In the realm of workforce management, the evolution of timekeeping technologies has been nothing short of remarkable. From the humble punch card to the sophisticated biometric clock, the methods used to track employee hours have undergone significant changes over the years. In this article, we'll explore the potential future of timekeeping and whether biometric clocks are poised to replace traditional punch cards.

The Rise of Biometric Clocks

Biometric clocks, which use unique physical characteristics such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or even iris scans to verify an employee's identity, have gained popularity in recent years. These advanced systems offer several advantages over traditional punch cards, including increased accuracy and security.

One of the key benefits of biometric clocks is their ability to prevent time theft. Unlike punch cards, which can be shared or manipulated, biometric clocks ensure that only the registered employee can clock in or out, reducing the risk of fraudulent activity.

Additionally, biometric clocks eliminate the need for physical cards or badges, reducing the administrative burden associated with managing and replacing these items. This can lead to cost savings for businesses in the long run.

Challenges and Concerns

Despite their advantages, biometric clocks are not without their challenges. One of the main concerns is privacy. Employees may be apprehensive about providing sensitive biometric data, such as fingerprints or facial scans, fearing that it could be misused or compromised.

There are also practical considerations, such as the cost of implementing and maintaining biometric clock systems. For small businesses with limited budgets, this expense may be prohibitive.

Furthermore, there are technical challenges to consider, such as ensuring the accuracy and reliability of biometric systems. Factors such as environmental conditions and the quality of the biometric data captured can impact the effectiveness of these systems.

Integration is Key

One of the critical aspects of implementing any timekeeping system, whether traditional or advanced like biometric clocks, is its integration with other essential systems like scheduling and payroll. Without proper integration, the efficiency and effectiveness of these systems can be severely limited.

For instance, imagine investing in a state-of-the-art biometric clock system to improve accuracy and security, only to find that employees still need to manually transfer data from this system to the scheduling and payroll systems. This manual process not only negates some of the benefits of the biometric system but also introduces errors and inefficiencies.

WorkSight Flow's integration capabilities ensure that data flows seamlessly between different systems, reducing the risk of errors and streamlining processes. With integrated systems, employee hours recorded by the biometric clock can be automatically synced with the scheduling system, allowing managers to easily track attendance and plan shifts. Similarly, payroll calculations can be automated, reducing the time and effort required for payroll processing.

Furthermore, integration can enhance the overall accuracy of the system. Manual data entry is prone to errors, which can lead to discrepancies in employee pay and scheduling. By integrating timekeeping, scheduling, and payroll systems, businesses can reduce errors caused by manual data entry, ensuring that employees are accurately compensated for their work.

The Future Outlook

Despite these challenges, the future looks promising for biometric clocks. As technology continues to advance, biometric systems are becoming more affordable and easier to implement. This trend is likely to continue, making biometric clocks a viable option for businesses of all sizes.

Additionally, advancements in biometric technology, such as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, are improving the accuracy and reliability of these systems. This makes them more attractive to businesses looking to streamline their timekeeping processes.

While biometric clocks may not completely replace traditional punch cards in the near future, they are certainly poised to become a more prevalent and viable option for businesses looking to modernize their timekeeping practices. As technology continues to evolve, biometric clocks will likely play an increasingly important role in the future of workforce management. Although biometric clocks and other advanced timekeeping systems offer significant benefits, their true potential can only be realized when they are integrated seamlessly with other essential systems. Integration with systems like WorkSight Flow ensures that businesses can maximize the efficiency, accuracy, and security of their timekeeping processes, ultimately leading to improved operations and employee satisfaction.

Midnight whether the end of today or the start of tomorrow depends on the observer!

The problem is: there are two midnights in a day, midnight can stand as both the end of a day and the beginning of the next. When you're working at midnight, are you working a night shift starting at the end of the current day (technically the start of tomorrow), or are you working a morning shift that starts at the beginning of the current day?

This decision affects the way you calculate and pay your employees. The scheduling system has to be clear when it comes to presenting this information so that there is no confusion for your employees to what time to show up for work. If a system can't flexibly represent both scenarios, then chaos can ensue. For example, if your employees have been conditioned to think of a shift starting at midnight as the end of today, but your scheduling system forces the shift to appear on the next day because of the way computers represent time visually, then employees have to remember that the shift actually starts on the previous calendar day - yikes!

To make matters worse, we often encounter companies where both situations are represented: some departments represent it one way and some the other way.

While many systems resort to hacks to manage the ambiguity of midnight, WorkSight Flow utilizes interval calculus and time offsets for a more precise solution.

Interval Calculus (Warning, reading the following could make you sleepy!!)

Interval calculus focuses on the numerical analysis of sets of intervals rather than individual numbers. This branch of mathematics lets us work with intervals as mathematical objects which is critical to computerized time calculations.  

But interval calculations on their own are not enough when we are dealing with the slippery matter of midnight. Intuitively we know midnight is an ‘endpoint’, but is it also a starting point? According to interval calculus: yes, and no. A given interval – all real numbers between a pair of numbers – can include either endpoint (i.e. of an employee’s shift), both endpoints or neither endpoint. This can get confusing fast! 

Because of this variability in interval calculations, midnight can mark both the end of one day and the beginning of the next. It can be a curfew shouted at the retreating back of a beloved teenager: "Be home by midnight." It’s made famous in fairytales when something big and life-changing happens: “...at the stroke of midnight.” More practically, in the contexts we care about, it can signify the beginning or end of a shift, and we need to know which day to assign it to. Does it belong to the day before—the day that is just ending—or the day just starting, or both?

