Workforce ESP

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Workforce ESP Employees and Schedules User Guide

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User Guide: Employees and Schedules

February 19, 2020 1

Contents Module 1: The Workforce ESP Interface .................................................................................................... 1

Lesson 1: Basic Navigation ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Logging On and Off 2

Lesson 2: Getting Around Workforce ESP .......................................................................................................................... 4

Workforce ESP Workspaces 4

Module 2: Employees .............................................................................................................................. 5

Lesson 1: Basic Navigation ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Employees Workspace 6

Lesson 2: Open and Navigate an Employee Record .......................................................................................................... 7

General Tab Information 7

Position Tab Information 9

Pay Info Tab 13

Skills Tab 14

Comments Tab Information 15

Historical Comments 16

Search for Employee and Unit Phone Numbers 16

Lesson 3: Common Reports ............................................................................................................................................. 18

Daily Flow Sheet Report 18

Report Display 23

Report Viewer (RV) – Daily Flow Sheet Report 25

Module 3: Availability ............................................................................................................................. 31

Lesson 1: Basic Navigation ............................................................................................................................................... 32

Employee Availability Windows 32

Lesson 2: Regular Availability ........................................................................................................................................... 35

Availability by Shift Class 36

Colour Coding of Regular Availability Information 37

Lesson 3: Availability Patterns .......................................................................................................................................... 38

Record Availability Patterns 38

Override Regular Availability Patterns 43

Module 4: Schedules ............................................................................................................................. 44


How Schedule Changes are Managed in Workforce ESP 46

Schedules Window 46

Open Employee Schedules 47

Employee Schedule Grid 48

Employee Schedule Compression 50

Change Schedule Compression Method 51

Schedule Compression Features 51

Unit Schedule Grid 53


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Colour Coding of Shifts 56

Module 5: Schedules – Book Off ............................................................................................................. 57


Book Off Window 58


Lesson 2: Book Off Shifts .................................................................................................................................................. 60

Book Off 60

Book Off Shift Details 61

Conditional Time Off 63

Lesson 3: Swap Shifts ....................................................................................................................................................... 64

Swap Shifts 64

Module 6: Schedules – Book On ............................................................................................................. 66


Book On Dialog 67


Lesson 2: Book On Shifts .................................................................................................................................................. 70

Book On 70

Module 7: Schedules – Exceptions .......................................................................................................... 71


Exceptions Window 72


Exception Tree 74

Lesson 2: Shift Exceptions ................................................................................................................................................ 76

Cancel Exception Shifts 76

Modify the Details of a Shift 77

Module 8: Schedules Console ................................................................................................................ 78


What Does the Console Display? 79

How is Information Displayed on the Console? 81

Sort Order in the Console Window 83

Open the Console 84

Refresh the Console 84

Lesson 2: Console Settings .............................................................................................................................................. 85

Console Settings Dialog 85

Lesson 3: Console Actions ................................................................................................................................................ 90

Convert Unassigned Shifts into Vacancies 90

Initiate Relief from the Console 91

Schedule Relief for Multiple Shifts 92

Decline Shifts from the Console 94

Module 9: Schedules - Relief .................................................................................................................. 95


February 19, 2020 3


Relief Window 96

Relief Shifts Grid 98

Relief Pool Grid 99

Relief Pools 100

Availability Colour Coding 100

Availability and Scheduling Rule Indicators 102

Relief Pool Shift Details 103

Staffing Form 104

Lesson 2: Fill Open Shifts ............................................................................................................................................... 108

Open Shifts 108

Pool Filter and Sort Settings 109

Relief Shift Details 113

Module 10: Schedules – Edited Shifts ................................................................................................... 115

Lesson 1: Edited Shifts ................................................................................................................................................... 116

Shift Details 116

Module 11: Schedules – Move .............................................................................................................. 118

Lesson 1: Move Employees ............................................................................................................................................ 119

Move Options 119

Move Button on the Staffing Form 121

Standard Book Off Window 123

Move Menu Option on the Actions Menu 123

Standard Book On and Move Button on the Staffing Form 126


February 19, 2020 1

Module 1: The Workforce ESP Interface Importance

Workforce ESP presents multiple, specific views that let you quickly view and act on employee schedule changes.

Each view displays information to help identify, navigate, and assess employee schedules.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify concepts common to Workforce Central applications • Find information in the Online Help • Identify theWorkforce ESP Workspaces


February 19, 2020 2

Lesson 1: Basic Navigation Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Open and close Workforce Central sessions • Access Online Help

Logging On and Off Logging On

Workforce ESP is to be accessed using Microsoft Internet Explorer v11 and a unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which is accessed through your Citrix Receiver.

Open your Citrix Receiver icon from the bottom toolbar.

On your Citrix Receiver application page, you will see the icon for Workforce Management.

Click the Workforce Management icon and you will see the ESP 8 IE icon.

The Workforce Central logon page provides access to the Workforce ESP application.

Login into Workforce ESP training system using your login.


February 19, 2020 3

Select the Workforce ESP widget in the left menu to launch the Application.

Once you have launched Workforce ESP, the default workspace appears.

Logging Off

Logging off Workforce ESP: • Closes your session • Signals to the system that you no longer require access to any of its components • Prevents other people from accessing your information

To log off, click the Sign Out link at the top right hand side of the window.

Recommended Practice

Always end your work session by clicking the Sign Out link.

Clicking Close (X) without first logging off might leave your connection to the application open, allowing unauthorized people to view and edit information.


February 19, 2020 4

Lesson 2: Getting Around Workforce ESP Importance

After you log on to the application, your Navigator appears. Navigators are customized views of the information that is important to completing daily work tasks in the application.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the Workforce ESP workspaces

Workforce ESP Workspaces

Workforce ESP consists of seven “Workspaces” used to perform scheduling timekeeping tasks:

Workspaces are integrated into a single interface that allows for easy access to multiple tasks. Workspaces can be accessed through the Navigator or the Workspace menu. You will only see the Workspaces you have been granted access to.

The table below lists and describes each Workspace.

Workspace Description

Schedules • Records and maintains day-to-day changes to the schedule.

• Performs various transactions, such as booking off employees from scheduled shifts, booking on extra shifts, scheduling relief for unassigned and unfilled shifts, moving employees from one shift to another and tracking changes to shifts.

Workbook • Hold area for the Console where vacant shifts are stored

Time Cards • Displays an employee’s schedule in a time sheet format which is electronically captured from the other workspaces.

• Captures worked hours, non-worked hours, productive hours, non-productive hours, absences, extra shifts and shift premiums.

• Information gathered in this workspace can be edited and exported to a payroll system.

Reports Views, saves, prints and exports reports to meet management and scheduling needs.

Employees Records and maintains the demographic, position, pay info and skill information related to employees.

Availability • Records employees’ availability or unavailability to work on specific dates, days or times.

• Information may be used in Schedule Relief to assist in finding relief for unfilled shifts.

Assignments • Records and maintains which employee is assigned to work plan rows for specific date ranges.

• Temporarily or permanently assigns or unassigns employees and maintains unassigned positions.


February 19, 2020 5

Module 2: Employees Importance

Employee data is an important foundation for the scheduling and reporting features the user will use within Workforce ESP. This module introduces the user to the Employees workspace.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Search for an employee using the Open Employee dialog • Open multiple employee records • Navigate an employee record • Determine the criteria of an active employee • Identify when, and by whom, an employee record was last updated • Identify the five employee record tabs


February 19, 2020 6

Lesson 1: Basic Navigation Importance

The Workforce ESP database is a repository that contains all data related to employee schedules. For each business task which needs to be performed, users can use search tools to display employee and scheduling data.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Open an employee record • Open multiple employee records

Employees Workspace The Employees workspace contains basic personnel, scheduling and payroll information for each employee in Workforce ESP. To view, edit or delete an employee, the user needs to search for and open an employee record.

The Employee Record

The employee information contained in the employee record in the Employees workspace is divided among five tabs: General, Positions, Pay Info, Skills and Comments. Each tab will be covered in the sections to follow.

The following illustration shows the General tab of an employee record:

Tip

To change which employee record is visible, use the following features: • Select Previous Employee or Next Employee from the View menu to browse through all active

employees alphabetically. This will display all employees to which the user has access in the database even if their record is not currently open.

• Select the employee name from the Window menu to switch to an open employee record. • Select Flip from the Window menu to flip through open employee records.


February 19, 2020 7

Lesson 2: Open and Navigate an Employee Record Importance

In this lesson, users will view information on each of the five employee record tabs. As users view the employee record, they will explore the details of the employee information located on each tab.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Explain the usage of the demographic information located on the General tab • Explain the usage of the positions and pools information on the Positions tab • Explain the usage of the employee groups and seniority information and their relationship to positions

information • View time card information on the Pay Info tab and explain what information is required • View skills information on the Skills tab and explain the benefits of entering skills information • Enter employee comments on the Comments tab

General Tab Information The General tab contains the basic demographic information for an employee. To gain the greatest benefit from Workforce ESP, record as much information as possible related to the employee.

HR/Payroll policies should be reviewed to determine which fields can be added or edited and the procedures governing the entry of information into the fields.

The following illustration shows the General tab for an employee record:


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The table below lists and describes the components of the General tab:

Field Description

Last Name • The employee’s last name.

• Required field.

First Name • The employee’s first name.

• Required field.

Middle Name • The employee’s middle name.

• Helps to distinguish between employees with the same first and last name.

• Optional field.

Employment Status

• The current employment status of the employee.

• Specifies whether the employee is active or inactive in the database and the date of the employment status.

• Employment status is based on the organization, not the individual facility.

• Non-editable field.

Employee ID • A unique identifier for the employee.

• Workforce ESP automatically generates a unique Employee ID number for the employee.

• Default can be accepted or overridden.

• Required field.

Gender • The employee’s gender.

• Required field; default value is Unspecified.

Phone • Click the Phone button to access the Phone Numbers section.

• The section contains the phone numbers that can be used to contact the employee.

• Specifies the priority number and remarks associated with each number.

• Optional field.

Address • Click the Address button to access the Address section.

• The section contains the employee’s mailing address.

• Optional field.

Tip

All the employee information contained in the above fields was imported into the database from SAP. Employee record information must be made through a Service Desk and must occur through regular operational processes.


February 19, 2020 9

Position Tab Information The Positions tab contains the information required to schedule employees. The Positions tab contains three sections, as follows:

• Positions and Pools Summary • Employee Groups and Seniority • Unit/Occupation Ratings

The Positions and Pools Summary section contains the positions information. There are two types of positions: unit and pool. Multiple positions can be defined for each employee.

The Employee Groups and Seniority section contains the employee group and seniority values for an employee. Multiple employee groups can be defined per employee if the employee works at more than one facility, belongs to more than one employee group in one or more facilities or accumulates seniority at different facilities.

The Unit/Occupation Ratings section contains the employee’s rating for each unit-occupation combination. This field is a required field in Workforce ESP, but is not used to assign/award shifts. Shifts are awarded according to the Collective Agreement that the shift is related to.

The following illustration shows the Positions tab of an employee record:

The following illustration shows the Positions and Pools Summary section on the Positions tab:


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The table below lists and describes the fields in the Positions and Pools Summary section:

Field Description

Primary • Designates where the employeeowns a position.

• At least one position must be designated as a primary position.

• Can be either a unit or a pool position.

• Can have more than one primary position.

From Date • The date the position becomes effective.

• The earliest date an employee can be assigned to a work plan row or scheduled for a shift.

• Required field.

To Date • The last date the position is in effect.

• The last date an employee can be assigned to a work plan row or scheduled for a shift.

• Optional field.

Type • Designates the type of position, either a unit or a pool position.

• A unit position is required to assign an employee to a work plan row.

• A pool position is required to include the employee in the relief pool.

• Multiple unit or pool positions are allowed.

• Required field.

• Default value is Unit.

Unit • The unit on which an employee can be assigned to a work plan row.

• Required field.

Occ Type • The occupation type for which the employee can work on the unit for the associated position.

• Required field.

• It is recommended to always add the occupation type to a position.

Status • The employee’s employment status.

• Referenced when Workforce ESP searches and sorts the relief pool, verifies scheduling rules and sorts reports.

• Required field for primary pool position and unit position

• Optional field for a non-primary pool position.

• It is recommended to always add the employment status to a position.



Field Description

FTE • The employee’s Full-Time Equivalent value for the position.

• Referenced when calculating rated hours in the Schedule Verification report and in the Schedules workspace.

• Referenced when assigning employees to a work plan.

• Required field.

• Default value is 0.00000.

Emp Grp # • The employee group number associated with the position.

• Required field.

• Default value is 1.

Unit Preference • Not used for scheduling purposes.



The following illustration shows the Employee Groups and Seniority section of the Positions tab:

The table below lists and describes the fields in the Employee Groups and Seniority section:

Field Description

Emp Grp # • Numeric representation identifying the employee group.

• Used in the Positions and Pools Summary section to associate the employee position with the appropriate employee group.

• Required field.

Facility • The facility associated with the employee group and seniority hours.

• This field will not be displayed unless the user’s database has been designated as multi-facility.

• Required field, when available.

Employee Group

• The employee group name associated with the scheduling rules that apply to the employees.

• Required field.

Hours • The employee’s seniority hours associated with the facility and the employee group or both.

• Seniority hours as defined by the facility.

• Can be referenced when sorting relief employees.

• Workforce ESP will update seniority hours; they are updated periodically through updates from the HR system, as required by Collective Agreements.

• Required field.

• Default value is 0.

Date • The seniority date associated with the facility or the employee group or both.

• Optional field.

Tip

The Copy button located below the Positions and Pools Summary section allows the user to copy information from one row of the Positions and Pools Summary section to another. When the user selects a position and clicks Copy, Workforce ESP opens a Position dialog and displays the field information from the selected position.

The Edit button located below the Positions and Pools Summary section allows the user to edit the information associated with the position. It is important to consider whether an employee has active assignments prior to editing a unit position.



Pay Info Tab The Pay Info tab contains information which can be used to track employee pay and hours. On the Pay Info tab there are two sections:

• Time Card Group • Pay Steps and Override Rates

The Time Card Group section displays the time card group and the effective pay period. A time card group is a group of employees whose time cards are managed by a particular area or individual. This information can be used for reviewing and approving employee hours or time cards, interfacing to a payroll system and for historical reporting based on the group.

The Pay Steps and Override Rates section displays the field used to record at which rate an employee is paid. This section will not be used in the Winnipeg Health Region system.

