How do I rehire/reactivate an Employee?

It’s a common recurrence in many retail and restaurant businesses … staff members leave for the season or for another job, and return at a later time to be re-hired. In this scenario, it is often useful to restore a terminated employee to minimize re-entering all of the staff members data.

This lesson will walk you through the steps necessary to reactive a terminated staff member.

Navigate to the Employee List

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To begin reactivating a previously terminated employee, Navigate to the Employees tab. Click on the Employees sub-tab.

View Terminated Staff Members

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Click on the Show terminated employees box. If you want to look for staff who have worked a specific position, then choose the desired picture. Then click the Show button.

Locate the Staff Member

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Find the terminated employee that you would like to rehire. Click on Edit.

Remove the Termination Date

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Remove the termination date from the Basic Employee Information. Remember to click Save at the bottom of the page to reactivate the staff member.

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How do I Post a Schedule?

TimeForge schedules are private, and kept hidden from staff members, until a manager or qualified supervisor, chooses to post the schedule.

Once posted, the schedule is visible to all staff members through the TimeForge employee portal, and TimeForge will begin sending text messages and email alerts to staff members who want to receive schedule notifications. Also, once a schedule is posted, to minimize staff confusion, the schedule cannot be “un-posted”.

Additionally, if you are using TimeForge Attendance, the posted schedules can be enforced to ensure that staff are not riding the clock, buddy punching, or sweet-hearting.

Navigate to the Schedules Tab

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To post a schedule, you need to navigate to the Schedules tab. Then click on the Schedules sub-tab to see the list of schedules.

Build a Schedule, if Necessary

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If needed, create a new schedule and choose the start and the end date of the schedule. Click the Add This Schedule button.

Alternatively, you can edit an existing schedule.

Post the Schedule

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After editing the schedule, click on Post Schedule Changes.

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How do I Terminate an Employee?

TimeForge makes common HR tasks, such as hiring and terminating staff or implementing annual raises, a simple one-click process.

This lesson will help you terminate staff as necessary at your business.

Get to the Employee List

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Navigate to the Employees tab.

Locate the Employee to Terminate

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Find the employee that you would like to terminate. Click on the red Terminate link.

Listed Terminated Employees

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Please note: After you have terminated the staff member, they will appear on the list until the next day, but the red Terminate link will be removed.

Another Way to Terminate Staff

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You can also terminate an employee clicking the Edit button.

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If you terminate an employee this way, you can set the termination date, allowing you to terminate staff in the future. This TimeForge feature will allow you to easily manage seasonal help.

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How Do I Configure TimeForge with ISS45?

TimeForge can integrate with many popular Point of Sale systems, including the power Retailix ISS45 system. ISS45 is a powerful point of sale product designed exclusively for the grocery market.

TimeForge integration with ISS45 involves installing the TimeForge ISS45 Bridge software on the MFS computer system, and is compatible with both ISS45 7.x and ISS45 8.x (with SQL Server).

The TimeForge ISS45 software will read and write to your ISS45 system as necessary, and can enforce your TimeForge schedules – stopping staff members from clocking in too early or clocking out too late. Additionally, you can forecast sales using TimeForge and your ISS45 sales data.

Ensure the Software is Configured Properly

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If the TimeForge ISS45 Bridge was not properly configured to use a Web Service account, you will first need to configure the Web Services.

Configure the TimeForge Micros Bridge

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If the TimeForge ISS45 Bridge has not yet been fully configured, make sure to set up the Web Service Username and Password.

These values can be configured on the TimeForge web site, and will allow the software to communicate with TimeForge securely.

Review the Connector

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Review the TimeForge ISS45 Bridge dashboard.

1. The Last Successful Sync Date shows the last date and time that the software was able to read and write to the TimeForge system.

2. The Last Synchronization shows the last date and time that a synchronization was attempted.

3. The Status shows the status of the last synchronization (it will either be SUCCESSFUL or FAILED).

4. The Next Synchronization shows the date and time of the next scheduled synchronization.

You are all done. TimeForge will synchronize your data from the ISS45 system, based on the needs of your grocery store, and will keep the data in TimeForge and in ISS45 POS communicating properly.