Why Does Midnight Matter?

If you're buying or using a scheduling system and have shifts that start at midnight, you need to confirm that your scheduling solution can support this. While there are hacks—such as setting the start time to 11:59 PM or beginning the shift at 0:00 on the following day—these workarounds can cause issues. The shift might appear on the wrong date on the employee's paycheck, leading to inaccurate pay calculations and confusion among your employees. They might wonder: "Exactly what time am I supposed to come in?"

Flow Has Your Back

Fortunately, WorkSight Flow makes this easy. When defining your schedules, you can create any "Shifts" or "Templates" you need. These shifts can include breaks, start and end at different times throughout the day, and have colors and icons to convey meaning and avoid confusion. You can name each shift something useful like "D 1-9," "N 6-18," or "N 0-8." You then use these shifts as templates to build out your "Shift Patterns" and schedules.

When defining your shifts, you simply use the calendar date as the anchor for the times, which are recorded as offsets from the start of the day. So a "Day" shift that starts at 12:00 AM of the same calendar day gets an offset of 0.0, a shift starting at 3:30 AM gets an offset of 3.5 hours, and so on. Conversely, a "Night" shift that starts at midnight gets an offset of 24.0. These offsets, combined with the ability to name your shifts whatever you like, allow you to handle every case with ease.

The ambiguity of midnight—whether it marks the end of today or the beginning of tomorrow—illustrates how something seemingly trivial can pose significant challenges. It serves as a reminder that even the smallest details, like the stroke of midnight, can have a significant impact on our daily lives and workflows.

In today's fast-paced business environment, the way we schedule work can have a significant impact on both business outcomes and employee well-being. A recent study conducted by The Center for WorkLife Law, the University of Chicago, and the University of North Carolina sheds light on the benefits of stable scheduling practices. The study, titled "Stable Scheduling Increases Productivity and Sales" provides compelling evidence that implementing stable scheduling practices can lead to a host of positive outcomes for businesses and employees alike.

What is Stable Scheduling?

• Predictable Schedules: Stable scheduling involves providing employees with consistent and predictable work schedules. This includes setting regular start and end times for shifts and minimizing last-minute changes to the schedule. Recent estimates suggest that nearly 90% of hourly retail workers experience some degree of instability (Lambert, Fugiel & Henly, 2014).
• Adequate Hours: Stable scheduling also entails ensuring that employees are scheduled for an adequate number of hours each week. This can help employees plan their finances and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• Advance Notice: Employers should provide employees with advance notice of their work schedules. This allows employees to plan their personal lives around their work commitments. One experimental study found that workers would take a 20 percent cut to wages in exchange for a job that provides one week of advance notice of work schedules (Mas & Pallais, 2017).
• Fairness: Stable scheduling practices should be fair and equitable. This means that schedules should be based on factors such as seniority, skill level, and employee preferences.

Key Findings of the Study:

• Increase in Sales: Businesses that implemented stable scheduling practices saw a significant increase in sales (2.9 million over a 35-week period). This increase is attributed to several factors, including improved customer service due to more consistent staffing levels and higher employee morale.
• Boost in Productivity: Stable scheduling practices were also found to boost productivity. By providing employees with more predictable schedules, businesses were able to reduce absenteeism and turnover, leading to a more engaged and motivated workforce.
• Enhanced Employee Well-being: Perhaps most importantly, stable scheduling practices were found to have a positive impact on employee well-being. Employees reported lower levels of stress and greater satisfaction with their work-life balance when they had more stable schedules.
• Improved Employee Retention: Stable scheduling practices can lead to improved employee retention. When employees have more control over their schedules and know what to expect, they are more likely to stay with the company long-term.
• Better Customer Service: Stable scheduling can lead to better customer service. With more consistent staffing levels, businesses can ensure that they have the right number of employees available to meet customer demand.
• Cost Savings: Stable scheduling practices can also lead to cost savings for businesses. By reducing turnover and absenteeism, businesses can save money on recruiting, hiring, and training new employees.
• Legal Compliance: Implementing stable scheduling practices can help businesses comply with labor laws and regulations. By ensuring that schedules are fair and consistent, businesses can avoid costly legal issues.

The findings of this study make a strong case for the implementation of stable scheduling practices in businesses. However, achieving stable scheduling can be challenging, especially for businesses with complex scheduling needs. This is where automation and scheduling software can play a crucial role.

Automation and scheduling software can help businesses create more stable schedules by taking into account factors such as employee availability, skill levels, and business needs. By automating the scheduling process, businesses can ensure that schedules are fair and consistent, leading to increased employee satisfaction and productivity.

The benefits of stable scheduling are clear. By implementing stable scheduling practices and leveraging automation and scheduling software, businesses can increase sales, boost productivity, improve employee well-being, enhance employee retention, provide better customer service, realize cost savings, and ensure legal compliance. It's time for businesses to embrace stable scheduling as a key driver of success in today's competitive business landscape.

Employee scheduling is a very dynamic process. It requires intelligent manipulation of employees, jobs, and shifts, and comes with layers of important data. While a spreadsheet is great for storing, archiving, and calculating numeric values, it lacks the sophistication required to organize a schedule effectively.

If you’re currently using a spreadsheet for your scheduling, you’ve likely already encountered some of the limitations that come with Excel and are aware that a spreadsheet isn’t the most efficient solution for your employee scheduling. If you’re considering using a spreadsheet for your scheduling, here are some reasons to consider a Workforce Management System instead.

