FIREHOUSE Software Staff Scheduling User's Guide

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FIREHOUSE Software

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Urbandale, IA 50322

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Technical support

FH®_{Technical Support:}

Phone: 800-921-5300, option 2 [email protected]

Sales contacts

Jim Brandariz

Phone: 800-796-1614, 530-621-0981 Fax: 530-626-8582

[email protected] AZ, CA, NV, OR, WA

Peter Eleftherakis

Phone: 888-362-4446, 508-362-4446 Fax: 508-362-5932

[email protected] CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT, Ontario

Mike Rogers

Phone: 888-941-3473, 214-504-0242 Fax: 214-504-0244

[email protected] AR, KS, LA, MO, MS, OK, TX

Forest Nace

Phone: 800-285-8685 Fax: 724-283-9086

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Roger DeDoncker Rebecca Sanger

Phone: 800-921-5300, ext. 1 Fax: 515-288-4825

[email protected]

AK, AL, CO, GA, FL, HI, ID, IA, IL, MI, MN, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, SC, SD, TN, UT, WI, WY, International

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Introduction

TheFIREHOUSE Software Staff Scheduling User's Guideis designed to help you activate and configure FH® Scheduling, set up schedules and shifts, and manage staffing changes as

needed. Staff members can exchange hours or shifts, ask for exceptions to the schedule for vaca-tions, sick times, and so forth. You also create activities that track the actual hours worked by staff members, and you can transfer the scheduling information to the station roster. You can print a shift schedule, display an individual staff member's schedule, and more.

Activate FH Staff Scheduling

Caution:If you purchased FH Staff Scheduling when you purchased FH, you can skip the steps below and continue withConfigure FH Staff Scheduling, on page 3.

Note:If you purchased your FH Staff Scheduling module after purchasing FH, you were sent a license activation code for Staff Scheduling through email or regular mail. You need that activ-ation code to complete the instructions below.

1. Log in to FH as an administrator.

2. ChooseAdministration → Activate or Update Features → Online System Activ-ation.

A dialog box appears.

3. SelectEnter Activation Code, and then clickOK.

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TheConfirm Feature Activationdialog box appears.

4. InSerial NumberandActivation Code, enter the serial number and code listed in the top of the license activation code document you were sent when you purchased FH Staff Scheduling.

5. ClickOK.

A confirmation dialog box appears, informing you that your license information has been updated.

6. ClickOK.

A second confirmation dialog box appears, informing you that the feature was suc-cessfully updated.

7. ClickOK.

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Configure FH Staff Scheduling

Once the Staff Scheduling module is activated in FH, you need to assign security and enable data-base audit tracking. You can set administration scheduling options for all workstations, or schedul-ing options for individual workstations. You can also install several schedule templates that ship with FH.

Assign security

1. ChooseAdministration → Users and Security. TheFeature Updatedialog box may appear.

If theFeature Updatedialog box does not appear, theUsers and Securitydialog box appears.

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2. (If theFeature Updatedialog box appeared) ClickOK. TheUsers and Securitydialog box appears.

3. UnderUser Name, select the name of a user you want to have access to the FH Staff Scheduling module, and then clickProperties.

TheUser Setupdialog box appears. 4. Click theModulestab.

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6. Select or clear options for each of the rows as appropriate for that user. Information on each of the rights listed in the table is available in the FIREHOUSE Software User Guide.

7. ClickSave.

8. Repeat steps 3-8 for each user who will use the Staff Scheduling module. 9. In theUsers and Securitydialog box, clickClose.

10. Continue withEnable database audit tracking, on page 6.

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Enable database audit tracking

1. ChooseAdministration → Administrative Options. TheAdministrative Optionsdialog box that appears. 2. Click theDatabasetab, and then click theAuditingtab.

By default, basic audit tracking is enabled. 3. (Optional) Enable more detailed audit tracking.

a. SelectEnable detailed audit tracking.

b. Depending on the level of changes you want to track, selectTrack changes to recordsorTrack changes to fields.

c. UnderSelect the databases for which you want to enable detail audit tracking, select or clear the types of information you want to track.

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Set administration scheduling options

1. ChooseAdministration → Administrative Options. TheAdministrative Optionsdialog box appears. 2. Click theStafftab, and then click theSchedulingtab.

3. Select or clearAutomatically lock duty activities created through schedulingto indicate whether or not to lock staff activity records created from scheduling.

Locked activities can not be modified by users without administrations rights.

4. Select or clearOnly allow updates to staff shift and station from scheduling (for staff linked to a schedule)to indicate whether or not to prevent the shift and station val-ues from being changed in theStaffdialog box.

Caution:When selected, the shift and station values for a staff member added to a shift schedule can only be changed in theSchedule Shift Personneldialog box. 5. Select or clearCopy Rolesto indicate whether or not to copy the value inRolesfrom

scheduling or adding a group of staff members, to incident activities.

6. Select or clearCopy Positionto indicate whether or not to copy the value inPosition

from scheduling or adding a group of staff members, to incident activities. 7. ClickOK.

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Set workstation-specific scheduling options

FH administrators can set global options for schedules on each workstations. 1. ChooseTools → Workstation Options.

TheWorkstation Optionsdialog box appears. 2. Click theSchedulingtab.

3. InDefault Schedule, type the name of the schedule that you want displayed whenever you access theScheduling Consoledialog box, or click the lookup button and then use theQuerydialog box which appears to select the schedule.

The staff included in the specified schedule appear when adding staff to FH.

4. Select or clearConfirm reassignment when a change is made through drag-and-drop on the consoleto indicate whether theSchedule Personnel Reassignment dia-log box appears after staff members are reassigned through drag-and-drop on the

Scheduling Consoledialog box.

