Creating new shift patterns

If the existing shift patterns do not reflect the schedules that employees need to work, you can create new shift patterns. Alternatively, consider using the Shift Pattern Offset attribute on the employee record if you want to start an employee’s schedule in the middle of an existing shift pattern. See Setting shift pattern offsets.

To create a shift patten:

  1. Select Maintenance > Schedule Settings > Shift Pattern.
  2. Click Create New Entry.
  3. Specify this information:
    Shift Pattern
    Specify a name that identifies the shift pattern.
    Description
    Specify a brief description of the shift pattern.
    Start Date
    Select the date when the pattern begins from the lookup.

    The start date is a reference point to determine upon which day a specific date falls in the shift pattern. For example, a start date of 01/15/2013 causes 01/20/2013 to be day 6 of the shift pattern. The employee's schedule for the twentieth day corresponds to the shift that is scheduled on day 6 of the shift pattern.

    Day Start
    Specify the time the workday begins.

    This time determines the pay date for shifts that span days. Time for any shift starting before this time is paid for the earlier day. For example, with a day start time of 00:00 (midnight) the hours of a shift running from 11:30 PM to 7:30 AM are charged to the earlier date.

    Shift Group
    Select the NO GROUP shift group from the lookup.
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the Shift Pattern Shifts section, click the new row link repeatedly for each day in the shift pattern.
  6. Specify the day numbers of the shift pattern in the Day fields. Specify 1 for the first day and increase by one for each following day in the pattern. If the shift pattern has five repeating days, number the day’s one through five.
    Common shift patterns have seven days, representing a full week, with days one to seven. Shift patterns can have more or fewer days in their repeating cycle if needed. Manufacturers, for example, often have twenty-one day shift patterns during which employees work one week of days, one week of afternoons, and one week of nights.
  7. Select the shift you want to schedule on each corresponding day from the Shift lookup.
    A shift pattern can have any number of different shifts on different days. For example, choosing the DAY shift for days one, two, and three schedules the start, end, and break times of the DAY shift on the first, second, and third days of this shift pattern.

    Choosing the LATE shift for days four and five and OFF for days six and seven works in the same manner. The application schedules the LATE shift for days four and five of the shift pattern and does not schedule any work for days six and seven in the pattern. A shift pattern can also have multiple shift assignments for each day. These shifts should not overlap each other.

    You can leave the remaining fields blank unless you need to specify values for custom functionality.

  8. Click Save.