It is in the working hour schedule that we find the description of the working day for the employees. A schedule can be defined either as a day-by-day schedule or as a cycle schedule. Each day (or, more accurately, each work shift) can be defined in detail using day types, or by simply entering a number of scheduled hours to the day. The required level of detail depends on how the schedule information is to be used. A solution including Payroll and/or Time and Attendance normally requires a high level of detail, while a solution where the schedule information is used to support a job planning process can make do with the simpler description.
Even though the definition of schedules is done in a day-by-day or cycle context, the setup is similar for both alternatives. In the day-by-day definition, the schedule details are entered for each day covered by the schedule. For example, a day-by-day schedule valid from Jan-01-2004 to Dec-31-2004, has 366 days that can be entered with details (either a day type or just the sum of scheduled hours). If you query for schedule information outside this interval, you will get a message telling you that you are out of range for the schedule.
In the cycle schedule context, you are able to find a set of days or weeks that are repeated again and again. The most common example is the Monday to Friday daytime schedule. Instead of entering all the days, week after week, you let the normal week repeat itself. Multi-week shift cycles are also suited to the cycle schedule approach. The cycle schedule has no limitation in terms of validity date range. You can query for schedule information for any date before or after the entered start date.
When using the cycle definition, the exception days (public holidays etc.) are defined in a supplementary exception schedule. The exception schedule is linked to the cycle schedule. The day-by-day schedule does not require an exception schedule. However, if you link an exception schedule to a day-by-day schedule, the exception schedule will override the day-by-day schedule. I.e., in this matter there is no difference between the two types of schedule.
When you enter a new schedule, you must decide whether the schedule is a day type dependent schedule. This is how you control whether the schedule details use day types or only a sum of scheduled hours. Once selected, you must use the chosen mode. You are not allowed to mix day types with sum of scheduled hours.
When entering a schedule that is not day type dependent, you must also set a default wage code. This wage code will be used when an employee enters presence hours to his time card, job hours in the Time Management Time Registration window, or clocking information.
Hourly employed personnel (Zero-hours schedule)
For temporary hourly employees, you may chose to use the zero-hours schedule option. Temporary employees usually cannot be scheduled the same as permanent employees because you do not schedule their time very far in advance. When you need to use temporary employees, it often happens on short notice and you do not have time to enter accurate schedule details. Nonetheless, their hours should be transferred to payroll and therefore require a wage code. A zero-hours schedule is simply a cycle schedule that is not day-type-dependent, with no hours entered to it. The cycle is defined with a length of one day (because there must be at least one detail row). When connected to the employee, the Time Base field should be set to Gross Time Reporting.
Tracking time for contractors
A special case of scheduling is when you would like to track the presence hours for contractors or external personnel working in the company. This need can arise when there is a supplier invoice referring to the number of hours spent on the site. In this case, there is no transfer to payroll involved, and no need for a schedule and wage code to be linked to the hours. Instead, you will use a parameter list (please refer to the help file for the Work Hour Rules/Parameter List window). The parameter list is linked to a specific contractor rule type, which in turn is connected to the contractors. Note that you have to enter employee numbers for contractors and assign them to a position ID. The contractor position is then entered in the position structure, subordinated to the position held by the person authorizing the invoiced hours.