Configure coverage by zone or shift set

Scheduler totals hours for employees who are scheduled during each 24-hour period. It compares workload requirements from the Workload Planner to assigned shifts in Scheduler, and graphically displays variances as undercoverage or overcoverage.

You should plan the required headcount in the Workload Planner for each job in a location for a time period.

Based on the type of shifts that your organization uses, select either schedule zones or shift sets to display coverage.

Caution: The Workload Planner requires stable time spans. If workload data — including changes to schedule period, zones, shift sets, and business structures — that are assigned to locations are edited, the current schedule period splits at the date of the changes.

A schedule zone is a span of time during a 24-hour period that measures coverage. Examples include Day, Evening, or Night zones.

A schedule zone set collects non-overlapping schedule zones for all or part of a day. To use schedule zones in the Workload Planner, group them into schedule zone sets.

In an organization that uses many shifts of differing lengths, use schedule zones to determine coverage by time spans during the day.

Example: Shifts can overlap: 7a–3p, 9a–4p, 7a–1:30p, 3p–11p, and 11p–7a. Configure coverage by Day, Evening, and Night Zones.

In Scheduler, select View > Zone to display a 4-hour interval view with vertical lines to separate zones. The first letter of each zone is the label in the heading; for example, D for a day zone, E for an evening zone, and N for a night zone.

Schedule Zone Workload Requirements

6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

3 employees

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

5 employees

1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

7 employees

5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

3 employees
Schedule Zone Workload Requirements

By default, Scheduler defines the start of a day as midnight (12 a.m.), and associates zones with the day they start.

Example: If an organization has 2 night zones, 10 p.m.–2 a.m. and 2 a.m.–6 a.m., the first zone is associated with the first day, and the second zone with the second day.

Note: If you define staffing by labor volumes or schedule zones, use Schedule Generation to generate open shifts.

Because shifts can overlap or span zones, coverage counts can become inaccurate, and shifts can become unavailable.

Example: A 9 a.m.–4 p.m. shift occurs mostly during the 7 a.m.–3 p.m. Day Zone, but overlaps the 3 p.m.–11 p.m. Evening Zone. Two shifts (7 a.m.–3 p.m., 7 a.m.–1:30 p.m.) are already in the Day Zone, and 1 shift (3 p.m.–11 p.m.) is in the Evening Zone. If the workload requires 3 employees during the Day Zone but 1 employee during the Evening Zone, the 9 a.m.–4 p.m. shift causes overcoverage in the Evening Zone.

To avoid inaccuracies, do not mix coverage counting settings with shift exceptions at a location. Either:

  • Use "exclude durations" in the coverage count settings to compare coverage against workload, and to assign those settings to a location. See Configure Coverage Counts
  • Use shift exceptions to define the zone in which the coverage counts:
  • In schedule zones, shifts normally count toward coverage by the proportion of the schedule zone that they cover. When a shift does not span an entire zone, the percent of the zone that it does cover determines coverage.
  • To not count a shift proportionally, define the shift as an exception. Shift exceptions count fully toward coverage of a zone only if the shift spans most of the zone. If the shift covers less, coverage is zero.

    • Example: A location has a 7 a.m.–3 p.m. Day Zone and 3 p.m.–11 p.m. Evening Zone. An employee works a 7 a.m.–3:30 p.m. shift. To prevent the 30-minute overlap (3:00–3:30 p.m.) from counting toward the evening zone coverage, configure the 7 a.m.–3:30 p.m. shift to be an exception.

  • If an employee uses Employee Self-Service (ESS) for Scheduling, their shift template must equal the amount of time needed.

    • Note: Do not mix coverage-counting settings with shift exceptions for a location. For the interaction of exclude durations in coverage counting settings with shift exceptions, see Configure Coverage Counts.

    Schedule zones and Schedule Generation

  • To use Schedule Generation to schedule jobs for a location with no labor standards, and not use fixed shifts, create schedule zones that have workload requirements. The Auto-Scheduler fills the workload requirements based on an employee’s job set and availability.

    • Example: To schedule service staff, configure staffing requirements by schedule zone in the Workload Planner. The schedule zones can have different lengths that coincide with changes in headcount.

    Schedule Zone Workload Requirements

    6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

    3 employees

    9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    5 employees

    1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

    7 employees

    5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

    3 employees
Note:

Your function access profile must allow access to schedule zone sets (Administration > Application Setup > Access Profiles > Function Access Profiles. Select a profile, go to Manager - Common Setup, and set Schedule Zone Sets to "Allowed).

