Scheduler Configuration

This topic is for under construction

This is a step by step guide to configuring the Scheduler.

Labor Levels

You need to define labor levels that represent the divisions between the type of job titles / position that employees work, and the different places that an employee can work within your facility. A very simple example is:

Nurse Type
RN
LPN
CNA

Floor
1st Floor
2nd Floor
3rd Floor

You are defining two things:

1. The names of the labor levels (Nurse Type and Floor)
2. The items with each labor level (RN, LPN, CNA and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Floor).

In the software we would designate the Nurse Type to be the Budget Group Labor Level, and the Floor to be the Floor / Unit Labor Level. This designation is done in the System configuration, Labor Level Designation tab. Two labor levels are the minimum required to use the scheduler. There is one more level that is required when you need more than one scheduler in your software. If for example you want to schedule your nursing, dietary and housekeeping staff in three distinct groups then you would need to add a labor level for this and define this as the Scheduler Labor Level in the System configuration, Labor Level Designations tab.

Department

You may think that your department labor level is already defined in the software and your budgeted staffing levels can be based on your department. In most facilities, there is often more than one department that would be considered to be RNs, LPNs, CNAs etc. If you have separate departments for agency employees, or separate departments for Day, Evening and Night employees, or a separate Per Diem department, then you cannot use the department labor level as one of the two levels required for the scheduler.

Multi Facility

If your software contains multiple facilities then you automatically get a scheduler per facility by designating the facility labor level as the Scheduler Labor Level in the System configuration, Labor Level Designations tab. If you want to have multiple schedulers per facility then you will need to add a labor level. The items within this labor level would be named in this manner:

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Facility ABC Nursing

Facility ABC Dietary

Facility ABC Housekeeping

Facility XYZ Nursing

Facility XYZ Dietary and Housekeeping

This allows you to groups your scheduled staff differently in each facility.

Budget or Scheduling Labor Level

When labor levels are defined in System configuration, Labor Levels tab, you can designate the labor levels to be Budget based and/or Scheduling based. Budget based labor levels will show in the Budget Configuration screen. Scheduling based labor levels will show in the employee's Schedule Patterns tab, allowing you to schedule the employee.

Scheduler Labor Level

Despite it's name, because employees do not work outside of their scheduler labor level, this would be a Budget based labor level only.

Budget Group Labor Level

If employees will only work within their home Budget Group(e.g. an RN will not cover for a LPN position) then Budget Group labor level would be just a Scheduler based level. If you need to allow employees to work in one or more budget groups then you will need to make this labor level a Scheduling level, or make the Department level a Scheduling level. Whatever level you so use, you must also make this a Restricted scheduling labor level. Otherwise, all employees can accept any schedule, i.e. a CNA can accept a RN schedule. You will need to define the Allowable Budget Group Scheduling Labor Levels in System configuration / Labor Level Assignments tab.

Department Labor Level

If you want employees to be paid from a different department when they work in a different Budget Group then the Department labor level is defined as a Scheduling Labor Level. You must also make this a Restricted scheduling labor level otherwise all employees can accept any schedule. You will need to define the Allowable Department Scheduling Labor Levels in System configuration / Labor Level Assignments tab. There is one additional step required when you use departmental scheduling. Because the department labor level is not defined as a Budget labor level, but the Budget Group level is defined as a Budget labor level, you need to make the relationships between the departments and the budget group. This is done in System configuration / Labor Level Assignments tab, using the One to One Budget Group Labor Level Assingment table.

Floor / Unit Labor Level

This will always be a budget and scheduler based labor level.

Budget

The budget defines your desired staffing levels based on the day of week, the shift, and the labor levels that you defined to be the budgetary levels. Here is a sample budget:

Days of Week	Shift	Budget Group	Floor	Count
All Days	Day	LPN	Floor 1	1
All Days	Day	LPN	Floor 2	1
All Days	Evening	LPN	Floor 1	1
All Days	Evening	LPN	Floor 2	1
All Days	Night	LPN	Floor 1	1
All Days	Night	LPN	Floor 2	1

For all but the smallest budgets, you would use the Budget Import to enter your budget into the software.

Scheduler Periods

Defines a start and end date for each of your scheduler periods. Typically, this is from 1 week to 8 weeks in length.

Employee Schedule Pattern

Define when the employee works on a regular basis. This is also known as the Master Schedule. The schedule pattern can be a single or multi-week pattern and allows you to define the day of the week, the week number, the shift, and the labor level placement.

Planned Absences

Planned days off are entered as soon as they are known. This eliminates manual changes to your schedules. When the schedules are built, the employee is not assigned a schedule if they are in a planned absence. Instead, they are given a placeholder in lieu of the schedule.

Replacements

As a schedule moves between employees and the available pool, history is maintained. This allows the software to be able to display replacement information.

Building Schedules

Builds the schedules for the selected scheduler period and selected budgetary labor levels. The schedules are assigned to the employees who have a matching schedule pattern. Schedules that remain unassigned are available to assign manually.

Available Schedules

After the schedules are built, those schedules that remain unassigned are known as the available schedules, because they are available to be assigned to employees.

Scheduler Grid

Displays the schedules for each employee within the scheduler period. The grid uses color and text to provide information about where and when an employee is working. The scheduler grid includes schedule totals and available schedules. Move schedules between employees, between an employee and the available pool, and between the available pool and an employee. Filter, sort, and search the information displayed in the grid.

Reporting

Use reports throughout the scheduling process. Examples of reports include:

• Pinpoint where the employee's schedule patterns do not match the employee's shift level.

• Show where budgetary hours and schedule hours are not aligned.

• Highlight where schedule patterns exceed budget and therefore would leave some employees unscheduled although their schedule pattern defines them as working.

• Display the schedule pattern projected as a master schedule considering employee status and planned absences.

• Give employees a one-page calendar view of their schedules.

• Post monthly schedule reports, so that employees can see when they are working.

• Replacement and daily staffing reports.

• Placeholder reports.

• Employee contact information such as a phone list.