#activity-based scheduling

So then the question is, what are the best questions to ask your managers to make sure they are balancing an optimized schedule but not headed toward potentially costly compliance infractions? Here are three:  

What happens when employees don't take, take a late, or take their break too late in the day? Meal and rest breaks are mandatory in many states. Employees are granted compensation for both based on how many hours they work. In California, for instance, the State Labor Commissioner’s Office docked a Fullerton-based contractor nearly $2 million this summer for stiffing 472 employees for various infractions, nearly half of which were for rest period violations. A failure to comply with individual state laws could very well cost your company millions. Businesses need to ensure that their managers are deeply familiar with state and federal regulations. This is only possible through ongoing educational initiatives and concise information distributed to all managers regularly, followed up with proper practices to implement meal and rest breaks.

Are we subject to predictive scheduling legislation? With initiatives already approved in New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, the state of Oregon and being actively considered in numerous other states, it can be a very real minefield to low-level managers who aren’t prepared to adopt changing best practices. Rather than wasting time and energy on an evolving landscape, invest in a predictive scheduling tool that sidesteps logistical pitfalls by automatically building mandatory meal and rest breaks into the schedule, or sending real-time alerts to managers before scheduling errors are made that violate regulatory guidelines. A workforce management tool can safeguard a business against any unnecessary fines and relieves managers from the herculean task of manual scheduling.

How do we protect against unplanned overtime?     Most schedulers don’t find out about unplanned overtime until it’s too late — someone in payroll sends a message asking why certain employees were granted overtime permission. Different states have different laws regarding employee hours. Pricey penalties for noncompliance aren’t the only cost of disregarding overtime disregard. Studies have proven that employees’ energy and productivity flags during those extra hours. Longer work days also contribute to frequent absenteeism and employee turnover. So not only is sending employees into overtime a financial risk, it can put both morale and productivity in jeopardy.     Another gift of a workforce management tool is that it can save managers  from accidentally committing costly overtime infractions and avoid scheduling drama with a smart time clock, so workers don’t roll over unnecessarily into costly extra hours.

Take Action

Don’t allow your managers to be distracted from their core role as the leader of your team and creating amazing guest experiences. Equipping your managers with the tools to do their best at hitting their targets, meeting the preferences of their employees and avoiding hidden dangers in your businesses’ scheduling practice can make all of the difference.