It’s Time-Consuming

The largest problem we’ve seen others encounter with using Excel is the time it takes to get the main scheduling components; employees, jobs, shifts, etc. to properly display in their spreadsheet. While it may seem like a quick and simple process, there are layers of underlying data that need to be considered. What is the employee’s availability? What qualifications are required for the job, and does the scheduled employee meet them? How do you factor in time off requests and manage overtime? The impact of these layers of data and information can be time-consuming and confusing, which is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve when we create a schedule.

It Can’t be Automated

Scheduling with a spreadsheet lacks the luxuries offered by a workforce management system. There are no formulas to handle the intricacies of scheduling and applying pay rules. A workforce management system on the other hand allows you the ability to automate many of your scheduling practices. In a workforce management system, you can set up repeating shift patterns, fill open shifts with qualified workers, apply specific pay rules, create timesheets for payroll, and much more.

It's Not Interactive

If a conflict arises in your schedule, a spreadsheet is not set up to notify you. Nor will a spreadsheet inform you of vacancies in the schedule that need to be filled, or if an unqualified employee is working a shift. When working in Excel it’s solely up to the scheduler to catch these problems, whereas a workforce management system can catch these problem areas and provide you with a solution.

It’s Error-Prone

Even the most meticulous person makes errors every once in a while. With a spreadsheet, your data is all being entered manually making it more subject to human error. The larger your workforce, and the more frequently you update your schedule, the greater the chance of those errors getting through the cracks. These small errors compound, leading to costly grievances and lost revenue. A workforce management system helps drastically reduce these human errors, preventing double booking, and incorrect scheduling.

There is no Security Control

While you can protect a spreadsheet, Excel doesn’t offer differing security levels for groups of employees. It’s an all-or-nothing situation. With a workforce management system, levels of access can be locked for groups based on your preferences. You can control both the terms of activities, such as being able to set up, view, and edit the schedule, and the terms of organization; such as the area or group within your organization you wish to allow access to.

It Doesn’t Help with Change Requests

After you’ve spent hours in Excel, you’ve completed your schedule and distributed it to your team. Then comes the influx of emails, texts, phone calls, and office visits from your team, requesting changes to the schedule. Excel doesn’t offer a way to keep track of these requests, and when you’re making these changes, you’re faced with a cascade of edits to your schedule that leave you needing to invest even more time into making sure everything works together.

Conclusion

If you’re scheduling a small group of employees, with no need for skill consideration and limited employee interaction, you can probably live with Excels scheduling limitations. However, if you see your company growing you will find the time it takes to enter and update everything manually becomes greater and more expensive, with the likelihood of errors creeping in increasing with each new addition. A quality workforce management system, like WorkSight Flow, is set to grow with your company. From a scaling pricing plan to additional support features being available, WorkSight Flow wants to see you and your business succeed.

Employee scheduling is a crucial aspect of managing a business, and implementing efficient software can alleviate many headaches. Let's explore signs that indicate your company could benefit from advanced employee scheduling systems.

1) Employee scheduling requires a full-time scheduler

If creating, updating, and managing the weekly schedule, along with handling vacation planning, has become a full-time job for at least one employee, it's a clear sign that your company could benefit from an advanced scheduling solution.

2) Difficulty in Finding Available Employees

As your company grows, finding available and qualified employees to fill empty shifts becomes increasingly challenging.

3) Over-Reliance on Overtime

An employee calls in sick – ideally this vacancy would be filled with a qualified straight time replacement. However, on short notice, you can’t find any equivalent replacements, so the vacancy is filled by holding a senior employee over on overtime.

4) Inaccurate Schedules

If your schedules require repeated corrections and amendments, leading employees to view them as rough guides rather than reliable plans, it's time to consider a more organized approach. Stable scheduling is a top priority for employees, and is also directly related to increases in revenue.

5) Disparate Information Sources

What a mess - your record of employee job qualifications is in numerous supervisor spreadsheets and post-it notes. Seniorities and their date ranges are in the HR system. Occupation rates are in the Payroll System. Employee special skills don’t seem to be recorded anywhere and vacation planning is carried out on an old in-house system. When crucial scheduling information is scattered across various systems and documents, it can lead to confusion and inefficiencies.

6) Back-to-back shifts are causing employee burnout

Complaints of burnout from employees working back-to-back shifts can be a sign that your scheduling practices need adjustment to ensure employee well-being. There is strong evidence in connecting bad scheduling practices— (including short notice of work schedules, irregular work schedules and hours, canceled shifts, and on-call shifts) —to psychological distress, worse sleep quality, unhappiness, worker fatigue, and an increased risk of occupational injury.

7) Grievances Due to Unfair Scheduling

Unequal or unfair scheduling practices can lead to formal grievances from employees, highlighting the importance of fair and transparent scheduling.

8) Disconnected Time Entry and Schedules

If preparing schedules and entering time for payroll are separate and disconnected processes, it can lead to errors and inefficiencies in payroll calculations. Failure to calculate payroll correctly, creates grievances and can put you on the hook for back taxes, interest, and penalties.

9) Information "Silos" for Time Off Requests

Managing sick leave, vacation, FMLA, and other time off requests in separate systems can make it challenging to track and manage employee time off effectively. You can’t get a full picture of the company’s liabilities.

