Shifts & Shift Groups
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      1. RosterLab Knowledge Base
      2. Shifts & Shift Groups

      How and when to use shifts

      How and when to use shifts

      Overview

      The Shifts table is where you can enter all the different shift types that can be worked.

      Shift groups are a set of shifts grouped together. They are used to make allocating shifts/ preferences and creating rules easier.

      A common example of a shift group is for night shifts if there is more than 1 type of night shift. With a night shift group you can create a rule that limits the number of night shifts an employee works in a roster.

      How to create shifts for my roster?

      Add Shift(s)

      1. Click on Add Shifts; or
      2. Click the dropdown menu and select Add Multiple shift(s)
      3. Enter how many shifts you want to add and click ok
      4. Fill in the Name, Start Time, End Time, and if needed (AI users only), fulfils demand, AI assigned, and Skill.

      Refer below for more details on what information goes into these fields.

      Pre-defined shifts

      1. Annual Leave (AL): Our AI will optimise between AL, regular days off, and your shifts within a roster. You could simply put our pre-defined AL into the fixed shifts table for the whole period and the AI will optimise the AL hours against contract hours.
      2. Day off (off): A non-rostered day or unpaid day off is treated like a shift named 'off' in our system and can be put anywhere a shift can be entered, such as in fixed shifts or preferences.
      3. Not Available (NA): When employee is not available in certain days, you can put NA in the fixed shifts. The AI will not consider the rules during the period where the employee is not available. It is different from day off.

      Shifts Properties

      A shift has the following components:

      Name – This is the name of the shift. We recommend using a short name (5 characters or less) to make the roster solutions easier to read. This name must be unique between shifts and shift groups.

      Start Time – This is when the shift starts

      End Time – This is when the shift ends

      Fulfils Demand – (Ticked by default) This indicates the shift is capable of fulfilling roster demands. This will be the case for most shifts. Common exceptions include annual leave and paid training days. Don’t worry about this if you’re a free user.

      AI Assigned – (Ticked by default) This allows the AI to assign the shift to an employee in the solution. Common exceptions include annual leave and paid training days. Don’t worry about this if you’re a free user.