One short-staffed morning can become a licensing issue.

Time Off Schedule was built by a daycare. You set the coverage each room needs; it stops the requests that would drop you below it.

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Sound familiar?

"A staff member texts you at 10pm Sunday that they need Monday off. You spend the night reworking the schedule."

"Two people are off and you didn't realize until drop-off. Now you're in a room you're not supposed to be covering."

"You're tracking vacation days in a spreadsheet that hasn't been right since March."

How it works

Your staff don't sit at desks. Neither do you. Everything works from a phone.

1

Staff requests time off

From their phone, in 30 seconds. No forms, no email, no hallway ask.

2

You get a text

Approve or deny in one tap. Smart rules block requests that would put you under the coverage minimum you set.

3

Everyone knows

The calendar updates. Your team sees who's in and who's out. No follow-ups needed.

Built for how daycares actually work

Coverage minimums

Set a rule: no more than 2 staff off on any day. Requests that would leave you short are blocked automatically. No awkward conversations.

SMS approvals

You're on the floor with kids, not at a desk. A text you can reply to in 10 seconds is the difference between a smooth morning and a scramble.

Audit-ready records

Every request, approval, and denial is timestamped. When licensing asks, you have the paper trail. Automatically.

Accrual tracking

Staff turnover is real in childcare. Every hire date, every balance, every used day — tracked without a spreadsheet.

Team calendar

See who's in and who's out before the morning rush. One glance tells you if tomorrow's coverage is solid.

Facility maintenance

Staff report issues. You track fixes. Licensing inspectors see a timestamped record of every repair. Included at no extra cost.

I used to spend Sunday evenings dreading Monday. Now I check the app and know exactly where we stand.

Director of a 28-person daycare center, 3-year customer

Running a licensed childcare center means one short-staffed morning can become a licensing issue. We haven't had that problem since.

$99/month per center. Everything included.

Unlimited staff. Unlimited requests. No per-person fees.

For a 30-person center, that's $3.30/person/month.

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30-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Questions daycare directors ask

Does Time Off Schedule calculate staff-to-child ratios?
No. It has no knowledge of your enrolment or room assignments and does not monitor ratio compliance. What it enforces is a coverage minimum: you work out the headcount each room needs from your own licensing ratios, and Time Off Schedule blocks any request that would drop you below that number. If you want help working out those numbers, we publish a free ratio calculator in our article on staff-to-child ratios.
How do staff request time off?
From their phone, in about 30 seconds. There is no app to install and no password to remember. Staff pick their dates and the type of leave, add a note if they want to, and submit.
Can I stop too many staff being off on the same day?
Yes. That is what coverage minimums do. You set how many staff must be present, per room if you like, and requests that would put you under are blocked before they ever reach you. You stop being the person who has to say no.
Does it work alongside Brightwheel or Lillio?
Yes, and that is how most centers use it. Keep Brightwheel or Lillio for parent messaging, daily reports, check-in and billing. Add Time Off Schedule for the staff side those tools leave to your spreadsheet. There is no rip-and-replace.
How much does it cost for a daycare center?
$99 per month per center, whether you have 8 staff or 80. Unlimited staff, unlimited requests, every feature included. Run more than one center and it is $99 for each, with no volume tiers. There is a 30-day free trial and no credit card is required to start.
Does it track vacation and sick days separately?
Yes. You can create as many leave categories as you need — vacation, sick, personal, bereavement, family responsibility — and each one carries its own accrual rate, notice period, documentation requirement and carryover rule.
Will it help at a licensing inspection?
It keeps a timestamped record of every request, who approved or denied it, when, and any note or document attached. When an inspector asks how you handled absences and whether you were appropriately staffed, that history is in one place rather than across texts and a filing cabinet.

You take care of the kids. We'll take care of the schedule.

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