Configure sorting and matching rules

Define the rules for specific situations and requirements. There are two types of priority rules:

  • Sorting rules — Sort employees or shifts
  • Matching rules — Determine whether to match an open shift to an employee

Note: Priority sorting and matching rules are different from schedule rules. Schedule rules are the restrictions and requirements on a schedule, and include employee and organizational rules.

  1. From the Main Menu, select Administration > Application Setup > Scheduler Setup > Sorting and Matching > Rules.

    2. Caution: If a message warns about deleted skills or certifications, restore the skills or certifications, or edit the rule to not require those skills or certifications. If a message warns that a rule cannot access external data, a job that is assigned in the rule was removed. The relevant rule, rule set, procedure set, location profile, and PSE fail. Make sure that the rule does not include organizational jobs that have an end date that is in the past.

  2. Click New or select a rule and click Edit or Duplicate.
  3. To remove a rule, select the rule and click Delete. Click Yes to confirm. If an error message states that you cannot delete rules because they are part of rule sets, remove the rules from the rule sets. Try again to delete the rules.
  4. Enter a Name and optionally, a Description.
  5. Select a Context to define the purpose of the rule: Sorting Employees, Sorting Shifts, or Matching Assignments.
  6. You cannot change the context of a rule after it is saved. Instead, create another rule with the necessary context.
  7. Depending on the context selected, provide the information from one of the following sections. When finished, click Save & Return.

In the Sort By field, select one of the following:

This rule sorts employees by the current value of the accrual. If an employee is not assigned the accrual, that employee is at the end of the list. Accruals are never locked.

Note: To display the balance of each accrual, right-click an employee. Select Accrual.

  1. Select Accrual:<accrual code name> from the Sort By field. Example: Accrual:Vacation.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing value of the selected accrual. To sort by a specific accrual value, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the Value of accrued hours, money, or days.
      • Hourly accruals — hh:mm format
      • Daily accruals — from 0 to 9,999,999,999
      • Monetary accruals — from –9,999,999,999.99 to +9,999,999,999.99
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

Additional Information is customized for a specific environment. Examples: pay group, maiden name, alias, emergency contact person, comments, proficiency rating, city of residence.

  1. Select Additional Information:<custom field name> from the Sort By field. Example: Select Additional Information:Proficiency.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific value, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only employees who have the same additional information text in Value.
      • Not equal to — Selects only employees who do not have the same additional information text in Value.
    2. Enter the text in the Value field. The text is case-sensitive.
    3. Click Add.
      Note:
      • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
      • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
      • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
      • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees based on the date of their latest entry in the Call Log either for a specific call outcome or for all call outcomes. Employees without outcomes or without an outcome of the specified type are listed at the end of the sorted list, except when sorting in Ascending order, when they are listed at the beginning of the sorted list.

  1. Select Call Outcome:<specific outcome type> to sort by a specific outcome — for example, Call Outcome:Accepted — or select Call Outcomes to sort by all outcomes, from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by most recent or least recent date and time.

  3. To sort by a specific call outcome entry date, click Custom and do the following:

    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is the same as the date in Value.
      • Not equal to — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is not the same as the date in Value.
      • Greater than — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is after the date in Value.
      • Greater than or equal to — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is the same or after the date in Value.
      • Less than — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is before the date in Value.
      • Less than or equal to — Selects only employees whose latest call outcome entry date is the same or before the date in Value.
    2. Select the call outcome entry date from the Value field.
    3. Click Add.
    4. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their current certifications or licenses.

  1. Select Certifications from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific certification, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Includes — Selects only employees who have the same certification in Value.
      • Excludes — Selects only employees who do not have the same certification in Value.
    2. Select the certification from the Value field. The list is in ascending alphanumeric order.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the name of their employment terms.

  1. Select Employment Terms from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific employment term, click Custom and do the following:
  3. Select an Operator:
    • Equal to — Selects only employees who have the same employment terms in Value.
    • Not equal to — Selects only employees who do not have the same employment terms in Value.
    • Both options sort employees without employment terms, alphabetically after the list of employees who have employment terms.
  4. Select the employment terms from the Value field.
  5. Click Add.
    6. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  6. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their combined last name and first name.