When this option is cleared, default information is used for the reassignment, and the user is not prompted for confirmation.

Information on reassigning staff members is available inReassign a staff member on a shift, on page 89.

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5. UnderCalendar Shift-Coloring, inResolution, specify the degree of hourly accuracy with which shifts can be represented with color on a calendar.

A day's block on a calendar can be divided into as many as 24 units, representing each hour in the day. Higher resolutions are necessary to display multiple shifts on a calendar, but may require more time to display. Lower resolutions may limit the number of shifts that can be displayed in one day.

Example:For the first calendar below,Resolutionhas a value of 3, which sets the days on the calendar to display in eight-hour increments. For the second calendar , Res-olutionhas a value of 1, which sets the days to display in one increment (of 24 hours). Notice that the second calendar can only display one shift for each day, since the entire 24-hour period must be represented by one increment.

6. FromShow Color At, select the point in the increment to determine the color to display on the calendar.

Example:If you have a 24-hour shift andResolutionhas a value of 3,the day is dis-played on the calendar as three 8-hour increments. IfShow Color Athas a value of

Middle, the color displayed in the calendar is the color of the shift on duty in the middle of the 8-hour increment. IfShow Color Athas a value ofBeginning, the color dis-played in the calendar is the color of the shift on duty at the beginning of the 8-hour increment.

Tip:SettingResolutionto 1 andShow Color AttoMiddledisplays the primary shift on duty for the day, and meets the needs of most firehouses.

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7. FromJournal Calendar, choose an option that indicates how shift coloring appears on the calendar in theDepartment Journaldialog box.

Note:If you do not specify which schedule to use in step 3 forDefault Schedule, your selection fromJournal Calendardoes not appear in the Department Journal dialog box.

Select this To do this

Do not color calendar Prevent shift color coding from appearing in the journal cal-endar.

Note:Choose this option if you are using a low-speed connection to the FH database.

Color background and use solid icons

Use a solid color background for icons displayed in the journal's day blocks.

Note:Choose this option if your shift colors obscure event icons.You can also enlarge theDepartment Journaldialog box to prevent colors from obscuring icons.

Color background and use transparent icons

Use a transparent background for icons displayed in the journal.

Color day number Color the date number in a day's calendar block with the shift color, instead of coloring the background of the day's calendar block.

Note:Only one shift color can be displayed for each day, even if multiple shifts occur that day.

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8. FromDate Lookups, select an option to indicate whether you want to display shift color coding when you click a lookup button that accesses theCalendardialog box for selecting a date.

Note:If you chooseColor day number, only one shift color can be used for each day, even if multiple shifts occur that day.

9. FromOther Calendars, select an option to indicate whether you want to suppress shift color coding on other calendars in FH, or whether you want the shift color coding to be applied to the day's calendar block or day's date number.

Note:If you chooseColor day number, only one shift color can be used for each day, even if multiple shifts occur that day.

10. UnderReal Time Links, select or clearReal-time link with Station Rosterto indicate whether or not to update the station roster with staff members associated with the current shift.

Caution:Do not select this option if you are using a low-speed connection to the FH database.

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Tip:To take full advantage of the real-time link with station roster, choose Admin-istration → Administrative Options. In theAdministrative Optionsdialog box that appears, click theStafftab, and fromDefault Staff Group Select Method/Page, choose

Station Roster. When you are later working in a dialog box and you clickAdd Group, the

Staff Group Selectdialog box appears listing staff associated with the current shift. 11. Select or clearReal-time link with data entryto indicate whether or not to add staff members on the current shift to a selection list anytime you browse for a group of staff members.

Caution:Do not select this option if you are using a low-speed connection to the FH database.

Example: If you access theNFIRS lncident Reportdialog box, click theUnits & Personneltab, and then underPersonnel, clickAdd Group, theAdd From Schedulingoption exists in the menu that appears. When you selectAdd From Scheduling, theStaff Activity - Group Adddialog box appears, listing the staff mem-bers on the shift, and you can clickOKto add them to the incident report.

Note:The date and time specified in the dialog box you are working in determines which shifts the staff members are drawn from. If the date and time in the dialog box are not available, the current time on your computer is used.

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Install schedule templates

A staff schedule includes base schedule information, on-duty and off-duty times (duty cycles) for shifts, and staff members assigned to the shifts. FH provides four popular schedule templates that you can use rather than creating one on your own, or that you can customize to fit your needs.

Note:Installing and using schedule templates is optional.

Once you have installed the schedule templates, you can load a template and work with it. Inform-ation on loading a template is available inLoad a schedule template, on page 15.

1. Insert yourFIREHOUSE Software installation CD into the CD or DVD player on your computer.

2. ChooseAdministration → Install New or Updated Components. TheInstall New or Updated Componentsdialog box appears.

3. ClickInstall From, and then use the file browser that appears to navigate to the install-ation CD and into theToolsdirectory on the CD.

4. SelectScheduleTemplates.FHz, and then clickOK.

The four schedule templates provided with FH appear in theInstall New or Updated

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Featuresdialog box.

Name Number of

shifts Description

California Three Each 24 hour shift is on one day then off one day for six days, then off duty for four days.

Four Day Weekend

Three A complicated shift schedule that results in three days on duty one week, then two weeks of two days on duty. Simple

Rotation

Three Each 24 hour shift is on duty one day then off two days.

Split Shift Four Each shift is on duty 14 hours, off duty for two days, on duty for 10 hours, then off duty for one day.