The following illustration shows the Pay Info tab of an employee record:

The following illustration shows the Time Card Group section of the Pay Info tab:



The table below lists and describes the fields in the Time Card Group section:

Field Description

Effective Pay Period

• The pay period in which the employee joins the time card group.

• Required field.

Time Card Group

• The time card group to which the employee belongs.

• Time card groups allow users to browse, edit and approve time cards for the group of employees for which they are responsible.

The Pay Steps and Override Rates section is not used. This function is handled within SAP.

Skills Tab The Skills tab is used to record one or more employee skills, additional attributes or information.

The following illustration shows the Skills and Qualifications section of the Skills tab:

The table below lists and describes the fields in the Skills and Qualifications section:

Field Description

Skill • A skill or attribute that the employee holds.

• Required field when section is used.

Effective Date • The date the skill becomes effective.

• Required field when section is used.

Expiry Date • The date the skill expires, if applicable.

• Optional field.

Certification • Comments or descriptions associated with skills or training, that help with scheduling

• Optional field.



Comments Tab Information The Comments tab allows users to enter and track scheduling related information concerning an employee. Each comment can be effective dated and historical comments are saved for future reference.

The following illustration shows the Comments tab of an employee record:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Comments tab.

Field Description

Start Date • Date the comment is active.

• Required field when a comment is entered.

End Date • Date the comment is inactive and is removed from the Comments spreadsheet.

• Comments are sorted by the end date, with the most current at the top and the oldest at the bottom.

Comment Scheduling related information concerning an employee.

Last Changed By Identifies by whom the record was last updated.

Last Changed Date Identifies when the record was last updated.



Historical Comments Only current and future comments are displayed in the Comments spreadsheet. Once the end date of comments has passed, the comments are removed from the spreadsheet and considered historical comments.

Historical comments can be viewed by selecting the Show Historical Comments option. Once the option is selected, the historical comments will appear in the Comments spreadsheet.

The comments associated with an employee can be viewed and edited in the employee’s staffing form in Schedule Relief.

Search for Employee and Unit Phone Numbers Workforce ESP allows the user to search for employee and unit phone numbers. From the Tools menu, select either the Employee Phone List or Unit Phone List option.

Employee Phone Numbers

In the Employee Phone Numbers dialog, select either the Search For Employee By Name or Search for Employee By ID option. In the Search For field, enter the first few letters of the employee’s last name or the ID number. Workforce ESP displays the employee’s phone number in the Employees list.



The following illustration shows the Employee Phone Numbers dialog:

Unit Phone Numbers

In the Search For Unit field in the Unit Phone Numbers dialog, enter the first few letters of the unit name. Workforce ESP displays the unit’s phone numbers in the Units section.

The following illustration shows the Unit Phone Numbers dialog:



Lesson 3: Common Reports Importance

It is important to maintain accurate employee records as the information is used throughout Workforce ESP for scheduling and reporting purposes.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Run the Flow Sheet Report using Reports Workspace • Run the Daily Flow Sheet Report using Report Viewer (RV)

Daily Flow Sheet Report The Daily Flow Sheet report provides a detailed view of all the regularly scheduled and exception shifts for a specific unit, occupation class, and date or date range. The report displays the start and end times of the shifts and the names of the employees working them.

Use the Flow Sheet report: • As a sign-in sheet • To organize breaks • To confirm actual hours worked • Communication tool from the Timekeeper to the unit and back to the Timekeeper who will update ESP

with any new information • As an indicator for the number of regular employee away on a given shift • For audit purposes when approving timecards



Specifying Flow Sheet Filters When each report is accessed from the Open Reports dialog, Workforce ESP presents a unique report options dialog with options specific to that report.





To tailor the Flow Sheet Report to your specific requirements, you can set criteria for the search fields above.

The table below lists and describes the date range options.

Field Description

From Date First date which the report should include

To date • Last date which the report should include

• Should be used for the duration until the next business day

Tip

Since changes can be made in ESP by multiple users, the best practice is to print the report either the night before or as close to the beginning of the first shift in the Unit.

The table below lists and describes the filter options.

Field Description

Units To generate the report for select units, scroll through the unit list and click on your desired choices.

Shift Classes • To generate the report for select Shift Classes, enter your desired choices.

• To generate the report for all Shift Classes, select the All Shift Classes option

• In order to active the Shift Classes options, the All Shift Classes option must be cleared.

Occupation Classes

• To generate the report for select Occupation Classes, enter your desired choices.

• To generate the report for all Occupation Classes, select the All Shift Classes option

• In order to active the Occupation Classes options, the All Shift Classes option must be cleared.

Tip

The sort order of the Shift Classes and Occupation Classes is defined at the same time as the selection. By placing a number in the column next to a selection, it is selected for the report and will be sorted according to the number specified.



The table below indicates the display options:

Field Description

Include Exceptions If Selected, a separate section under each occupation will be created detailing information for employees who were booked off shifts, shifts booked on and any unassigned shifts that have been selected from the Assignments workspace.

It is recommended that this be selected when printing Daily Flow Sheet reports.

Include Reasons If selected, the reasons for scheduled changed processed as exceptions (ex. employee paid sick, bereavement leave, etc.) will be displayed in the exceptions information.

Include Summary • If selected, the Summary will reveal two numbers which change depending on the shift activities of the day. • No employee booked off – Number on the left is zero if no one has booked off.

Number on the right indicates number of shifts covered. Unassigned shifts are not included in these numbers (ex. 0/5 is five employees are originally booked off for this shift type with no one booked off)

• Employee(s) booked off – Number on left increases as employees are booked off. The number on the right indicates the number of employees that were scheduled employees that were scheduled (ex. 1/5 is one employee has been booked off and 5 employees were originally scheduled)

• Employee(s) booked as relief – Employees booked as Relief do not impact the number

• Booked on shifts – Booked on shifts are not included

Summary by Shift Class

If selected, the shifts in the shifts summary will be grouped together by shift class rather than by individual shift times.



Report Display The following shows a sample Flow Sheet report.



The Flow Sheet Report displays one unit per page depending on the size of the unit. The unit name is found the Report Header. The unit’s staffing details are grouped together by occupation class. The Shift Summary table and Exceptions table for these occupations are separate to the Schedule Shifts table. When relief is scheduled for an Off Exceptions, the relief employee’s name is listed in both the Scheduled Shifts table and exceptions table.

The shifts are sorted by Start Times and the report displays all schifts scheduled on that unit, regardless of your access to the employee who is working the shifts.

The Flow Sheet report can be used as a communication tool: • To the units so they know who is working, who is not working and why • From the units to the Timekeeper who must update ESP • For logging worked hours during shift • For logging any in shift changes that may have occurred

The table below describles the letters and labels used in the Exceptions area

Field Description

C Complete – Relief has been scheduled for the shift and the relief employee’s name is listed

N Not Needed – Relief Not Needed for the shift

F No Found – Relief Not Found for the shift

I Incomplete – The shift is not covered and is still scheduled on the workbook

Off • The employee is booked off for the entire or any portion of the shift

• If an employee is booked off the shift for more than one reason, the exception will be listed twice with the appropriate times and reasons applied

On • The shift is a Booked On shift

• The reason for the shift is indicated by the pay code applied to the shift

Vcnt The shift is from an unassigned row and has been selected for scheduling relief

Relief • The employee is booked as relief for the shift

• If two employees are booked into one shift, the names will be listed on a separate line with the corresponding shifts times

Off Rlf The employee was scheduled as relief for the shift and was subsequently booked off

On The employee is scheduled to work a Booked on shift (above baseline hours)

Off On The employee was scheduled to work a Booked On shift and was subsequently booked off

Tip

The Flow Sheet report can be used as a sign in sheet if the employee signs in (the first signature in the audit trail) and/or if the manager or designate signs off at the end of the shift for any changes made during the start and end times (the second signature in the audit trail). The unused portion or reverse side of the report can also be used when more documentation is needed.



Report Viewer (RV) – Daily Flow Sheet Report The RV – Daily Flow Sheet report provides a detailed view of all the regularly scheduled and exception shifts for a specific unit, occupation class and date.

For regularly scheduled shifts, the RV – Daily Flow Sheet report displays the start and end times of the shifts and the names of the employees working the shifts.

The RV – Daily Flow Sheet report includes an option to sort by shift class, then by occupation class. There is an option to include incomplete off shifts in the report so that if relief is found, the employee’s name can then be penciled in. The report page breaks on unit and date.

Use the RV – Daily Flow Sheet report to: • Post as a sign-in sheet • Post work assignments and have a historical reference • Organize breaks • Confirm actual hours worked (if employees sign in their worked start and end times) • Facilitate communication between the timekeeper and the unit, and back to the resource staff who

updates Workforce ESP after the fact • Provide an indicator of the number of regular employees away on a given shift • Provide information for audit purposes • Provide statistics for daily time approval

The RV – Daily Flow Sheet report can be used as a communication tool: • To the units regarding who is working, who is not working and why • From the units to the person who must update Workforce ESP after the fact for exporting data for pay

processing • For logging shift swaps to the schedule



Specifying RV - Daily Flow Sheet Options When each report is accessed from the Open Reports dialog, ESP presents a unique report options dialog with options specifc to that report.

The RV – Daily Flow Sheet report is accessed by selecting Report Viewer from the Tools menu.

The illustration below shows the Report Viewer dialog in which this report is selected.

Select Daily from the Select Directory list, and then select Daily Flow Sheet from the Select Report list. Click Run to display the Report Options dialog.



Display RV - Daily Flow Sheet Report General Tab Options The illustration below shows the General tab in the Report Options dialog for the RV – Daily Flow Sheet report.

The table below describes the date range options on the General tab.

Field Description

Start Date First date which the report should include

End date • Last date which the report should include

• Should be used for the duration until the next business day



The table below describes the report options on the General tab.

Field Description

Includes Exceptions

• If selected, a separate section is created below each occupation detailing information regarding employees with off shifts, on shifts and any unassigned shifts selected from the Assignments workspace.

• If not selected, only those employees scheduled to work appear in the report.

Include Reasons • If selected, the reasons for the schedule changes processed as exceptions (why an employee is unable to work the shift – ex. Bereavement, vacation, sick, etc.) are displayed in the exceptions information section.

• Provides the option of not including reasons shoe the information be considered inappropriate to be shown in a public area.

• To include reasons, the user must also select the Include Exceptions option.

Include Summary • If selected, the summary displays two numbers which change depending on the shift activities of the day.

• No employees booked off: The number on the left is zero if no one has been booked off. The number on the right indicates the number of shifts covered. Unassigned shifts are not included in these numbers. For example: 0/5 indicates five employees were originally scheduled for this shift type with no one booked off.

• Employee(s) booked off: The number on the left increases as employees are booked off. The number on the right indicates the number of employees that were scheduled. For example: 1/5 indicates one employee has been booked off and five employees were originally scheduled.

• Employee(s) booked as relief: Employees booked as relief do not impact the numbers.

• Booked on shifts: Booked on shifts are not included.

Include Incompletes

If selected, the report lists any incomplete shifts that exist. Incomplete shifts are shifts that are still on the Workbook and have not yet been filled with relief or indicated as Relief Not Needed or Relief Not Found.

Show Shift Icon and Reason

• If selected, the shift icon created in the work plan and reason for the scheduled shift are displayed in the report.

• The report also displays the short description for the pay reason associated with the scheduled shift.



Display RV - Daily Flow Sheet Report Filter Tab Options The illustration below shows the Filter tab in the Report Options dialog for the RV – Daily Flow Sheet report.

The table below describes the options on the Filter tab.

Field Description

Units • To generate the report for all units, the user selects the All Units option. This is the default setting unless the Save Settings on Run option is selected. If the Save Settings on Run option is selected, the Units list defaults to the units selected the last time the report was run.

• To make the Units list available, the All Units option must be cleared.

• To generate the report for a specific unit, the user selects only that unit.

• The user can select multiple units by pressing and holding the Ctrl key and clicking the required units.

Shift Classes • To generate the report for all shift classes, the user selects the All Shift Classes option.

• To make the Shift Classes list available, the All Shift Classes option must be cleared.

• To generate the report for specific shift classes, the user scrolls through the Shift Classes list and clicks in the Order column of the required shift classes.

• The sort order for shift classes is specified by placing the required order number in the Order column.



Field Description

Exception Types • To generate the report for all exception types (off, on and vacancy exceptions), the user selects the All Exception Types option.

• To make the Exception Types list available, the All Exception Types option must be cleared.

• To generate the report for a specific exception type, the user selects only that exception type.

• The user can select multiple exception types by pressing and holding the Ctrl key and clicking the required exception types

Tip

The sort order of the shift classes and occupation classes is defined at the same time as the selection. By placing a number in the Order column next to a selection, the item is selected for the report and sorted according to the number specified.

The Save Settings on Run option is in the lower left corner of the Report Options dialog. If this option is selected, when the user reopens the Report Viewer to run the same type of report, the Report Options dialog displays the options selected the last time.



Module 3: Availability Importance

To assist in filling open shifts, schedulers can enter information concerning when an employee is and is not available to work. This information is entered into that employee’s availability calendar.

Note

Employees in the Winnipeg Health Region will enter their availability in ESP Employee Self Service, but occasionally a scheduler may need to enter an employee’s availability.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • List the components of the Availability window • Create regular availability records • Create availability patterns




Workforce ESP can use availability information when searching for an employee to cover a shift. This lesson covers basic Availability windows and how to navigate the Availability workspace.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Open an Availability window • Open multiple employee Availability windows • Change the month or year of the calendar display • Select consecutive and non-consecutive date cells

Employee Availability Windows Availability is recorded for employees who are registered in pools and work relief shifts. Schedulers can enter availability information known in advance, and schedulers can enter or update the availability monthly calendar based on their dealings with employees.

Availability Tabs There are two tabs on the Availability window: Regular and Overtime. Both of these tabs are used to view employees’ availability information.

The Regular tab displays employees’ availability to work shifts offered to them in Schedule Relief. This is the type of availability users will use the most.



The Regular Availability Window In the Availability workspace, the Availability window is divided into two main areas: the monthly calendar and the availability record. Each area will be covered in detail in the sections to follow.

The following illustration shows a sample employee Availability window:

The Regular Availability Monthly Calendar

The monthly calendar is used to select dates for which availability is to be defined and to view existing availability records. The view in the monthly calendar can be changed according to the month and year users want to view.

The table below reviews the actions regarding the monthly calendar.