  1. Select Full Name from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific name, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only employees who have the same name in Value.
      • Not equal to — Selects only employees who do not have the same name in Value.
    2. Enter the full name of the employee in the Value field. Use the format LastName, FirstName
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their hire date. The hire date is the date when an employee was hired or another official start date, and can be different from the seniority date.

  1. Select Hire Date from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from the earliest or most recent date. To sort by a specific date, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than — Selects only employees whose hire date is after the date in Value
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than — Selects only employees whose hire date is before the date in Value
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Select the hire date from the Value field.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

Person Date is not a single, sorting criterion. It is a series of criteria that are customized dates for employees in a specific environment. The types of person dates are as follows:

  • Person-Specific Dates — Dates that are specific to a person. Examples: Union Hire Date, Vacation Bank Enrollment Date, Retirement Plan Enrollment Date.
  • Site-Wide Dates — Dates that are specific to an organization. An example is the end of the fiscal year.

This rule sorts employees by the person date that you select. It sorts only for person-specific dates.

  1. Select Person Date:<date name> from the Sort By field. For example, to sort by the date employees joined the union, select Person Date:Union Hire Date
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from the earliest or most recent date. To sort by a specific date, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than – Selects only employees whose person date is after the date in Value
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than – Selects only employees whose person date is before the date in Value
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Select the person date from the Value field.
  3. Click Add.
    4. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  4. Click Save & Return.

When employees have similar schedules and working characteristics, they can be grouped into a named schedule group. Schedule groups streamline shift assignment.

This rule sorts employees by membership in schedule groups.

  1. Select Schedule Groups from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of employees, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
    2. Select the group from the Value field.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their seniority date. A seniority date is the date when an employee became qualified to work a job or was assigned to a job. It can be a different date from the employee's hire date.

  1. Select Seniority Date from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from earliest or most recent date. To sort by a specific subset of employees by seniority date, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than — Selects only employees whose seniority date is after the date in Value
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than — Selects only employees whose seniority date is before the date in Value
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Select the seniority date from the Value field.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the duration of the first shift during the selected time period. This rule ignores paycode edits and accruals.

  1. Select Shift Duration from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing duration. To sort by a specific subset of employees by shift duration, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the duration in Value. Use standard duration format.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • For the PSE or Call List — To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. Ignore this setting for Sort Employees; it has no effect.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the job of the first worked segment of the first shift during the selected time period. This rule ignores paycode edits and accruals.

  1. Select Shift Job from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of employees by job, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only employees who work the same job in Value
      • Not equal to — Selects only employees who do not work the same job in Value
    2. Select the job from Value.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • For the PSE or Call List — To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. Ignore this setting for Sort Employees; it has no effect.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the start time of the first shift during the selected time period. This rule ignores paycode edits and accruals.

  1. Select Shift Start from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from earliest or most recent time. To sort by a specific subset of employees by shift start time, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than — Selects only employees whose shift start time is after the time in Value
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than — Selects only employees whose shift start time is before the time in Value
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the start time in the Value field. Use standard duration format.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • For the PSE or Call List — To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. Ignore this setting for Sort Employees; it has no effect.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their current skills.

  1. Select Skills from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of employees by skill, click Custom and do the following:
  3. Select an Operator:
    • Includes — Selects only employees who have the skill in Value.
    • Excludes — Selects only employees who do not have the skill in Value.
  4. Select the skill from Value.
  5. Click Add.
    6. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  6. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by their base wage rate. This rate is defined in People Information. If the base wage is not defined for an employee, the system processes the base wage rate as 0 (zero).

  1. Select Base Wage from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort by increasing or decreasing wage value. To sort by a specific value, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the Value of the base wage rate.
      • The currency preference is assigned to the manager. If the employee’s wages are in a different currency, Currency Policy defines the exchange rates.
      • The sort of the base wage rate is based on values on the first day of the date range for the sort. If the rule sorts the Current Schedule Period, an employee is not sorted who does not have a base wage assigned from the first day of that period. For example, the employee was hired in the middle of the Current Schedule Period, and is not included in the sort results.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the number of hours they are scheduled to work during the selected week.

