Samwise plans your crew from set-up to teardown. You see while you plan when there isn’t enough rest between two jobs, and everyone clocks in with one tap on their own phone.
Launching by January 2027 at the latest. Ask us to keep you posted by 31 January 2027 and become a customer by 31 March 2027, and we’ll set up Samwise with you free of charge.
For these businesses
Event organisers, venues and event technology
Theatres and orchestras
Cinemas
Exhibition stand building
Showmen, funfairs and markets
What your days look like
Teardown until 4, set-up at 7
After a long show, the next job starts in the morning, often with the same people. Samwise shows you while you plan when there are fewer than eleven hours of rest between two shifts, so you spot it before the rota goes out.
A different crew every time
Casual staff, mini-jobbers and students join for single dates. Samwise keeps an eye on agreed hours and the mini-job earnings limit. If someone drops out, it shows you who can step in and offers the shift to everyone who fits with one click.
Young people on the crew
If someone is under 18, Samwise points it out in the rota when a shift ends too late or falls on a weekend.
Clocking in at the venue
The crew clocks in with one tap on their own phone. People without their own account see their shifts through a personal link. And times from a paper timesheet can be added afterwards, with the scan kept as a record.
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Already set up when you start
Depending on what you choose when you start, Samwise sets up these teams, activities and shifts.
Samwise is in German, so the app shows these names in German. You can rename every one of them.
The preview of the ‘Events and stand building’ template in Samwise: whatever is ticked, Samwise sets up.
Events and stand building
5 teams · 3 shifts
Teams and activities
ProjectsProject lead, Production manager
TechnicalSound, Lighting, Video, Rigging, Stage
CrewStagehand, Driver, Forklift
Stand building
GuestsHosts/promotion, Door, Cloakroom, Box office/ticketing, Artist liaison
Shifts: Events and stand building
Shift
Time
Usual days
Set-up
07:00–17:00
Mon–Sun
Show
17:00–00:00
Mon–Sun
Teardown
23:00–04:00
Mon–Sun
Showmen and markets
4 teams · 2 shifts
Teams and activities
RideRide operation, Till, Barker
AssemblyBuild-up and pull-down
Food and drinks stallFood stall
DriversDriver
Shifts: Showmen and markets
Shift
Time
Usual days
Fairground early
11:00–17:00
Mon–Sun
Fairground late
17:00–23:00
Mon–Sun
The days show when shifts like these usually run. You set your own week in the shift plan.
The rules Samwise checks while you plan
If a shift doesn’t fit these rules, Samwise points it out while you plan. You decide. If an exception applies to your business, for example in an emergency, you can plan differently with a reason.
Event organisers, technicians, theatres and cinemas
Show the rulesHide the rules
Sundays and public holidays
only under a legal exception or with a permit
Rest between two shifts
at least 11 hours
Sundays off per year
at least 15
Under-18s
6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 December
Immediate registration when new staff start
usually not required
Stand building
Show the rulesHide the rules
Sundays and public holidays
only under a legal exception or with a permit
Rest between two shifts
at least 11 hours
Sundays off per year
at least 15
Under-18s
6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 December
Immediate registration when new staff start
yes; Samwise reminds you before the first shift once you have confirmed this
Showmen
Show the rulesHide the rules
Sundays and public holidays
only under a legal exception or with a permit
Rest between two shifts
at least 11 hours
Sundays off per year
at least 15
Under-18s
6 am to 8 pm, a working day of up to 10 hours including breaks, then at least 12 hours off, not at weekends or on public holidays, and only until 2 pm on 24 and 31 DecemberExceptions you can switch on:
from age 16, until 10 pm
Saturdays, as a rule with two Saturdays a month off
Sundays, if two Sundays a month stay free
public holidays, except 25 December, 1 January, Easter Sunday and 1 May
Immediate registration when new staff start
yes; Samwise reminds you before the first shift once you have confirmed this
Where Sunday work needs a legal exception or a permit, Samwise points out every Sunday and public holiday shift. If a legal exception applies to you, for example in the Working Hours Act or a rule of your state, or the authorities have given you a permit, you confirm the shift with that reason. A permit only needs to be entered once.
For every Sunday worked, Samwise looks out for a day off in lieu, and it counts how many Sundays a year stay free for each person.
Samwise only applies exceptions for under-18s once you switch them on for a team or a shift.