To… Then…

Change the month displayed • Select the appropriate month from the month drop-down list, or

• Click the previous and next buttons on the toolbar to switch to the previous and next calendar months.

Change the year displayed Click the year box up arrow or down arrow to adjust the year.

Select a date in the calendar Click the appropriate date cell.

Clear a date in the calendar Press and hold the ctrl key and click the date cell to be cleared.

Select consecutive dates Click the first date in the date range, press and hold the shift key and click the last date in the date range.

Select Non-consecutive dates Press and hold the ctrl key and click the appropriate date cells.



The Regular Availability Record

The availability for an employee is recorded in the regular availability record. Users can record when an employee is or is not available either by time or by shift class.

The following table briefly describes the fields in the availability record.

Field Description

Employee The employee whose record is currently displayed.

From Date The first date in a range of consecutive dates for which availability is to be defined.

To Date The last date in a range of consecutive dates for which availability is to be defined.

Availability Type

• Specifies which type of time measurement is to be used to record availability.

• The drop-down list contains the measurements of By Time and By Shift Class.

• The Availability Type option selected determines which field Workforce ESP displays in the lower section of the availability record.

• If the By Time option is selected, the user must specify availability with a time-based parameter.

• If the By Shift Class option is selected, the user must specify availability with a shift class parameter.

AV Status • The availability status.

• Available when the By Time Availability Type option is selected.

Shift Class • The shift class for which availability is to be entered.

• Available when the By Shift Class Availability Type option is selected.

Depending on the type and status of the availability information that is entered, different colours are used to represent the availability records on the monthly calendar. Colour coding will be covered in detail later in this section.

The table below summarizes the colours used in the monthly calendar.

If the Date Cell is… Then

White Availability has not been defined.

Red The employee is not available.

Green The employee is available.

A combination Availability has been entered with varied parameters, for example, entered as available and not available for different portions of the day.

Yellow The cell is currently selected.



Lesson 2: Regular Availability Importance

The most common type of availability is regular availability. Schedulers can record if employees are available or not available to work certain times and for certain shift classes. Recording availability improves the efficiency of finding employees to fill open shifts.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Enter an availability record by shift class • Interpret the colour coding used to display the availability status • Explain when to enter availability by time or by shift class • Identify common conflicts and considerations when entering availability

Tip

If an employee is marked as not available all day, the employee will not be included in the relief pool for any shifts beginning prior to the 00:00 end time of the duration. The employee will, however, be included in the relief pool for any shifts beginning exactly at the 00:00 end time or later.

Note

When an availability window is entered or modified, an audit trail is created that records the date, time and user who entered or modified the availability window. Where the availability information was entered (Availability workspace or Schedules workspace), is also recorded.

The audit trail appears on the status bar.

If users enter their availability using the By Shift Class option, the individual audit trail for each shift class is available by selecting the appropriate shift class in the Shift Class list. The audit information for that particular shift class will appear on the status bar after the availability record is saved.



Availability by Shift Class When recording an employee’s availability by shift class, users are indicating that the employee is available or not available to work all shift types associated with the selected shift class. For example, 4-, 8- and 12-hour shifts all belong to the Day shift class. If availability is entered for the Day shift class, the availability status will apply to all three shift types under the Day shift class, regardless of the shift length.

The table below lists and describes the fields used when entering availability by shift class.

Field Description

Shift Class • List of all shift classes currently set up for the organization.

• When a shift class is selected, the availability status entered will apply to all shift types within that shift class.

AV Status • The availability status that applies to the selected shift class.

• The AV Status drop-down list contains three options: blank (availability status is unspecified or unknown), NA (not available) and AV (available).

• When the availability status is entered, it will apply to all shift types within the selected shift class.

• The availability status can be entered for all shift classes by clicking the AV Status column header. To change the availability status, click the header again. To clear the availability status, click once more.

Tip

To clear the availability status for a shift class, select the blank space in the AV Status drop-down list. This indicates the availability is unknown and no information is recorded.

Note

If users need to enter multiple records on the same day, they would record availability by shift class as they cannot enter multiple records per day using the By Time option. If users often split shifts, then they would record availability by time to specify the time of day employees can or cannot work. Using the By Shift Class option takes into consideration any shift within a particular shift class regardless of shift times.



Colour Coding of Regular Availability Information When the availability status for a particular day is entered, the background of the cell is colour-coded to reflect the availability or unavailability entered.

Knowledge check Interpret Availability Colour Coding - Explain what the colour coding of the following date cells indicates. The first example has been completed.

Available for a portion of the day, specified by time or by shift class?



Lesson 3: Availability Patterns Importance

In Workforce ESP, users can enter repeating availability patterns, such as when an employee is enrolled in a course or engaged in some other repeating activity.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Enter an availability pattern for an employee • View an availability pattern in the Availability window • Edit availability patterns

Record Availability Patterns If an employee’s availability status follows a regular pattern, the user can record an availability pattern in the Availability workspace. For example, if an employee is regularly not available to work weekends, instead of repeatedly recording the availability information for every Saturday and Sunday, this can be recorded as a weekly availability pattern.

The table below lists and describes availability pattern types and parameters.

Field Description

Weekly Record a weekly pattern if the employee has the same availability status for the same days over a number of weeks.

Monthly Record a monthly pattern if the employee has the same availability status for the same days of the month, every month.

By Shift Class Availability applies to specific shift classes in the availability pattern.

Tip

An availability pattern can include availability by both time and shift class, but not on the same day.

As well, an availability pattern can be set up to be a weekly or a monthly pattern, but not both.



To start the creation process, users need to specify whether to create a regular or overtime availability pattern in the Availability Patterns summary dialog.

The following illustration shows the Availability Patterns summary dialog:

The table below lists and describes the fields in the Availability Patterns summary dialog:

Field Description

From Date The start date of the availability pattern.

To Date The end date of the availability pattern.

Pattern Type • The description of the pattern type.

• Specifies whether the pattern is weekly or monthly and whether the weekly patterns are multiweek patterns.



Regular Availability Patterns

To record a pattern, users need to specify the availability information for the applicable days within the weekly or monthly pattern. Users must also specify the period of time that the pattern is in effect, for either a definite or indefinite period of time. The times specified for an availability pattern can span midnight.

The following illustration shows the New Availability Pattern dialog:

For monthly patterns, note that they are date based. The date is not connected to the day of the week and can vary or not be in effect if the date is not applicable to the current month.

After recording a pattern, Workforce ESP automatically applies the availability information for each day within the pattern to the corresponding days in the monthly calendar within the effective date range of the pattern.



The table below lists and describes the fields in the New Availability Pattern dialog:

Field Description

From Date • The start date of the availability pattern.

• Required information.

To Date • The end date of the availability pattern.

• A blank field indicates that the pattern will be applied over an indefinite length of time.

Pattern Type • The drop-down list contains the Weekly and Monthly options.

• The selected pattern type determines which fields Workforce ESP will display in the lower-left side of the dialog.

• If the Weekly pattern type is selected, a user can create a multiweek pattern which applies over a specific date range.

• If the Monthly pattern type is selected, a user can create a monthly pattern which applies over a specific date range.

Monthly Dates Calendar

• Available only when the Monthly pattern type is selected.

• For monthly patterns, select the date(s) in the month to which the availability applies.

Occurs Every X Week(s)

• Specifies how often the pattern will repeat within the date range.

• Available only when the Weekly pattern type is selected.

• The drop-down list contains numbers 1 through 8.

Days of the Week Grid

• For weekly availability patterns, select the day(s) of the week to which a specific pattern applies.

• Displays a row for every week in the pattern.

• Available only when the Weekly pattern type is selected.

Availability Type

• Specifies which type of time measurement is to be used to record availability.

• The drop-down list contains the measurements of By Time and By Shift Class.

• The Availability Type option selected determines which field Workforce ESP displays in the lower section of the availability record.

• If the By Time option is selected, the user must specify availability with a time-based parameter.

• If the By Shift Class option is selected, the user must specify availability with a shift class parameter.

AV Status • The availability status.

• Available only when the By Time Availability Type option is selected.

From Time Not used

To Time Not used

Shift Class • The shift class for which availability is to be entered.

• Available only when the By Shift Class Availability Type option is selected.



The following illustration depicts a sample calendar including a weekly availability pattern:

Tip

Users can record as many patterns as required for an employee; however, the effective dates of the different patterns cannot overlap.

Note

Patterns are designated by a P on the pattern dates in the monthly calendar.

If the date selected for the monthly pattern is not applicable in the current month, the pattern will not be in effect. For example, if the user selects the date as the 31 for a monthly pattern, any months which do not have 31 days will not be affected. The pattern will not default to another day; it will be dropped for that month.



Override Regular Availability Patterns In the Availability window, users may want to make minor adjustments to an employee’s regular pattern of availability without permanently changing the availability pattern. Users can change or override the availability information for a specific pattern day without affecting the pattern from which the information is derived.

The following illustration shows a monthly calendar including a pattern override:

For P days that are overridden, Workforce ESP displays an O in place of the P. These days are termed O days.

If users record availability information on the day before or after an availability pattern and it overlaps the pattern, Workforce ESP overrides the overlapping portion of the pattern with the new availability information.

The table below lists and describes the results when availability that is recorded overlaps a pattern:

If Users Override… Then Workforce ESP…

An availability pattern with a record of the same type

Overrides the overlapping portion of the pattern with the new availability information; the balance of the availability status information derived from the pattern remains intact.

An availability pattern with a record of a different type

Applies the new availability information and completely disregards the previous availability pattern information for the overridden day.

Note

An employee’s availability can be displayed on the Unit Employees Schedule report and the Pool Schedule report.

You can only set availability up to one calendar year into the future.



Module 4: Schedules Importance

All scheduling transactions will take place in the Schedules workspace.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Describe the basic components of the Schedules workspace




The Schedules workspace allows the scheduler to apply life to a work plan. This workspace combines information stored in the Setup, Employees, Work Plans, Assignments and Availability workspaces to produce a complete employee schedule. It also allows users to record changes to a schedule, to track why a change is needed and to review the results of a change.

The Schedules workspace is used to perform the following tasks:

• View employee and unit schedules • Book employees off their regular scheduled shifts • Swap shifts between employees or move employees • Book on ad hoc shifts • View and edit changes made to the schedule • Schedule relief for unfilled shifts

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the three stages of a scheduling need • List the components of the Schedules window • Open the Employee Schedule Grid and Unit Schedule Grid • Identify the colour coding of shifts on the schedule grids



How Schedule Changes are Managed in Workforce ESP In most cases, when users make a change to a schedule, they are creating a gap in the schedule or, in other words, creating a scheduling need which may require coverage. These changes to a schedule are called exceptions within Workforce ESP. Exceptions are then completed using Schedule Relief.

The following illustration shows how schedule changes are managed in Workforce ESP:

Schedules Window The table below lists and describes the components of the Schedules window:

Field Description

Employee • The full name and employee ID of the employee whose schedule is displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid.

• Clicking the Ellipsis button allows the user to display a different employee’s schedule in the Employee Schedule Grid.

Employee Schedule Grid

• Displays the employee’s complete schedule in one or more rows, regardless of where the employee is scheduled to work.

• The user must have access to the unit with which an employee is associated to view that employee’s schedule.

• By default, the grid displays eight weeks of the employee’s schedule, commencing one week prior to today’s date.

Unit Schedule Grid

• Displays all published work plan shifts contained in schedules of all employees scheduled to work on the unit.

• Displays all assigned, unassigned and on shifts.

Unit Summary Row

• Provides an overview of the number of exceptions that have occurred on the unit relative to the usual number of regular staff on the unit.

• Includes off exceptions and unassigned shifts only; on exceptions are not considered.



Review the workspace components in the following illustration:

Open Employee Schedules Every time a user requests a schedule, Workforce ESP combines the latest information from each workspace and produces a schedule.

When a user opens an employee’s schedule, the following changes occur: • The employee’s name will appear in the Navigator under Schedules • If the user has access to all of the units on which the employee is scheduled, the employee’s schedule

for the legal entity will appear in the Employee Schedule Grid

The following illustration shows a sample employee schedule.

Tip

The Employee Schedule Grid can be changed using the following features:



• Select the employee name from the Window menu to switch to another open employee schedule • Select Flip from the Window menu to flip through open employee schedules • Select the employee name from the name list under Schedules in the Navigator

Note

Users can quickly change which eight-week period is displayed in two-week increments. Select Next Two Schedule Weeks or Previous Two Schedule Weeks from the View menu or from the right-click menu.

Workforce ESP displays two additional weeks of the schedule, depending on which option is selected from the View menu. Each time users add two new weeks in the future or in the past, two weeks from the opposite end of the schedule become non-viewable.

Users can also change which eight-week period is viewable by selecting a different start date. Select Schedule Start Date from the View menu. Workforce ESP displays an eight-week period of the schedule starting on the date entered.

Employee Schedule Grid The Employee Schedule Grid displays the employee’s complete schedule in one or more rows, regardless of where the employee is scheduled to work. If an employee has shifts across multiple units, each unit will be displayed in a separate row in the Employee Schedule Grid.

The user will not see rows for units to which the user does not have security access. For example, across separate legal entities such as WRHA hospitals and St. Boniface Hospital or Concordia Hospital.

The following illustration shows a sample Employee Schedule Grid with shifts on multiple units:

Weekends and holidays are identified with a teal green column header.



The table below lists and describes the components of the Employee Schedule Grid:

Field Description

Employee Name and Emp ID

The name and ID of the employee who is active in the Employee Schedule Grid.

Row Header • Indicates the type of shift displayed: work plan shift, relief shift, on shift or vacant shift.

• Displays the origin of the shift: the unit or work plan to which the shift belongs.

• In the above example, the row header contains the facility name, work plan short description and the work plan row number (PH – 6N RN 3).

Date Range • Displays the range of dates displayed in the schedule.

• Displays a maximum of eight weeks.

Shifts Grid • Displays the active employee’s complete schedule.

• Displays the employee’s scheduled shifts in different rows on the grid.

• Shifts are displayed in rows based on the type of shift and the origin of the shift.

• Generally, all shifts of the same type and same origin are displayed in the same row.

Weekend and Holiday

Displays the weekends and holidays with a teal green column header.

Tip

If the user places the cursor over a shift in the Employee Schedule Grid, Workforce ESP will display a ScreenTip providing information on the selected shift. Workforce ESP displays the date, time, paid hours, unit and pay code or pay category of the shift. For example:



Employee Schedule Compression When an employee works a number of shifts on one day, or works on a number of different units as a regular or relief employee, this employee’s schedule is likely to contain multiple rows when viewed in the Schedules workspace.