Examples:

  • Match employees with fewer hours to open shifts before matching employees with more hours. Select Ascending.
  • Avoid matching an open shift to an employee if the new shift causes overtime hours. If overtime starts after 40 hours a week, and all open shifts are 8 hours long, select Custom. Set the sort to Less Than or Equal To 32 hours to select only employees scheduled for 32 or fewer hours that week.

Caution: This rule ignores open shifts, partial shifts, shifts that start outside of the selected time period, and unproductive pay codes.

  1. Select Weekly Scheduled Hours from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing or decreasing number of . To sort by a specific subset of employees by weekly scheduled hours, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the number of hours in the Value field. Use standard duration format.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • For the PSE or Call List — To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. Ignore this setting for Sort Employees; it has no effect.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts employees by the category of employee. Examples: part time (PT), full time (FT), float pool, contractor, minor, per diem, agency.

  1. Select Worker Type from the Sort By field.
    1. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of employees by worker type, click Custom and do the following:
    2. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only employees of the same type in Value
      • Not equal to — Selects only employees who are not of the same type in Value
    3. Select the worker type from the Value field.
    4. Click Add.
    2. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • For the PSE or Call List — To sort only employees who correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. Ignore this setting for Sort Employees; it has no effect.
  2. Click Save & Return.

Sorting Employees rules and Matching Assignments rules are designated as light, medium, or heavy based on the complexity of the Sort By topic or Match By topic configured in the rule. For example, light rules require simple column or schedule filtering, where heavy rules require computed data.

Rules and topics that invoke the Callable Totalizer do so on the fly to calculate totals, ensuring the configuration is using the most accurate data when performing the operations. Be aware that this can cause increases in overall execution times due to configuration factors, the date range the system requires to ask to totalize, and the number of employees included in the procedure set operations.

The rule designations are as follows:

Heavy

  • Sorting Employees

    • Accrual: <*>

    • Weekly Scheduled Hours — This may invoke the Callable Totalizer

  • Matching Assignments — Schedule Rule Validation topic. The following employee rules may invoke the Callable Totalizer:

    • Minimum/Maximum shift length that can be scheduled
    • Minimum/Maximum hours per day that the employee can be scheduled
    • Minimum/Maximum hours per week that the employee can be scheduled
    • Minimum/Maximum days per week that the employee can be scheduled
    • Maximum hours per bi-weekly period that the employee can be scheduled
    • Maximum hours per day that the employee can be scheduled each week, with override
    • Maximum consecutive days that the employee can be scheduled
    • Enforce consecutive days off for employee
    • Minimum consecutive days off per validation period
    • Maximum days that the employee can be scheduled per period
    • Number of unscheduled weekends required for a span of weeks
    • Employee Period Hours Rules
    • Employee Event Rules
    • The employee has no scheduled events for a week
    • The employee is scheduled beyond that employee's standard hours for a week
    • Overtime rule definition

Medium

  • Sorting Employees

    • Call Outcome: Accepted

    • Call Outcome: Accepted - Assigned

    • Call Outcome: Accepted - No Save Rule Violation

    • Call Outcome: Accepted - Not Assigned

    • Call Outcome: Declined

    • Call Outcome: No answer

    • Call Outcome: Notified

    • Call Outcome: Rejected

    • Call Outcome: Rejected Similar

    • Call Outcomes

    • Wage Rate

Light

  • Sorting Employees

    • Additional Information: Only Custom Data Field

    • Additional Information: Seniority

    • Certifications

    • Employment Terms

    • Full Name

    • Hire Date

    • Person Date: Accruals Date of Hire

    • Person Date: Employee Date of Hire

    • Person Date: Rehire Date

    • Person Date: Service Date

    • Schedule Groups

    • Seniority Date

    • Shift Duration

    • Shift Job

    • Shift Start

    • Skills

    • Worker Type

    • Other topics that are not designated as heavy or medium

The following information pertains to organizations that have dynamic service limits configured:

  • If your system has been configured with dynamic service limits for procedure sets that are run in the Call List, a variable limit is applied at the point of processing based on the Call List configuration. When a procedure set is run in the Call List, the service limit can vary depending on the complexity (light, medium, or heavy) of the rules configured in the procedure set. For example, light rules require simple column or schedule filtering, where heavy rules require computed data.
  • Based on your organization's needs, dynamic service limits have been configured for light, medium, and heavy rules that are included in procedure sets. Typically, lower service limits are set for heavy rules and higher service limits are set for light rules.