By addressing these signs and implementing an advanced employee scheduling system, such as WorkSight Flow, you can streamline your scheduling processes, improve employee satisfaction, and enhance overall operational efficiency. Visit www.worksightflow.com to learn more about how advanced scheduling software can benefit your company.

Vancouver, Canada, June 17, 2022 www.worksightflow.com Resonance Software (WorkSight) a trusted North American provider of workforce management solutions, today announced WorkSight Flow, a family of products and capabilities delivering comprehensive employee scheduling and timecard functionality in the cloud. This new offering and product architecture delivers the full range of options companies seek today to meet their unique workforce management needs and use cases.

Resonance Software delivers a robust set of capabilities enabling employee scheduling, time off management, and timekeeping. These include:

• Automatic prepopulating of employee schedules with cyclical and/or rotational information.
• Schedule optimization
• Time record views
• Timecard edits and entries
• Timecard reports
• Attestation
• Pay Rules
• Accrual rules
• Employee self-service

“We are very pleased to provide our clients with a tool for more reliable and accurate workforce management that truly integrates labour practices, operation needs, technology, and business requirements,” said Ivan Eggers, VP Operations of Resonance Software. “In today’s economic environment it is important to maximize your most valuable asset – your human capital.”

As businesses grow, they need a strong workforce management system like WorkSight Flow. Flow helps companies grow by unlocking information and reducing friction. Flow provides features that growing companies need while being easy to use and easy to implement. And with real-time insights into all your lines of businesses, you can make better informed decisions.

“WorkSight Flow came to be out of the successes we had with our boutique scheduling/pay solution WorkSight in the enterprise,” says company owner/CEO, Sandy Place, “We saw that we could help customers of all sizes by offering WorkSight Flow as an online service, giving smaller business access to the same feature set and value proposition at a significantly lower cost. WorkSight Flow takes the best ideas from the enterprise and moves those to the cloud It truly is the boutique scheduling solution available for everyone.”

About Resonance Software

Resonance Software Inc. created the WorkSight workforce management solution — a secure SaaS application trusted by many Fortune 500 companies, including some of the most recognized brands in North America. The secret to the company's success is that its products work how employees want, while also granting enterprise IT teams the data security, visibility, and control they require.

Resonance's team encompasses some of the most experienced consultants, developers, and trainers worldwide, specializing in workforce management solutions for the manufacturing environment. All WorkSight products and solutions are designed by industry experts, created specifically for niche markets, and are developed from industry analysis to maximize appeal for the target consumer. And, with extraordinary training, innovative and productive features, and superior customer support by industry experts, Resonance's solutions achieve a new level of product performance.

Resonance Software, WorkSight Flow and the WorkSight Flow logos are trademarks of Resonance Software, Inc.

Contact

Resonance Software - WorkSight
www.worksightflow.com

During employee scheduling, blocks of work are assigned to individuals while taking into account defined constraints and meeting the demands of the business.

As part of the demand-driven scheduling process, the first step is to break down the workload into work spans or shifts, which will largely depend on the industry. For example, most manufacturing businesses have predetermined shifts of 8- or 12-hour durations with fixed start times. There is no need for workload breakdown in manufacturing because the precision of the workload is at the shift level, and the shift start, and end time are consistent.

Different Type of Demand Based Schedules:

• Nonrecurrent
• Cyclical
• Rotational

Nonrecurrent

Nonrecurrent schedules are an example of a common business schedule with variable demand and no set plan. The employee won't be aware of their schedule until it is posted. The most typical schedules are weekly or biweekly ones in industries with different demand patterns, including retail and healthcare.

Cyclical

A cyclical timetable is a set of predetermined schedule details that repeat endlessly. The cycle duration is often expressed in days and either includes a simple indicator of days on and off or can include shift start and end times. This is frequently employed in situations when one individual works just this shift on various days within a cycle of identical shifts. A cyclical timetable is typically employed when full-time, specialized positions are the focus of the schedule.

Rotational

A cyclical timetable that uses many jobs is known as a rotational schedule. The difference between a rotational timetable and a cyclical schedule is that each position rotates. These schedules are typically used when all employees receive equal treatment and split weekend and night shifts according to a set schedule. Public services and transportation are two well-known sectors that use rotational timetables.
By having a rotational calendar for the fundamental recurrent demand and a nonrecurrent supplemental schedule for variable demand, a business can use a combination of the three contexts inside the same schedule.

A “Break”, as defined by the Canada Labour Code, is “a short period of time during the work period when an employee is released from his obligations to the employer”. Providing a coffee break or meal time during a work shift allows employees to rest and recharge, eat, and attend to personal matters. However, these rest periods are more than just a benefit or perk given to employees, they are also widely regulated and a huge responsibility for schedulers, payroll administrators, and employee relations personnel, all of whom require a good understanding of what break time legislation applies in order to protect your company from potential investigations and lawsuits.

With WorkSight Flow’s shift creation feature, you can add breaks right in to an employee’s schedule. Although scheduling breaks is not required by law, it helps to eliminate any confusion about break times and duration as well as encourages corporate complicity when it comes to break time regulations. Adding breaks into the shifts on the schedule will also automatically generate them on the employee’s timecard, since the timecards are generated based off of the schedule. The time and duration of each break can easily be adjusted to match real time scenarios, as needed. Furthermore, you can use WorkSight’s robust timecard rule engine to automatically compensate employees for their breaks accordingly, based on your organizational policies.

As with most labour regulations topics, certain exceptions for rest breaks may apply in order to accommodate different employee situations and shift types. The basic federal standards for Canada are outlined below.