Workforce ESP is able to compress the schedule view to display fewer schedule rows, which aids in the interpretation of schedules for these types of employees.

Workforce ESP can compress the schedule by: • Day • Unit - This is the suggested way.

The following illustration shows an employee schedule that has been compressed by day:

The following illustration shows an employee schedule that has been compressed by unit:

The table below lists and describes how these two methods of schedule compression affect the employee schedule:

Field Description

By Day • Workforce ESP groups any shifts found for the day into one row where possible, regardless of the unit on which they are worked, shift type or exception type.

• Where multiple shifts are worked per day, Workforce ESP compresses the number of rows to the maximum number of shifts worked on the day, and orders the shifts by start time.

• No information is displayed in the schedule row headers.

By Unit • Workforce ESP displays shifts worked in one row per unit where possible, regardless of the shift type or exception type.

• Where multiple shifts are worked per day, Workforce ESP compresses the number of rows to the maximum number of shifts worked on the unit for a given day, and orders the shifts by start time.

• The unit short description is displayed in the schedule row header but work plan row numbers are not displayed.



Change Schedule Compression Method The Administrator defines the default settings for schedule compression. By default, when the user opens an employee schedule, it is compressed according to the defined settings. When no default schedule compression settings have been defined by the Administrator, users can still use the feature on an ad hoc basis.

Users are able to change the compression method to: • No Compression • Compression by Day • Compression by Unit

To… Then…

View the schedule with no compression

From the schedule compression sub-menu of the actions menu, select no compression.

View the schedule compressed by day

From the schedule compression sub-menu of the actions menu, select compression by day.

View the schedule compressed by unit

From the schedule compression sub-menu of the actions menu, select compression by unit.

Tip

After changing the compression method, when the user exits the Schedules workspace, Workforce ESP immediately reverts to the default compression settings that were defined by the Administrator.

Schedule Compression Features To assist further with schedule compression, there are two additional features:

• Off Shift Suppression • Shift Information dialog

Availability Tabs Workforce ESP can be configured to not display shifts with specified off pay codes, when the schedule is compressed.

For example, when the schedule is compressed an organization may not want to display shifts with the off pay codes Schedule Adjustment or Float.

Off pay codes to be suppressed are specified by the Administrator. The Off Shift Suppression feature is activated by the Administrator when default settings for schedule compression are defined.



The following illustration shows a schedule that has been compressed by day, where off pay codes have not been suppressed:

The following illustration shows the same schedule which is also compressed by day, but where the off pay codes Schedule Adjustment and Float have been suppressed:

To… Then…

Display suppressed off shifts

• From the actions menu, select show all off shifts.

• Workforce esp refreshes the schedule to display any off shifts that have been suppressed.

Suppress specified off shifts

• From the actions menu, select suppress off shifts.

• Workforce esp refreshes the schedule to suppress specified off shifts.

Determine which off pay codes are suppressed

• From the actions menu, select suppressed off shifts.

• Workforce esp displays the suppressed off shifts dialog which lists the off pay codes the administrator has specified should be suppressed.

Shift Information Dialog When the schedule is compressed, the schedule row headers may not display the full row header details such as unit or work plan row number that users are used to seeing when the schedule is not compressed. Consequently, when the schedule is compressed, users may be challenged to identify the unit on which the shift is worked, along with other details.

To assist users view further details about employee schedule shifts, Workforce ESP can display the Shift Information dialog.

Right click on the shift and select Shift Information



The following illustration shows an example of the Shift Information dialog:

The contents of the dialog are dynamic—they change depending on the shift which the user has clicked in the Employee Schedule Grid.

The Shift Information dialog appears automatically when the Schedules workspace is opened if the Administrator has defined the default schedule compression settings to automatically display the Shift Information dialog.

Unit Schedule Grid A unit schedule displays all published work plan shifts and on shifts contained in the schedules of all employees scheduled to work on the unit within a selected date range. The unit schedule can be used to see the big picture of the scheduling transactions which affect the unit.

The Open Unit Schedule dialog allows users to specify which unit and occupation types will be displayed.



The following illustration shows the Open Unit Schedule dialog:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Open Unit Schedule dialog:

Field Description

Open Unit The unit to be displayed on the Unit Schedule Grid.

The list contains only the units to which the user has access.

Display From Specifies the first date of the eight-week schedule to be displayed.

Occupation Types to Display: All Occupation Types

Allows users to display all occupation types associated with the unit on the Unit Schedule Grid.

Occupation Types to Display: Selected Occupation Types

• Allows users to select which occupation types will be displayed on the Unit Schedule Grid.

• Users can select either occupation classes or occupation types associated with the unit.

Show Relief Employees If this option is selected, any employees who are working relief shifts for employees on the unit are displayed.



The following illustration shows a sample Unit Schedule Grid:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Unit Schedule Grid:

Field Description

Unit The unit selected in the Open Unit Schedule dialog.

Employee Name, ID and Occupation Type

• The employee name, ID, and occupation type of the employee who belongs to the unit.

• Sorts the work plan rows in the same order as they appear in the Work Plans workspace.

Unassigned Row • Shows an unassigned work plan row.

• Displays the short description of the work plan, work plan row number and unassigned shift abbreviation.

Unit Summary Row

• Provides an overview of the number of exceptions that have occurred on the unit relative to the usual number of regular staff on the unit.

• The top number is the total number of booked off and unassigned shifts for that date column, regardless of whether relief is scheduled or not.

• The bottom number is the total number of work plan shifts for that date column, including booked off and unassigned shifts but excluding booked on shifts.

• Non-worked shift types are not counted in either total as long as they are set up as Non-worked shift types in the work plan.

Tip

An employee’s schedule can also be opened from the Unit Schedule Grid. In the Unit Schedule Grid, click the row header of the employee whose schedule is to be opened.

The schedule for the selected employee will be displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid in the upper portion of the window.If the Unit Schedule Grid was opened first, the Employee Schedule Grid will be blank.



Colour Coding of Shifts To assist users in interpreting their scheduling transactions, Workforce ESP colour codes each transaction. This allows users to determine the type and status of shifts displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid and Unit Schedule Grid based on the background colour of the shifts.

The following table reviews the colour coding used in the schedule grids.

If the background colour is… The Employee is…

Clear Working a work plan shift.

Grey Current Pay Period

Completely blue Booked off for the entire shift, for any type of shift.

Half blue Booked off for a portion of the shift, for any type of shift.

Completely green Working an on or relief shift.

Half green Working a portion of an on or relief shift.

Half blue and half green Booked off for a portion of an on or relief shift.

The colour coding of the shift cells will be covered in detail as each task is performed in the following modules.

Tip

There are five types of exceptions: edited, off, on, relief and vacant shifts. Each of these will be defined as the tasks are performed within the Schedules workspace.



Module 5: Schedules – Book Off Importance

The Book Off feature is used to initiate a scheduling need by unscheduling an employee who is not able to work one or more scheduled shifts. An employee can be booked off from any type of shift, for a partial shift or entire shift, for single or multiple reasons.

The Book Off feature is normally used for short-term absences. Long-term absences are managed in the Assignments workspace by unassigning employees from their work plan rows.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • List the components of the Book Off window • Create book off records for multiple situations • List the components of the Swap window • Swap shifts between two employees




For each book off shift, Schedulers need to select an employee and shift(s) and determine the reason for the book off. This lesson will cover the basic look and feel of the Book Off window which will allow Schedulers to easily navigate the window.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Book Off window • Describe how book off shifts are viewed in the employee schedule

Book Off Window The Book Off window is contained within the Schedules workspace.

The following table reviews the colour coding used in the schedule grids:

Field Description


Displays the employee’s complete schedule in one or more rows, regardless of where the employee is scheduled to work.

Reason • The reason the employee cannot work the scheduled shift.

• The drop-down list contains the off pay codes or pay categories defined in the Setup workspace.

Conditional Time Off If this option is selected, the user can place a single or multiple shifts into a temporary book off state.

Relief Not Needed If this option is selected, the status of the shift is designated as Relief Not Needed.



Employee Schedule Grid When a user books an employee off from a shift, the following changes occur in the Book Off window:

• The cell is shaded blue • The two-character abbreviation for the off reason is displayed in the lower-right corner of the cell • If the employee is booked off for multiple reasons, the abbreviation MR is displayed

For example:

Tip

After all ESP sites have been added:

In the Book Off window of a Pay Category database, Workforce ESP performs a validation to ensure an employee is eligible to receive a book off reason pay category when users initiate the relief action (Load Pool, Load Custom Pool, Load No Pool or Add to Workbook).

If the employee is not eligible for the book off reason pay category, Workforce ESP will display the following error message:

Click OK and select another book off reason pay category.

To view all off shifts, select Show All Off Shifts from the Actions menu. To suppress specified off shifts, select Suppress Off Shifts from the Actions menu.



Lesson 2: Book Off Shifts Importance

Booking off is a two-step process. The first step is to book off the shift(s) and select a book off reason. The second step is to schedule employee(s) to work the open shift(s). Schedulers can either immediately schedule one or more employees to work the shift(s), or add the task to the Workbook and schedule the employee(s) at a later time.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Book off single and multiple shifts • Book off a partial shift • Book off using Conditional Time Off • Identify how different types of book on shifts appear in the employee schedule

Book Off Whether you are booking off one shift, multiple shifts or partial shifts the following basic steps are always performed.

Step Description

1 Select the employee you want to book off and the date range you want to view

2 Select the shift(s) to book off

3 Open the Book Off window

4 Optionally, break the shift up into a specific time frame

5 Select a reason code

6 Schedule relief employees to work the booked off shifts or add the shift(s) to the workbook to be filled later

When an employee is unavailable to work their scheduled shifts, you book off the employee. ESP provides you with the following book off options.

Book Off Option Description

Full Shift Employees book off from one or more full shifts, for one particular reason. For example, an employee may book off from all shifts from August 15 to 30 for the reason of vacation.

Partial Shift Employees book off for part of a day. For example, an employee is scheduled to work from 08:00 to 16:00 but has a doctor's appointment from 14:30 to 16:00.

Multiple Reasons Employees book off a full shift or partial shift for more than one reason. For example, an employee books off a day for four hours of banked time and 4 hours of vacation.

Conditional Time Off

Employee book off for a full or partial shift but the employee does not officially have the time off until relief is scheduled for the shift.



Book Off Shift Details Whether you are booking off one shift, multiple shifts or partial shifts the following basic steps are always performed.

The Shift Details dialog displays the characteristics which are associated with a specific shift. The active shift is the one which is selected in the Employee Schedule Grid.

When working in the Book Off window, the Shift Details dialog is used to: • Book off shifts for multiple reasons • Book off partial shifts • Book off non-contiguous portions of shifts

The following illustration shows the Shift Details dialog with a shift that has been split multiple times and a reason specified for the active portion of the shift:

For quick access to the Shift Details dialog, use the right-click menu in the Book Off window, click the Edit Shift Details button on the toolbar or double-click the shift.

The active, or selected, portion of the shift is shaded yellow.



The table below lists and describes the components of the Shift Details dialog in the Book Off window:

Field Description

Shift • A visual representation of the shift.

• The portion of the shift that is currently active is shaded yellow.

Summary • A written summary of the entire original shift.

• Includes the shift icon, length of the shift in hours and date of the shift.

Reason • The book off reason for the selected portion of the shift.

• The drop-down list contains the off pay codes or pay categories specified for the organization.

Relief Not Needed If this option is selected, relief is not needed for the selected portion of the shift.

Split • Clicking this button splits the active portion of the shift into two equal portions.

• Shifts, or portions of shifts, can be split as many times as necessary.

Join • Clicking this button joins portions of a previously split shift.

• Workforce ESP joins the active portion of the shift with the portion immediately following the active selection.

• If the last portion of the shift is selected, it is joined to the portion directly preceding it.

Clear Clicking this button clears the Reason field for the active portion of the shift.

From Time • The start time of the shift or selected portion of the shift.

• Can be used with the split function to create unequal shift portions.

• The original start time of the shift cannot be modified.

To Time • The end time of the shift or selected portion of the shift.


• The original end time of the shift cannot be modified.

Paid Hours The number of hours which will be allocated to the reason specified for the selected portion of the shift.

Tip

The Shift Details dialog is also used in the Book On window, the Relief window and the Exceptions window.



Conditional Time Off The Conditional Time Off option allows the user to place a single shift or multiple shifts into a temporary book off state. The shift will remain in the temporary state until relief is scheduled for the shift or the shift is designed with Relief Not Needed.

The following illustration shows the shift in the Conditional Time Off option in the book off window.

Conditional Time off can be created for a full shift or a shift which has been partially booked off. When this option is selected the shift in the Employee Schedule Grid is shaded orange and the abbreviation of the off code is displayed in the lower-right corner of the cell.

The following illustration shows the shift in the Employee Schedule Grid:

Note

The Conditional Time Off shift only appears in the Schedules and Workbook workspaces. The do not appear on report and are not counted on the Events Calendar.



Lesson 3: Swap Shifts Importance

The Swap window is contained within the Schedules workspace. The Swap feature allows users to exchange shifts between employees who are scheduled on the same day or on different days.

Note: Shift swaps will be entered and accepted by two employees in ESP Employee Self Service. The Scheduler should not have to enter shift swaps but on occasion may be required to.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Swap window • Describe how book off shifts are viewed in the employee schedule window • Swap shifts between two employees

Swap Shifts When users open the Swap window, one employee’s schedule is displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid in the upper half of the window and the other employee’s schedule is displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid in the lower half of the window.

Workforce ESP requires that users swap shifts between two employees on a shift-for-shift basis. In other words, each employee must work one of the other employee’s shifts. The Swap window will not allow users to swap:

• A non-worked shift • Part of a shift • A booked off shift • A partially booked off shift • A shift that would result in an overlap for any period of time

When two employees swap shifts, the result is that the employees are booked off from their original shifts and each employee is scheduled as relief to work the other employee’s booked off shift.



When users swap shifts between employees, the following changes occur in the Swap window: • The cells are shaded blue for the shifts which were swapped away (booked off). • The abbreviation for the swap off pay code or pay category appears in the lower-right corner of the

swapped shifts’ cells • A new row is added to the schedule in order to display the new shifts and the row header indicates that

they are relief shifts • The cells are shaded green for the shifts which the employees are now working • The abbreviation for the swap relief pay code or pay category (SW) appears in the lower-right corner of

the relief shifts’ cells

The following illustration details an example of a shift swap using the situation where Smith’s shift on November 17 was swapped with Lee’s shift on November 14:

Swap Shifts with Different Occupations When two employees with different occupation types swap shifts, Workforce ESP displays the following message:

If the user clicks No, Workforce ESP swaps the shifts, but each employee’s occupation type stays with that employee.

