Minimum Staffing Plans

Minimum staffing plans show how many employees you typically need for certain time slots for every day of the week. Having a minimum staffing plan in place helps you know if your scheduling is on track, if you are overstaffed, or if you are understaffed for a certain time period. Once you have a minimum staffing plan in RosterApps, you will have options to automatically approve PTO requests that won’t result in a staff shortage, run reports that show if you are under or overstaffed, and create Shift Leveling bids to move employees from overstaffed time slots to understaffed ones. Your minimum staffing plan should reflect your typical workforce needs. If you have specific days that your staffing needs differ from your minimum staffing plan, you can add override dates.

There are two different types of minimum staffing plans: skill based minimum staffing plans and template based minimum staffing plans. In a skill based minimum staffing plan you define how many employees with a certain skill (or multiple skills) you need during certain time slots on different days of the week. In a template based minimum staffing plan you define how many employees you need during certain shift templates (standard shifts at your location) on different days of the week. For both types of minimum staffing plans, it is best practice to have your plan cover every minute of every day of the week. Consider this when creating time slots for your plans.

Add a Skill Based Minimum Staffing Plan

In a skill based minimum staffing plan you define how many employees with a certain skill (or multiple skills) you need during certain time slots on different days of the week.

To add a skill based minimum staffing plan:

• Click on the Min Staff Levels tab.
• Click the Create New link directly above the Skill Based Minimum Staffing Plans table.
  
• RosterApps directs you to the Create New Minimum Staffing Plan page.
  

• Use the Effective Start Date selector to choose the first date of your minimum staffing plan. An effective start date is required.

• Use the Effective End Date selector to choose the last date of your minimum staffing plan. An effective end date is required.

• Under Selected Skills, RosterApps lists all of the skills available at your location. Check the box(es) of the skill(s) you want to base the minimum staffing plan on. You can select as many skills as you want.

• Click the Create button to continue (or click the Cancel button to cancel).

• RosterApps directs you to the Edit Minimum Staffing Plan page.
  

• To add a time slot, click the Add Row link under ‘Minimum Required by Time-of-Day/Day-of-Week Records’. You can make your time slot as long or as short as you want.

• Use the From drop-down selectors to set the start time of your time slot.

• Use the To drop-down selectors to set the end time of your time slot.

• Below the drop-down selectors is a list of the days of the week with fields beside them. In each field, enter the number of employees with the selected skill(s) that you need on that day during that time slot. If you do not need any employees with the selected skill(s) during the time slot on that day, enter 0 in the field. See the example image below: the time slot is 8:00am to 12:00pm. On Sunday during this time, one employee with the skill CSA is needed. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, two employees with the skill CSA are needed during the time slot. On Friday and Saturday during the time slot, three employees with the skill CSA are needed.
  

• Click the Add button to add the row (or click the Cancel button to cancel).

• RosterApps asks you to check for any override dates you may have during that time period. You can add override dates later as well. Click the OK button to continue.

• The row now appears under the ‘Minimum Required by Time-of-Day/Day-of-Week Records’ heading.

• Continue to add rows and create time slots by following steps 9 through 15. Best practice is to have time slots that cover the entire day. See example image below.
  

• If you do not need to add any override dates, click the Done button to finish creating your minimum staffing plan (or click the Delete button to delete your minimum staffing plan). Override dates are specific days that your staffing needs differ from your minimum staffing plan. To add an override date, proceed to the next step.

• Click the Add Row link under ‘Specific Date Plan Override Records.’
  

• RosterApps creates an Add/Edit Overtime Record section.
  

• Choose the date of the override record in the Override Date selector.

• Enter the number of employees needed for each time slot on the override date in the Numbers Required column.

• Click the Add button to add your override date (or click the Cancel button to cancel).

• Add as many override dates as needed. You can also add more override dates later after you’ve created your minimum staffing plan.

• Once you’ve finished, click the Done button to finish creating your minimum staffing plan (or click the Delete button to delete your plan).

Add a Template Based Minimum Staffing Plan

In a template based minimum staffing plan you define how many employees you need during certain shift templates (standard shifts at your location) on different days of the week. Before adding a template based minimum staffing plan, you must create shift templates.

To add a template based minimum staffing plan:

• Click the Min Staff Levels tab.
• Click the Create New link directly above the Template Based Minimum Staffing Plans table.
  

• RosterApps directs you to the New Shift Template Demand Set page.

• Complete the sections in the first box with information about the minimum staffing plan.

  • Name: Name of the minimum staffing plan.

  • Start Date: The first effective date of the minimum staffing plan.

  • End Date: The last effective date of the minimum staffing plan.

• Click the Add Demand link in the Minimum Required by Template/Day-of-Week Records section.
  

• RosterApps opens a New Demand box.
  

• Select a shift template that you want to include in the minimum staffing plan with the Templates drop-down menu. The drop-down menu displays all shift templates available at your location. Click the Add button beside the Template drop-down menu to add the shift template. If you want to remove a shift template, select it in the drop-down menu and click the Remove button beside the drop-down menu. You can add multiple shift templates to the same demand, as long as you have the same staffing needs for all of those shift templates.

• In the fields beside each day of the week, enter the minimum staff members (in the Min column) and the maximum staff members (in the Max column) that you need during the shift template(s) on that day of the week.

• Click the Add button at the bottom of the box (or click the Cancel button to cancel).

• The demand now appears in the Minimum Required by Template/Day-of-Week Records table (see example below).
  

• Continue to add demands as needed by following the steps above. Best practice is for your minimum staffing plan to cover all hours of the day, or all shifts in the work day.

• Once you finish adding demands, if you do not need to add any override dates, click the Update button to create your minimum staffing plan (or click the Return button to cancel). Override dates are specific days that your staffing needs differ from your minimum staffing plan. To add an override date, proceed to the next step.

• Click the blue text link Add Override in the Overrides section.
  

• RosterApps opens a New Override box.
  

• Choose the override date with the Override Date selector.

• Enter the minimum staff members needed on the override date in the Min column.

• Enter the maximum staff members needed on the override date in the Max column.

• Click the Add button to add the override date (or click the Cancel button to cancel).

• The override date now appears in the Overrides section.

• Continue adding overrides as needed. You can also add overrides later after you create your minimum staffing plan.

• Click the Update button to finish creating your minimum staffing plan or click the Return button to cancel.