The information that we've provided in this article is intended to be used as a guideline only. We strongly encourage you to pursue more information about the rules and rates that apply in your region. If any discrepancies exist between what we've shared and the information distributed by your official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

Canada

In Canada we have the Canada Labour Code which identifies the minimum labour standards across the country that each employer must abide by. Each province may choose to implement federal level standards or write their own improved standards, providing no less than the federally regulated minimums.

The federal standards mandate that a company must provide an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes to an employee for every five hours of consecutive work performed. If the employee is required to remain available during their break, they must be paid for their break period.

Similar to Overtime and Minimum Wage, some provinces have opted to set and apply their own minimums for breaks and rest. Individual Companies or Worker’s Unions may also choose to implement their own standards for meals, breaks, or rest periods, but they have to adhere to at least the minimum of the federal standards.

Alberta

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

British Columbia

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Manitoba

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

New Brunswick

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Newfoundland and Labrador

1-hour unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Northwest Territories

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Nova Scotia

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Nunavut

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Ontario

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Prince Edward Island

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Quebec

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Saskatchewan

30-minute unpaid break within the first 5 hours for every 6 consecutive work hours

Yukon

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Again, the information that we've provided is intended to be used as a guideline. If there are any discrepancies between what we've shared and the information distributed by official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

A “Break”, as defined by the Canada Labour Code, is “a short period of time during the work period when an employee is released from his obligations to the employer”. Providing a coffee break or meal time during a work shift allows employees to rest and recharge, eat, and attend to personal matters. However, these rest periods are more than just a benefit or perk given to employees, they are also widely regulated and a huge responsibility for schedulers, payroll administrators, and employee relations personnel, all of whom require a good understanding of what break time legislation applies in order to protect your company from potential investigations and lawsuits.

With WorkSight Flow’s shift creation feature, you can add breaks right in to an employee’s schedule. Although scheduling breaks is not required by law, it helps to eliminate any confusion about break times and duration as well as encourages corporate complicity when it comes to break time regulations. Adding breaks into the shifts on the schedule will also automatically generate them on the employee’s timecard, since the timecards are generated based off of the schedule. The time and duration of each break can easily be adjusted to match real time scenarios, as needed. Furthermore, you can use WorkSight’s robust timecard rule engine to automatically compensate employees for their breaks accordingly, based on your organizational policies.

As with most labor regulations topics, certain exceptions for rest breaks may apply in order to accommodate different employee situations and shift types. The basic federal standards for the United States are outlined below.

The information that we've provided in this article is intended to be used as a guideline only. We strongly encourage you to pursue more information about the rules and rates that apply in your region. If any discrepancies exist between what we've shared and the information distributed by your official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

United States

The Fair Labour Standards Agreement in the United States is not quite as strict as the Canada Labour Standards when it comes to Meal Breaks and Rest between shifts and they don’t impose any federally regulated minimums on breaks, meals, or rest periods. Since there are no federal standards, it is up to the individual States if they want to implement their own regulations, which fewer than half do and many states only define regulations for employees up to a certain age in order to protect their young workers.

Individual Companies or Worker’s Unions may choose to implement their own standards for meals, breaks, or rest periods. Employers that choose to provide break periods to their employees are legally obligated to follow certain requirements. For example, employers may choose to provide short non-meal rest periods (usually lasting up to 20 minutes), but they must pay the employees for that time. Employers who choose to provide a bona fide meal (lasting at least 30 minutes) do not have to pay the employees for that time as long as the employee is not required to be available for work or to perform any work-related tasks during their break, otherwise the employee is considered to be working through lunch and must be paid.

Alabama

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Alaska

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Arizona

No state meal or rest break laws

Arkansas

No state meal or rest break laws

California

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

10-minute paid break for every 3½ consecutive work hours

Colorado

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

10-minute paid break for every 3½ consecutive work hours

Connecticut

30-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours

Delaware

30-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours

District of Columbia

No state meal or rest break laws

Florida

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 4 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Georgia

No state meal or rest break laws

Hawaii

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Idaho

No state meal or rest break laws

Illinois

20-minute unpaid break for every 7½ consecutive work hours

Indiana

No state meal or rest break laws

Iowa

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Kansas

No state meal or rest break laws

Kentucky

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: 10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive hours worked in addition to a “reasonable period” for a meal break

Louisiana

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 4 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Maine

30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

Maryland

Employees under age 18: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Special rules apply for certain retail employees

Massachusetts

30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

Michigan

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Minnesota

Employees must be provided “restroom time and sufficient time to eat a meal”

Mississippi

No state meal or rest break laws

Missouri

No state meal or rest break laws

Montana

No state meal or rest break laws

Nevada

30-minute unpaid break for every 8 consecutive work hours

10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours

New Hampshire

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

New Jersey

No state meal or rest break laws

New Mexico

No state meal or rest break laws

New York

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Requirements vary depending on worker & shift type

North Carolina

Employees under age 16: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

North Dakota

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Ohio

No state meal or rest break laws

Oklahoma

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Oregon

30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours

Pennsylvania

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Rhode Island

20-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

30-minute unpaid break for every 8 consecutive work hours

South Carolina

No state meal or rest break laws

South Dakota

No state meal or rest break laws

Tennessee

30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

Utah

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Vermont

Employees must be provided with a “reasonable opportunity” to eat and use the restroom

Virginia

Employees aged 14-15: 30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 16+: No state meal or rest break laws

Washington

30-minute unpaid break for every 5 consecutive work hours

10-minute paid break for every 4 consecutive work hours

West Virginia

20-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

Wisconsin

Employees aged 14-17: 30-minute unpaid break for every 6 consecutive work hours

Employees aged 18+: No state meal or rest break laws

Wyoming

No state meal or rest break laws

Again, the information that we've provided is intended to be used as a guideline. If there are any discrepancies between what we've shared and the information distributed by official government sources, then the latter takes precedence.

