Labor Management - TimeForge Manual» scheduling

How do I copy multiple shifts?

support — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:50:53 +0000

You may want to copy multiple shifts if you are creating a schedule that will be similar to a previously created schedule. For example, if you made a schedule a couple of weeks ago, and the schedule you are currently building will contain many of the same shifts, you can simply copy those shifts over to save time.

Go to Schedules

Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

Click on Daily View

At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Select Shifts to Copy

To copy multiple shifts, check the boxes next to the shifts you want to copy by clicking on the box. When you have selected all the shifts you want to copy, click on the Copy selected shifts link.

How do I copy a shift?

support — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:49:38 +0000

If the schedule you are creating will contain a shift identical to another shift, you may want to copy that shift. Copying a shift can save you time, since it is quicker than building an identical shift from scratch. You can also copy a shift that is similar to the shift you want, then edit it.

Go to Schedules list

Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view (the schedule containing the shift you want to copy from).

Daily View

At the top of the schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Select a Shift to copy

Click on the white “Copy” icon to copy the shift.

How do I AutoSchedule a shift?

support — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:25:51 +0000

The AutoScheduler is an industry leading tool that TimeForge offers to its users at no additional cost. AutoScheduler lets you input the basic outline of a schedule, then you click “AutoSchedule” and presto! The perfect schedule is born. An AutoScheduled schedule is optimized to make both employees and managers happy by considering employee requests, skill levels, busy times, costs of different employees, and other criteria. The AutoScheduler creates the most profit-friendly and most employee friendly schedule possible. Below are instructions for AutoScheduling a shift.

Go to Schedules

Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

Click on the title of the schedule that you would like to view.

Go to Daily View

At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Click on the Lock Icon to AutoSchedule a Shift

Click on the green “Lock” icon. The icon will unlock and become red. This means the shift is no longer locked. A locked shift can’t be AutoScheduled. Once you unlock that shift, you can now click on the AutoSchedule button. The AutoSchedule will automatically assign the best person for the job to that shift.

How Do I Set the Sales Category While Building a Schedule?

support — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:17:12 +0000

TimeForge enables you to track and forecast sales. When scheduling, you are offered the option of viewing different sales categories, like gross sales or customer counts. Sales Categories enable you to track the financial impact of a schedule, which is beneficial to your business for many reasons. By tracking the financial impact of a schedule, future schedules can be more budget-optimized, you can avoid monetary surprises, and you can further analyze the operations of your business. You should have previously designated sales categories through the Sales tab before attempting to add a Sales Category to a schedule. If you need to do so, navigate to the Sales tab and add Categories before following the instructions below.

Go to Schedules list

Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

Click on the Add a New Schedule button.

Select a Sales Type

On the Add or Edit A Schedule page, click on the drop box in the Sales Category section to set a sales category to be applied to this schedule.

How do I delete a shift?

support — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:05:25 +0000

You may want to delete a shift if you’ve accidentally created one that you don’t need, or if you overstaffed a schedule. Below are instructions for deleting a shift.

Go to Schedules

Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

Go to Daily View

At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Delete Shift

Click on the red, circle-shaped “Delete” icon next to the shift you want to delete.

What is the lock icon?

support — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:34:55 +0000

On the Daily View, the lock icon signals whether you have an employee assigned to a shift, or if the AutoScheduler can change the shift.

The lock icon is green (locked) when you have a staff member assigned, and the icon is red (unlocked) when you don’t have an employee assigned. When the icon is red (unlocked, no assigned employee) the shift will be AutoScheduled.

Lock or Unlock the Icon

To change a lock icon from “locked” to “unlocked”, simply click on it. If you leave the lock icon “unlocked”, the shift will be AutoScheduled, and may be changed.

To change a lock icon from “unlocked” to “locked”, first assign an employee to that shift, then click on the icon. This will “lock” the employee into the shift, and the AutoScheduler will not change this shift.

How can I confirm a shift?

support — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:50:27 +0000

You will want to confirm scheduled shifts to let your manager know that you are planning to be at work for the shift. Confirming a shift will help ensure that your manager does not schedule anyone else during this shift. There are two ways you can confirm a shift, either by email or by website. Confirm your shifts whichever way is easier for you!

Confirming a Shift by Email: View Messages

To confirm a shift using your email (or messages), navigate to Schedules and click on Messages.

Confirming a Shift by Email: Confirm the Shift

Find the message that displays your schedule and click on the blue Confirm This Shift button.

Confirming a Shift by Website: Access Your Schedule

To confirm a shift using the website, click on the Schedules tab and then click My Schedule.

Confirming a Shift by Website: Select the Shift

Find the shift that you have not yet confirmed and click Confirm.

Confirming a Shift by Website: Confirm the Shift

To confirm, click the yes button. Your shift is now confirmed,

How do I move all shifts from one staff member to another?

support — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:07:57 +0000

At some point, you will need to move shifts from one staff member to another – if an employee is unable to work scheduled shifts, if you prefer a different employee to work a scheduled shift, or for any other reason that you want to transfer shifts from one employee to another.

