Configuring Days-Off

The application features many ways to denote days-off for personnel. Days off can be part of a Shift, Shift Mask, or suppressed using the Days of the week buttons (DOW) available on the Position or Assignment tab. There are many angles to consider when deciding which feature is right for the staff at hand.

You can configure all of these features to fit various groups of personnel but deciding which configuration is better suited for each staff depends on various factors, such as configuration need, volume, system performance, staffing rules, bidding patterns and more.

To start you will always need at least a Shift. The Shift is the foundation but you can reduce the number of Shift pattern possibilities using a Shift Mask or DOW buttons.

For example, using a single shift that runs everyday along with DOW buttons for Administrative personnel can eliminate extra organizational layers from the Roster and reduce performance lags.

An enormous amount of shift patterns may affect Roster performance and the Roster layout. Consider reducing the amount of shift patterns by using DOW or Shift Mask when possible.

For instance, use DOW for staff that you do not backfill, meaning nonessential staff and when the off days do not vary week by week. If DOW is not an option, consider a Shift Mask which can be used for essential and nonessential staff.

Using DOW buttons on nonessential staff is recommended when performance is likely to be affected as the system computation for determining On and Off days using the DOW buttons is significantly faster than a Shift Mask because a Shift Mask is a pattern overlaying another Shift pattern, hence longer to compute when enormous amounts of data exist.

Additionally, you can not use DOW or Shift Masks if:

• You need a payroll feed from this application and each shift pattern has a unique identifier that cannot be altered.
• You have staff that earn varying overtime rates and you need a payroll feed from this application. For example, personnel earns double time in Overtime wages if they worked on their third non-scheduled day. If this is the case, build a single shift with multiple shift times. Reason being, the base rule type Shift Day(s) targets the day off pattern in a Shift which is not an option with a Shift Mask or DOW.
• You have the Bidding add-on module and position bidding is dependent on the day off pattern. Most likely case, a shift mask is needed but we recommend that you consult with a configuration expert to review the biding process before building your shifts.