A Critical Time Period defines the part of the shift that requires backfilling which could be a portion of the shift or a split shift.
The application offers the flexibility to define a critical time period within a shift. When a vacancy occurs on the roster and a critical time has been defined within the shift or shift time configuration, the application creates the vacancy for the critical time period only. This is useful to restrict vacancies when shifts overlap.
Critical Times are defined in the Edit Times screen and are represented by the Pipe | symbol. To define a Critical Time, insert a Pipe and define the critical start time and duration.
For example, a Shift starts at 06:00 and runs for 12 hours. The critical time period starts at 09:00, for 4 hours. When a vacancy occurs on the roster, the application creates a vacancy for the critical time period of 09:00 - 13:00 hours.
Example: Shift > Edit Times > Time, Duration > Type: 06:00,12|09:00,4
Multiple Critical Times may also be defined within a shift:
For example, a Shift starts at 06:00 and runs for 12 hours. The first half of the critical time period starts at 07:00 and runs for 4 hours; the second half starts at 12:00 and runs for 4 hours.
Example: Shift > Edit Times > Time, Duration > Type: 06:00,12|07:00,4|12:00,4