Unlock Shift Task

MVS locks shifts during certain processes to prevent them from being manually edited. The Unlock Shift Task (EMVSUnlockShiftTask) clears locks from shifts where the lock has timed out or is no longer relevant. Users can then perform edits to the unlocked shifts as required.

The Relief Lock Timeout Value parameter is the amount of time, in minutes, that shifts can remain locked before the task unlocks them. This time-out applies to relief locks and transaction locks. The Unlock Shift Task should be scheduled to run on a recurring basis to continually clear locks that are no longer required. For example, the Unlock Shift Task can be configured to run every 15 minutes, with a time-out value of 15 minutes. This runs the task every 15 minutes to unlock any shifts that have been locked for more than 15 minutes.

Note: Locks imposed on shifts with time off requests and cancellations pending approval are not affected by the Unlock Shift Task.

Relief locks

When relief shifts are being offered by a user, the shifts become locked by that user. This locking mechanism prevents other users from accidentally trying to offer the same shifts to different employees simultaneously. This locking occurs when shifts are offered from the Launchpad, Relief Queue, and the Relief button in the Advanced Schedule View.

Relief shifts are unlocked when the user offers the shifts to an employee, or when the user returns the shifts to the relief queue when there are no available employees. However, shifts that were not offered can remain locked due to the user not navigating back to the relief queue. The Unlock Shift Task unlocks relief shifts that have locks older than the time-out time.

Transaction locks

The Unlock Shift Task also unlocks shifts that have old transaction locks. Transaction locks are not removed from shifts in rare cases, such as when an exception occurs during a transaction. The Unlock Shift Task can remove the locks in these cases, allowing schedulers to work with the shifts again.

Shift trade requests

When an employee requests a shift trade, the Employee ID is used to identify the request. This ensures continuity even if the employee changes their username after submitting their request. After a shift trade is requested, the associated shift is locked to prevent modifications by other users that can interfere with the trade process. The shift remains unlocked until one of these occurs:

  • The trade request is approved and the shift trade is completed
  • The trade request is rejected
The Unlock Shift Task performs these actions:
  • Unlocks all shifts with Exception status, regardless of the start date.
  • Unlocks shifts with Pending status only if the start time is in the past, based on the local time zone defined in the job schedule.
Shifts that were initiated through these channels can also be unlocked:
  • Admin Portal Swap
  • SSP Shift Trade Swap
  • SSP Shift Trade Giveaway