Defining Shift Exceptions

This topic applies to APS and the Scheduler.

At times you must make exceptions to your basic shift patterns to handle special situations. Shift exceptions help handle many special cases such as:

• working overtime
• reducing the length of a shift
• canceling all work on a shift.

With shift exceptions, you can modify the working availability of a specific resource without having to define new shifts.

Defining a Shift Exception

Each shift exception is a separate combination of shift, resource, interval, and Work the Shift setting. Shift exceptions are applicable only for resources that are assigned to one or more shifts.

To define a shift exception:

1. Open the Resources form.
2. Select the resource for which you want to add a shift exception.
3. Select the Shift Exceptions tab.
4. Enter the appropriate information in these fields:
   • Shift Exception ID - enter a unique identifier for this exception. The shift exception ID must be unique across all resources at a given site.
   • Description - enter some descriptive text for the exception.
   • Start Date - enter the effective start date for the exception.
   • End Date - enter the effective end date for the exception.
   • Work the Shift - select Work to indicate this exception ADDS time to the shift. Select Down Time to indicate this exception SUBTRACTS time from the shift. See the examples in the next section for more information.
   • Shift ID - select the identifier of the shift that this exception applies to. If this is an overtime shift exception, this shift ID must be an additional shift that this resource is not already assigned to (see examples in the next section below). If this is a down time shift exception, this shift ID must be the shift from which you want to subtract working time.
5. Save the changes.

Examples: Down Time Exceptions

When defining a resource, you specify shifts when the resource is available. You can apply a shift exception to one of those shifts to shorten the shift and reduce resource availability.

Consider this example with two shifts: SHIFT1 and SHIFT2.

• SHIFT1 runs from 07:00 to 15:00 Monday through Friday
• SHIFT2 runs from 15:00 to 23:00 Monday through Friday
• Resources RES1 and RES2 are both available during these shifts

To cancel SHIFT2 for RES1 during the first two weeks of March (but leave it for RES2), you can define a shift exception on the RES1 resource record that:

• runs from 03/01/2008 00:00 to 03/14/2008 24:00
• has the Work the Shift field set to Down Time
• references SHIFT2 in the Shift ID field

This exception makes RES1 unavailable for SHIFT2 during this period.

NOTE: If you leave the Shift ID field blank, the shift exception applies to all shifts worked by the resource. In the example, this means SHIFT1 and SHIFT2 for RES1.

Examples: Overtime Exceptions

You can also use a shift exception to increase resource availability. To do so, define the shift exception to apply to both a shift not associated with the resource, and to the resource itself. This extends the resource's shift time and increases its availability.

For example, consider two shifts: SHIFT1 and SHIFT2.

• SHIFT1 runs from 07:00 to 15:00 Monday through Friday
• SHIFT2 runs from 15:00 to 23:00 Monday through Friday
• Resource RES1 is available during these shifts

To add a third shift for RES1 during the first two weeks of March, define SHIFT3 to run from 23:00 to 07:00 Sunday through Friday, and define a shift exception on the RES1 resource record that:

• runs from 03/01/2008 00:00 to 03/14/2008 24:00
• has the Work the Shift field set to Work
• references SHIFT3 in the Shift ID field

This makes RES1 available for SHIFT3 during this period.

Related Topics

Resources Overview

Scheduling Overview

Scheduling Shifts