Non-standard shift assignments

It is recommended to create standard shifts, which are shifts based on defined work rules Rules in WFM that determine how employees are scheduled, and reflect both the needs of the organization and the individual employees. that adhere to their work rule definitions. When you generate the schedule, the scheduling engine provides an optimal placement for these (unlocked) shifts in the schedule, according to your defined service goals Goals in WFM that allow determining how quickly work should be handled, including service level, Average Speed to Answer (ASA), and deadline goals.. To meet specific scheduling requirements, however, you can also create non-standard shifts on the calendar.

There are two types of non-standard shifts, and each one is created and managed differently on the calendar:

Custom shifts: A custom shift Work period in WFM that has a definite length. is when you create a shift manually without basing the shift on any defined work rule.
Shifts that do not adhere to the work rule: These shifts are based on a defined work rule, but then you update the attributes of the shift assignment so that they no longer match the defined work rule.

Creating standard shifts (recommended)

Most shifts are standard shifts, for easy management and schedule optimization. For these shifts, select a defined work rule from the Shift drop-down menu, and maintain the remaining attributes for the shift (such as Activity and Duration). You are free to lock or unlock these shifts, as needed.

Custom shifts

Custom shifts are not based on any work rule. The system creates these shifts when you do not select a defined work rule from the Shift drop-down menu. You leave this field blank, and then set your own work rule definitions (such as Activity and Duration). On the calendar, the tool tip displays <custom shift> for these shifts, and is always locked (and cannot be unlocked). Once you save this shift, you need to manually create everything else associated with the shift - including shift events.

Shifts that do not adhere to the work rule

These shifts are based on a defined work rule with different attributes than the work rule. The system creates these shifts when you select a defined work rule from the Shift drop-down menu, but then update any of the remaining attributes for the shift (such as Activity, Duration, and Start time).

If you changed the Activity, Duration or Start time to a value that does not adhere to the work rule, the system saves the non-standard shift. When you generate the schedule, the system cannot move it for schedule optimization. The shift assignment and all of its shift events are locked. The only way to unlock the shift is to change back the values so that the shift assignment matches the defined shift work rule.

Even if the shift assignment does not adhere to the shift work rule, you can still manually unlock the shift events, as long as the shift event Time period in WFM when employees are scheduled for specific activities, other than the main shift activity. Shift events can either be productive or unproductive, and can be associated with activities such as Phone, Email, Break and Lunch. assignments adhere to the shift event work rules.

When you select to save the assignment with the changed duration, by default, the system does not display any prompt and allows you to save the non-standard shift. To get a system prompt with the option of selecting a standard shift that comes closest to matching the duration for your current shift, from Tools, select Find best matched work rule. (By default, this option is disabled to optimize performance while using the Calendar.)

When the Find best matched work rule option is enabled, the system searches for a standard work rule that is closest to the duration of the shift you want to create, and prompts you to select that standard work rule. At that point, you can either select the best matched standard work rule, or save your non-standard shift. If you select to save the non-standard shift, it is locked on the schedule and can only be unlocked if you change back the Duration to match the work rule definition.

Which attribute updates create non-standard shifts?

Shifts no longer match the defined work rule if one or more of the following is true:

Start time of one or more shift events does not match the defined shift event work rules.
Shift start time does not match the defined shift work rule.
One or more shift events has a different paid status than the defined shift event work rules.
One or more shift events was deleted, changing the defined linked shift events for the shift.
Shift length was changed and does not match the defined shift duration for the work rule.
Shift 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. was changed and does not match the defined shift activity for the work rule.
Shift was created manually and does not match a defined shift work rule.

Once shifts become non-standard shifts, they are locked. Custom shifts are always locked, and can never be unlocked. To unlock a shift that does not adhere to the work rule, change back the attributes to adhere again to the defined work rule.