Building rules in Shift is key to unlocking the full potential of shift management for your workers. Rules can be used to ensure your workers adhere to local and state regulations ensuring your company stays compliant. For example, you may create a rule to ensure your workers have necessary breaks after working long hours or that they do not work too much overtime.
Creating Rules
To create a rule, follow the steps below:
In the left side panel, click Shift.
Click the arrow to expand the side panel, which will reveal the subpages under the Shift product. Then click Rules.
Click +Add a rule in the top right corner.
Type a name for the rule. Be as specific as possible in case you create similar rules with slight differences in the future.
Example: New York - Day of Rest & Meal Period Laws
Decide on the rule restriction type. You have two options to choose from:
Display a warning state: This will warn the user creating the schedule when they assign a worker that meets the conditions of the rule, but it will not prevent the user from assigning the worker.
Display a blocking state: This will prevent the user creating the schedule from assigning a worker to a shift that matches the conditions of the rule.
Type the display message that the user will see if they encounter the restriction warning or block when assigning a worker during scheduling creation.
Click +Add condition.
In the new Add condition builder, click +Add condition again. Select the type of condition you want to add. You have three options:
Worker Attribute: Anything related to the worker, such as their name, start date, location, or even their hours scheduled.
Shift event: Anything related to the shift, such as the shift duration, location, or job.
Choose from templates: You’ll learn about using templates later in this article.
Select the value for the condition and any additional required fields. Examples of real customer rules are found in the next section of this article.
To duplicate a condition, click the 3 dots button to the right and then Duplicate.
To delete a condition, click the 3 dots button to the right and then Delete.
You can add additional layers of conditions by clicking +Add condition in the condition builder.
Click Add. You’ll be brought back to the main Create rule page, and the conditions will be listed in the Conditions section.
You can change the way the rule will function by changing the AND to OR. This will look at multiple conditions on either an AND or OR basis. This can help you essentially build two rules within one rule!
Example: Worker is in the state of Hawaii OR in the state of Texas. We would not want to use AND in this example.
You can also choose to add more conditions or a subgroup:
Adding conditions: Provides the flexibility to add as many conditions to your rule as needed.
Adding subgroups: Subgroups are used if you want to have both AND/OR operators in your rule.
To delete any part of the conditions, click the 3 dots button to the right and then delete.
Click Activate rule in the top right corner when finished.
Conflict Checks
As you build your rule, Fountain will automatically check for existing shifts that conflict with the rule you’re attempting to apply. This is seen in the top right corner in the Schedule Conflicts box.
Click the arrow to the right of each location with conflicts to see the existing shifts that conflict with the rule.
You can also download a CSV of all conflicting shifts across all locations. Once you resolve the shift conflicts or add a condition to your rule that bypasses the conflict, such as a shift start date condition past the last conflicting shift, the rule will be able to be saved successfully.
Customer Rule Examples
Below is a list of real-life customer example Shift rules including the reason the rule was originally created.
New York - Day of Rest & Meal Period Laws
This rule ensures two state laws:
The worker takes a break for rest and meals if their shift is longer than 6 hours.
The worker isn’t scheduled for more than six days in a row due to rest day requirements.
Overtime warning
This rule displays a warning for the worker if they have been scheduled for more than 40 hours.
Illinois Minor School Year Law
This rule ensures that minor workers who are in school do not work more than 3 hours on school days which is a required state law. You’ll notice there are conditions for start date and end date which capture the school year.
Rules Templates
When creating conditions for a new rule, you’ll have the option to save it as a template. This is helpful to build similar rules quickly in the future.
To save a condition as a template, click the Save as Template button at the bottom of the condition builder expanded pop-out. Then, type a name for the template and click Confirm.
To use a previously saved template when creating a new rule, select Choose from templates after clicking +Add condition in the condition builder expanded pop-out. Search for the name in the search box.
Rules Table
Saved rules are listed on the Rules Table. To access the table, click Shift in the left side panel. Then click the arrow to expand the side panel, which will reveal the subpages under the Shift product. Finally, click Rules.
At the top of the Table, you can search for a rule or organize your view via status tabs: all, active, inactive, or deleted.
The table will list the name of the rule, when it was last updated, the rule restriction type (either blocker or warning), and the status. Clicking the status toggle will turn the rule active or inactive.
Click the 3 dots button to the right of the rule’s name to edit, duplicate, or delete the rule.
Use the filter button to find specific rules in the table. You can filter by rule name, restriction type, or status.
Related Articles
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