Fill open shifts with the Call List
The Call List enables you to quickly find qualified and available employees to fill open shifts, based on criteria configured in procedure sets Sorts employees, matches employees to an open shift, and assigns employees with the best match.. You can use the Call List to fill an immediate open shift A shift that is scheduled for a job, but no employee is assigned to work it. or to fill all open shifts in the weekly schedule.
Procedure sets are used in the Call List to filter for eligible employees for an open shift. The available procedure sets are those that include rules for sorting and filtering employees, have been designated to use in the Call List, and have been assigned to your locations. When you select a procedure set to run in the Call List panel, employees are matched to the open shift based on the procedure set rules and are displayed with the most optimal employee listed first.
If multiple assignments functionality is enabled on your system:
- Multiple assignment employees who have an assignment that matches the criteria in the procedure set are included in the list of eligible employees for the open shift. Employees who best match the assignment for the selected open shift are listed first.
- In the list of eligible employees, the employee's assignment associated with the open shift displays in the Assignment field on their employee list item. This enables you to see the assignment under which the open shift will be worked by the employee if the shift is assigned to them.
- If you select multiple open shifts, where each shift has a different job assigned, one employee can be assigned to all shifts if their various assignments match the criteria.
- When you assign a multiple assignment employee to an open shift, the shift displays in the Schedule Planner as a primary job and not as a job transfer.
When a procedure set is run, the Call List is limited to processing a maximum of 1000 employees. You will receive an error message if this service limit is exceeded.
However, if your system has been configured with dynamic service limits:
- When you run a procedure set, a variable service limit is applied at the point of processing based on the complexity (light, medium, or heavy) of the Employee Sort rules configured in the procedure set.
- The service limits used for light, medium, and heavy rules will have been configured based on your organization's needs. Typically, lower service limits are set for heavy rules and higher service limits are set for light rules. Light rules are those that require simple column or schedule filtering, where heavy rules are those that require computed data.
- When the service limit is exceeded when you run a procedure set, an error message displays in the Call List panel that indicates the rule designation (light, medium, or heavy) and the corresponding service limit.
- Regardless of the applied rules, a maximum of 1000 eligible employees is returned by the Call List.
Note: Use this procedure to fill open shifts by manually contacting eligible employees when open shift notifications are not configured on your system.
When you have an open shift that you need to fill immediately, follow these steps:
- Go to Schedule > Current Schedule.
- Expand the Open Shifts view.
- Right-click the shift you want to fill, then select Call List in the glance (also known as a contextual callout) Provides information and actions in a dialog box for an item on the screen when the user right-clicks or taps the item. menu to display the Call List slider.
- If the Schedule Planner is configured to enable you to select multiple open shift, a list of all open shifts is displayed and the shift you right-clicked in the Open Shifts view is selected. To select additional open shifts, select the check box for each open shift you want to fill, then click Next.
- Select the procedure set you want to use to filter for eligible employees.
- In the employee selection list:
- To assign an employee to the shift, either select More
, then click Assign, or select the employee's checkbox, then click Assign. - To see more information about an employee before deciding to assign them to the shift, select More
, then click View Details. Under Employee Details, you can click their phone number or email address -- if available -- to contact the employee. Select Assign to assign the shift to the selected employee. - To enter the outcome of an employee call when you offer them an open shift, select Add Outcome. The outcome is included in the Call Log audit. The most recent outcome for each employee for the shift being filled displays on the employee card in the Call List. No outcome is displayed if the employee has not yet been contacted for the shift. All outcomes are shown in the Call Log. For more information, see Call Log Audit.
- Click Cancel to close the Call List.
Note: When multiple open shifts are selected, employees are considered eligible only if they can be assigned to all selected shifts.
If there are no available employees listed, or you want to choose a different filter, click Procedure Sets and select another procedure set.
Note: You must have Call Log access to enter outcomes.
To choose another employee, scroll through the list of available employees by clicking Previous
Note: To specify which employee details to display, select Show/Hide. Select the information you want to show in the Call List, and clear the information you want to hide. You can also change the display order of the details by using the arrows to move the information type up or down in the list. Select Done to return to the Call List.
Once you've assigned an open shift to an employee, the shift no longer displays in the Open Shifts view and instead displays in the schedule for the assigned employee.
Note: To use this functionality, the system must be configured to use open shift push notifications and you must have the appropriate access rights.
You can send push notifications directly from the Schedule Planner to one or more employees to inform them about available open shifts. Based on the configuration, employees can receive the open shift notifications on their mobile phones if the mobile app is installed and in the Control Center. In the Call List, managers can either select individuals from the list of eligible employees to send the notification or they can choose Offer All to send notifications to all eligible employees. Customized messages can optionally be included in the notifications.
Employees can see information about the open shift when the notification displays on their phone and in the Control Center.
Managers receive notifications only when an employee has accepted the notification and was subsequently assigned the shift. If employees are not awarded a shift due to a No Save rule violation, or if they decline a shift, the manager does not receive a notification. However, they can track these outcomes in the Call Log.
Open shifts are awarded on a First Reply basis. The first employee to accept the shift, who does not have any associated No Save rule violations, is assigned the shift. Any other employees who accept the shift after the shift has been assigned receive a notification that the shift is no longer available.
- Go to Schedule > Current Schedule.
- Expand the Open Shifts view.
- Right-click the shift you want to fill, then select Call List in the glance menu.
- In the Call List slider:
- If the Schedule Planner is configured to enable you to select multiple open shifts, a list of all open shifts is displayed. Select the check box for each open shift you want to fill, then click Next.
- Select the procedure set you want to use to filter for eligible employees.
- If there are no available employees listed, or you want to choose a different filter, click Change in Procedure Sets and select another procedure set.