If the user clicks Yes, Workforce ESP swaps the shifts and each employee’s occupation type follows the shift.

Note

The user swapped the wrong shifts. How can this be corrected? The user cannot unswap shifts in the Swap window. To undo the swap, the user must cancel the exceptions created by the swap in the Exceptions window. The cancellation of shifts will be covered later in this workbook.



Module 6: Schedules – Book On Importance

In the Book On dialog, users create ad hoc shifts, which are separate from the work plan, to meet their additional, nonrecurring work requirements. Shifts are booked on for reasons such as education, orientation, workload increase, overtime, call back or special projects.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the type of transactions performed in the Book On dialog • Perform a variety of Book On tasks • Place incomplete tasks on the Workbook • Fill an on shift in the Book On dialog




For each book on shift which is created, Schedulers must specify the shift’s unit, occupation type, book on reason, cost center and shift type.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Book On dialog • Describe how book on shifts are viewed in the employee schedule

Book On Dialog The following illustration shows the Book On dialog:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Book On dialog:

Field Description

Unit • The unit associated with the shift..

Reason • The reason the book on shift is created.

• Drop-down list contains on pay codes or pay categories.

• Defaults to the unit’s default on reason, if applicable.



Field Description

Occupation Type

• The occupation type associated with the book on shift.

• Drop-down list contains all occupation types associated with the specified unit.

• Depending on the setup of the database and the information displayed in the Schedules window, the occupation type defaults to the occupation type associated with the shift in the Employee Schedule Grid or the specified unit’s default occupation type.

Cost Center • The cost center associated with the book on shift.

• Drop-down list contains all cost centers associated with the specified unit.

• Defaults to either the unit’s default cost center or the first cost center in the list.

From Date • The first date of the shift to book on.

• Depending on the information displayed in the Schedules window, this date defaults to the date of the shift selected in the Employee Schedule Grid or the earliest date selected in the grid.

To Date • The last date of the shift to book on.

• Depending on the information displayed in the Schedules window, this date defaults to the date of the shift selected in the Employee Schedule Grid or the latest date selected in the grid.

All Dates in Range

If this option is selected, all dates within the date range are used for the book on shift dates.

Select Dates in Range

The non-continuous shift dates to book on.

Shift • The shift type associated with the book on shift.

• Clicking the Ellipsis button displays the Define Shift Types – Book On dialog.

• Depending on the information displayed in the Schedules window, the shift type defaults to the shift type associated with the shift selected in the Employee Schedule Grid.

Shifts Per Day The number of identical shifts to book on.

Relief Action • The type of relief action to initiate.

• The Relief Action options are: Add to Workbook, Do Not Load Relief - Schedule Employee, Relief - No Pool, Relief - Default Pool and Relief - Custom Pool.

Employee • The name of the relief employee who will fill the shift.

• Defaults to the employee name currently active in the Employee Schedule Grid.

• If this field is used, Workforce ESP only checks to see whether a double booking would occur if the employee is scheduled to work the shift. No other scheduling rules are checked.

Shift Details Clicking this button displays the Edit Shift Details dialog, which allows users to modify the start and end times, reason or premiums associated with the shift.



Employee Schedule Grid When a user creates and fills a shift in the Book On dialog, the following changes occur in the Employee Schedule Grid:

• The cell is shaded green • The two-character abbreviation for the on reason is displayed in the lower-right corner of the cell • In most cases, a new row is added to the schedule in order to display the new shift and the row header

indicates that it is an on shift

The following illustration shows sample results from a book on:

Tip

In the Book On dialog of a Pay Category database, Workforce ESP performs a validation to ensure an employee is eligible to receive a book on reason pay category, when users initiate the relief action (Add to Workbook, Do Not Load Relief - Schedule Employee, Load Pool, Load Custom Pool or Load No Pool).

If the employee is not eligible for the book on reason pay category, Workforce ESP will display the following error message:

Click OK and select another book on reason pay category.



Lesson 2: Book On Shifts Importance

Booking on is a two-step process. The first step is to create the on shift(s). The second step is to schedule employee(s) to work the newly created shift(s).

Schedulers can either immediately schedule one or more employees to work the shift(s), or add the task to the Workbook and schedule the employee(s) at a later time.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Book on single shifts • Identify how different types of book on shifts appear in the employee schedule

Book On Whether you are booking on one shift, multiple shifts or partial shifts the following basic steps are always performed as long as they are from the same unit.

Step Description

1 Open the Book On dialog.

2 Select the dates of the book on and enter the shift information (unit, occupation, reason, cost center, shift etc.

3 Select the shift(s) to book off.

4 Schedule relief employees to work the booked on shifts or add the shift(s) to the workbook to be filled later.

The following illustration shows a sample result of a multiple book on. The book on shifts’ are shaded green.

Tip

When users use the Employee field to fill a book on shift, Workforce ESP will only validate that the shift will not cause a double booking. Workforce ESP will not check for any other scheduling rule violations.

If the organization’s scheduling policies require users to check scheduling rules, users must fill the shift in the Relief window. Filling shifts in the Relief window is covered later in the course.



Module 7: Schedules – Exceptions Importance

The Exceptions window allows users to view, edit, cancel and delete exception shifts. The following shifts are considered exceptions: edited, off, on, relief and vacant shifts.

The information supplied by the Exceptions window will assist users to determine the exact chain of events that occurred in relation to the shift, when the events occurred and the status of the shift.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Exceptions window • View the details of exceptions • Change the status of exceptions




The Exceptions window shows the chain of events that occurred in relation to the shift. Knowing this history helps the Scheduler understand the story behind the shift.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Describe the basic components of the Exceptions window • Identify the six exception types in the Schedule Grid • Describe the components of the Exception Tree

Exceptions Window The following illustration shows the Exceptions window:



The table below lists and describes the components of the Exceptions window.

Field Description


• Displays the employee’s complete schedule over an eight-week period in one or more rows, regardless of where the employee is scheduled to work. Only units that the user has access to will be displayed.

• Displays all edited, off, on, relief and work plan shifts.

Shift Information Boxes

• Allows the user to view the details of the selected shift.

• Details are displayed in two boxes:

• The first box displays the unit, work plan and work plan row number

• The second box displays the shift date and the start and end times of the shift

Status Box • Displays the status of the selected shift.

• The following statuses can be displayed: Incomplete with Workbook date, Complete, Complete - Relief Not Needed, Complete - Relief Not Found and Okay.

Changed By Box • Displays the last changed information of the selected shift.

• Displays the User Name of the person who last changed the exception and the date and time the person made the change.

Exception Tree • Displays the exact chain of events which are related to the selected exception shift.

• Workforce ESP imposes no limitation on the length of the chain.

Shift Graphs • A graphical representation of the selected shift.

• Displays the to and from times which apply to each reason code and the code abbreviations.

• The information is displayed in two graphs:

• The first graph displays the pay reason for all edited, off, on or vacant shifts

• The second graph displays the name of the relief employee, if applicable



Employee Schedule Grid The Employee Schedule Grid displays all edited, off, on, relief, vacant and work plan shifts associated with the employee schedule.

The following illustration displays the six types of shifts which appear in the Employee Schedule Grid.

Exception Tree The Exception Tree provides an overview of the different exception shifts related to the selected employee and date range. To view the detailed information and chain of events associated with a shift, select that shift in the Employee Schedule Grid.

The following illustration shows the Exception Tree for a shift selected in the Employee Schedule Grid:

As shown in the above diagram, the Exception Tree is a collection of boxes connected by straight lines. Each box is called a node.

The nodes are displayed in chronological order, from left to right, so that users can determine in what order of events the exception processing occurred. The first node of the Exception Tree represents the initiation of a need that started the chain of events. To the right, Workforce ESP displays the nodes that correspond to the shift or shift portions for employees who are scheduled as relief or have been booked off. The last node in the chain represents the completion of the need.

From the colour of the node and the employee’s name displayed inside the node, users can determine the type and shift displayed in the tree.



The following table shows the type of nodes displayed in the Exception Tree.

Shift Type Description Colour Display in Node

Vacant An unassigned shift which is placed on the Workbook or filled by an employee

White

“Vacant” and the VC abbreviation

On A shift created in the Book On dialog which is filled by an employee

White

“ON” and the on code abbreviation

Edited A work plan shift which has been altered in the Shift Details dialog

White

“EDITED” and the on code abbreviation of the edited shift

Off An employee who is booked off from a shift which was placed on the Workbook or filled by an employee

Blue

Name of the employee who was booked off, “BOOK OFF” and the off code abbreviation

Relief An employee who is currently scheduled to work the shift

Green

Name of the employee scheduled to work relief and the times of the shift

Relief Booked Off

An employee who was scheduled to work the shift but subsequently was booked off

Yellow

Name of the employee scheduled to work relief, but then was booked off, “ RELIEF BKD OFF” and the off code abbreviation

Tip

Work plan shifts are not displayed in the Exception Tree, as they are not exceptions.



Lesson 2: Shift Exceptions Importance

Daily staffing situations require Schedulers to modify the details of the Exceptions window. This lesson illustrates how and when the Scheduler should modify exceptions.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • View and cancel the details of exceptions • Change the status of exceptions

Cancel Exception Shifts Workforce ESP allows users to cancel any type of exception shift: edited, off, on, vacant or relief.

When an exception is canceled, Workforce ESP maintains a record of the cancellation. Canceling unschedules the employee from the related shift.

Tip

When a user opens an exception either in Schedule Relief or the Exceptions window, Workforce ESP locks the record. If another user attempts to cancel the locked exception, Workforce ESP displays a message informing the user that the record is locked and cannot be canceled. If the original user attempts to cancel the locked exception and another unrelated exception, Workforce ESP displays a message informing the user that the unlocked exception can be cancelled, but not the locked exception.

Update Workbook Tasks Workforce ESP automatically adds, updates and deletes the Workbook tasks associated with an exception shift as users perform actions that cause the status of the shift to change.

Workforce ESP updates the Workbook tasks as described in the following table.

When the Status of a Shift Changes From…

Workforce ESP Either…

Incomplete to Complete

• Deletes the task from the Workbook if that shift was the only incomplete shift in the event, or

• Updates the applicable Workbook task by deleting the completed shift from the task, if more shifts in the event are still incomplete.

Complete to Incomplete

• Adds a task to the Workbook if there is no existing task on the Workbook related to the event, or

• Updates the task on the Workbook by adding the incomplete shift to the task, if there is a task related to any shift in the event on the Workbook.



Cancelled by Scheduler or Cancelled by Employee

When users cancel exceptions, they either cancel by employee or cancel by scheduler to indicate who is initiating the cancellation.

Regardless of whether users cancel by employee or scheduler, the end result of the cancellation is the same: the employee is unscheduled from the shift.

Workforce ESP keeps a record of all cancellations, including whether the shift was cancelled by the employee or the Scheduler. Users may find a report on this information useful when analyzing trends in employee activities.

Tip

If booked off or booked on shifts are cancelled, users will need to make a note of the relief employee as that information will be deleted when the exception is cancelled.

Note

If users select more than one shift in the Employee Schedule Grid and then delete or cancel those shifts, for each selected shift, Workforce ESP deletes or cancels the shift in the same manner as if users had selected a single shift. Booked On shifts, however, can only be deleted individually.

If more than one shift is selected in the Employee Schedule Grid, Workforce ESP does not display the Exception Tree. Therefore, users cannot view any subsequent shifts related to the selected shifts that Workforce ESP will automatically delete or cancel.

Modify the Details of a Shift Workforce ESP allows users to edit the premiums, paid hours and pay reason associated with the selected node in the Exception Tree.

Tip

Workforce ESP allows users to report on both current and cancelled exception shifts. Current exceptions are displayed in the Off, On and Vacancy Exceptions reports and the cancelled exceptions are displayed in the Cancelled Off and Cancelled Relief Exceptions reports.

Note

To edit an exception in the Exception Tree, select the shift, and then click the Edit Shift Details toolbar button, or go to Actions > Edit Shift Details. If the Edit Shift Details button is not active, click the Exceptions button first.



Module 8: Schedules Console Importance

The Console provides a consolidated view of all the scheduling needs for a unit or across multiple units. In the Console, users can identify all outstanding scheduling needs and complete relief transactions individually or in groups from one centralized location.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Console window • Explain how the Console settings affect the Console Shifts Grid • Determine how to action shifts from the Console




The Console is a collection of tasks arranged in order by the date and time for which the tasks are scheduled. The Console displays the same information which is displayed in the Workbook workspace; however, the information is displayed differently.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Explain what types of shifts are displayed in the Console • Identify the components of the Console window • Describe how shifts are sorted • Open the Shifts Grid in the Console

What Does the Console Display? Shifts which appear on the Console represent scheduling needs and can be linked to the Console from multiple areas of Workforce ESP.

The following illustration shows the various links of shifts to the Console:

The Console displays all shifts that are considered to be a scheduling need within Workforce ESP. Only information for the units to which the user has access will be displayed.



The table below lists and describes the various types of shifts classified as scheduling needs:

Shift Description

Incomplete Booked Off Shifts

• Shifts that have been booked off in the Schedules workspace and need to be filled.

• These shifts are found on the Console.

• Represented by the OFF abbreviation in the Console row header.

• Booked Off shifts with a status of Conditional Time Off are represented by the COND abbreviation in the Console row header.

Incomplete Booked On Shifts

• Shifts that have been booked on in the Schedules workspace and need to be filled.

• These shifts are found on the Console.

• Represented by the ON abbreviation in the Console row header.

Vacant Shifts • Shifts from unassigned work plan rows in the Assignments workspace which have been placed on the Workbook.

• Represented by the VCY abbreviation in the Console row header.

Unassigned Shifts • Shifts from unassigned work plan rows which have not been placed on the Workbook.

• Workforce ESP displays these shifts on the Console as a reminder that they exist.

• Represented by the UA abbreviation in the Console row header.



How is Information Displayed on the Console? Information is displayed on the Console in a grid format, similar to the format found in the Work Plans, Assignments and Schedules workspaces.

The table below lists and describes the components of the Console window:

Field Description

Display Summary • Indicates which units, occupation types and shift classes are displayed on the Console.