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How Do I Prevent Overstaffing?

Scheduling staff is a complicated process, and cross-training staff members while scheduling multiple departments, can make scheduling a nightmare. When working with multiple departments, it is sometimes possible to short staff a single department by over staffing another department. Over staffing one department will create a cascade of problems, from upset staff members to increased overtime.

TimeForge’s short staffing rules allow administrators and management to create daily templates and Normal Week templates, which will be used as a base-level schedule for other schedules and departments. TimeForge will warn management if they exceed the departments, or schedule staff who are listed to work on another schedule or template in an overlapping time period.

Create or Edit a Staffing Template

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Start setting up short staffing alerts by creating a new template, or editing an existing staffing template.

Edit the Template Properties

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Edit the Properties for the staff template.

Set the Day of Week for the Template

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Specify the day of the week for the schedule template, so TimeForge knows which day of the week you normally use the template.

Create a Weekly Staffing Template

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Specify the Normal Weekly Template

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After setting up 1 or more templates, create a Weekly Template which includes all of your necessary templates.

In the graphic above, the Weekly Template uses a template on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Other days of the week did not have a template.

To ensure that TimeForge uses the Weekly Template for short staffing alerts, choose the Normal Week check box.

If you are not using departments, you are done at this point.

Build Another Template, for a Different Department

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Short staffing alerts are triggered when Normal Week templates indicate that there may be a shortage in staff members for a particular department or location, by comparing the departments to the schedules and Normal Week templates of the other departments.

To see the template warnings for short staffing, build templates for the other departments, and make sure to set the day of week.

Create Another Weekly Template for the Second Department

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Make sure to set up another weekly template for this department, and set it to be a Normal Week.

Set Up the Shifts in each Template

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Add shifts to your templates. If the shifts that are added will cause your business to be short staffed, TimeForge will warn you. Additionally, if staff members are placed in conflicting templates or departments, TimeForge will warn you.

Detected Shortages will Trigger Warnings

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A shortage warning will appear if short staffing is likely to occur based on what is normally worked in a work week.

Schedule Staff Shortages Show Alerts Too…

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In addition to Template warnings, TimeForge’s short staffing alerts will notify management when the schedule exceeds or overlaps with Normal Week templates for other departments.

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How do I Set Up Break Rules?

The TimeForge Breaks module inside of TimeForge Scheduling is a powerful and flexible management system for scheduling breaks and meal periods for staff members. TimeForge Breaks are controlled using the Break Rules, and these Break Rules become scheduled breaks on the schedule that can be controlled and monitored using TimeForge Attendance, or with a worksheet and signatures by staff members.

TimeForge Break Rules are designed to allow management staff to specify the language and requirements of paid, unpaid, optional, and required breaks, similar to how they might be specified by federal, state, or local authorities

For example, in some states, it may be required to provide a 15-minute optional and unpaid break to staff members who work at least 6 hours.

Navigate to the Break Rules

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Go to the Employees tab, and the Breaks sub-tab.

Review the Break Rules

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Review the Break Rules, which specify the number of breaks, duration of break, recurrence, whether or not the break is required (or optional), whether the break is paid (or unpaid), a description for the break, the position the break applies to, and how long the employee must be at work for the break to apply.

Configure Break Rules

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To add a break rule, click on the Add a New Break Rule button [7]. Some information about this screen:

1 – Breaks applying to any position are listed under the “Any Position” section. Breaks for specific positions are listed under their respective position names. This flexibility allows management breaks, or FOH and BOH to have different break set ups.

2 – Select the number of breaks, and the duration of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing “2 breaks”, and each break lasts “5 minutes”.

3 – Choose the duration for repetition of the break(s). For example, in the picture, we are describing breaks that occur once every 6 hours. If the breaks should be awarded every 2 hours, but the shift is 4 hours long, the staff member may be awarded 2 sets of breaks.