From the Sort By field, select from the following:

This rule sorts open shifts by duration.

  1. Select Duration from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing duration. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by duration, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the duration in the Value field. Use standard duration format
    3. Click Add.
  3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by the job preferences of the employee. The profile of each employee defines preferences for transfer jobs.

  1. Select EmployeeJob Preference from the Sort By field.
  2. Select one of the following:
    •  Ascending — Sorts by increasing job preference from No Preference to 10
    •  Descending —Sorts by decreasing job preference from 10 to No Preference
    •  Custom — Selects a subset of shifts by employee job preference. If you select Custom, do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Select a Value from 1 to 10. Custom sorts ignore 0 and No Preference.
    3. Click Add.
  3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by end time.

  1. Select End Time from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from earliest or most recent time. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by end time, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than — Selects only shifts that end after the time in Value
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than — Selects only shifts that end before the time in Value
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the end time in the Value field. Use standard duration format.
    3. Click Add.
  3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by the job.

  1. Select Job from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by job, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects shifts only for the job in Value
      • Not equal to — Does not select shifts for the job in Value
    2. Select the job from the Value field.
    3. Click Add.
  3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by the location.

  1. Select Location from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from increasing to decreasing alphanumeric order. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by location, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects shifts only at the location in Value
      • Not equal to — Does not select shifts at the location in Value
    2. Select the location from the Value field.
    3. All locations in the business structure are available for this rule. Access profiles do not filter or restrict locations.
    4. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts according to the employee’s availability pattern.

A shift can overlap Preferred, Available, Unknown, and Unavailable availability. Each overlap is a percentage of the duration of the shift.

Example: Sort shifts in Descending order. If a shift overlaps all types of availability at Preferred 30%, Available 40%, Unknown 10%, Unavailable 10% – the shift is Available. If the next shift overlaps Preferred 55% and Unavailable 45%, the shift is Preferred. This rule sorts it before the shift that is Available.

  1. Select Shift Overlap with Employee Availability from the Sort By field.
  2. Select one of the following:
    • Ascending — Sorts from highest to lowest percentage of overlap. If overlap percentages are equal, sorts from Preferred, Available, Unknown, to Unavailable.
    • Descending — Sorts from lowest to highest percentage of overlap. If overlap percentages are equal, sorts from Unavailable, Unknown, Available, to Preferred.
    • Custom — Selects a subset of shifts by overlap with availability; ignores the overlap percentage. If you select Custom, do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to — Selects only shifts that overlap the availability type in Value
      • Not equal to — Selects only shifts that do not overlap the availability type in Value
    2. Select the availability from the Value field.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by the preferred zone of employees.

A shift can overlap one or more zones. Each overlap is a percentage of the duration of the shift. For example, if a shift overlaps the Day zone at 60% and the Night zone at 40%, the shift is in the Day zone.

  1. Select Shift Overlap with Employee Preferred Zone from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from the highest or lowest percentage of overlap. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by overlap with preferred zone, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter a percentage in the Value field from 1 to 100.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This rule sorts open shifts by the preferred zone category of employees.

A shift can overlap one or more zone categories. Each overlap is a percentage of the duration of the shift. For example, if the Day zone category overlaps the shift at 60% and the Night zone category overlaps at 40%, the shift is in the Day zone category.

If a zone category contains several zones, this rule calculates the overlap to all zones in the zone category. For example, if the Lunch A zone is from 10 a.m.–12 p.m., and Lunch B is from 12 p.m.–2 p.m., the rule uses the span from 10 a.m–2 p.m.

Note: Because this rule sorts shifts by employee preferences, it has no effect if the procedure does not include current employees. Example: The Assign Only procedure sorts shifts for each day, and works independently of employees.