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Set up a schedule

A staff schedule includes basic schedule information, on-duty and off-duty times (duty cycles) for shifts, and staff members assigned to the shifts. You can create your own schedule, or you can load a schedule template that is pre-populated with typical information. You can add shifts, define the duty cycles, staff, and default activities of each shift, delete a shift, and work with the shift cal-endar. You can also add notes, user-defined fields and data, attachments and signatures. You lock a schedule record, review schedule modifications, and more.

Load a schedule template

If you installed any of the schedule templates that shipped with FH, you can load a template for a specific shift pattern.

Information on installing a schedule template is available inInstall schedule templates, on page 13.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. ChooseForm → Apply Memorized Templates.

TheRecall Memorized Template - Staff Schedulesdialog box appears.

3. UnderMemorized Templates, select the template you want to use for the schedule, and then clickOK.

TheScheduledialog box updates with information from the template.

The base schedule and shift schedules are filled in by the template. However, you still need to add staff to each shift listed in theShiftstab.

Information on adding staff to a shift is available inAdd individual staff members to a shift, on page 21.

4. ClickClose.

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Add a new schedule

A new staff schedule includes basic schedule information. Once you have added it, you can define the on-duty and off-duty times (duty cycles) for shifts, and staff members assigned to the shifts.

1. ChooseFile → Staff Scheduling → Add or Update Scheduling Definitions. A blankScheduledialog box appears.

2. InSchedule Name, enter a name for the schedule you are creating.

3. In Schedule ID, type an ID number for the schedule, or press the Tab key on your key-board to let FH automatically create an ID number.

A dialog box stating that the schedule ID does not exist in the database, and asking if you want to create it.

4. ClickYes.

5. InStation, enter the station's code, or click the lookup button and then use the

Lookup - Stationsdialog box which appears to select the station's code.

6. InStart Date, type the date the schedule begins, or click the lookup button and then use the calendar which appears to select the date the schedule begins.

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8. Click theOthertab.

9. InFDID, enter the fire department's ID number, or click the lookup button and then use the dialog box that appears to select the ID number.

Note:At this point, a basic schedule is created. If you installed FH's schedule tem-plates, you can load a template that includes the shifts and shift schedules for a spe-cific shift pattern. If you decide not to use a template, you need to add the shifts and shift schedules on your own.

10. Add any or all of the following to the new schedule.

To do this See instructions in

Add shifts Add a shift to a schedule, on page 19.

Add shifts to a schedule with the wizard, on page 40. Manage staffing exchanges

and exceptions

Set up staffing exchanges and exceptions in the schedule, on page 48.

Add notes Add notes to a schedule, on page 58. Add custom data fields

(user-defined fields)

Add custom data user-defined fields to a schedule, on page 59.

Add data in user-defined fields

Enter custom data in user-defined fields for a sched-ule, on page 61.

Add attachments and signatures

Add attachments and signatures to a schedule, on page 62.

Lock a schedule Lock a schedule, on page 65.

Review modification history Review the modification history of a schedule, on page 64.

View the shift calendar Work with the shift calendar, on page 39. 11. ClickSave.

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Open an existing schedule

1. ChooseFile → Staff Scheduling → Add or Update Scheduling Definitions. TheScheduledialog box appears.

2. ClickBrowse.

TheQuery - Schedules by Namedialog box appears. 3. Select a schedule, and then clickOK.

TheScheduledialog box populates with information.

4. Add or update any or all of the following parts of the schedule.

Add shifts Add a shift to a schedule, on page 19.

Add shifts to a schedule with the wizard, on page 40. Manage staffing exchanges

and exceptions

Set up staffing exchanges and exceptions in the schedule, on page 48.

Add notes Add notes to a schedule, on page 58. Add custom data fields

(user-defined fields)

Add custom data user-defined fields to a schedule, on page 59.

Add data in user-defined fields

Enter custom data in user-defined fields for a sched-ule, on page 61.

Add attachments and signatures

Add attachments and signatures to a schedule, on page 62.

Lock a schedule Lock a schedule, on page 65.

Review modification history Review the modification history of a schedule, on page 64.

View the shift calendar Work with the shift calendar, on page 39. 5. ClickSave.

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Set up shifts in a schedule

A shift includes the staff members working for a shift, the default activities of staff members on the shift, and the time span for the shift (duty cycle).

Add a shift to a schedule

Once you create a schedule, you need to add shifts to the schedule. Information on creating a schedule is available inAdd a new schedule, on page 16.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. ClickAdd.

TheSchedule Shiftdialog box appears.

3. InShift Name, type a name for the shift you are adding.

4. Click inShift Color, and then use theColordialog box that appears to select a color for the shift.

Note:You can set additional options for controlling shift colors inSet workstation-spe-cific scheduling options, on page 8.

5. Select or clearDon't use a color for this shiftto indicate whether the shift should be included in color-coded calendars.

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6. Do any or all of the following to the new shift

Add personnel Add individual staff members to a shift, on page 21.

Add a group of staff members to a shift, on page 25. Edit or delete staff

mem-bers

Edit or delete staff members on a shift, on page 28. Define activity defaults Define activity defaults for a shift, on page 31. Define a duty cycle Define a duty cycle for a shift, on page 33. 7. ClickSave, and then clickClose.

Note:You can also use an FH wizard toAdd shifts to a schedule with the wizard, as described on page 40.

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Add individual staff members to a shift

You can define activity values that are applied to all staff members on a shift by default. If neces-sary, you can override these defaults for individual staff members when you add them to the shift. Information on defining activity values to all the staff members on a shift is available inDefine activity defaults for a shift, on page 31.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. (If one is not selected already) Click theShiftstab.