  1. From the Main Menu, select Administration > Application Setup > Scheduler Setup > Workload Setup.
  2. Select the Schedule Zone Sets tab. To narrow the list, enter name and click Search. The asterisk (*) is a wildcard.
  3. Click New or select a Schedule Zone Set and click Duplicate, Edit, or Delete.
    4. Note: If the schedule zone set is assigned to a location, changes take effect from today in all locations with associations to this set. If you change a location assignment, the data in the staffing plan for the old location assignment is deleted. Historical data is saved; select a location on a previous date to display the workload plan.
  4. Enter a Name and (optionally) a Description.
  5. For each zone, do one of the following:
    • Select a Zone Category. A zone category can group multiple zones from a zone set. However, the zone category must not have gaps between zones.
    • In Zone Category, select <None> — Enter the Zone Name, Zone Description, and Start and End Times.
  6. If necessary, click Insert new row and add a new zone. A zone set can have an unlimited number of zones. However, zones cannot overlap.
  7. Because shifts can overlap or span zones, coverage counts can become inaccurate, and shifts can become unavailable.

    8. To avoid inaccuracies, use shift exceptions to define the zone in which the coverage counts. In the Exceptions area, configure shift exceptions for shifts that do not count as coverage to a zone unless the shift covers most of the zone. Either

    enter the start and stop time of the exception shift or click Insert Shift to use the start and stop times of a shift template.

    Note: Do not mix coverage counting settings with shift exceptions at a location.

  8. When finished, Click Save & Close or click Save & Set Location to assign the zone set to a location.

A schedule zone category groups zones from different schedule zone sets.

For example: Use a zone category called Breakfast to group the 9a – 11a Breakfast zone at location A with the 6a – 8a Earlyriser and 8a – 10a Breakfast zones at location B.

Note: The Workload Planner requires stable time spans. If workload data – including changes to schedule period, zones, shift sets, and business structure – that are assigned to locations are edited, the current schedule period splits at the date of the changes.

A workload shift set contains a collection of shifts that define workload (staffing) requirements for locations. Create shift sets to display coverage by shifts.

Example: An organization has shifts that the majority of employees work: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. and 3 p.m.-11 p.m. Display coverage by shift.

If the workload plan is configured by shifts, use the Schedule Generator to compare the requirements in the Workload Planner to the scheduled shifts in Scheduler. Then, create open shifts for each negative variance.

Note:

Your function access profile must allow access to schedule shift sets:

  1. Select Administration > Application Setup > Access Profiles > Function Access Profiles.
  2. Select the profile. Click Edit.
  3. Select Manager — Common Setup > Schedule Configuration.
  4. In Workload Shift Sets, select Allowed to enable access to add, edit, delete, or display shift sets.
  5. Click Save and Close.
  1. From the Main Menu, select Administration > Application Setup > Scheduler Setup > Workload Setup
  2. Select the Workload Shift Sets tab. To narrow the list, enter a name and click Search. The asterisk (*) is a wildcard.
  3. Click New or select a Workload Shift Set and click Duplicate, Edit, or Delete.

  4. Note: If the workload shift set is assigned to a location, changes take effect from today in all locations with associations to this set. If you change a location assignment, the data in the staffing plan for the old location assignment is deleted. Historical data is saved; select a location on a previous date to display the workload plan.

  5. Enter a Name.
  6. (Optional) Enter a Description.
  7. Configure any number of shifts in the grid for the set.
    1. For each shift, enter a Start and End Time, and a Shift Label.
    2. (Optional) add a shift template. Click Insert Shift. Select the shift template. Click OK.
    3. To add a new shift, clickInsert new row
  8. When finished, Click Save & Close or click Save & Set Location to assign the zone set to a location.

Typically, organizations schedule employees and view coverage as follows:

Configure the workload plan for the location by schedule zone set.

When to use schedule zone sets — If employees work shifts of differing lengths, especially if shifts overlap, configure the workload plan by schedule zone sets. With zones, you can display coverage by period of day rather than shifts. Use schedule generation to quickly create schedules.

Configure the workload plan for the location by workload shift set.

When to use workload shift sets — If the organization uses contiguous, non-overlapping shifts, define workload requirements by workload shift sets. Shift sets have a one-to-one relationship between the time period in the workload plan and the shifts that employees work. It is clear which shifts are required to reconcile coverage shortages. Use the Schedule Generator to create open shifts that match shifts in Scheduler. Then, use the Priority Scheduling Engine (PSE) to create schedules.

Continue Workload Planner Configuration: Assign zone and shift sets to locations.