Don't turn on gel sets just because she does gel polish.
Any available. For a client who doesn't name a tech, show times when at least one tech who does that service is inside her hours, off break, and not already booked. Don't show a time when the only people in the shop can't do the service.
A name. For a client who asks for a specific tech, show only that tech's column. If her column is Off or she's on break, show no time. Don't move the client to another tech without asking.
Length. Fills and full sets keep the lengths from your menu. The shift doesn't replace the service length.
A call-out. The morning someone calls out, set her day to Off on the booking page before you cross her out on paper. A walk-in still needs a closer. An open slot at 6:40 p.m. doesn't put a person in the shop to lock the door.
How clients reach that page is covered in nail salon online booking. The page can only offer what this grid has already decided.
When the sheet should be live
You can keep this grid on paper or in Sheets and type the same hours into whatever book you use. If you'd rather have the booking page follow the grid without making a second copy every Sunday, Bukkii Calendar holds each tech's start and end, her blocked break, and the services she can take. The client then sees only the hours the sheet left open.
Calendar is $0 for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. Reserve with Google is not on Free. $20 a month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. Calendar does not answer the phone. Prices below are from bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 5, 2026. This sheet is written for the floor of a US nail salon.
AIVA answers the calls your salon would otherwise miss. AIVA answers callers in English only. She doesn't speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, or any other language to callers. You can read this page in Spanish or Vietnamese, but the phone voice stays English. AIVA is $200 one-time. No free trial, no monthly fee, no contract. The payment includes a dedicated number, training on your menu and policies, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. Packs never expire. She texts the appointment details after it's booked. She doesn't auto-text a caller who already hung up. Setup is done through call forwarding. This page doesn't describe number porting. The number on your door stays with your carrier. Hear the English voice at (215) 791-6766. Get started.
FAQ
What belongs on a nail tech schedule template?
The tech's name, a Monday-through-Sunday shift with start and end times, the break, the services that tech can do, the chair or station, weekly hours, and who opens and who closes. A grid with only a name and an in and out time leaves the booking page guessing.
How is a booth renter's week different from a commission tech's week?
With commission techs, the owner sets the shifts, including who opens and who closes. A booth renter usually picks her own days. Those days still go on the same grid before the week starts, so her chair isn't offered when she's out and Saturday still has someone who can close.
Why can't the any-available choice include every tech who is in the salon?
A gel set or an acrylic set can only go to a tech who does that service. If the booking page treats everyone on the clock as available for every service, a client can end up with a pedicure tech for a full set, or with a tech who's on break.
How does a break on a paper or Sheets schedule reach online booking?
It doesn't, until you block it. A break written on the sheet is still an open slot on the booking page. Block the break on that tech's column, and limit each service to the techs who actually do it. A client who asks for a tech by name should see only that tech's column.
How long should a gel fill and a full set block on the schedule?
Set the length on each service, using the times already on your menu. A fill is shorter than a new set. This page doesn't publish a standard minute count. If every appointment uses the same length, Saturday either stacks two clients in one chair or shows openings that aren't really free.
Does Bukkii Calendar answer the phone, and what language does AIVA use?
Calendar does not answer the phone. Calendar is $0 for up to 3 staff and includes the booking website. Reserve with Google is not on Free. $20 a month unlocks unlimited staff and customers, plus Reserve with Google. Email reminders come with the $20 plan. AIVA answers callers in English only. AIVA does not speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, or any other language to callers. AIVA is $200 one-time, with no monthly fee, no contract, and no free trial. The payment includes a dedicated number, training, calendar setup, and call forwarding, plus 100 voice minutes and 1,500 SMS. After that, voice is $0.35 a minute and SMS is $0.035. Packs never expire. She texts the appointment details after it's booked. She doesn't auto-text someone who already hung up. Setup is done through call forwarding, not number porting. Prices are from bukkii.ai/pricing, checked November 5, 2026.
