Calendar, time off and unavailability events
Calendar, time off and unavailability events are handled in a similar way on the calendar.
Calendar, time off and unavailability events:
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Are all manually created
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Can all be defined as single instances or recurring events
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Can all have multiple attendees for each event
Only calendar events can be defined as floating events, where you specify the possible days and range of start times of the event. When you generate the schedule, the scheduling engine then places the events during the optimal time (as long as the floating events are not locked).
Single instance vs. recurring events
You can either create a single instance, or a series or recurring events for calendar, time off and unavailability events.
A single instance of an event occurs one time only. Recurring events recur according to a defined cycle. (For example, a recurring event can occur every Wednesday from 10:00-11:00 AM.).
Example: Unavailability event as a single instance and recurring event
An employee has a doctor appointment on a specific Monday from 2:00-3:00 PM. Therefore, create a single instance of an unavailability event Scheduled event in WFM that indicates an employee is unavailable for scheduling. The scheduling engine does not schedule a shift that overlaps with an unavailability event. based on the Medical activity Core component of both schedules and time records in Workforce Management (WFM). When an employee performs any kind of work, activities specify the scheduled work and capture employee adherence to their schedule. for that employee on that day.
Another employee has medical appointments at the same time every week during the scheduling period. Therefore, create recurring unavailability events based on the Medical activity for that employee that recurs for that time frame every day of that week.
Example: Time off event as a single instance and recurring event
An employee calls in sick. Therefore, create a single instance of a time-off event based on the Sick activity for that employee on that day.
Another employee has Jury Duty for the next week. Therefore, create recurring time-off events based on the Jury Duty activity for that employee that recurs every day of that week.
Example: Calendar events as a single instance and recurring event
You want to schedule a one-time group meeting on a specific Tuesday from 9:00-10:00 AM. Therefore, create a single instance of a calendar event Scheduled event in WFM that is manually created on the schedule, can be a single instance or recurring event, and can have one or multiple attendees. Examples of calendar events are meetings or training sessions. based on the Meeting activity for that event.
You also want to create a recurring group meeting every second Tuesday within the scheduling period from 9:00-10:00 AM. Therefore, create recurring calendar events that recur every two weeks on a Tuesday from 9:00-10:00 AM.
Multiple attendees
You can add multiple attendees to calendar, time off and unavailability events.
For example, there are three employees who are unavailable every afternoon between 3:00-4:00 PM for the current scheduling period. You can schedule an unavailability event for those employees based on the General unavailability activity for that time period.
You can also add multiple employees to time off events. For example, if multiple employees are sick on the same day, you can add those employees to the time off event Scheduled event in WFM that can be used to plan and track planned time off, such as vacations. To avoid the approval process associated with time-off requests made through the time-off management functionality, you can create time-off events directly in the calendar..
You can add multiple employees to calendar events as well. For example, for a meeting calendar event, you can add all employees on a specific team to the meeting.
Floating calendar events
You can schedule a floating calendar event, where you specify the possible days and range of start times of the event. For example, you can define that a calendar event can be scheduled to start either on Monday from 9:00 - 11:00 AM or on Wednesday from 1:00 - 4:00 PM. The scheduling engine finds the best day and start time within that selected time frame when service levels are impacted the least.