Job Scheduling: Work Schedule Definition

The setup options that are discussed in this article can be accessed in the Job Scheduling sub-menu under Administration > Setup > Job > Job Scheduling > Job Scheduling Setup

The job scheduling setup is used to define the working hours for the company, as well as templates that can be applied to individual staff members. These values are then used to calculate the available hours and level of work allocation for resources.

Working hours can be defined on various levels:

• A company-wide schedule for every day of the week.
• A company-wide schedule for specific days of the week.
• An individual employee schedule for every day of the week.
• An individual employee schedule for a specific day of the week.

Note: Multiple schedules can be created as templates and then imported against a specific employee. New schedules can be created by setting the form to Add mode and creating a new record.

When determining the working hours during the process of scheduling, the system will work through a hierarchy to establish the available hours for that resource for the day of the week being scheduled. The Job Scheduling Setup screen is split into three sections:

1. Work Days: Defines which days of the week the company or the resource operates or works.
2. Work Hours: The actual working hours per day. The working hours are used to establish the available hours for a specific resource. Configuring the working hours can be done as a default.
   • Example 1: The company or employee is available from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every working day specified.
   • Example 2: An exception can also be added for a specific day. For instance, the company or employee is available from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every working day specified except on a Wednesday. Due to training requirements, they are available from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on this specific Wednesday.
3. Skills Allocation tab: Used to identify what jobs can be worked on.

A Company Defaults record is automatically created when Eralis Job is installed. This is the lowest level of schedule definition and defines a global schedule for the company as a whole. The Company Default Schedule must be populated before the user is able to use scheduling. The system will prevent the user from opening the scheduling screen if this has not been populated. Additional schedules can be created when the form is put into Add mode. These additional schedules can be created as templates and imported against employees.

The definition of working hours is a key element to scheduling. This is used to calculate the available hours of an employee, which displays the commitment level for that employee. When the system determines the working hours for an employee, it works through a series of exceptions to determine their available hours for a given day. The system provides flexibility in the configuration of the working schedules. If every staff member that needs to be scheduled works the same hours every day, then only the Company Default Schedule needs to be configured. However, if there are employees with different schedules, their individual schedules can be defined. The working hours are also linked to the Time Types within Eralis Job, which allows you to have a cost multiplier to accommodate overtime and double-time work. The system allows you to define which hours are standard working house and which hours are deemed as overtime hours. This is useful when timesheets are generated directly from the schedule.

When creating a schedule for a specific employee, the system will work through a hierarchy to determine their specific working time and their available working hours. The first step in the process is to determine if the employee has a working schedule that has been configured specifically for them.

• If a specific working schedule has been created, the system uses the day of the week that the schedule is being created for to determine whether there is a working schedule for that day of the week. This is done to accommodate staff members who may have variable working hours on different days of the week. If working hours have been set for that day of the week, then these hours will be used. If no schedule has been set for that day of the week, then the system will use the working hours that are defined as the default for the employee. If an employee works the same hours every day, this allows the company to specify their working hours one time.
• If no schedule has been specifically configured for the employee, the system will revert to the default company working schedule.

Applying these schedules to an employee is done by browsing the HR record and selecting the Job Cost tab. On the tab there is a button for Scheduling Setup. Within this screen you can either select a predefined template and copy the settings from that template, or you can manually configure the working hours for that employee. Please note that if you choose to copy the schedule from a template, the values can still be altered if required.