• View is defined by selecting Console Settings from the View menu. • Summary is provided to verify the appropriate view:

Row Header for Standard Settings Option

• The row header displays the unit for which the scheduling needs exist, the type of scheduling need the shifts represent and the occupation type of the scheduling needs in the row.

• The following abbreviations are used for the scheduling need type:

o OFF for book off shifts

o ON for book on shifts

o VCY for vacant shifts

o UA for unassigned shifts

o COND for Conditional Time Off

• For UA scheduling needs, the row header also displays the corresponding work plan short description and row number.



The Console Shifts Grid for the Standard Settings Option

• The Console Shifts Grid displays all scheduling needs by date, according to the criteria selected in the Console Settings dialog.

• Workforce ESP displays scheduling needs in as few rows as possible. • If the Standard Settings option is selected, the shifts with the same unit,

scheduling need type and occupation type will be grouped together in one row. • Not all shifts in one row belong to the same Workbook task or block of shifts; they

are simply grouped together for display purposes. • If there is more than one shift of the same type on the same day, Workforce ESP

displays these shifts in separate rows with the same row header.

• The shifts on the Console can be selected and relief initiated, or Workbook tasks

created for unassigned shifts. • OFF, ON and VCY shifts are displayed in cells shaded blue.

Scheduling Needs Count

• In the lower portion of the Console Shifts Grid, a count displays the total number of scheduling needs for each day.

• For example, if the user chooses to display a specific occupation type, the count

will show only the total number of scheduling needs for that occupation type.



In the following illustration, review the components of the Console window displayed using the Standard Settings option:

Sort Order in the Console Window With the Standard Settings option selected, the row header displays the unit for which the scheduling needs exist, the type of scheduling need the shifts represent and the occupation type of the schedule needs in the row.

The following illustration shows a sample row header:

The rows in the Console window are sorted by row header contents in the following order:

Sort Order Details

First Sort Alphabetical by unit

Second Sort Alphabetical by occupation type

Third Sort Schedule needs in the following order: off, on, vacant and unassigned shifts

Tip

Unassigned shifts are sorted alphabetically by unit row header, alphabetically by work plan short description and numerically by row number.



Open the Console The Console is accessed in the Schedules workspace. It is not necessary to have a schedule displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid to open the Console. If a user needs to access the Console but does not have access to the Schedules workspace, the access rights for that user must be changed. The users manager needs to put in a request to change the user’s security rights.

Refresh the Console Once the Console is open, it can remain open while the user continues to work on specific schedules or in other workspaces. Whenever the user returns to the Console after a period of time to review scheduling needs, the Console view should be refreshed to ensure the user is working with the most current information. Refreshing the Console will include any scheduling needs added or removed by other users working with Workforce ESP.

The Console display can be refreshed by selecting Refresh from the Actions menu or by clicking the Refresh button.



Lesson 2: Console Settings Importance

The Console settings control the information which is displayed in the Console Shifts Grid. Schedulers need to identify the appropriate dates, reasons, services, units, occupation classes, occupation types and shift classes which are to appear.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Console settings dialog • Recognize how the Console settings control the display of the Shifts Grid

Console Settings Dialog The first time the Console is accessed, the Console Settings dialog will be displayed automatically. After the initial access, the Console window will load directly onto the screen without displaying the Console Settings dialog.

The Console settings are accessed via the View menu and are used to define which shifts are displayed in the Console window. The criteria in effect are summarized in the Display Summary located in the upper portion of the Console window.

Workforce ESP saves the criteria last specified in the Console Settings dialog and applies the settings when the Console is accessed in the future. Therefore, the Display Summary should be reviewed for accuracy.

The information in the Console Settings dialog is divided into two tabs: General tab and Filter tab.



The following illustration shows the General tab of the Console Settings dialog:



The table below lists and describes the components of the General tab of the Console Settings dialog.

Field Description

Current Date If this option is selected, scheduling needs will be displayed from the current date forward.

Specified Date If this option is selected, scheduling needs will be displayed from the specified date forward.

Date • The date from which scheduling needs will be displayed.

• This field is available only when the Specified Date option is selected.

Schedule Duration

• The number of weeks for which scheduling needs will be displayed.

• Ranges from 1 week to 12 weeks.

Browse Schedule By

• The number of weeks by which a user can browse forward or backward in the Console window.

• This number is displayed on the View menu as the Next x Schedule Weeks and Previous x Schedule Weeks options.

Shifts Grouped By

• Specifies how shifts will be displayed in the Console Shifts Grid.

• The drop-down list contains the Standard Settings and Workbook Task options.

• The Standard Settings option displays the shifts in the Console Shifts Grid by date and the Workbook Task option displays the shifts in the Console Shifts Grid by Workbook task.

Display Options

• Displays a list of scheduling need types.

• Selected scheduling need types will be displayed on the Console.

• If the Workbook Task option is selected in the Shifts Grouped By field, the Unassigned option will not appear in the list.

Off Reasons • Displays a list of off reasons.

• The off reasons to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single or multiple off reasons can be selected for display.

On Reasons • Displays a list of on reasons.

• The on reasons to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single or multiple on reasons can be selected for display.



The following illustration shows the Filter tab of the Console Settings dialog:



The table below lists and describes the components of the Filter tab on the Console Settings dialog:

Field Description

Services • The list of services to which the user has access.

• The services to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single, multiple or all services can be selected for display.

• The specified services determine which units, occupation classes and occupation types are displayed.

Units • The list of units to which the user has access.

• The units to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single, multiple or all units can be selected for display.

• The specified units determine which occupation classes and occupation types are displayed.

Occupation Classes

• Displays a list of occupation classes associated with the selected unit(s).

• The occupation classes to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single, multiple or all occupation classes can be selected for display.

Occupation Types

• Displays a list of occupation types associated with the selected unit(s).

• The occupation types to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single, multiple or all occupation types can be selected for display.

Shift Classes • Displays a list of shift classes.

• The shift classes to be displayed on the Console are selected from the list.

• Single, multiple or all shift classes can be selected for display.

• If the Workbook Task option is selected in the Shifts Grouped By field, the Shift Classes list will not be available.

Note

The number of weeks the user can browse in the Console Shifts Grid is controlled by the Browse Schedule By option on the General tab of the Console Settings dialog.



Lesson 3: Console Actions Importance

The Console can be used in various ways to manage scheduling needs.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Convert unassigned shifts into vacancies • Initiate relief from the Console • Explain relief considerations when working with multiple shifts

Convert Unassigned Shifts into Vacancies The organization’s scheduling process may require that any unassigned shifts from the Assignments workspace be placed on the Workbook. The Console can be used to convert unassigned shifts into vacancies. When a user selects an UA shift and places it on the Workbook, the shift will move from the UA row to a VCY row for the same unit. If a VCY shift already exists for that unit on that day, Workforce ESP will create another row in the Console window to display the newly created VCY.

The following illustration shows the process when UA shifts are placed on the Workbook:



The Standard Settings option must be selected in order for unassigned shifts to be displayed on the Console.

While relief for unassigned shifts can be initiated directly from the Console without placing the shifts on the Workbook, the Relief Not Found and Relief Not Needed options cannot be selected for UA shifts. Unless a UA shift is converted to a VCY shift by placing it on the Workbook, these two options will not be available for use. Placing unassigned shifts from the UA row of the Console on the Workbook also allows the user to:

• Combine large blocks of unassigned shifts into vacancies • Group specific shifts into a single task • Group shifts with diverse characteristics into a single task

Tip

If any Non-worked or off shift types are plotted in the Work Plans workspace, avoid selecting and converting them into vacancies as relief is not required to be scheduled for Non-worked shifts.

An entire row of shifts for the number of weeks displayed can be selected by clicking the row header. An entire day’s shifts can be selected by clicking the column header of the specific day.

Initiate Relief from the Console The Console can be used for many staffing functions, including scheduling relief. The relief features mirror those found in the Schedules workspace. Depending on the type of scheduling need selected in the Console Shifts Grid, the available options will vary. If an option is dimmed, it is not available for the selected scheduling need type. For example, as the ON, OFF and VCY shifts are already on the Workbook, the Add to Workbook option on the Relief sub-menu of the Actions menu is not available.The table below lists and describes the options available for initiating scheduling relief from the Relief sub-menu of the Actions menu.

Field Description

Load Pool • Opens the Relief window and displays the default relief pool.

• Also accessed by clicking the Load Pool toolbar button.

Load Custom Pool

• Opens the Relief window and displays the Pool Filter Settings dialog to allow users to determine the criteria which employees must meet in order to appear in the relief pool.

• Also accessed by clicking the Load Custom Pool toolbar button.

Load No Pool • Opens the Relief window without loading a relief pool and displays the Open Employee dialog to select an employee to fill relief.

• Also accessed by clicking the Load No Pool toolbar button.

Add to Workbook • Displays the Add to Workbook dialog. Workforce ESP allows the user to allocate a scheduling task to a more appropriate time.

• Also accessed by clicking the Workbook toolbar button.



Field Description

Relief Not Needed

The shift is removed from the scheduling needs list and flagged with the status of Relief Not Needed.

Relief Not Found The shift is removed from the scheduling needs list and flagged with the status of Relief Not Found.

Tip

Relief options are accessed via the Relief submenu of the Actions menu, toolbar buttons or the right-click menu. Relief Not Needed and Relief Not Found can only be accessed via the Relief submenu.

Schedule Relief for Multiple Shifts The shifts displayed on the Console can be from a variety of rows, work plans or units. If the user selects multiple shifts and initiates relief, the Relief process may be impacted by the characteristics of the various shifts.

Cost Centers and Occupation Types

Normally when the user selects a shift and initiates relief, the cost center and occupation type associated with the shift are displayed in the Relief window. When working with multiple shifts which have different cost centers and occupation types, however, these fields will be left blank and Workforce ESP will require the user to select the appropriate cost center and occupation type.

The following illustration shows the portion of the Relief window which is not completed for multiple shifts:

Tip

The selected cost center and occupation type will override any original information associated with the shifts. This may result in incorrect cost centers or occupation types across units. Information should be carefully reviewed.



If the user selects a single shift, or multiple shifts with common characteristics, in the Relief window, the fields will be completed according to the characteristics of the selected shift(s).

The following illustration shows what occurs in the Relief window when two shifts with different cost centers and with a common occupation type are selected to initiate relief:

Once in the Relief window, the user selects shifts with common characteristics and schedules an employee to work the shifts. The user repeats the process until all shifts are filled.

If the user attempts to schedule an employee with a different occupation type than indicated, Workforce ESP will display a warning message similar to the one depicted in the following illustration:

Note

All shifts return to the original Workbook task in which they were created. Workforce ESP will not create a new Workbook task.

Regardless of how many shifts were selected and had relief scheduled, if shifts are returned to the Workbook they belong to the initial Workbook task.

Scheduling Rules

When shifts are selected in the Console Shifts Grid which are associated with different occupation types, the scheduling rules which apply to the shifts may also be different.

If selected shifts have different scheduling rules, the rules for the first shift in a series of shifts will be applied to the entire group of shifts.



In the following illustration, the scheduling rules for the DD2A vacant shift on February 2nd will be applied to all shifts in the selected group:

A relief pool may be limited, or no employees found, if the scheduling rules applied are not applicable for the entire group. By selecting single shifts or different groups of shifts and recalculating relief, a new pool of employees will be loaded according to the scheduling rules of the selected shifts.

Decline Shifts from the Console One of the advantages of using the Console to fill open shifts is that the schedulers can offer relief employees more than one shift at a time.

Schedulers can also decline on, off and vacancy shifts from the Console. In other words, the scheduler can select one shift or multiple shifts in the Shifts Grid, select a relief employee and indicate in the Shift Refusal dialog that the relief employee has declined all the selected shifts. The following illustration shows the Shift Refusal dialog which is accessed from the Console window:

Note

When shifts are declined on the Console, Workforce ESP will process the employee’s refusal to accept the shifts and will update the Relief Phone Log and Relief Phone Log report accordingly.

Unassigned shifts cannot be declined from the Console. To decline a shift for an employee, select Actions > Relief > Decline Shift, or right-click the shift you would like to decline and select Decline Shift.



Module 9: Schedules - Relief Importance

In the Relief window, users schedule employees to work shifts for which coverage is required. The three types of shifts for which employees are scheduled to work are: off, on and vacant shifts.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Relief window • Explain how the Relief window is connected to the other workspaces • Determine how to action shifts in Schedule Relief




The Relief window allows users to: • Schedule employees to work unfilled or open shifts • Display a list of employees who are eligible to work selected shifts • Modify the characteristics of a shift (for example, time, reason, cost center and occupation type) • Track an employee’s acceptance or refusal of shifts • Record an employee’s availability • Change the status of shifts (for example, Complete, Incomplete, Relief Not Needed or Relief Not Found)

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the components of the Relief Shifts Grid • Identify the components of the Relief Pool Grid • Distinguish between the three different relief pools • Identify the colour coding used to display availability and scheduling rule violations • Describe the function of the staffing form

Relief Window The table below lists and describes the components of the Relief window:

Field Description

Relief Shifts Grid • Displays unfilled shifts created in or selected from the Assignments workspace, Book Off window, Book On dialog, Console or Workbook workspace.

• Shifts are displayed in different rows based on the occupation type and the unit or work plan row to which the shifts are related.

Relief Employee The employee who will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Status • The status of the shift selected in the Relief Shifts Grid.

• The following statuses can be displayed: Complete, Complete – Relief Not Needed, Complete – Relief Not Found, Incomplete and blank.

• The status display is dependent on the transactions performed in the Relief window.

Cost Center • The cost center to which the relief employee will be charged.

• The drop-down list contains only the cost centers associated with the selected unit.

• By default, displays the cost center associated with the selected shift in the Relief Shifts Grid for off and vacant shifts and displays the selected cost center for on shifts.

• If one or more shifts are selected from multiple rows from different units, the Cost Center field will be left blank.



Field Description

Occupation Type • The occupation type associated with the relief employee who works the shift.

• The drop-down list contains only the occupation types associated with the selected unit.

• By default, displays the occupation type associated with the selected shift in the Relief Shifts Grid for off and vacant shifts and displays the selected occupation type for on shifts.

• If one or more shifts are selected from multiple rows from different units, the Occupation Type field will be left blank.

Staffing Form • Clicking this button displays the staffing form for the employee selected in the Relief Pool Grid.