Companies who run their operations 24/7/365 face the challenge of having to schedule employees to work unpopular times, beyond standard day shift hours. So, this begs the question, does your company offer anything extra to incentivize your employees to work those less-desirable shifts? Do you believe your employees are happy working Afternoon shifts (aka 2nd shift, swing shift) or Graveyard shifts (aka 3rd shift) for nothing more than a Thank You and a pat on the back? My guess is, probably not. Not when the employer down the road offers an extra $2 bump per hour for their employees who work the same shifts. Most organizations that run these less-desirable shifts offer their employees extra compensation, more commonly known as a Shift Differential, to entice them to accept the work, increase job satisfaction and productivity.

In this article, we will discuss what Shift Differential is, the considerations that need to be made when implementing a Shift Differential policy, and, perhaps most importantly, how to go about calculating shift differential premiums on an employee’s timecard.

What is Shift Differential?

Shift differential is a premium paid to employees for working less-desirable shifts that employees may not otherwise willingly volunteer for without something extra to sweeten the deal, such as an increase in their hourly rate or an additional percentage of their base pay. There are no federal laws in Canada or the US that require employers to pay shift differential premiums, it’s rather a matter of agreement between employer and employee. However, most companies that run afternoon, and graveyard shifts offer some type of shift differential payment to their employees who work outside of the regular day shift hours.

Shift Differential Considerations

There are a few considerations to make while developing a shift differential policy, such as what reason codes it should apply to (it may not apply if the employee is travelling or in a meeting), when it should apply (it could apply based on certain shift cycles, shift types, or between certain times), and how it will be calculated (it could be a percentage of base wages or as an additional flat amount per hour).

Shift differential premiums may vary depending on the time and length of a shift or the type of shift. The hours associated with graveyard shifts generally receive a higher shift differential premium amount than afternoon shifts.

The job function and level of responsibility may also have an impact on the shift differential compensation. For example, employees with more responsibilities, like managers or lead hands, usually qualify for higher shift differential payments than other employees working the same shift.

How to Calculate Shift Differential

Let’s have a look at a few different scenarios of how to calculate shift differential on an employee’s timecard, using these two employee rate & shift type examples;

• Example 1: Katie, who has a base hourly rate of $35/hr, has been scheduled to work a 12-hour graveyard shift that starts at 6:00pm and ends at 6:00am.
• Example 2: Rhonda, who has a base hourly rate of $40/hr, has been scheduled to work an 8-hour afternoon shift that starts at 2:00pm and ends at 10:00pm.

Scenario #1: Shift differential is paid at 10% of the employee’s base rate and applies between the hours of 6:00pm and 6:00am

First, determine the number of hours that qualify for the Shift Differential Premium for each employee

• Katie worked between 6:00pm and 6:00am, her full 12-hour shift will qualify for shift differential
• Rhonda worked between 2:00pm and 10:00pm, only 4 hours of her shift (between 6:00pm – 10:00pm) will qualify for shift differential

Next, calculate the rate that the Shift Differential will be paid at by taking the hourly base rate and multiplying it by 10%

• Katie: $35.00 x 0.10 = $3.50
• Rhonda: $40.00 x 0.10 = $4.00

Next, multiply the qualifying hours by the shift differential rate to determine the total shift differential payment that’s due

• Katie: 12 x $3.50 = $42.00
• Rhonda: 4 x $4.00 = $16.00

To determine the total gross pay, add the total base pay (total hours worked x base rate) to the total shift differential payment

• Katie: 12 x $35.00 = $420.00 + $42.00 = $462.00 total gross pay
• Rhonda: 8 x $40.00 = $320.00 + $16.00 = $336.00 total gross pay

Scenario #2: Shift differential is paid at a flat rate of $3.25 per hour for the full 8-hour afternoon shift and $4.50 per hour for the full 12-hour graveyard shift

First, multiply the worked hours by the shift differential rate to determine the total shift differential payment that’s due

• Katie: 12 x $4.50 = $54.00
• Rhonda: 8 x $3.25 = $26.00

To determine the total gross pay, add the total base pay (total hours worked x base rate) to the total shift differential payment

• Katie: 12 x $35.00 = $420.00 + $54.00 = $474.00 total gross pay
• Rhonda: 8 x $40.00 = $320.00 + $26.00 = $346.00 total gross pay

Scenario #3: Shift differential is paid at a flat rate of $3.25 per hour between the hours of 6:00pm and 12:00am and $4.50 per hour between the hours of 12:00am and 6:00am

First, determine the number of hours that qualify for the Shift Differential Premium for each employee

• Katie worked between 6:00pm and 6:00am, 6 hours will qualify for the $3.25 rate and 6 hours will qualify for the $4.50 rate
• Rhonda worked between 2:00pm and 10:00pm, 4 hours will qualify for the $3.25 rate

Next, multiply the qualifying hours by the shift differential rate to determine the total shift differential payment that’s due

• Katie: 6 x $3.25 = $19.50 & 6 x $4.50 = $27.00
• Rhonda: 4 x $3.25 = $13.00

To determine the total gross pay, add the total base pay (total hours worked x base rate) to the total shift differential payment

• Katie: 12 x $35.00 = $420.00 + $19.50 + $27.00 = $466.50 total gross pay
• Rhonda: 8 x $40.00 = $320.00 + $13.00 = $333.00 total gross pay

The implementation of employee scheduling, timekeeping and leave management systems can fundamentally transform an organization. Many organizations recognize the value of implementing a workforce management system, but they rarely realize how powerful it can be.