  1. Select Shift Overlap with Employee Preferred Zone Category from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from the highest or lowest percentage of overlap. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by overlap with preferred zone category, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      • Equal to
      • Not equal to
      • Greater than
      • Greater than or equal to
      • Less than
      • Less than or equal to
    2. Enter a percentage in the Value field from 1 to 100.
    3. Click Add.
  3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This sort rule sorts open shifts by start time.

  1. Select Start Time from the Sort By field.
  2. Select Ascending or Descending to sort from the earliest or the most recent time. To sort by a specific subset of shifts by start time, click Custom and do the following:
    1. Select an Operator:
      1. Equal to
      2. Not equal to
      3. Greater than – Selects only shifts that start after the time in Value
      4. Greater than or equal to
      5. Less than – Selects only shifts that start before the time in Value
      6. Less than or equal to
    2. Enter the start time in the Value field. Use standard duration format.
    3. Click Add.
    3. Note:
    • To refine the sort, repeat the custom order with another operator or value.
    • To change the sort order, select an item and click the up or down arrow.
    • To remove items, select the items. Click Remove.
    • To sort only shifts that correspond to the custom settings, select Remove all items that do not correspond to the custom sort. The PSE or Call List displays the excluded shifts as open shifts. If you choose Ascending or Descending, but this setting is selected, the custom settings are saved temporarily. Save changes or move to another page to delete the custom settings.
  3. Click Save & Return.

Matching rules determine how to match open shifts to employees. Matching rules are not ranked, and the order is flexible. However, all matching rules must be met to match a shift to an employee.

Select a topic from the Match By field.

This matching rule defines the match between an employee’s availability pattern and the time of the open shift.

  1. Select Availability by Hours from the Match By field.
  2. Edit and combine the parameters:
    • Minimum Overlap with Preferred Availability (hh:mm) — Defines the time that must overlap the employee’s Preferred availability
    • Enter the hours and minutes from 0 to 23:59. The default of 0:00 indicates that the employee is available at any time. Use standard duration format.
    • Example: An employee’s preferred period is from 6 a.m.–4 p.m. An open shift runs from 12 p.m.–8:30 p.m. The overlap is 4 hours from 12 p.m.–4 p.m. If the minimum overlap is 8, the rule does not match the shift to the employee. If the minimum overlap is 4, and all other matching rules are met, the rule matches the shift to the employee.
    • Minimum Overlap with Availability hh:mm — Defines the time that must overlap the employee’s Available availability. The Available period includes the Preferred period.
    • Enter the hours and minutes. The default of 0:00 indicates that the employee is available at any time.
    • Allow Overlap with Unknown Availability — Defines whether an employee can match a shift that overlaps the employee’s Unknown availability period
    • Select the checkbox to allow a match (default) or clear the checkbox to prevent a match.
    • Allow Overlap with Unavailability — Defines whether an employee can match a shift that overlaps the employee’s Unavailable availability period
    • Select the checkbox to allow a match or clear the checkbox to prevent a match (default) .  
  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines the match between an employee’s availability pattern and the time of the open shift.

  1. Select Availability by Percentage from the Match By field.
  2. Edit and combine the parameters:
    • Minimum Overlap with Preferred Availability % — Defines the percentage of shift time that must overlap the employee’s preferred availability
    • Enter a minimum percentage from 0 to 100. Do not enter fractions or decimals.
    • The default of 0 % indicates that the employee is available at any time.
    • If the percentage is 100 %, the system matches only shifts that are completely within the preferred availability period.
    • Example: An employee’s preferred period is from 6 a.m.–4 p.m. An open shift runs from 12 p.m.–8:30 p.m. The overlap is 4 hours from 12 p.m.–4 p.m., which is 50 % (not counting lunch break) within the Preferred availability period. If the minimum overlap is 50 %, and all other matching rules are met, the rule matches the shift to the employee.

    • Minimum Overlap with Availability % — Defines the percentage of shift time that must overlap the employee’s Available availability. The Available period includes the Preferred period.