3. Select the shift you want to add personnel to, and then clickOpen. TheShiftdialog box appears.

ThePersonneltab is selected by default. 4. ClickAdd.

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TheSchedule Shift Personneldialog box appears.

Caution:Values you specify on this tab for the individual staff member take pre-cedence over values on theActivity Defaultstab, which apply to all staff members on the shift. If you leave a value in this dialog box blank, the corresponding value on the

Activity Defaultstab is used.

5. InStaff, type the ID number of the staff member you want to add to the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theQuerydialog box that appears to select the staff mem-ber.

6. InActivity Code, type the code for the activity performed during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Staff Activity Typesdialog box that appears to select the activity.

7. InPosition, type the code for the position held during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Staff Activity Positionsdialog box that appears to select the position.

8. InRoles, type the code for the role filled during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Scheduling Rolesdialog box that appears to select the roles. 9. InStation, enter the station's code, or click the lookup button and then use the

10. InShift, type the code for the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Shiftsdialog box that appears to select the shifts.

11. InUnit, type the code for the vehicle used during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Unitsdialog box that appears to select the vehicle.

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12. UnderActivity Type, select the activities performed during a shift. 13. InHours Worked, enter the number of hours worked during the shift.

14. InCredit Points, enter the number of points the activity earns toward a training program. 15. UnderPayroll Calculation, inHours Paid, enter the number of hours paid for during the

shift.

16. InPay Scale, enter the flat rate paid for a specific activity, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Pay Scalesdialog box that appears to select the pay scale.

Note:The flat rate set up for the pay scale is the same regardless of the number of hours entered inHours Worked, unless you specify a combination of hours paid and pay scale, using the pay scale as the hourly rate, or an exception for a specific staff member.

Additional information on pay scales and combination with hours paid is available in the FH online help, in thePaytopic. Information on specifying an exception is available in

Add staffing exchange or exception, on page 48.

17. Select or clearCredit Both Hours Paid and Pay Scaleto indicate if a combination of the hours paid and the flat-rate pay scale should be used.

Additional information on pay scales and combination with hours paid is available in the FH online help, in thePaytopic.

18. Select or clearUse Pay Scale at the Hourly Rateto indicate if the flat fee for the activ-ity is to be used as the hourly rate charged for performing the activactiv-ity.

19. Select or clearInclude This Staff Member In The On Duty Activityto indicate whether to include the staff member in activities created from staff scheduling. 20. ClickSave.

If scheduling conflicts appear, theSelect Staff Master Defaultsdialog box appears.

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21. (If the dialog box appears) Do one of the following.

To do this Do this

Change settings in the

Schedule Shift Per-sonneldialog box to resolve conflicts

1. Study the information in the dialog box to determine where the conflicts occur.

2. ClickCancel.

3. Change settings in theSchedule Shift Personnel dia-log box as needed.

4. ClickSave. Override the settings in

theSchedule Shift Per-sonneldialog box

If a check appears in the box to the left of the station name, the information in that row matches in the information in the

Staffdialog box for that staff member.

1. From the list, select (highlight) the row that you want to change the information in theStaffdialog box to.

Note:You can not select a row by putting a check-mark in the box to the left of the station name. 2. ClickOK.

3. ClickSave. 22. ClickClose.

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Add a group of staff members to a shift

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. Click theShiftstab.

3. Select the shift you want to add personnel to, and then clickOpen. TheShiftdialog box appears.

ThePersonneltab is selected by default.

Note:Values you specify on this tab take precedence over values you specify on the

Activity Defaultstab. If you leave a value on thePersonneltab blank, the cor-responding value defined on theActivity Defaultstab is used.

4. ClickAdd Group.

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TheStaff Group Selectdialog box appears.

5. In the list on the left, select the staff members you want to add as a group. Tip:

l You can select multiple, consecutive staff members by holding down the Shift key on the keyboard as you select names

l You can select multiple, non-consecutive staff members by holding down the Ctrl key on the keyboard as you select names.

l You can select all the names in the list by clickingSelect All.

l You can clear the current selection of names by clickingSelect None.

l You can display lists of staff members sorted by different categories of information (name, rank, status, station, and so forth) by clickingSelect Using Query, and then using theQuerydialog box that appears.

Note:The fields on theStaff Master,Station Roster, andSaved Groupstabs help you filter the list of staff members displayed on the left side of the dialog box. Inform-ation on using these tabs is available in the FH online Help, in theUse Staff Group Select Staff Master Sectiontopic, theUse Staff Group Select Station Roster Section topic, and theUse Staff Group Select Saved Groups Sectiontopic.

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TheShift Personnel - Group Adddialog box appears.

Note:When adding a group of staff members to a shift, the checkboxes to the left of field names are locked, and any values you specify in the fields are not applied from this dialog box. You can change the values for these fields when you define activity defaults.

Information defining activity defaults is available inDefine activity defaults for a shift, on page 31.

7. ClickOK.

The names of the staff members you selected appear in theShiftdialog box. 8. ClickSave.

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Edit or delete staff members on a shift

You can edit the information for an individual staff member on a shift, or you can apply the same change to more than one member of the staff on a shift by editing a group of staff members. If needed, you can also delete staff members from a shift.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. (If one is not selected already) Click theShiftstab.

3. Select the shift you want to edit or delete staff members on, and then clickOpen. TheShiftdialog box appears.

ThePersonneltab is selected by default.

Note:Values you specify on this tab take precedence over values you specify on the

Activity Defaultstab. If you leave a value on thePersonneltab blank, the cor-responding value defined on theActivity Defaultstab is used.

4. Do one or more of the following.

Edit an indi-vidual staff member's information

a. Select the staff member whose information you want to edit, and then clickOpen.