Planning and time required are often underestimated by organizations when preparing for change. Here are some reasons why some changes could be delayed:

Lack Of Support by Top Management

Top management generally does not support the implementation of an employee scheduling, timekeeping and leave management systems, so it is a low priority for most organizations. In part, this can be attributed to top management's inability to see the connection between workforce management functions and profit, as they can with capital and fiscal resources.

Satisfaction With The Status Quo

Since there is so much tedious work involved in the development of an employee scheduling, timekeeping and leave management systems, in addition to the insufficient available staff, many HR managers decide not to implement one since they are already doing quite well with their current manual system. This is one of the strongest arguments against the computerization of the workforce management function.

Defensiveness About Revealing Workforce Management Operations

A computerized system can make the operations of a workforce management function more public. For example, line managers can have access to the system and request reports. HR managers are fearful of losing ownership of the function and are thus not eager to computerize. Luckily these types of HR managers are becoming obsolete as the new HR manager becomes a member of the top management team and actively participates in the company planning sessions.

Lack Of HRIS Knowledge And Skills by HR Managers

As the past professional education and training in HR does not normally include an employee scheduling, timekeeping and leave management component, many HR managers and professionals are poorly prepared to develop and implement such a system. This is one of the greatest obstacles within an organization.

If you want your employee scheduling, leave management and timekeeping implementation to succeed, you must focus on three key variables:

• People
• Process
• Product

The three Ps provide the highest return for your efforts because they act as the cornerstone for everything your business does. It’s critical that you understand how to manage your people, your process, and your product for maximum yield.

Employee scheduling, leave management and timekeeping software is pivotal to the operational success of an organization. Applications for employee scheduling and time tracking represent the most widely adopted technology for workforce management.

An implementation lead will oversee all team members and provide support for a high-quality evaluation, implementation, and assessment of the workforce management product. Daily tasks include project management, process reviews, and working together with other teams and strategic partners to ensure an effective product launch.

In this article, we’ll discuss the skills and capabilities required by an implementation resource to ensure your workforce managements system is deployed successfully.

Essential Duties of the Implementation Lead

On the surface, it might seem like the implementation lead has a one-dimensional role – they implement the software to schedule and pay employees in alignment with company/regulatory mandates. But there are several other duties you would expect in this job role daily. These include:

• Answer employee questions about the workforce management system
• Shape and influence employee experience of the system
• Oversee technology upgrades and implementation
• Analyze and reconcile data
• Train new employees
• Formulate workforce management processes
• Collaborate with stakeholders

Essential Skills an Implementation Lead Requires

Besides having basic knowledge of the latest trends and developments in workforce management, the implementation lead must also possess several other skills and capabilities. The following have been identified:

• Self-motivated and sincere
• Systems view of HR and its relation to the rest of the organization
• Sensitive to security and privacy needs
• Collaborative
• Computer skills in understanding the interface between computer technology and HR functions
• Open to multi-disciplinary learning
• An understanding of the future of the HRIS field

Professional Qualifications to Assist and Implementation Lead

A person possessing these skills likely will not be readily available, and one wonders if tertiary institutions should not include a workforce management specialization. The following education areas have been identified:

• Bachelor’s degree in HR
• Professional certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
• Training experience
• Technical knowledge

A holistic staffing approach respects the need for accountability, preserves worker input, and creates transparency and flexibility. It is possible to utilize resources effectively, limit over-time, and improve staff satisfaction by using a variety of different scheduling methods.

Scheduling is a complex and dynamic process that’s influenced by organizational structure and culture. Some organizations manage staffing and scheduling with centralized systems through a central staffing office. Others are decentralized and schedule at an employee level. No one solution fits all organizations, so companies must create systems that fit the unique needs of their organization and staff. The following review of self-scheduling and shift pattern-based scheduling illustrates how adhering to solid scheduling principles can lead to positive organizational outcomes and staff satisfaction.

Self-Scheduling

In the self-scheduling approach, managers are relieved of most scheduling responsibilities, but the crew’s common governance needs to be shared among members. Among self-scheduling’s benefits, employees feel more ownership of the scheduling and for vacancy coverage on the crews.

Requirements:

• Easy access to the WFM system
• Team-driven collaboration
• Conflict Resolution Skills
• Communication Skills

When Done Right:

• Meets organizational workload requirements
• Complies with budgetary expectations.
• Enhances staff satisfaction.
• Reduces manager time spent scheduling.
• Reduces overtime
• Facilitates supplemental staffing.

Shift Pattern Scheduling

Shift pattern (block, core, cycle, master, rotating) schedules provide a repeating shift pattern. Shift pattern refers to a specific combination of workers and working hours that meet a specific need. Schedule templates are provided by some employee scheduling applications making it easy to generate such recurring patterns. Requests and vacations are overlaid on the master schedule. Day of the week and shift demand differences should be incorporated into the repeating patterns.

