Configuring Planner Settings

The Planner Settings & Shifts pane, used in conjunction with forecast business volumes and labor standards, helps you to determine what shifts should be scheduled to meet guest demand. Along with past actual data and labor standards, this pane can also help to calculate how many shifts should have been scheduled for better performance.

Use the Planner Settings & Shifts pane to adjust the settings that are implemented when you are working with shifts and standards. Configurations in the Planner Settings & Shifts pane affect the fields and values that you encounter as you create standards for the selected job.

Note: Because all values are inherited from the settings configured at the property level, the Inherited Value and Override columns are not available when viewing a property tab. When configuring planner settings for a property, you do not need to select Override before making adjustments in the Value column.

1. In the upper-left corner of the screen, select Access your applications (  ).
   The menu expands.

2. Select Setup > Labor Standards.
   The Labor Standards screen appears.

3. In the Labor Structure tree menu, select the job, assignment, or sub assignment that you want to add a shift to.
   Details for the selected labor structure appear in the right pane.

4. From the Standard Setdrop-down list, select the standard set that you want to work with.

5. If necessary, expand () the Planner Settings & Shifts pane.

   Click here for field descriptions.

   

   Fields on the Planner Settings & Shifts pane

   Field	Description	Notes
   Controls
   /  Expand / Collapse	Expand or collapse the Planner Settings & Shifts pane.
   Add Shift	Opens the Add Shift dialog box where you can add a new shift to the selected job.
   Planner Settings table
   Planner Setting	Name of the setting. Period Length—Time increments used to measure out the length of a shift. Standard Type—Determines the types of standards that can be applied to the job. Event Related standards are only used in conjunction with Event Labor. KBI Related standards allow you to associate a standard with a KBI volume.  Salaried standards allows you to enter hours per week and vacation hours per year for salaried employees. Simple Non-Flowed denotes that the job does not have complicated standards and can be handled with a simpler distribution method. Min / Max Shift Lengths—Minimum and maximum number of hours in a shift. State laws, union contracts, or property policy will provide this information. If a department manager edits the weekly schedule and schedules an employee for less than a minimum shift, this violation will be listed in the Hours Variance Analysis report. This field overrides any other values that you entered when configuring property, division, or department. Rounding Threshold Below One—Minimum number of projected work hours needed to add one period length to the shift when the projected work fills less than 1.0 full shift. For example, if the Period Length is 30 minutes, and you have 3.6 minutes of projected work remaining, then the projected amount of work is 0.12 (12% of the configured 30-minute period length). If threshold value is 0.2, the additional period is not added to the shift. If the threshold value is 0.1, the additional period is added. The default value is 0.0. This ensures that you always have one shift scheduled to cover projected work. Rounding Threshold Above One—Minimum number of projected work hours needed to add one period length to the shift when the projected work fills more than 1.0 full shift. For example, if the Period Length is 30 minutes, and you have 3.6 minutes of projected work leftover, then the projected amount of work is 0.12 (12% of the configured 30-minute period length). If threshold value is 0.2, the additional period is not added to the shift. If the threshold value is 0.1, the additional period is added. The default value is 0.2. Because you already have at least one shift scheduled, one of the existing shifts can cover the additional work if the projected work does not meet the configured threshold value. Generate Long Shifts—If yes, gaps in work distribution are bypassed, so that one long shift is created instead of two or more short shifts. In general, this function applies only to flowed jobs. Limit Shift to Max Shift For Non-Flowed Work—If yes, RMS creates as many maximum length shifts as possible with the amount of projected work, leaving only one shift that is not the maximum length if an additional shift is necessary to cover the remaining work. This setting applies only when the Distribution Method is set to Non-Flowed.  Default Non-Flowed Distribution Method—When the Distribution Method is set to Non-Flowed, the chosen value is selected by default. Effective Dates—Dates for which the standard is in effect. Meal Break—Enter the length of a meal break and the number of hours an employee must work before taking a paid meal break. RMS adjusts the labor calculation to account for the fact that the meal break time is non-productive. Non-Meal Break—Enter the length of a break and the number of hours an employee must work before taking a paid break. RMS adjusts the labor calculation to account for the fact that the break time is non-productive.
   Override	If selected, the inherited value is replaced by the value that you select in the Value column of the table.	This column is not available at the property level.
   Value	Select a new value to replace the inherited value.
   Inherited Value	Displays values that were configured at a higher level and are being applied to this standard. If Override is selected, the inherited value is replaced by the value that you select in the Value column of the table.	This column is not available at the property level.
   Shifts table		The Shifts table is not available at the property, division, or department level.
   Override Shift Configuration	Overrides shifts created at the job level. By default, shifts created at the job level are copied to the assignment level. By selecting Override Shift Configuration, you can edit the shifts for the selected assignment.	This field is only available at the Assignment or Sub Assignment level.
   Shift Name	Identifies the shift. Unifocus recommends that you use a name that is similar to the shift you are creating. If you do not assign a name, the new shift will be called Default Shift.
   Start Time	Time of day when the shift begins.
   End Time	Time of day when the shift ends.
   Warning	Displays any existing conflicts between shifts and labor standards.
   Delete	Deletes the row.

6. In the row for the setting you want to change, select the check box in the Override column.
   You can now edit the cell in the Value column.

7. In the Value column, type in a new entry or select an option from the drop-down list.
   Your changes are saved automatically.