- In the Employees list:
- To send notifications to all employees, click Offer All.
- To send notifications to one or more employees, select the employees, then click Offer.
- In the Review panel, in Message, enter a personalized message to include in the notification.
- Click Send.
Note: When multiple open shifts are selected, employees are considered eligible only if they can be assigned to all selected shifts.
Note: To specify which employee details to display, select Show/Hide. Select the information you want to show in the Call List, and clear the information you want to hide. You can also change the display order of the details by using the arrows to move the information type up or down in the list. Select Done to return to the Call List.
To assign an employee to the shift, select the employee, then click Assign. To see more information about an employee before deciding to assign them to the shift, select More
To enter the outcome of an employee notification when you offer them an open shift, select Add Outcome. The outcome is included in the Call Log audit. The most recent outcome for each employee for the shift being filled displays on the employee card in the Call List. No outcome is displayed if the employee has not yet been contacted for the shift. All outcomes are shown in the Call Log. For more information, see Add outcomes.
Note: You must have Call Log access to enter outcomes.
The Review panel displays the open shift that you are filling and the list of employees that are being sent a notification. If there are multiple, similar open shifts available, the system attempts to fill all instances of the shift.
Employees respond to push notifications that they receive from managers as follows:
- Read the message on their mobile devices (or in the Control Center under the Open Shift Available category). The message contains details about the shift and other information, depending on how the notification was configured.
- Either:
- Tap the message to skip to the next push notification.
- Press and hold the message to display a list of available actions: reject, go to, accept.
- To refuse the open shift request, select Reject.
- To review their schedule before making a decision, select Go To.
- To accept the open shift request, select Accept.
- Employees who accept the shift but are not eligible due to a No Save rule violation receive a notification to let them know why they did not get the shift.
- Employees who accept the shift after it has been awarded to another employee receive a notification that the shift is no longer available.
If the employee has already accepted the open shift request, the Accept button is disabled.
When the employee accepts the open shift request, they receive a notification that their response was received and they will be informed when the shift is assigned. The system sends a notification to the employee who responds first and is awarded the shift, and to the requesting manager that the shift has been awarded.
The First Reply (first come, first served) method is used to award shifts:
When you want to fill open shifts in the weekly schedule, follow these steps:
- Go to Schedule > Current Schedule.
- Select Tools > Call List from the menu.
- In the Call List:
- Select the open shift you want to fill either by clicking a date on the calendar to display a list of open shifts for that day, or by selecting an open shift from the list displayed below the calendar.
- If the Schedule Planner is configured to enable you to select multiple open shift, a list of all open shifts is displayed. Select the check box for each open shift you want to fill, then click Next.
- Select the procedure set you want to use to filter for eligible employees.
- If there are no available employees listed, or you want to choose a different filter, click Change in Procedure Sets and select another procedure set.
Note: A red square in the calendar indicates there is an open shift on that date. When three dots display below the red square, it indicates there are multiple open shifts on that day. All open shifts in the current schedule are listed below the calendar in chronological order. Select Load More at the bottom of the list to show more open shifts.
Note: When multiple open shifts are selected, employees are considered eligible only if they can be assigned to all selected shifts.
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To view more information about a shift, select More
and click More Details. - In Shift Details, you can view the shift time, location, and job, as well as a list of employees who are already working that shift.
- You can search for a specific employee to fill the position by entering their name in Search for an Employee.
- To view other open shifts, click Previous
and Next to scroll through the open shifts. - To return to the Call List, select Done.
- For the shift you want to fill, select More
, then click Find People. - In Procedure Sets, select the procedure set you want to use to filter for eligible employees.
- Select an employee from the Employee list:
- To assign an employee to the shift, select More
, then click Assign. - To see more information about an employee before deciding to assign them to the shift, select More
, then click View Details. Under Employee Details, you can click their phone number or email address -- if available -- to contact the employee. Select Assign to assign the shift to the selected employee. - To specify which employee details to display, select Show/Hide. Select the information you want to show in the Call List, and clear the information you want to hide. You can also change the display order of the details by using the arrows to move the information type up or down in the list. Select Done to return to the Call List.
- Continue to select open shifts and assign employees for the rest of the current schedule.
- Click Cancel to close the Call List.
Employees are matched to the open shift based on the procedure set rules and are displayed in the Call List with the most optimal employee listed first.
Note: If there are no available employees listed, or you want to choose a different filter, click Procedure Sets and select another procedure set.
To choose another employee, scroll through the list of available employees by clicking Previous
Once you've assigned an open shift to an employee, the shift no longer displays in the Open Shifts view and instead displays in the schedule for the assigned employee.
From the list of eligible employees in the Call List, you can enter the outcome of an employee call when you offer them an open shift.
- In the Call List, in the Employee Selection list, select Add Outcome.
- In Outcome, select an outcome from the list.
- (Optional) In Note, enter a description to explain the outcome.
- To ensure an unavailable employee does not display in subsequent call lists of eligible employees:
- Select Override Employee's Availability.
- In the Availability panel, select Add Availability Segment, then choose a segment from the list.
- (Optional) Modify the Start Time and End Time.
- Click Apply.
- In the Add Outcome panel, click Apply.
The outcome is included in the Call Log Audit. The most recent outcome for each employee for the shift being filled displays on the employee card in the Call List. No outcome is displayed if the employee has not yet been contacted for the shift. All outcomes are shown in the Call Log Audit.
This list displays Call Log type comments that have been configured as outcomes. If you select Accepted for the outcome, the system automatically assigns the shift to the employee when you click Apply.
Notes display in the Call Log Audit, in the tooltip for the Note icon next to the outcome in the employee card, and in the Employee Detail panel under Outcome.
You can view the Call Log Audit data on the Audit add-on. For more information, see View audit data.