Employee Scheduling

What are best practices in employee scheduling?

Employee scheduling is the process of predicting labor needs, assigning employees to fill those needs, and adjusting in real-time. Make sure you have an easy way to let employees pick up and drop shifts in accordance with compliance rules, so that you minimize situations where you have to scramble to cover a shift.

What are the benefits of employee scheduling?

• Proper shift coverage
• Compliance with licensing and certification regulation
• Less unplanned overtime
• Improved employee safety, health and productivity
• Easy to build multi-shift, multi-location schedules
• Online schedules where employees can see their assigned shifts right away
• Enforces schedules when used in combination with timekeeping

Should employees schedules be posted online?

Yes. Make sure your schedules are available to every employee via their mobile phone. Your employees deserve access to their schedules as soon as possible, wherever they are. If an employee needs time off, qualified employees should know right away that there is a shift open. Schedules are likely to be more dynamic and unpredictable for quite a while, so make sure you have a flexible employee scheduling system that supports easy employee access to their upcoming scheduled shifts.

Can automated employee scheduling improve efficiency?

The best schedules consider employee preferences, required certifications/licenses, and compliance rules. An automated system takes the pain out of creating staggered shifts and other social distancing impacts to scheduling. Remember that staff may now also be scheduled to work from home or go directly to work sites rather than a central office or marshaling yard.

How do I enforce employee schedules?

Tie your schedules to your timekeeping system. You can keep your teams from overlapping by enforcing clock-in time. You can also use geofencing to see when employees are in the wrong work location. Your employee schedules should be flexible. Make it easy to reassign shifts when employees need time off. Better yet, let employees pick up open shifts. That way if you need more hands on deck, you have ready volunteers.

What are some employee schedule enforcement practices?

• Track all time. Accurate time data sheds light on cash flow, overtime, understaffing and more. Time data serves as an audit trail for labor disputes.
• Make it easy. Complicated systems are rarely used properly. Make it simple for employees and managers to track and review time data. Automatically record details such as department and position.
• Pick the right clocks. If you need a physical clock, use one. A touchless clock can help protect your employees from contamination. Be sure to stagger clock-in times and provide sufficient space to allow social distancing. Give remote employees a mobile or web-based option.
• Enforce breaks. Make it easy for employees to clock out for breaks. Keep them from clocking back in too early. Use the clock to document compliance with break laws.
• Create geofences. Verify in real time that employees clock-in at the right location at the right time.
• Oversee overtime. See when employees are clocking too many hours, clocking in late, leaving early, applying their hours to the wrong job, and making other mistakes. Catch errors early, correct behaviors, and plan properly to minimize impact on cash flow and milestones.

See also

• Employee Scheduling Software

Additional resources

• How to Create the Perfect Schedules for Your Team
• Retool Your Healthcare Workforce Practices: Schedules, Time Tracking, Leave, Hiring, Onboarding
• Signs Your Employee Scheduling Needs Fixing
• Employee Scheduling for Small Businesses: 7 Best Practices for Hourly Workers
• Optimize Construction Crew Management with Automated Scheduling Software
• Timecard Fraud
• Employee Time Scheduling Accruals with a Turnkey solution: Labor Management Has Never Been Easier
• Fair Scheduling Laws: The Newest Employment Law Trend in the USA
• Forward Thinking Employers Have a Mobile First Approach to HR
• Employee Scheduling Software Can Clean Up a Scheduling Mess
• Don’t Overlook Employee Scheduling Apps
• Time and Attendance: Timekeeping, Policies, Software, Compliance, Templates