• The staffing form displays detailed information about a selected relief employee to assist the user to determine whether or not the employee is suited to work the unfilled shifts.

Exit Relief Clicking this button closes the Relief window and completes the relief transaction.

Relief Pool Grid Displays the schedules of one or more employees who are to be considered to work the unfilled shifts.

Review the Relief window components in the following illustration:



Relief Shifts Grid The Relief Shifts Grid displays the unfilled shifts created in or selected from the Assignments workspace, Book Off window, Book On dialog, Console or Workbook workspace.

The following illustration shows the Relief Shifts Grid portion of the Relief window:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Relief Shifts Grid:

Field Description

Row Header • If off shifts are displayed in the Relief Shifts Grid row, Workforce ESP displays the name of the employee who originally owned the shifts. The facility name, work plan short description, row number and occupation associated with the shifts are also displayed.

• If on shifts are displayed in the Relief Shifts Grid row, Workforce ESP displays “Book On Shifts”. The facility name, unit name and occupation associated with the shifts are also displayed.

• If vacant shifts are displayed in the Relief Shifts Grid row, Workforce ESP displays “Vacancy Shifts”. The facility name, work plan short description, row number and occupation associated with the shifts are also displayed.

Unfilled Shift • Unfilled shifts created in or selected from the Assignments or Schedules workspaces.

• Displays the details of the unfilled shift, including date, shift icon and exception code.

• An unfilled shift is a shift for which relief has not been scheduled or indicated as not found or not needed.



Relief Pool Grid When users open the Relief window, they can specify whether or not the default relief pool should be loaded.

If the user loads a pool, Workforce ESP automatically filters, sorts and displays the relief pool in the Relief Pool Grid based on the default relief filter settings and the default shift selection. If required, the user can change the pool filter and sort options from the Relief window.

The following illustration shows the Relief Pool Grid portion of the Relief window:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Relief Pool Grid:

Field Description

Row Header • Displays the employee’s name, Emp ID and status.

• If the cursor is placed over the row header, Workforce ESP displays a summary of the employee’s scheduling statistics.

• If the user right-clicks the row header, Workforce ESP displays the scheduling rule violations, rule patterns and Phone Log option for the employee.

Availability Indicator

Indicates, by colour code, whether the employee is available to work the shift.

Scheduling Rule Indicator

Indicates, by colour code, whether scheduling rules would be violated if the employee worked the shift.

Relief Employee Schedules

Displays the schedules of the employees in the relief pool.


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Relief Pools Before users open the Relief window, they can specify which employees should appear in the Relief Pool Grid. When users open the Relief window from the workspaces, they have the option to: load pool, load custom pool or load no pool.

The following table lists the three different types of pools and provides a general description of each. The descriptions apply only when the default filter settings are set to Registered in Pool.

Pool Name Description

Load Pool • Displays the default relief pool as specified in the Setup workspace.

• Workforce ESP automatically filters the information to display only employees who match the criteria associated with the relief shift.

Load Custom Pool

• Displays the Pool Filter Settings dialog.

• Allows users to determine the criteria which employees must meet in order to appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Load No Pool • Displays the Open Employee dialog.

• Allows users to search for and specify the employee to display in the Relief Pool Grid.

The pool option names vary slightly between workspaces.

Tip

The scheduling procedures at organizations require users to offer relief shifts to employees according to the collective agreements, for example, by seniority or equally distributed. Workforce ESP is configured so that the relief pools sort according to the collective agreement. Users can also sort the relief pool by different criteria so that the employees are listed in the order in which they are entitled to be called for relief shifts.

Availability Colour Coding When users are trying to find a suitable employee to work the selected relief shifts, an important consideration is whether an employee is available to work on the date and times of the relief shifts.

To help users determine each employee’s availability, Workforce ESP colour codes the columns in the Relief Pool Grid that correspond to the shifts selected in the Relief Shifts Grid.

An employee’s availability status is based on the employee’s preferred availability and the employee’s actual availability, as follows:

• The employee’s actual availability for a specific date is based on the shifts an employee is scheduled to work on that date


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The table below lists and describes the background colour of the cells according to the employee’s preferred and actual availability.

Background Colour

Status Description

Red Not Available

• The employee’s preferred availability status is unavailable for any period of time that overlaps the relief shift, or

• the employee is already scheduled to work a shift that overlaps the relief shift.

• The employee has made themselves unavailable using ESP Employee Self Service

Green Available

• The employee’s preferred availability status is available for the entire duration of the relief shift, and

• the employee is not already scheduled to work a shift that overlaps the relief shift.

• The employee has made themselves available using ESP Employee Self Service

Yellow Unknown

• The employee’s preferred availability status is unknown for the entire duration of the relief shift or is unknown for part of the time and available for the other part, and

• the employee is not already scheduled to work a shift that overlaps the relief shift.

Grey Not Applicable The status of the relief shift in the column is already Complete.

The following illustration shows the Relief Pool Grid with availability colour coding:

You cannot see an employee’s availability when they are booked off.


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Availability and Scheduling Rule Indicators Workforce ESP displays the availability (AV) indicator and scheduling rule (SR) indicator in the employee row header of the Relief Pool Grid. The colour of these indicators provides summary information about the employee’s availability to work the selected relief shifts and the status of scheduling rule violations.

AV Indicator

The AV indicator is the small coloured box to the far left of each employee’s name in the Relief Pool Grid. The indicator displays a summary of an employee’s availability to work all of the selected relief shifts.

The table below lists and describes the colour coding of the AV indicator:

If the AV Indicator IS… Then…

Green • The employee is available to work all of the selected shifts.

Red • The employee is not available to work one or more of the selected relief shifts.

Yellow • The employee’s availability to work all of the selected relief shifts is unknown, or

• The employee is available to work some of the selected relief shifts and the employee’s availability is unknown for other shifts.

SR Indicator

The SR indicator is the small coloured box to the right of the AV indicator in the employee row header in the Relief Pool Grid. The colour of the indicator indicates whether scheduling the employee to work all of the selected relief shifts would result in any schedule rule violations.

The table below lists and describes the colour coding of the SR indicator:

The SR Indicator IS… If…

Green • No violations would occur.

Red • One or more violations would occur.

View Scheduling Rule Violations

If the SR indicator is red, Workforce ESP allows the user to view the scheduling rule violations which would occur if the relief employee worked the selected shifts.

To view the violations that apply to an employee, right-click in the employee row header of the Relief Pool Grid and Workforce ESP displays the following menu.

Rule violations for all employees listed in the relief pool can be viewed from the View menu.

If View Rule Violations is selected, Workforce ESP displays the Scheduling Rule Violations dialog for the selected employee. This dialog lists the employee name, the date range which will cause the violation and the rule the employee will violate if scheduled to work the shift.


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Relief Pool Shift Details Each cell in the Relief Pool Grid is large enough to display only one shift icon. If an employee is scheduled for multiple shifts in a day or multiple segments in a day, Workforce ESP displays only the shift icon of the earliest scheduled shift.

However, users can view the details of any relief shift by moving the cursor over the shift in the Relief Pool Grid. The cursor will change into a magnifying glass when the shift is selected, and Workforce ESP displays the Relief Pool Shift Details dialog.

The following illustration shows the Relief Pool Shift Details dialog:

The dialog contains the Schedule Shifts spreadsheet, which displays one row for each shift or portion of a shift scheduled for a selected employee and day. The rows are displayed in chronological order by the shift start time.

The table below lists and describes the components of the Relief Pool Shift Details dialog:

Field Description

Shift The symbol used to identify the shift.

Class The shift class associated with the shift.

Rule Length The shift length (recorded in the Setup workspace) which is used in the scheduling rule calculations.

Start The scheduled start time of the shift.

End The scheduled end time of the shift.

Pay Reason The pay code or pay category associated with the shift.


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Paid Hours The number of paid hours to which an employee is entitled for working a shift of this type.

Count in SR Indicates whether the pay reason (pay code or pay category) is marked to count toward scheduling rules.

Unit The short description of the unit with which the shift is associated.

Occupation The short description of the occupation type with which the shift is associated.

Cost Center The description of the cost center with which the shift is associated.

Pay Type The type of shift to which the shift is related; WP for work plan shifts, RLF for relief or vacant shifts, ON for on shifts and Off for booked off shifts.

Staffing Form The staffing form displays detailed information about an employee selected in the Relief Pool Grid. When the staffing form is opened, it replaces the Relief Pool Grid.

The information displayed is derived from the Employees workspace and the employee’s schedule. The staffing form assists users in determining the employee’s qualification to work the relief shift and recording the results of contact with relief employees.

The following illustration shows a sample staffing form.


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The table below lists and describes the components of the staffing form:

Field Description

Employee • Displays the selected employee’s name and Emp ID.

• View-only field.

Occupations Qualified to Work

• Displays the selected employee’s position information.


Phone Numbers and Edit

• The Phone Numbers field displays the selected employee’s phone numbers.

• Editable field.

• Click the Edit button to modify the phone numbers.

For Selected Occ • Displays the general employee occupation information supplied in the Employees workspace.


Skills • Displays the skills associated with the selected employee.


Miscellaneous Displays the accumulated hours, start date and gender of the selected employee.

Yes Rate • Displays a count of the number of times the selected employee has accepted a shift.

• Workforce ESP automatically updates this section from information supplied by the staffing form.

Today / Yesterday

• The comments section displays the shifts the selected employee is working the day before the shift and the day of the shift.


Comments and Edit

• Displays the comments recorded on the employee’s record.

• Editable field.

• Click the Edit button to modify the comments and dates.

Accept Selected Shifts

Allows the user to indicate the selected employee’s acceptance or refusal to work the relief shifts.

Move • If the Move button is clicked, Workforce ESP displays the Move dialog.

• This procedure is covered in a following module.

Cancel If the Cancel button is clicked, Workforce ESP returns to the Relief Pool Grid.


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Accept or Refuse Shifts If the selected employee accepts the shift, the user clicks Yes. Workforce ESP closes the staffing form and the selected relief shift is shaded green in the employee schedule in the Relief Pool Grid.

If the selected employee refuses the shift or cannot be reached, the user clicks No. Workforce ESP displays the Shift Refusal dialog and allows the results to be recorded for future use.

The illustration on the right shows a sample Shift Refusal dialog:

The No Response reasons list is a standard list for the whole region. Increment No Response Count option and Decrement Work Volume Preferences option settings are managed by the Administrator in the Setup workspace.

When the Shift Refusal dialog is used to mark an employee unavailable, Workforce ESP updates the employee Availability Calendar for the selected dates.


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The table below lists and describes the components of the Shift Refusal dialog:

Field Description

No Response Displays a list of reasons why the user cannot contact the employee or why the employee cannot work the offered shift(s).

Increment No Response Count

• If this option is selected, the employee’s no response count will be incremented.

• The default for each reason is specified in the Setup workspace.

• The user can override the default by selecting or clearing the check box.

Employee Unavailability

• Allows the user to mark the selected employee as unavailable to work other shifts.

• Unavailability can be recorded for a day or portion of a day.

• If the user marks the selected employee as unavailable, Workforce ESP may remove the employee from the Relief Pool Grid due to not being available to work the selected shifts.

Tip

Every time a no response is recorded, or an employee is scheduled to work a shift in the Relief window, Workforce ESP automatically records an entry in the Relief Phone Log.

Users can access the Relief Phone Log information by:

• Selecting Phone Log from the View menu • Right-clicking the employee row header in the Relief Pool Grid and selecting View Phone Log for

the Past Seven Days • Processing the Relief Phone Log report


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Lesson 2: Fill Open Shifts Importance

Open shifts (unfilled shifts) can be created in the Assignments workspace and the Schedules workspace (Book Off window, Book On dialog or Console). All open shifts are filled using the functionality contained within Schedule Relief.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Fill open shifts • Discuss relief filter and pool settings • Identify how to split relief shifts and change the status of relief shifts

Open Shifts Users have two options to fill open shifts: use the Relief Filter and Sort Settings to find eligible relief employees or if you know the relief employee who will work the open shifts you can enter their name directly into the shifts.

Tip

In the Relief window of a Pay Category database, Workforce ESP validates that the employee is eligible for the pay category reason associated with the shift, when the user closes the Relief window.

If the employee is not eligible for the selected pay category, Workforce ESP displays the following error message:

Click OK and select another reason or employee.

• The Relief Pool Grid is displayed, filtered and sorted based on the characteristics associated with the shifts in the Relief Shifts Grid.

• Anytime users change the shift selection or the uncovered portion of the selected shifts, they must instruct Workforce ESP to re-filter and re-sort, or in other words, recalculate the relief pool.

• To recalculate the relief pool, select Recalculate Pool from the Actions menu.


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Pool Filter and Sort Settings Pool filter and sort settings are displayed as tabs in the Pool Filter and Sort Settings dialog. There are three tabs: Filter Settings, Sort Settings and Combined Filter and Sort Settings.

Filter Settings Tab

Workforce ESP allows users to change the employees displayed in the Relief Pool Grid. Use the Pool Filter and Sort Settings dialog to determine which employees to display.

The following illustration shows the Filter Settings tab in the Pool Filter and Sort Settings dialog:


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The table below lists and describes the components of the Filter Settings tab in the Pool Filter and Sort Settings dialog:

Field Description

Relief Filter • The name of the relief filter associated with the criteria shown on the tab.

• The drop-down list contains all the relief filter names which have been created.

Pools • The pool type that employees must match in order to appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• The four pool types are: Registered in Pool, Scheduled on Unit, Assigned to Unit and Registered in Service Pool.

Occ Types • The occupation types that employees must match in order to appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• Filtered by either occupation class or occupation type.

Statuses The statuses that employees must match in order to appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Skills The skills that employees must match in order to appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Available for All Shifts

• Used to turn the availability filter on or off.

• If this option is selected and the By Shift Selection option is selected in the Setup workspace in the Edit Default Relief Filter Settings dialog, then only employees who are available to work all of the selected shifts will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• If this option is selected and the By Individual Shift option is selected in the Setup workspace in the Edit Default Relief Filter Settings dialog, then only employees who are available to work one or more of the selected shifts will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• The drop-down list contains two options: Regular and Overtime. The default setting is regular availability.

Within Work Volume Preferences

• Used to turn the within work volume preferences filter on or off.

• If this option is selected, only employees who have not reached their defined work volume preferences will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• If this option is not selected, all employees associated with the selected pool type will appear in the Relief Pool Grid, regardless of their defined work volume preferences.

No Scheduling Rule Violations

• Used to turn the scheduling rule violations filter on or off.

