A schedule is a block of time that defines when a person shall work (defined in a Normal schedule), shall not work (defined in an Exclusion schedule), may work (defined in an Optional schedule), or can be available or unavailable for work (defined in an Availability schedule). A schedule has time stamps for the start and end of the block, as well as time stamps that control the ability of the time reporter to clock in to the system.
You can add and maintain different styles of schedules for different kinds of employees. The schedules are maintained for individual employees or groups of employees.
Schedules are created via the Person Schedule and Schedule Cycle forms. A supervisor can also edit a person's schedule using the Edit Schedule button on the Current Situation form.
You can define how certain scenarios within a schedule should be handled. For example, you can define what kind of warnings would display if an employee clocks in late. These settings are configured on the Schedule Policy form.
See Also:
Assigning and Generating Schedules (Schedule Cycle form, SCHEDULE_GENERATION Service)
Modifying a Person's Schedule (Person Schedule form)
Modifying Schedules in the Timecard
This feature requires the following:
You must have the Schedules module included in your license file.
The Schedules module must be enabled.
To check if the module is included in your license and enabled:
Click Main Menu > Configuration > System > Licensing.
On the License Modules tab, select the Module Name called Schedules.
The following boxes must be checked: Licensed and Module Enabled.
The application supports the schedule types described below.
A Normal schedule is mandatory, meaning the person must follow the schedule or an exception will occur. For example, if a person clocks in after the scheduled start time, a Late Arrival event may be posted.
An Exclusion schedule is used to define a period of time when a person may not work. An Exclusion schedule is mandatory, meaning the person must follow the schedule or an exception will occur. For example, if a person clocks in during an Exclusion schedule, a warning message will display.
An Optional schedule is used to define a period of time that the employee does not have to adhere to. It means that there will not be a violation if time is not posted. For example, if an employee is allowed to work overtime, but does not have to work overtime, the Optional schedule would be used to define the overtime period. Or, the employee can take a meal or break, but the meal or break does not have set start and end times, so the optional schedule would be used to define the meal or break period.
For an Optional schedule, you can set the Availability Type to Not Working or Working to indicate whether the person will be working or not during the schedule times. However, the Availability Type will not affect the person's ability to clock-in during the scheduled start and end times.
The Ad Hoc Placeholder schedule type defines a placeholder schedule only. Just like the other schedules, the placeholder specifies Start and End times where the time reporter gets an Ad Hoc schedule. Ad Hoc schedules can be either mandatory or optional.
There are two types of Ad Hoc Placeholder schedules – Virtual and By Clock.
If the Ad Hoc Type is Virtual, then whatever schedule was set on the most previous post date for the person, and was not identified as a Gap Day, is copied into the placeholder time span.
If the Ad Hoc Type is By Clock, the system will pick an Ad Hoc Template that corresponds to the period containing the time stamp of the clock in. You must configure an Ad Hoc Template associated with clock in times on the Ad Hoc Templates form and assign it to a Schedule Group via the Assign Ad Hoc Template form.
An Availability schedule indicates a period of time when a person can be assigned a Normal, Exclusion, or Optional schedule. Availability schedules are typically used to show availability for overtime. They may overlap other schedule types.
For an Availability schedule, you can set the Availability Type to Available or Unavailable. However, the Availability Type will not affect the person's ability to receive additional schedules or clock-in during the scheduled start and end times.
The Schedule Cycle form is used to create schedule cycles. A schedule cycle is a multiple day pattern of schedules. For example, you may have a 7-day schedule cycle with an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule Monday through Friday and no schedule on Saturday and Sunday. Or, you may have a 14-day schedule cycle for a 9-80 schedule in which the first Friday is a split day and the second Friday has an optional schedule.
For the schedule cycle to take effect, you must assign the schedule to one or more persons and then generate the schedule cycle.
You can assign a schedule cycle using the Assign button on the Schedule Cycle form or using the Assignment tab of the Employee form.
You can generate assigned schedule cycles using the Generate button on the Schedule Cycle form or using the SCHEDULE_GENERATION service.
Once a schedule cycle is assigned and generated, you can view it on the Person Schedule form.
The Person Schedule form is used to maintain schedules for individual employees. It displays schedule cycles that have been assigned and generated for the person. You can also modify or create a new schedule for the person using this form.
The changes you make on the Person Schedule form will take effect immediately. You do not have to run the SCHEDULE_GENERATION service or use the Generate button on the Schedule Cycle form.
The Edit Schedule button on the Current Situation form allows you to modify employee schedules from the supervisor timecard for a specific day. You can select a schedule edit template to apply to the day and you can modify the start and end times of the existing schedule.
The supervisor must be assigned a Schedule Edit Policy to use the Edit Schedule button. You must also define Edit Templates that can be applied to days that have no schedule.