TheShift Personneldialog box appears, containing the current information for the staff member.

b. Update the fields in the dialog box as needed.

Information on the fields in the dialog box is available inAdd indi-vidual staff members to a shift, on page 21.

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Edit information for a group of staff mem-bers

a. ClickEdit Group.

TheSchedule Personnel - Group Updatedialog box appears, dis-playing all the staff members that were listed on theShiftdialog box,Personneltab.

b. In the list on the left side of the dialog box, select the staff members you want to apply the changes to.

Tip:

l You can select multiple, consecutive staff members by holding down the Shift key on the keyboard as you select names l You can select multiple, non-consecutive staff members by

holding down the Ctrl key on the keyboard as you select names. c. On the right side of the dialog box, for any field you want to change

the value for, select the checkbox to the left of the field name. d. For the fields whose checkbox you selected, update the values in

the fields as needed.

Information on the fields in the dialog box is available inAdd indi-vidual staff members to a shift, on page 21.

e. ClickOK.

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Delete a staff member from a shift

1. Select the staff member you want to delete from the shift. 2. Near the bottom of the dialog box, clickDelete.

A confirmation dialog box appears, asking if you are sure you want to delete the highlighted staff member.

3. ClickYes.

The staff member is removed from the list on thePersonnel tab. 5. In theShift Personneldialog box, clickSave, and then clickClose.

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Define activity defaults for a shift

You can define activity values that are applied to all staff members on a shift by default. If neces-sary, you can override these defaults for individual staff members when you add them to the shift. Information on adding individual staff members to a shift is available inAdd individual staff members to a shift, on page 21.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. (If it is not selected already) Click theShiftstab.

3. Select the shift you want to define activity defaults for, and then clickOpen. TheShiftdialog box appears.

4. Click theActivity Defaultstab.

7. InRoles, type the code for the role filled during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Scheduling Rolesdialog box that appears to select the roles.

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10. InUnit, type the code for the vehicle used during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Unitsdialog box that appears to select the vehicle. 11. UnderActivity Type, select the activities performed during a shift.

12. InHours Worked, enter the number of hours worked during the shift.

shift.

17. Select or clearUse Pay Scale at the Hourly Rateto indicate if the flat fee for the activity is to be used as the hourly rate charged for performing the activity.

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Define a duty cycle for a shift

Tip:To see a visual representation of the duty cycle as you are defining on a calendar, enable the display of color coding as described inSet workstation-specific scheduling options, on page 8, before doing the steps below,

3. Select the shift you want to define duty cycle for, and then clickOpen. TheShiftdialog box appears.

4. Click theDuty Cycletab.

5. To the right of the time grid, click the plus button.

The first row of the time grid partially populates with data. The value in theStart Time

column is based on the time you specified in theScheduledialog box, in theStart Time

field, when you added the schedule.

Information on adding a schedule is available inAdd a new schedule, on page 16.

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6. Click in theOn Dutycolumn, in the highlighted cell, and type aYor anNon your keyboard to indicate whether the time range you are defining is an on-duty range (Y) or an off-duty range (N), and then press Tab or Enter on your keyboard.

The cell in theLength (Hours)column for that row highlights.

7. In theLength (Hours)column, in the highlighted cell, type the number of hours in the cycle, and then press Tab or Enter on your keyboard.

Tip:The number of hours for common intervals of time are listed in the dialog box, at the lower right corner of the time grid. Most shifts will have a duty cycle length that is divisible by 24.

The cell in theStart Timecolumn for that row highlights, and the value in theEnd Time

column for that row is calculated for you, based on the start time and the length you spe-cified.

Caution:When defining the length of a duty cycle, you must keep in mind the date and time specified in theScheduledialog box, in theStart DateandStart Timefields. To get a duty cycle to start on a specific day of the week and at a specific time, you may need to add an off-duty cycle before the on-duty cycle to achieve the actual start day/-time you want.

Note:A detailed example of starting a duty cycle on a specific day of the week is avail-able inExample: Add a shift starting Friday morning, on page 35.

8. Click the plus button to the right of the grid again, or press the down arrow key on your key-board.

A new row of data appears in the time grid. The value in theStart Timecolumn for the new row is supplied for you, based on the value in theEnd Timecolumn for the previous row.

9. Repeat steps 6-7 to fill in the information for the new row of data. The value in theEnd Timecolumn for the new row is calculated for you.

10. Repeat steps 8-9 until you have added enough information to the time grid to complete the duty cycle.

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Example: Add a shift starting Friday morning

You want to add a new shift that is on duty every Friday, starting at 8:00 in the morning, and run-ning for 24 hours. The schedule you are adding the shift to has aStart Datevalue of 12/05/2006, and aStart Timevalue of 08:00:00 (8:00 in the morning on a 24-hour clock).

December 5, 2006, falls on a Tuesday, and you want your new shift to begin its on-duty cycle three days later, on a Friday. The shift needs to begin with a three-day (72-hour) off-duty cycle to account for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then the shift would continue with a one-day (24-hour) on-duty cycle for Friday, and finish with a three-day (72-hour) off-duty cycle to account for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Note: If theStart Timevalue for the schedule had not been the same as the time you wanted the new shift to start, you would have needed to adjust the length of the off-duty shifts to account for the hours offset.

Example:If the scheduleStart Timevalue had been 00:00:00 (midnight on a 24-hour clock) instead of 08:00:00, your first off-duty shift would have been 80 hours to account for midnight Tuesday through midnight Thursday (72 hours), plus eight more hours from midnight

Thursday to 8:00 Friday morning. The second off-duty cycle would have been 64 hours long, to cover from 8:00 Saturday morning to midnight Tuesday.