• If this option is selected, only employees who will not be violating scheduling rules if they worked all of the selected shifts will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

• If this option is not selected, all employees associated with the selected pool type will appear in the Relief Pool Grid, regardless of the scheduling rules.


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Field Description

Unit Preference • Users can filter the relief pool based on an employee’s preference to work on the units associated with the selected relief shifts.

• In the Employees workspace, users record an employee’s preference to work on a unit. An employee’s preference is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest preference and 10 being the lowest.

• The drop-down list contains two options: Equal To and Minimum Of.

• The Unit Preference and the Equal To options are selected, the relief pool will include employees whose unit preference is equal to the selected unit preference. For example, if the unit preference selected on the Pool Filter Settings tab is 5, then only those employees who have a unit preference of 5 will appear in the relief pool.

• If the Unit Preference and the Minimum Of options are selected, the relief pool will include employees whose unit preference is at least equal to the selected unit preference. For example, if the unit preference selected on the Pool Filter Settings tab is 5, then only those employees who have a unit preference of 1 through 5 will appear in the relief pool.

Unit/Occ Rating • Used to select the value of the employee’s rating for the unit and occupation associated with the relief shifts.

• For example, if the unit/occ rating minimum is set to 5, only the employees whose unit/occ rating is greater than five will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Yes Response Rate

• Used to select the value of the employee’s yes response rate for the unit associated with the relief shifts.

• The yes response rate is the percentage of times that an employee accepts relief work.

• For example, if the yes response rate minimum is set to 50%, only the employees whose yes response rate is greater than 50% will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Show Excluded Unassigned Employees

• If this option is selected, the user is allowed user to view temporarily unassigned employees excluded from the relief pool.

• Employees are excluded from the relief pool in the Assignments workspace.

Note

When new relief filters are created, it is possible to indicate that the relief filter should be based on a specified unit, or the unit of the shift being offered. Workforce ESP Administrators can specify this setting in the Setup workspace.


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Pool Filter Settings - Pools

To modify the pool types in the Pool Filter and Sort Settings dialog, click Edit below the Pools field. Workforce ESP displays the Pool Filter Settings dialog.

The following illustration shows the Pool Filter Settings dialog:

The table below lists and describes the options in the Pool Filter Settings dialog:

Field Description

Registered in Pool

If this option is selected, only those employees who have pool positions associated with the selected unit will be displayed.

Scheduled on Unit

• If this option is selected, only those employees who are scheduled to work on the dates selected in the Relief Shifts Grid will be displayed.

• If the Also in Relief Unit option is selected, only those employees who are scheduled to work on the unit and are in the relief pool associated with the selected unit will appear in the Relief Pool Grid.

Assigned to Unit If this option is selected, only those employees who are assigned to work plan rows associated with the selected unit will be displayed.

Registered in Service Pool

If this option is selected, only those employees who have pool positions associated with the service pool of the selected unit will be displayed.


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Relief Shift Details The details of relief shifts can be modified in the Relief Shift Details portion of the Relief window.

The following illustration shows the Relief Shift Details portion of the Relief window:

Field Description

Shift Graph • A visual representation of the shift and shift portions.

• The portion of the shift currently active and therefore affected by any actions is shaded yellow.

Selected Shifts • Displays a written summary of the entire original shift.

• Includes the shift icon, the length of the shift in hours and the date of the shift.




• When clicked, Workforce ESP joins the active portion of the shift with the portion immediately following the active portion.

• If the last portion of the shift is selected, it will be joined to the portion directly preceding it.

Clear Clears the Reason/Pay field for the active portion of the shift.

Relief Action Allows the user to indicate that relief is either not needed or not found for the selected portion of the shift.



• The original start time of the shift cannot be modified.



• The original end time of the shift cannot be modified.


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Field Description


Reason/Pay • The relief reason for the selected portion of the shift.

• The drop-down list contains the off pay codes or pay categories specified for the organization.

Relief Employee The relief employee for the selected shift.

Premiums and Allowances

• This spreadsheet displays the premiums and allowances applicable to the selected shift.

• Premiums and allowances can be added, deleted or modified, if necessary.

Tip

The Relief Shift Details portion of the Relief window allows users to modify the paid hours, reason, status, premiums and allowances of a relief shift.


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Module 10: Schedules – Edited Shifts Importance

Previous modules covered the characteristics of off, on, relief and vacant shifts. This module covers how to change the characteristics of a regular work plan shift

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify and create edited shifts


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Lesson 1: Edited Shifts Importance

A work plan shift is a shift that was plotted on an employee’s work plan row and has not been modified. The shift will appear with a white background in the Schedules workspace. If the characteristics of a work plan shift are modified, it becomes an edited shift.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Explain how to edit a shift using the Shift Details dialog • Identify edited shifts in the Employee Schedule Grid

Shift Details To change the shift characteristics of a work plan shift, the user needs to select the shift on an employee’s schedule and display the Shift Details dialog.

The following illustration shows the Shift Details dialog:


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The table below lists and describes the components of the Shift Details dialog in the standard Schedules window:

Field Description

Shift Graph • A visual representation of the shift and shift portions.


Summary • Displays a written summary of the entire original shift.

• Includes the shift icon, the length of the shift in hours and the date of the shift.




• When clicked, Workforce ESP joins the active portion of the shift with the portion immediately following the active portion.

• If the last portion of the shift is selected, it will be joined to the portion directly preceding it.





Reason • The on reason for the selected portion of the shift.

• The drop-down list contains the on pay codes or pay categories defined in the Setup workspace.


Premiums and Allowances

This spreadsheet displays the premiums and allowances applicable to the selected shift.

Workforce ESP allows the user to change the reason, paid hours, premiums and allowances associated with the shift. Once a characteristic is changed on a shift, the shift becomes an edited shift.

On an employee’s schedule, edited shifts are displayed with a white background and with the abbreviation of the reason in the lower-right corner of the cell.

Tip

Users can also delete a premium from a shift or edit the time and length of an existing premium.


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Module 11: Schedules – Move Importance

When creating or maintaining a schedule it is common practice to move employees from shift to shift in order to achieve the correct skill mix and accommodate employee and organizational needs. The Move feature is managed in the Schedules workspace.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the four different move options • Determine which move option to use in different situations


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Lesson 1: Move Employees Importance

There are four different ways to move an employee from a scheduled shift into another shift. The move option used depends on the circumstances surrounding the shift from which the employee is moving and the shift into which the employee is moving.

Lesson objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: • Identify the four ways to move an employee to other shifts

Move Options The four different move options are the:

• Move button on the staffing form in the Relief window • Standard Book Off window • Move menu option on the Actions menu • Standard Book On window and Move button on the staffing form in the Relief window

The following table lists the four move options, the circumstances in which they are used, and the results of using each move option. In the following section the employee who is moving is referred to as the relief employee.

Move Option Use When… Results

Move Button on Staffing Form in the Relief Window

• moving an employee into a shift that already exists.

• moving an employee off a full shift.

• the two shifts can be scheduled for the same or different times.

• The relief employee is booked off a scheduled shift and any other shift scheduled on that day for the appropriate reason (move or float).

• The relief employee’s scheduled shift is either added to the Workbook or the status of the shift is changed to Relief Not Needed.

• The relief employee is scheduled to work the unfilled shift.

Standard Book Off Window

• moving an employee into a shift that already exists.

• moving an employee off a portion of the shift.

• the two shifts can be scheduled for the same or different times.

• The relief employee is booked off a scheduled shift for the appropriate reason (move or float).


• The relief employee is scheduled to work the unfilled shift.


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Move Option Use When… Results

Move Menu Option on the Actions Menu

• moving an employee into a shift that does not exist.

• moving an employee off the full shift or a portion of the shift.

• the two shifts, or portions of shifts, must be scheduled for the same times.



• A new shift is created (booked on).

• The relief employee is scheduled to work the new shift.

Standard Book On Window and the Move Option on the Staffing Form

• moving an employee into a shift that does not exist.

• moving an employee off the full shift.

• the two shifts must be scheduled for different times.



• A new shift is created (booked on).

• The relief employee is scheduled to work the new shift.


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Move Button on the Staffing Form The Move button on the staffing form is only used when users are moving an employee from the shift that employee is currently scheduled to work into a shift that already exists.

The following illustration shows the portion of the staffing form of the Relief window which contains the Move button:

When using this move option, users can move an employee within a unit or from one unit to another. Users must book off the relief employee for the entire shift and the shift into which the relief employee moves can be scheduled for the same or different time than the original shift.

In the following illustration, the evening shift is unfilled, and the relief employee will be moved off the day shift to work the evening shift:

To process this transaction, the evening shift is displayed in the Relief Shifts Grid portion of the Relief window, the relief employee is loaded in the Relief Pool Grid and the staffing form is displayed. The Move button on the staffing form is clicked and Workforce ESP displays the Move dialog. When the Move dialog is completed the following will occur:

• The relief employee is booked off the scheduled day shift • The relief employee’s original day shift is either added to the Workbook or the status is changed to

Relief Not Needed • The relief employee is scheduled to work the unfilled evening shift

Tip

When the Move button on the staffing form is clicked, Workforce ESP always books the employee off for the entire shift and any other shift scheduled on that day. Therefore, if the user only needs an employee to move for a portion of the scheduled shift, the user must use an alternate move option (standard book off).


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The following illustration shows the Move dialog, displayed by clicking Move on the staffing form:

The table below lists and describes the components of the Move dialog, accessed via the staffing form:

Field Description

Book Off All Shifts: From Date

The first date in the date range which will be booked off.

Book Off All Shifts: To Date

The last date in the date range which will be booked off.

Off Code • The reason the employee cannot work the scheduled shift, or why the employee is being moved.


• A default code can be entered in the Setup workspace.

Actions for Booked Off Shifts: Add to Workbook

• If this option is selected, the employee’s original shift will be added to the Workbook to be processed at a later time.

• Workforce ESP will request a date and time to add the task to the Workbook.

Actions for Booked Off Shifts: Relief Not Needed

If this option is selected, the status of the employee’s original shift is designated as Relief Not Needed.

Increment Yes Count If this option is selected, the employee’s yes count will be incremented for moving into the new shift.

Tip

If the Move button on the staffing form is used, Workforce ESP will automatically book off all shifts the employee is scheduled to work that day. Therefore, this option of moving would not be suitable for employees who are scheduled to work multiple shifts on the same day (on call or overtime shifts).


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Standard Book Off Window If a user needs to move an employee for a portion of a scheduled shift into a shift that already exists, the user cannot use the Move button on the staffing form. In this case, the user needs to process the task as a standard book off transaction.

When using the standard book off option, the user can move an employee within a unit or from one unit to another. The shift into which the relief employee moves can be scheduled for the same or different times as the original shift.

In the following example, the evening shift is unfilled and the relief employee will be moved off a portion of the day shift to work the evening shift:

To process this transaction, book the relief employee off for a portion of the day shift and either add the portion of the shift to the Workbook or change the status to Relief Not Needed. Book off the employee who cannot work the evening shift.

Load the unfilled evening shift into Relief and display the relief employee in the Relief Pool Grid. Open the relief employee’s staffing form and schedule the relief employee to work the shift.

Move Menu Option on the Actions Menu The Move Menu option on the Actions menu is only used when users are moving an employee from a scheduled shift into a shift that does not exist, for example, a workload increase on another unit. This option creates a new book on shift for the selected unit.

When using this option, users can move an employee within a unit or from one unit to another. The shift the relief employee moves into must be scheduled for the same time as the employee’s original shift.

In the following example, a new day shift is needed on Unit B and the relief employee from Unit A will be moved off the day shift to work the day shift on the other unit:


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Users must change at least one of the following in the Move dialog: unit, cost center or occupation type.

To process this transaction, the relief employee’s schedule is displayed in the Employee Schedule Grid, the shift which needs to be booked off is selected, the Move option is selected from the Actions menu and Workforce ESP displays the Move dialog.

When the Move dialog is completed the following will occur: • The relief employee is booked off the scheduled day shift • The relief employee’s original day shift is either added to the Workbook or the status is changed to

Relief Not Needed • A new day shift is created on the unit using the same shift icon as the original shift • The relief employee is scheduled to work the new day shift

The following illustration shows the Move dialog, accessed via the Actions menu:


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The table below lists and describes the components of the Move dialog, accessed via the Actions menu:

Field Description

Paid Hours Shift Graph • A visual representation of the shift and shift portions.


Summary • A written summary of the entire original shift.

• Includes the shift icon, length of the shift in hours and the date of the shift.




• Workforce ESP joins the active portion of the shift with the portion immediately following the active selection.

• If the last portion of the shift is selected, it is joined to the portion directly preceding it.

Clear Clicking this button clears the Unit, Occupation Type and Cost Center fields for the active portion of the shift.






Off Reason • The book off reason for the selected portion of the shift.



On Reason • The book on reason for the selected portion of the shift.

• The drop-down list contains the on pay codes or pay categories defined in the Setup workspace.


Unit The unit on which the moved shift or shift portion will be worked.

Occupation Type The occupation type of the moved shift or shift portion.

Cost Center The cost center to which the moved shift or shift portion will be charged.

Relief Not Needed If selected, the status of the shift is designated as Relief Not Needed.

Increment Yes Count for All Portions

If this option is selected, the employee’s yes count will be incremented for moving into the new shift.

Premiums and Allowances The premiums and allowances associated with the shift.


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Standard Book On and Move Button on the Staffing Form If the user needs to move an employee from a scheduled shift into a shift that does not exist and the times of the shift are different than the relief employee’s original shift, the user cannot use the Move Menu option on the Actions menu in the Scheduling workspace. The user needs to process this task as a standard book on transaction.

When using this option, the user can move an employee within a unit or from one unit to another. The shift into which the relief employee moves can be scheduled for different times than the original shift.

In the following example, a new evening shift needs to be created and the relief employee will be moved off a portion of the day shift to work the new evening shift:

To process this transaction, create the new shift in the Book On window and load it into the Relief window. The new evening shift is displayed in the Relief Shifts Grid portion of the Relief window, the relief employee is loaded in the Relief Pool Grid and the staffing form is displayed. The Move button is clicked and Workforce ESP displays the Move dialog. When the Move dialog is completed the following will occur:

• A new evening shift is created on the unit • The relief employee is booked off the scheduled day shift • The relief employee’s original day shift is either added to the Workbook or the status is changed to

Relief Not Needed • The relief employee is scheduled to work the new evening shift

Documents

Workforce ESP