Where the table shows yes for immediate registration (Sofortmeldung), new staff must be registered with social insurance no later than when they start work. You still submit the regular registration as usual. Everyone must also carry their ID card, passport or an official substitute document at work. You must tell all employees about this ID rule in writing, new staff before they start work, and keep the notices. Samwise asks you whether immediate registration applies to your business. Until you answer, Samwise points it out. Once you confirm that it applies, Samwise reminds you to register each new person before their first shift.
At performances, such as in a theatre or at a concert, under-18s may also work on Saturdays and Sundays if, for each of those days, they get another working day off in the same week that is not a vocational school day. At least two Sundays a month must stay free, and as a rule two Saturdays too. You switch this exception on in Samwise for a team or a shift. It depends on the performance, not on the type of business, which is why it isn’t in the table.
For your food stand or bar, Samwise suggests the restaurant rules when you start. Once you confirm, the shift plan treats that team like a restaurant.
With a collective agreement, 8 Sundays off a year are enough in theatres, orchestras and at shows, and 6 in cinemas. To be on the safe side, Samwise counts 15.
At performances, in cinemas, during trade fairs and at funfairs, the Working Hours Act allows work on Sundays and public holidays if it can’t be done on a weekday. You confirm the shift with that reason.
If your business takes part in setting up or taking down trade fairs or exhibitions, immediate registration and the ID rule apply to you too.
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For every business, Samwise also keeps track of maximum working hours, breaks, maternity protection and the mini-job earnings limit.
Sections 9, 10, 11(3) and 13 of the German Working Hours Act, Arbeitszeitgesetz (Sundays and public holidays)
Section 5(1) of the Working Hours Act (rest), section 5(2) (hospitality)
Section 11(1) and section 12 sentence 1 no. 1 of the Working Hours Act (free Sundays)
Sections 14, 16, 17 and 18 of the German Youth Employment Protection Act, Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz; at performances section 16(2) no. 7 and section 17(2) no. 5; for showmen section 14(2) no. 1, section 16(2) no. 6, section 17(2) no. 4, section 18(2) (under-18s)
Section 2a(1) nos. 5 and 7 of the German Act to Combat Undeclared Work, Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz, and section 28a(4) of Book IV of the German Social Code (immediate registration)
Samwise points out these rules. It isn’t legal advice.
Your checklist for getting started
Depending on what you choose, Samwise adds these points as a checklist when you start. Tick them off as you go.
Children under 15, and under-18s who still have to attend school full time, may only take part with permission from the authorities, for example in a play, a concert or a film shoot.required by law
Under-18s on the crew, in technical roles or on the door usually finish at 8 pm. Those performing on stage or in a recording may stay until 11 pm, but not at events closed to under-18s. After that they need at least 14 hours off.required by law
Children under 15 may not be employed at funfairs, fairs or folk festivals. The authorities cannot permit it either.required by law
Add each hall, venue and fairground as a site. Samwise then uses the public holidays of the state where the work takes place.
How you get started.
Five steps until your first week is in place. All you need is your staff list and, for the time clock, a tablet.
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Step 1: Choose your industry
Samwise sets up the teams, activities and shifts you see above. You can rename or remove any of them.
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Step 2: Bring over your staff list
Upload it as an Excel or CSV file. Samwise shows any errors row by row before anything is saved.
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Step 3: Invite your team by link
Everyone gets their own link or QR code and fills in the staff questionnaire on their own phone.
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Step 4: Set up a tablet as the time clock
Open the time clock in the tablet’s browser and print the PINs. That’s all it takes.
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Step 5: Plan your first week
You set up your usual week once, and Samwise drafts every new week from it. As soon as you release the plan, your team sees it on their phones.
With the industry templates, you set up Samwise yourself. If you ask us to keep you posted by 31 January 2027 and become a customer by 31 March 2027, we set it up together with you free of charge.
We’d be glad to show you Samwise now, in a free intro call. If you sign up, you’ll hear from us as soon as it launches.
Launching by January 2027 at the latest. Ask us to keep you posted by 31 January 2027 and become a customer by 31 March 2027, and we’ll set up Samwise with you free of charge.
We only use your address to reply to you and, if you sign up, to tell you when we launch. More in our privacy policy (in German).
Free intro call
In a free intro call, we’ll show you Samwise HR live, on a video call or, by arrangement, at your business. Tell us when suits you, and we’ll suggest a time.