In theShiftdialog box, on theDuty Cycletab, on the right of the time grid, you would click the plus button to add the first off-duty cycle.

The first row of the time grid partially populates with data, and the value in theStart Timecolumn is listed as 8:00 (theStart Timevalue in theScheduledialog box).

In the highlighted cell in theOn Dutycolumn, you would enterN, to indicate that this is not an on-duty cycle. InLength (Hours), you would enter72, to account for the number of hours from 8:00 A.M. Tuesday to 8:00A.M. Friday. The value in theStart Timecolumn is based on theStart Time

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value in theScheduledialog box, and cannot be edited in the time grid. The value in theEnd Time

column is calculated for you, based on the number of hours you entered inLength (Hours). To add the on-duty cycle, you would either click the plus button again, or you would press the down arrow key on your keyboard. A new row of data appears in the time grid.

In the highlighted cell in theOn Dutycolumn, you would enterY, to indicate that this is an on-duty cycle. InLength (Hours), you would enter24, to account for the number of hours from 8:00A.M. Friday to 8:00A.M. Saturday.

Note:If you had enabled the display of shift color coding on calendars, a color corresponding to the shift duty cycle you are defining appears on the calendar in theShiftdialog box. Because you have not defined the off-duty cycle for the remaining hours of the week yet, the shift does yet not consistently begin on Friday.

To add the second off-duty cycle, you would either click the plus button again, or you would press the down arrow key on your keyboard. Another new row of data appears in the time grid. In theOn Dutycolumn in this row, you would enterN, to indicate that this is not an on-duty cycle. InLength (Hours), you would enter72, to account for the number of hours from 8:00A.M. Saturday to 8:00 A.M. Tuesday.

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Now that all the hours in a seven-day week are accounted for, the calendar shows the shift as con-sistently starting on Friday morning and ending on Saturday morning.

You would then clickSaveto save the duty cycle for the shift.

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Delete a shift

3. UnderShift Name, select the shift you want to delete. 4. Do one of the following.

To delete from Do this

TheSchedule

dialog box

a. ClickDelete.

A confirmation dialog box appears.

b. ClickYes.

The shift is removed from the list. TheShiftdialog

box

a. ClickOpen.

TheShiftdialog box appears.

b. ClickDelete.

A confirmation dialog box appears. c. ClickYes.

The dialog box clears and is renamedSchedule Shift, so that you can add a new shift to the schedule.

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Work with the shift calendar

3. ClickShift Calendar.

TheShift Calendardialog box appears.

4. Do any of the following.

Change the use of color on the calendar

l In the lower right corner of the dialog box, selectDo Not Color

Calendar,Color Date Background, orColor Day Number.

Include shift names in the calendar

l SelectInclude Shift Names in Calendar (up to 3/day).

Note:This option is not available ifColor Day Numberis selected.

Print the calendar

1. ClickPrint.

A standardPrintdialog box appears.

2. Fill out the parameters in the dialog box, and then clickOK. 5. ClickClose.

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Add shifts to a schedule with the wizard

Once you create a schedule, you need to add shifts to it. If you are adding multiple shifts to a schedule, using a wizard is faster than adding the shifts manually.

Note:If you only need to add a single shift, it may be faster to add the shift manually.

Information on creating a schedule is available inAdd a new schedule, on page 16. Information on manually adding a shift to the schedule is available inAdd a shift to a schedule, on page 19.

1. ChooseFile → Staff Scheduling → Add or Update Scheduling Definitions. TheScheduledialog box appears.

2. ClickBrowse.

TheQuery - Schedules by Namedialog box appears. 3. Select a schedule, and then clickOK.

TheScheduledialog box populates with information.

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TheDuty Cycle Setup Wizardappears.

5. ClickNext >.

The next screen of the wizard appears.

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6. ClickNew Shift.

TheSchedule Shiftdialog box appears.

7. InShift Name, type a name for the shift you are adding.

8. Fill out the remaining fields in the dialog box, as described inAdd a shift to a schedule, on page 19, starting at step 6.

9. In theSchedule Shiftdialog box, clickSave, and then clickClose.

The shifts are listed in theDuty Cycle Setup Wizardin the following format: (shift code)Shift Name(duty cycle status)

When you filled out the information in theSchedule Shiftdialog box, if you specified a value on theActivity Defaultstab, in theActivity Codefield, that value appears

between theshift codeparentheses in theDuty Cycle Setup Wizard.Shift codedefines the shift rotation.

When you filled out the information in theSchedule Shiftdialog box, if you specified a value on theDuty Cycletab, the messageCurrently has a Duty Cycleappears in theduty cycle statusparentheses.

Example:

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11. (If a shift does not have a value in theshift codeparentheses) Do the following. a. Select (highlight) the shift name, and then clickChange Code.

TheEnter a Value dialog box appears. b. Enter a shift rotation value, and then clickOK. 12. In the wizard, select two or more of the shifts listed.

Caution:A shift is selected only when a checkmark appears in the box in front of the shift code. Highlighting a shift does not select it.

Example:

Selected: Not selected:

Note:Duty cycle information changes only for the selected shifts.

Caution:All selected shifts must have a value in the theshift codeparentheses. If a selected shift has a value in theduty cycle statusparentheses, that duty cycle inform-ation is overwritten.

13. ClickNext >.

The next screen of the wizard appears.

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14. Depending on what kind of shift rotations you need, do one of the following.

If this is the case Do this

Shifts always occur on specific days of the week

a. SelectOur shift rotations depend on the day of the week.

b. ClickNext >.

