Shift rules

The optimization engine may generate a variety of shifts at different times and of different lengths to solve a particular scheduling problem. The allowed times and lengths for shifts are defined by the shift rules. Shift rules should be defined in a way that satisfies the business needs of the client and complies with the scheduling policies for the particular location or group of employees covered by the Auto-Assignment Group.

These guidelines should be considered when creating shift rules. Because shift rules define the range of allowed start times for a shift, multiple shift rules cannot be created with overlapping start times. The minimum and maximum shift lengths can be given in whole hours or fractions of hours. For example, you can define a shift to create shifts between 4 and 6.5 hours.

The configuration of the location you are scheduling should be considered when creating shift rules. To avoid creating shifts that are outside the hours of operation of the location, shift rules should be configured to only create shifts within the hours of operation. The Start Interval should be the same or larger than the Schedule Requirement Interval configured for the location, because this determines the smallest interval for workload requirements and possible shift start times.

Here is an example of a shift rule:
Earliest Start Latest Start Min Length Max Length Start Interval
9:00AM 10:00AM 3 4 60 (minutes)

These shifts can be generated based on this rule:

  • 9:00AM to 12:00PM
  • 9:00AM to 1:00PM
  • 10:00AM to 1:00PM
  • 10:00AM to 2:00PM