A flexible shift is defined as one where times are manually added to the Rota instead of allocating a Shift Rule. The same rules and logic that Shift Rules possess can, however, also be applied to manually added times. This is achieved by taking a Shift Rule and setting it as the Rota Template Rule. If the Shift Rule has a Late In infringement setting, it will apply this infringement to all flexible shifts. As a result, lateness can now easily be tracked and managed.

This guide will look at:

• Creating a Shift Rule with a ‘Late In’ infringement
• Setting the Rota Template Rule in an Employee Form
• Setting the Rota Template Rule via Group Actions

Creating a Shift Rule with a ‘Late In’ infringement

1. Select ‘Rules’ from the Menu Bar.
2. Select ‘Shift Rules’ from the Rules Tree.
3. Select ‘Create New’.
4. Select the ‘General’ tab.
5. In the ‘General’ section, create the basics of your Shift Rule. We have used a typical 0900-1700 (8hrs) shift for our example.

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6. Select the ‘Exceptions’ tab.
7. In the ‘Infringements’ section, ensure that ‘Late In’ is ticked.
8. Save.

All other settings in the Shift Rule can be set to meet your requirements.

This can now be used as a regular Shift Rule in the Rota, highlighting any IN clocking after 09:00 as a ‘Late In’ infringement.

Setting the Rota Template Rule in an Employee Form

1. Select ‘Employees’ from the Menu Bar.
2. Navigate to the required Employee.
3. Select the ‘Rules’ tab.

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4. In the ‘Work Schedule’ section, ensure that ‘Uses Rota’ has been selected.
5. In the ‘Default Shift Rule’ section, select ‘Rota Template Rule’ and choose the newly-created Shift Rule from the drop-down menu.
6. Save.

Now, when any flexible shifts (manually added times) are added to the Rota, Focus will use the Rota Template Rule (‘Casual Standard Shift’) to apply all of its rules and logic to the employee’s clockings, including the ‘Late In’ infringement.

Example

In the Rota, an employee was allocated the following shifts for the week:

• Monday: ‘Casual Standard Shift’ Rule.
• Tuesday: 03:00-11:00 manually added Times.
• Wednesday: 06:00-14:00 manually added Times.
• Thursday: 12:00-20:00 manually added Times.
• Friday: 15:00-23:00 manually added Times.

The employee clocked in 5 minutes late for every shift that week. As a result, the ‘Late In’ infringement (i) has been applied in exactly the same way to each day, regardless of the shift start time.

Setting the Rota Template Rule via Group Actions

This is a time-saving method for applying the Rota Template Rule to multiple employees.

1. Select ‘Employees’ from the Menu Bar.
2. Right-click on the required ‘Group’ from the Employee Tree.
3. Select ‘Group Actions’ - a pop-up box will appear.
4. By ticking ‘Primary Group Only’, any changes made will only affect the Primary Group members.
5. If making the same change to more than one Group, tick all the appropriate Groups. The Group you initially selected should already be ticked. 
6. In ‘Set Field’, select ‘Rota Template Rule’ from the drop-down menu.
7. In ‘New Value’, select the Shift Rule you wish to assign to the Group(s) (‘Casual Standard Shift’) from the drop-down menu.
8. Select ‘Apply’.
9. A warning message will appear, showing the changes that are about to be made. Select ‘OK’ if you wish to proceed.
10. A ‘Success’ message will appear. Select ‘OK’.

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Additional information

When running the Infringements Report, you can report on flexible ‘Late Ins’ in the same way as any others.

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