TimeForge makes this process easy, simply follow the directions below.

Go to the Employees List

Navigate to the Employees tab and click on Employees.

Select an Employee

Choose the employee that you would like to take shifts away from and click on the blue Edit button next to their name.

Schedules

On the Employee Information page, click on the Schedules tab.

Select Shifts

Click on the check boxes next to the shifts you want to take away from this staff member, then click on the Bulk Assign These Shifts to Another Staff Member button.

Select an Employee

Click on the drop-down menu and select the employee to whom you want to assign these shifts. As you can tell, you can move all of the shifts to an Open status, or assign to a Bid shift.

How Do I Enforce Clock Ins and Clock Outs?

apresley — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:21:18 +0000

TimeForge is a powerful labor management platform, and is capable of meeting all of your workforce management needs. In many businesses with hourly wage workers, staff members need to arrive at work on time. Four clock in and clock out scenarios will create problems for your business:

1. Arriving earlier than scheduled will destroy business profits, as employees will be at work before they are needed, but will need to be paid for their time.

2. Arriving later than scheduled for work will cause problems with customers, as employees may not be available to service the customer’s needs.

3. Leaving earlier than scheduled can cause similar problems as clocking in late. Customers may not be serviced properly.

4. Leaving later than scheduled will increase payroll costs for the business, decreasing profits.

TimeForge offers a number of technology enhancements that can enforce your labor schedule, ensuring that staff show up on time.

Enforcing clock in and clock out time periods can reduce your payroll expenses by 2 – 4% with the click of a button!

Navigate to the Attendance Options

Locate the Attendance Options link or sub-tab (inside of the Attendance tab).

Locate the Enforcement Options for Clocking In and Out

TimeForge includes two primary options which will enable, or disable, attendance (time card) enforcement.

1. By default, TimeForge allows employees to clock in at any time that they would like. If you are using TimeForge for scheduling, you can enforce the schedule, requiring employees to clock in on time.

2. By default, TimeForge allows employees to clock out at any time that they would like. If you are using TimeForge for scheduling, you can enforce the schedule, requiring employees to clock out on time.

TimeForge provides two configurations for clocking in or clocking out. You can require staff members to clock in or out using grace periods, or using the scheduled time. Please check your local labor regulations to see which ones are applicable (and legal) for your business.

Enforce the Schedule with Grace Periods

To require that staff members clock in and out with a grace period, based on their scheduled shift, set the options as follows:

For clocking in:

1. Switch this option from Yes, to No, requiring that employees must clock in at a predefined time.

2. Enter an appropriate grace period in minutes. This will allow employees to clock in prior to their shift starting.

Staff members who clock in too early will need a manager to approve their clock in.

For clocking out:

3. Switch this option from Yes, to No, requiring that employees must clock out at a predefined time.

4. Enter an appropriate grace period in minutes. This will allow employees to clock out after their shift ends.

Staff members who clock out too late will need a manager to approve their clock out.

Example:

Using the above options, a staff member who is scheduled from 10:00am – 4:00pm would be allowed to clock in after 9:50am, and must clock out no later than 4:20pm. Earlier than 9:50am or later than 4:20pm will require a manager override.

Enforce the Schedule by the Scheduled Time

To require that employees clock in and out based on the scheduled time, without providing a grace period, set the options as follows:

For clocking in:

1. Leave this option set to Yes, allowing employees to clock in at any time.

2. Switch this option from No, to Yes, requiring that staff members acknowledge that their clock in times will not show the actual clock in time, but will instead show the scheduled start time.

TimeForge will record the scheduled start time (not the real time), unless overridden by a manager.

For clocking out:

1. Leave this option set to Yes, allowing employees to clock out at any time.

2. Switch this option from No, to Yes, requiring that staff members acknowledge that their clock out times will not show the actual clock out time, but will instead show the scheduled end time.

TimeForge will record the scheduled end time (not the real time), unless overridden by a manager.

Example:

Using the above options, a staff member may be scheduled from 9:00am – 3:00pm. If the employee shows up at 8:30am, TimeForge will record a start time of 9:00am (not 8:30am). When leaving, if the staff member leaves after 3:00pm, TimeForge will record an end time of 3:00pm. A manager can override and change the behavior of TimeForge when the staff member clocks in or clocks out.

TimeForge University: Attendance Overview

apresley — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:39:29 +0000

A powerful and easy to use workforce management solution for your business! TimeForge is a complete labor management system, and includes many features designed to streamline operations in your business. These include:

Time tracking (electronic time sheets and time cards)
Meal and break management
One-click payroll exports
Easy reminders for when staff are early, late, or approaching overtime
And much more…

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TimeForge Attendance is a powerful replacement to the traditional time clocks used at many businesses. Use TimeForge Attendance by itself, or combine with TimeForge Scheduling for a complete workforce management solution.

TimeForge can also integrate with your Point of Sale system, providing a one-click experience for managers to enforce the labor schedule, stop entering data multiple times, and provide easy communication with all staff members.