The next screen of the wizard appears, for defining the days shifts start on appears.

c. Select each day that a new shift starts, and then click

Next >.

The next screen of the wizard appears for defining the shift, starting on the first checked day and ending on the day before the next checked day.

Note:If only one day is selected, the shift spans the entire week starting on the checked day.

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If this is the case Do this

d. Choose one of the following.

If the shift is Select this

One day Daily Rotation

Multiple days, and the shift advances each day sequentially

Daily Rotation

A range of days, then advances the next week

Weekly Rotation

Shifts depend on the day of the week

a. SelectOur shift rotations simply repeat. b. ClickNext >.

The next screen of the wizard appears, with only the

Shift Rotationssection of the screen active.

15. InNumber of shifts per day, specify the number of shifts in a 24-hour period.

Note:Four is the maximum number of shifts you can specify. Shift rotation information changes based on the number of shifts you specify.

16. (If necessary) In the first row, click in theShiftcolumn, and then change the value to indicate the order a specific shift occurs in.

17. In the first row, click in theLength in Hrscolumn, and then type the duration of the shift. The times (on a 24-hour clock) in theTime FromandTime Tocolumns update auto-matically, based on the value you enter inLength in Hrs.

18. In the first row, click in theShift Rotation Sequencecolumn and then type the shift code for that shift.

Tip:You specified the code for the shift in step 8 or 11.

19. Repeat steps 16-18 for each shift, in their respective rows underShift Rotations. 20. ClickNext >.

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In step 14, if you decided that shifts always occur on specific days of the week, and if you selected more than one day of the week defining the days shifts start, the next screen of the wizard that appears lets you define the shift rotation, starting on the next checked day and ending on the day before the next checked day in the list.

21. (If another screen for defining a shift rotation appears) Repeat steps 15-19. 22. ClickNext >.

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The last screen of the wizard appears, summarizing the information you specified for the shifts and their rotations.

23. ClickFinish.

A confirmation appears, indicating that duty cycle records were created.

24. ClickOK.

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Set up staffing exchanges and exceptions in the schedule

Sometimes staff members need to exchange shifts with each other, and exceptions to the normal schedule occur when additional staff is needed for an event, staff members need time off for vaca-tions, illness, and so forth. In FH, you can add these exchanges and exceptions to the schedule.

Add staffing exchange or exception

An exchange occurs whenever two or more staff members trade hours or shifts in the schedule. An exception occurs whenever a staff member is absent (for illness, vacation, and so forth) and it is not necessary to replace that person in the shift (no other staff member covers for the absent staff member), or when additional staff members are added to a shift for public events, training events, and so forth.

Note: Any time staff members need to exchange shifts, an exchange record must be added to the schedule for each person covering the duties of another staff member.

Example:If two staff members are needed to cover the shift of the regularly assigned staff member, two exchanges need to be added to the schedule.

1. (If one is not open already)Open an existing schedule, as described on page 18. 2. Click theExchanges & Exceptionstab.

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TheShift Personnel Exchange or Exceptiondialog box appears.

4. (If you are adding a staff member instead of replacing an absent staff member) Select

This is additional staff, not an actual replacement.

Assigned Staff,No covering staff necessaryand theAssignedtab become disabled, andCovering Staffbecomes required.

5. (If it is available) In Assigned Staff, type the staff ID number of the staff member assigned to work in the time period, or click the lookup button and then use theQuery

dialog box that appears to select the staff member.

6. InStart Date/TimeandEnd Date/Time, type the beginning and ending dates and times for the staff member exchange or exception, click the lookup button for each field and then use theCalendardialog box that appears to select the date and time, or clickShift Pickerand use theShift Pickerdialog box to select the shift that needs to be covered.

Note:The staff member you specified in step 5 must be on-duty in the dates and times you specify.

7. (If the staff member does not need to replaced) SelectNo covering staff necessary.

Covering Staff,This is additional staff, not an actual replacement, and the Replace-menttabs become disabled.

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8. (If the staff member does need to be replaced) InCovering Staff, type the staff ID number of the staff member who will replace the assigned staff member in the time period, or click the lookup button and then use theQuerydialog box that appears to select the select the staff member.

Note:The replacement staff member must not already be on duty in the specified time period.

9. (If you specified a staff member inCovering Staff) Select or clearTrack for Trading Timeto indicate whether FH should track staff member exchanges.

If selected, you can later run a report in FH to see a list of trades (exchanges) that have occurred between staff members by choosingReports → Staff, Activity, and Training Reports, and then in theReportsdialog box that appears, selectStaff, Activity, and Training Reports → Staff Scheduling Reports → Exchange Time Tracking. 10. InNotes, type an explanation for the exchange or exception.

11. InRequest Date/Time, type the date and time the request for the exchange or exception is being made, or click the lookup button and then use theCalendardialog box that appears to select the date and time.

12. (If it is available) In Approved By, type the staff ID number of the staff member who approves the change of staff members in the time period, or click the lookup button and then select an option from the menu that appears.

Note:The staff member you selected must have the appropriate security rights to approve the change of staff members.

13. InApproval Date/Time, type the date and time the approval for the exchange or excep-tion is granted, or click the lookup button and then use theCalendardialog box that appears to select the date and time.

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14. Click theAssignedtab.

Note:Except for the required value inActivity Code, filling in the rest of the fields on this tab is optional. If the fields are left blank, FH uses the values from the original assignment for the staff member who will normally be assigned to the shift. You only need to specify values on this tab if you want to override the values from the original assignment.

Example:InActivity, departments typically enter a code (such asVCfor vacation, or

SCfor sick) to indicate why the staff member is not on duty during a time they are nor-mally assigned.