Requirements:

• Planned weekend and shift balance that corresponds to budget and position control
• Balanced combinations of experienced and inexperienced staff to meet organizational needs on shifts
• Low number of vacancies or open shifts
• Desirable/workable schedules from an employee perspective

When Done Right:

• Allows predictability/stability for employees and company
• Balances weekends and shifts with budget and position control
• Reduces overtime

Examples:

• southern-swing-shift-pattern
• pitman-shift-pattern
• kelly-shift-pattern
• dupont-shift-pattern
• fortyeight-ninetysix-shift-pattern
• twentyfour-fortyeight-shift-pattern
• sixfour-tenhour-shift-pattern
• fivethree-tenhour-shift-pattern
• fourthree-tenhour-shift-pattern
• fourtwo-fourthree-tenhour-shift-pattern
• fourfour-twelvehour-shift-pattern
• fourfour-fourfour-twelvehour-shift-pattern
• twotwo-threetwo-twelvehour-shift-pattern

About Resonance Software

Resonance Software Inc. created the WorkSight workforce management solution — a secure SaaS application trusted by many Fortune 500 companies, including some of the most recognized brands in North America. The secret to the company's success is that its products work how employees want, while also granting enterprise IT teams the data security, visibility, and control they require.

Resonance Software - www.worksightflow.com

Achieving both strategic and operational workforce asset management requires the integration of several major software applications or online solutions. These include:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – Software that integrates internal and external management information, typically from sales and service, operations, and finance/accounting.
• Human Resource Information System (HRIS) or Human Resources Management System (HRMS) - Software that enables the entry, tracking and storage of employee information for the combined needs of human resources and payroll.
• Talent Management System – Software for recruiting, developing, and training employees.
• Timekeeping System – Software that manages data and rule sets for payment and reporting of employee activity. www.worksightflow.com/timekeeping
• Employee Scheduling System – Software used to match the right people to the production or service demands of the company. www.worksightflow.com/employee-scheduling
• Leave Management System – Software that manages the several types of absence and leave activities and programs. www.worksightflow.com/leave-management

The conversion from a manual to a computerized Workforce Management system is a significant task that requires careful planning. To be successful, it is imperative that support from top management is obtained. It is also important that HR department take full responsibility for the computerization effort, and not the IT department. A few steps must be followed when the system is developed. Three main phases in this process have been identified. These are:

1. Needs Analysis
2. Design and Development
3. Implementation and Maintenance.

In the table below the three main project phases with their individual activities are identified. To obtain a better picture of what the process entails, the various activities that make up the distinct phases will be discussed in their own blog postings.

Phase 1: Needs Analysis

• Evaluate organization and form project team
• Determine Automation Needs
• Develop System Specs
• Analyze current and future reporting needs
• Develop RFP
• Identify and evaluate vendor packages
• Select vendor
• Develop proposal for management/decision makers
• Establish formal guidelines and procedures to resolve inefficiencies

Phase 2: Design and Development

• Develop detailed project plan
• Develop user groups
• Purchase hardware (if not SaaS (Software as a Service) solution)
• Modify in-house processes
• Modify/customize initial system
• Establish procedures and guidelines to support system
• Test system and user acceptance
• Convert data
• Train staff and/or project team

Phase 3: Implementation and Maintenance

• Train other users
• Refine system
• Develop/refine user documentation
• Conduct field analysis
• Prepare technical documentation
• Develop/work on integration
• Test system and user acceptance
• Implement integrations
• Maintain/enhance
• Distribute to organization
• Evaluate success/effectiveness

With over 30 years of experience in the workforce management industry, we are well aware that employee scheduling can sometimes be a headache-inducing task. We’ve highlighted some of the most common headache causes below, and provide you with a suggestion on how to treat them!

1. Employee scheduling requires a full-time scheduler

Every time your company grows, an extra shift and person have been added. Preparing, posting, and updating the weekly schedule in addition to vacation planning is no longer a quick and easy task and soon becomes a full-time job for at least one employee.

2. Finding available employees to fill empty shifts is challenging

When vacant shifts appear, you need to get them filled as soon as possible by the best employee available. As you build your weekly schedule or your yearly vacation plan, finding available and qualified employees becomes more and more difficult like a game of Tetris.

3. Empty shifts are frequently filled using overtime

Building off of our last point, when an employee calls in sick you would like to fill the vacancy with a qualified straight time replacement and move the resulting overtime to a lower-paying position. However, on short notice, you can’t find a qualified straight time replacement, so you fill the vacancy by holding a senior employee over on overtime, costing your company more money.

4. Inaccurate schedules are frequently displayed

Errors are common in manually created schedules. There are repeated corrections, amendments, and re-postings of the work schedule and your employees now view it as a rough guide. This leads to multiple requests for changes as per the employee’s preferences and it is difficult to encourage an ordered and responsible approach to staff deployment.

5. Your scheduling information isn’t in a central location

What a mess! Your record of employee job qualifications is in numerous supervisor spreadsheets and post-it notes. Seniorities and their date ranges are in the HR system. Occupation rates are in the Payroll System. Employee special skills don’t seem to be recorded anywhere and vacation planning is carried out on an old in-house system.

6. Back-to-back shifts are causing employee burnout

Employees are complaining of burnout and they are not exaggerating; the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) reports that there is strong evidence that rotating and irregular shifts are associated with worker fatigue and an increased risk of occupational injury.

The Remedy

A good workforce management system is the perfect remedy to those scheduling headaches. If simplifies the scheduling process, provides you with the right employee for each job, checks for errors, and consolidates your data so it’s all in one spot!