The quick answer
Go to Lists > Employees > Work Calendars > New. Give the calendar a Name, and leave Default Calendar clear unless every new resource should get it. On the Working Days subtab, set Start At, Hours Per Day and the days people work. On Non Working Days, add one Holiday Date line per date, then click Save. To use it, edit the employee, open the Human Resources subtab and pick the calendar in Work Calendar under Job Information. In this example a field crew gets a calendar that starts at 7:00 am with 10 hours a day, Monday to Thursday, plus two holidays.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own schedule, holidays and employees when following the steps.
Before you start
Ridgeline Field Services is moving its field technicians to four ten-hour days, Monday to Thursday, starting at 7:00 am. Marcus Delgado is a field technician and a project resource, and he still has the account's Default Work Calendar. The example creates Field Crew Calendar for the new schedule and gives it to him.
You need Projects or Time-Off Management enabled, and a role with permission to create work calendars. This walkthrough uses the Administrator role. Menu paths can differ by role and release.
A work calendar tells NetSuite which days a person works, when the day starts, how many hours it holds, and which dates are holidays. Project scheduling uses each assigned resource's calendar, together with the task's estimated work and units, to place work on working days at that day's hours. Time-Off Management uses it to work out which days a request covers and how many hours to take from the balance. If the crew keeps the Default Work Calendar, their tasks are scheduled on that calendar's week, so a Friday they don't work still counts as a working day if the default calendar has Friday checked. It doesn't set shifts, payroll, timesheet rules or overtime.
01. Check the employee's current calendar
Open Marcus Delgado's employee record. In the example he's in Recent Records. On the Human Resources subtab, under Job Information, Project Resource is checked and Work Calendar shows Default Work Calendar.
02. Start a new work calendar
Go to Lists > Employees > Work Calendars > New.
The Work Calendar form opens with Name, Default Calendar and Comments at the top and the Working Days and Non Working Days subtabs below. In this example a new calendar opens at 12:00 am with Monday to Friday checked and Hours Per Day empty.
03. Name the calendar
In Name, type Field Crew Calendar. Leave Default Calendar clear. Checking it makes this the calendar NetSuite assigns to resources by default, and only one calendar can be the default, so a calendar for a single team shouldn't be it. You can still assign any calendar to individual employees. In Comments, type Four ten-hour days, Monday to Thursday. Comments is optional, but it tells the next admin what the calendar is for.
04. Set the working week
On the Working Days subtab, type 7:00 am in Start At and 10 in Hours Per Day. Clear Friday. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday stay checked, and Saturday and Sunday stay clear.
Hours Per Day is the capacity of each working day, and it has to be at least one. You also need at least one working day checked. These fields set the scheduling capacity of each day. They don't set shifts, breaks or overtime rules.
05. Add the holidays
Open the Non Working Days subtab. The Holiday Date sublist starts empty. Enter 11/26/2026 in Date (use your account's date format) and Thanksgiving Day in Description, and click Add. Then enter 12/31/2026 and New Year's Eve, and click Add again. Both columns are required.
Each line is one specific date, not a yearly rule. Next year's holidays have to be added again. Shutdowns and maintenance days go in the same sublist, one line per date.
06. Save and review the calendar
Click Save. NetSuite shows "Work Calendar successfully Saved" and opens the saved Field Crew Calendar. Working Days shows Start At 7:00 am, Hours Per Day 10, and Monday to Thursday checked.
Click Non Working Days to check the holidays. Both lines are there: 11/26/2026 Thanksgiving Day and 12/31/2026 New Year's Eve.
07. Assign the calendar to the employee
A calendar nobody is assigned to doesn't change anyone's schedule. In Global Search, type emp: marcus and open Employee: Marcus Delgado. You can also find him under Lists > Employees > Employees.
Click Edit and open the Human Resources subtab. In Work Calendar, choose Field Crew Calendar. It's listed with the account's other calendars.
Click Save. NetSuite shows "Employee successfully Saved".
On the Human Resources subtab, Work Calendar now shows Field Crew Calendar. Project scheduling now uses his four ten-hour days and the crew's holidays as his capacity, and Time-Off Management uses the same calendar to work out which days a request covers and how many hours to deduct.
Check the result
- The calendar shows Start At 7:00 am, Hours Per Day 10, and only Monday to Thursday checked.
- Non Working Days lists both holiday dates.
- Default Calendar is clear on the new calendar.
- The employee's Work Calendar shows Field Crew Calendar.
Changing which calendar an employee uses doesn't move project tasks that are already scheduled. Open the project in edit mode and save it to reschedule with the new calendar. Check how existing time-off requests are treated in your account before relying on the change to recalculate them.
Common questions
What does Default Calendar do?
It makes the calendar the one NetSuite uses by default for resources that don't have another calendar. Only one calendar can be the default. Leave it clear on a calendar meant for one team, and assign that calendar to the people who work it.
Do holidays on a work calendar repeat every year?
No. Each Holiday Date line is one specific date, so 11/26/2026 covers Thanksgiving 2026 only. Add next year's dates as new lines before the year starts.
How does a four-day, ten-hour week change project scheduling?
The resource still has 40 hours a week, but project scheduling places their task work only on Monday to Thursday, up to 10 hours a day starting at 7:00 am. Fridays and the listed holidays get no work, so a task can land on different dates than it would on a five-day, eight-hour calendar.
How does NetSuite work out the hours deducted for time off?
Time-Off Management uses the employee's work calendar to decide which days a request covers and how many hours a full day is. On this calendar a full day off on a working day is 10 hours, and Fridays and the listed holidays aren't counted as working days.
What if an employee has no work calendar?
For Time-Off Management, NetSuite treats them as working eight hours a day, Monday to Friday, with no holidays. Employees used as project resources need a calendar assigned.
Does changing an employee's work calendar reschedule existing project tasks?
No. Tasks that are already scheduled stay where they are. Open the project in edit mode and save it to reschedule with the new calendar.
Can vendors have a work calendar?
Yes. Vendors used as project resources have the same Work Calendar field, so you can assign them a calendar the same way.