    • Enter a minimum percentage from 0 to 100. Do not enter fractions or decimals.
    • The default of 0 % indicates that the employee is available at any time.
    • If the percentage is 100 %, the system matches only shifts that are completely within the Available or Preferred availability periods.
    • Allow Overlap with Unknown Availability — Defines whether an employee can match a shift that overlaps the employee’s Unknown availability period
    • Select to allow a match (default) or clear to prevent a match.

    • Allow Overlap with Unavailability — Defines whether an employee can match a shift that overlaps the employee’s Unavailable availability period

      Select to allow a match or clear to prevent a match (default) .

  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines whether an employee can be assigned multiple shifts — including on-call or standby shifts — during the same day or at the same time.

  1. Select Current Shift from the Match By field.
  2. Edit and combine the parameters:
    • Allow Multiple Shifts per Day — Defines whether the rule can match multiple shifts to an employee during a day, even if the employee is currently assigned a shift:
      • Select to allow a match.

        Example: The same day has two open shifts. One is from midnight to 08:30. The other is from 16:30 to 01:00. The gap is 8 hours. This rule can match both shifts to the employee if all other matching rules are met.

      • Clear to prevent a match (default). If an employee is already assigned a shift, the rule does not match another shift to that employee.
    • Allow Overlap
      • Select to allow shifts to overlap.
      • Clear to prevent shifts from overlapping (default).
    • Work Rules Profile — You can configure this rule to include shifts that have a specific work rule. Employees who are assigned shifts that match this work rule can be included in the call list, and the list of eligible employees for shift-swap requests or requests to cover. Select one of the work rules profiles.
    • Presence Work Rule — Select either of the following:
      • Mandatory: Match employees who have an assigned shift on the day that has at least one segment with a primary or transfer work rule that is the same as at least one of the work rules in the selected work rule profile.
      • Forbidden: Match employees who have an assigned shift on the day, but the shift does not have any segments with a primary or transfer work rule for all of the work rules in the selected work rule profile.
    • Apply Presence On Overlap — Select one of the following:
      • Not considered: Do not verify whether the shift with the work rule and the shift to assign overlap; the shift can be assigned regardless.
      • Within Work Rule Boundaries: The employee must already have a shift with the work rule on the day that overlaps the shift to assign. Only the shift segments that overlap can be assigned.
      • Within Work Rule Boundaries and Unassigned Time: The employee must already have a shift with the work rule on the day that overlaps the shift to assign, or not be assigned any shift. The shift segments that overlap and any unassigned time can be assigned.

        For an example, see the Include On-Call Shifts in Requests to Cover topic.

  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule verifies if the open shift job matches an employee’s primary job, transfer job set, or both.

  1. Select Employee Job from the Match By field.

  2. Edit and combine the parameters. You must select at least one parameter.

    • Primary Job — Defines whether the rule can match a shift to an employee if the shift job matches the employee’s primary job
    • Select to allow a match (default) or clear to prevent a match.
    • Job Transfer Set — Defines whether the rule can match a shift to an employee if the shift job matches one of the employee’s transfer jobs
    • Select to allow a match (default) or clear to prevent a match.
      • Note: To refine matches to transfer jobs, also define the Match by Job Preference matching rule.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule uses the employee’s preference level for a transfer job to determine whether to match an open shift to an employee.

Note: For this matching rule to be effective, select Job Transfer Set in the Match by Employee Jobs matching rule.

  1. Select Job Preference from the Match By field.
  2. Select a Minimum Required value from 1 to 10. A higher number limits the matches to a smaller range of job preferences.
    • Less than or equal to the employee’s job preference value — If all other matching rules are met, matches the shift to the employee.
    • Greater than the preference value — Does not match the shift to the employee
    • If 10, the match can be only to a job with a preference value of 10.
    • If 9, the match can be to a job with a preference value of 9 or 10.
    • If 1, the match can be to a job with a preference value from 1 to 10.
    • If the preference value is zero (0), the rule does not match the shift to the employee.
    • If the preference value is No Preference, the rule matches the shift to the employee if all other matching rules are met.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines whether to match an open shift to an employee if the shift is during a time period.