4 – Decide whether the breaks are paid, unpaid, required, or optional, and add a description for the break. For example, in the picture, we are describing a required, but unpaid break, with no description.

5 – Decide if the break applies to all positions, or only one type of position, and also decide which specific shifts will receive the break. For example, in the picture we are awarding breaks to staff members who work Bartender shifts that are at least 6 hours long, but no longer than 8 hours.

TimeForge will tie all of the Break Rules together and will apply / award the breaks to staff members working applicable shifts. Based on the picture for this step, TimeForge will provide (2) 5-minute breaks to bartenders who work at least 6 hours, but less than 8 hours. These breaks will both be required, but are unpaid.

When you’re done working with the breaks, make sure to click on the Save Break Rules button [6].

Test the Break Rules

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TimeForge provides management staff with the ability to test the break rules, to ensure that the break rules are configured exactly as you need them for your business.

To test the break rules, choose an applicable position, and then simulate the duration of a work shift, and click on Test Break Rules.

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Can Staff Clock-In at Home or with a Cell Phone?

By default, staff members are able to clock-in from anywhere that has an Internet connection, and this includes work, home, or their mobile Internet on a cell phone. In some circumstances, this is the correct and desired set up. However, for many businesses in the retail and foodservice industries, it is not desirable to provide staff with these abilities.

To support these businesses, TimeForge includes the ability to restrict clock-in and clock-out functionality to specific IP addresses, or physical locations.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Navigate to the Attendance Options in the Attendance tab.

Add IP Addresses

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You can specify one or more IP addresses which employees must be at, for employees to clock in. To add an IP address for employees to clock in:
- You can type your IP address into the text box. If there is more than one allowed IP address, they should be separated by a space, comma, or on separate lines.
- Instead of typing in the IP address, you can click on the Add this computer to allowed IPs button, and TimeForge will add your current IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses.

Remember to click Save Company Settings.

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How Do I View Employees Currently on Break?

Using TimeForge, management staff are able to view real-time break information at any allowed location.

Navigate to the Attendance Tab

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If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can see employees who are currently on break, or have already taken a break for the day.

To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

View Clocked-In Employees

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After clicking the Attendance tab choose View Clocked-In Employees.

Review Breaks and Clocked in Staff Members

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The Clocked-In Employees Page shows employees that are clocked-in or on break, and the hours worked so far during their shift.

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How Do I Edit Breaks (by Date)?

Managing staff member breaks, meal periods, and scheduled lunches can be a headache for even the most experienced management team. TimeForge Attendance makes quick work of taking breaks and managing breaks. Managing breaks is easy with TimeForge!

Navigate to the Attendance Tab

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If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can edit breaks for staff members. To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

Choose Edit Attendance

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After clicking the Attendance tab choose the Edit Attendance tab.

Choose a Date

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Choose a date that you would like to edit.

Add or Edit the Breaks for Staff Members

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Choose the employee and begin editing attendance entries and breaks.

Remember to click the save button once you finished editing.

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How Do I Edit Breaks (by Employee)?

TimeForge Attendance is a powerful time tracking tool for retail, restaurant, and other service businesses. Part of TimeForge Attendance is the TimeForge Breaks module, which tracks paid, unpaid, optional, and required breaks and meal periods.

From time to time, employees may forget to take a break, or forget to end their break. TimeForge provides easy to use tools to quickly and easily adjust their breaks.

Navigate to the Edit Attendance by Employee Page

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After clicking the Attendance tab navigate to the Edit Attendance by Employee.

Choose the Employee and Date Range

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Choose the employee and desired date range to begin editing breaks or attendance.

Add or Edit Breaks

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After choosing an employee, you can begin editing the attendance and breaks.

Please note: Remember to save your changes when you are done.

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We are one year into it now, well past being enamored with the newness. We are married to TimeForge. It's as essential to us now as any of our management tools today, and we very happy about that.- Steve @ Hermosa Cyclery
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