17. InRoles, type the code for the role filled during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Scheduling Rolesdialog box that appears to select the roles.

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20. InUnit, type the code for the vehicle used during the shift, or click the lookup button and then use theLookup - Unitsdialog box that appears to select the vehicle. 21. UnderActivity Type, select the activities performed during a shift.

22. InHours Worked, enter the number of hours worked during the shift.

shift.

27. Select or clearUse Pay Scale at the Hourly Rateto indicate if the flat fee for the activity is to be used as the hourly rate charged for performing the activity.

28. Select or clearInclude This Staff Member In The On Duty Activityto indicate whether to include the staff member in activities created from staff scheduling.

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29. Click theReplacementtab.

Note:Filling in the fields on this tab is optional. If the fields are left blank, FH uses the values from the original assignment for the staff member who is covering for the absent staff member.. You only need to specify values on this tab if you want to override the values from the original assignment.

30. Repeat steps 15-27 as needed for this tab. 31. ClickCreate Exchange for Replacement.

Caution:On theBasictab,Approved Bymust be completed before the exchange or exception is complete. The approval can be completed now or later by a user with suf-ficient security rights.

32. ClickSave, and then clickClose.

Note:Once you have set up a schedule, you can also create exchanges and excep-tions through theScheduling Consoledialog box.

Information on creating exchanges is available inAdd a staffing exchange or excep-tion, on page 86. Information on creating exceptions is available inAdd staff members to a shift, on page 83 andReassign a staff member on a shift, on page 89.

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Edit or delete a staffing exchange or exception

3. Do one or more of the following.

Edit an exchange or exception's information

a. Select the exchange or exception you whose information you want to edit, and then clickOpen.

TheShift Personnel Exchange or Exceptiondialog box appears, containing the current information for the exchange or exception. b. Update the fields in the dialog box as needed.

Information on the fields in the dialog box is available inAdd staff-ing exchange or exception, on page 48.

Delete an exchange or exception from the

Schedule

dialog box

a. Select the exchange or exception you want to delete. b. Near the bottom of the dialog box, clickDelete.

A confirmation dialog box appears, asking if you are sure you want to delete the highlighted exchange or exception.

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c. ClickYes.

The exchange or exception is removed from the list on the

Personnel tab. Delete an

exchange or exception from the

Shiftdialog box

a. Select the exchange or exception you want to delete. b. ClickOpen.

TheShift Personnel Exchange or Exceptiondialog box appears. c. At the bottom of the dialog box, clickDelete.

d. ClickYes.

The dialog box clears and is renamedSchedule Personnel

Exchange for, so that you can add a new exchange to the schedule. e. ClickClose.

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Filter the display of staffing exchanges and exceptions

3. Near the bottom of the dialog box, fromShow, select the option that displays exchanges and exception meeting a specific criteria.

The list of exchanges and options updates to display only items that match the selected criteria.

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Purge old staffing exchanges and exceptions

Older exchanges and exceptions should be periodically removed from the schedule, as FH does not use them to determine the actual hours scheduled staff members work. You can remove all exchanges and exceptions before a specific date by purging the schedule.

3. ClickPurge.

TheEnter a Valuedialog box appears.

4. InPurge all exchanges prior to, enter the date you want to use as the baseline for removing old exceptions, or clickCalendarand use theCalendardialog box that appears to select the date.

5. ClickOK.

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6. ClickYes.

Any exchange or exception older than the date you specified are removed from the Sched-uledialog box.

Add notes to a schedule

You can add additional text information to the schedule.

1. (If it is not open already)Open an existing schedule, on page 18. 2. Click theNotestab.

3. Click in the large area in theNotestab, and then type any extra information you want to add to the record.

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Add custom data user-defined fields to a schedule

If your department needs to capture specific data, and if the fields for recording that information are not already provided in FH, you can define additional fields for capturing the data.

1. (If it is not open already)Open an existing schedule, on page 18. 2. Click theOthertab.

3. ClickUser Fields.

A prompt dialog box appears, stating that no user fields are defined yet.

Note:You can add custom data fields to theScheduledialog box only once. If you dis-cover later that you need to add more custom data fields for a schedule, you can add them by choosingAdministration → User-Defined Fieldsand using the User-Defined Fields Setupdialog box that appears to add additional custom data fields. 4. ClickYes.

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TheStaff Scheduling User Fieldsdialog box appears, with theUser Fields Toolbar

over it.

5. Use theUser Fields Toolbarto add graphical user interface items for your own user-defined fields to theUser Fieldsdialog box.

Note:Information on adding user-defined fields is available in the

FIREHOUSE Software Advanced Feature Reference, in "Chapter 6: User-Defined Fields."

If you define any of your custom user-defined fields as required, a check appears in the

Requiredcolumn next toUser Fields. A check appears in theCompletedcolumn if any data is entered in the custom user-defined fields for the current record.

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Enter custom data in user-defined fields for a schedule

Once custom user-defined data fields are added, you can use these fields to enter the custom data you want to capture.

1. (If it is not open already)Open an existing schedule, on page 18. 2. Click theOthertab.

3. ClickUser Fields.

Note:If any of the custom user-defined fields are required, a check appears in the

Requiredcolumn next toUser Fields.

TheStaff Scheduling User Fieldsdialog box appears.

Note:The contents of this dialog box depends on what user-defined data fields were added earlier.

4. Enter data for the fields in theStaff Scheduling User Fieldsdialog box. 5. ClickSave, and then clickClose.

A check appears in the check box in theCompletedcolumn next toUser Fields.

6. ClickClose.

FIREHOUSE Software Staff Scheduling User's Guide