Note: This rule does not account for employee preferences. To do so, use the Match by Job Preference matching rule.

  1. Select Open Shift from the Match By field.

  2. Enter the Start Time hh:mma and End Time hh:mma in standard duration format.

    • Maximum shift duration = 23 hours and 59 minutes. This rule cannot match to a 24-hour long shift. Example: It cannot match to a shift from 9:00 a.m.–9:00 a.m. the next day, but can match to a shift from 9:00 a.m.–8:59 a.m.
    • Minimum shift duration = 1 minute
  3. To filter shifts by segment, select or clear:
    • Off — Can match shifts with Off segments. Off segments are associated with a work rule.
    • Regular/Transfer — Can match shifts with Regular (primary job) or Transfer segments
    • Break — Can match shifts with Break segments
    • Unavailable — Can match shifts with Unavailable segments.

      • Note: If no options are selected, this rule does not match employees to shifts that contain any of these shift segments.

  4. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule considers paycodes to define whether to match an open shift to an employee.

  1. Select Paycode from the Match By field.
  2. Select the Pay Code field.
  3. Select the status from the Presence Paycode field:
    • Mandatory — Employees must have the paycode. For example, make Weekends mandatory.
    • Forbidden — Employees must not have the paycode. For example, forbid Sick or Vacation.
  4. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines the match between an employee’s Preferred zone and the time of the open shift.

  1. Select Preferred Zone from the Match By field.

  2. In the Minimum Overlap with Shift % field, enter a minimum percentage overlap of the open shift to the zone for the rule to match the shift to the employee. Enter a percentage from 0 to 100. Do not enter fractions or decimal values.

    Zone Overlap % = (Length of the shift that overlaps the zone * 100) / Length of the shift

    • If 100% — Can match only if the shift overlaps the entire zone. For example, the preferred zone is Day (7 a.m.–3 p.m.). The rule can match the employee only to a 7 a.m.–3 p.m. shift.
    • If 50% — Can match if at least 50% of the shift overlaps the preferred zone. For example, the preferred zone is Day (7 a.m.–3 p.m.). The rule can match the employee to a 3 a.m.–11 a.m. or an 11 a.m.–7 p.m. shift.
    • If 0%, or the employee does not have a preferred zone — Can match any shift to this employee.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines the match between an employee’s Preferred zone category and the time of the open shift.

  1. Select Preferred Zone Category from the Match By field.

  2. In Minimum Overlap with Shift % field, enter a minimum percentage overlap of the open shift to the zone category for the rule to match the shift to the employee. Enter a percentage from 0 to 100. Do not enter fractions or decimal values.

    Zone Category Overlap % = (Length of the shift that overlaps the zone category * 100) / Length of the shift

    • If a zone category contains several zones, this rule calculates the overlap to all zones in the zone category. For example, if the Lunch A zone is from 10 a.m.–12 p.m., and Lunch B is from 12 p.m.–2 p.m., the rule uses the span from 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
    • If 100% — Can match only if the shift overlaps the entire zone category. For example, the preferred zone category is Day (7 a.m.–3 p.m.). The rule can match the employee only to a 7 a.m.–3 p.m. shift.
    • If 50% — Can match if at least 50% of the shift overlaps the preferred zone category. For example, the preferred zone category is Day (7 a.m.–3 p.m.). The rule can match the employee to a 3 a.m.–11 a.m. or an 11 a.m.–7 p.m. shift.
    • If 0%, or the employee does not have a preferred zone category — Can match any shift to this employee.
  3. Click Save & Return.

This matching rule defines schedule or minor rules to consider during matches of an open shift to an employee.

  1. Select Schedule Rule Validation from the Match By field.
  2. For each rule, select the checkbox to consider the rule or clear the checkbox to ignore the rule. By default, no schedule rules are selected.
  3. Click Save & Return.

If you are warned about deleted skills or certifications, restore the skills or certifications or edit the matching rule to not require these skills or certifications.

Note: If the system cannot update the rule in the database (no error message appears):
  • If the log is enabled, check the debug log file to find the cause.
  • If the log is not enabled, enable the PSE log, run the PSE again to generate the same error, and check the log.