New DRoster Scheduling Software - Release 3.3.2

Free Employee Scheduling Software

It's official! The new DRoster 3.3.2 was released less than 2 weeks ago and is enjoying accelerated downloads already. Read the press release from PRLeap.com for details about all the latest DRoster enhancements that make scheduling a breeze!

If you've already downloaded the new DRoster 3.3.2 and have tried it, I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Write to me at navushe@kappix.com or to support@kappix.com with all your comments and wish lists.



Kappix Improves Employee Scheduling Flexibility with New DRoster 3.3.2


(PRLEAP.COM) Kappix’s new free employee scheduling software, DRoster 3.3.2, is designed to give scheduling managers choice, flexibility and to reduce time spent on scheduling by ninety percent.

DRoster now includes four different planners that give supervisors four different perspectives of their schedules and rosters set up. The Shifts Planner, Hourly Planner, Detailed Planner and Person Planner enable scheduling managers to create and manage different aspects of their schedules easily from the Modules navigation pane. Supervisors can select to edit schedules with the planner most convenient to them.

In addition to the new Planners, scheduling managers can choose from a rich set of options for their schedules layout. One such option is a choice of hours mode. DRoster is equally suitable for setting up military rosters that require the military hours mode or business and organization rosters that require AM/PM hours mode.

Another option is the choice of working with fixed non-overlapping shifts or overlapping shifts, or staggered shifts. The options panel also provides a one stop source for quick scheduling customisation for more features such as color-coding shifts and selecting layout colors.

To make scheduling irregular shifts or rotating shifts easier, DRoster equips managers with the Template module. Templates allow you to quickly set up a special schedule for a group of employees or a work station or a shift. There are no limits to the number of templates you can make and store. DRoster saves all scheduling templates in a quick access drop down list that managers can access from all four planners to select and apply to any stretch of time needed. Once applied, DRoster integrates fixed shifts and rotating shifts automatically into all schedules. Applying templates is easier than the copy and paste functions most programs have.

Easy access to employees’ availability times and customisable reasons for absences and time off give scheduling managers an informative edge in tracking their workforce. Critical data such as employee qualifications, credentials, abilities and availabities for a range of duties that DRoster offers means that the most suitable employees are scheduled for a duty and time slot. More importantly, for scheduling managers who get an early morning call from an employee calling in sick, this means they can instantly access a list of all available and qualified employees to deploy on demand at the click of a button.

The result is optimised schedules, improved service levels and a smoothly run business. These are a few of the new advantages in Kappix’s new release of DRoster.

Kappix is the only scheduling software company to offer a completely free download that doesn’t require filling in forms, registration, or giving out your email. The Kappix Team respects the privacy of its users and believes that free software must never burden its users. DRoster is also unlimited in time.This means that anyone can download DRoster and begin to use it whenever they please and for as long as they want.

But best of all, DRoster is not limited in any feature at all: it’s a fully featured scheduler for up to 300 duties. That means that most small businesses can use DRoster for free forever with Kappix Team’s customer courtesy email support (the team goes out of their way for their users).

DRoster is guaranteed to be clean of spyware and adware by leading download websites such as download.com and softpedia.com in addition to hundreds more. The scheduling program is currently being used by close to 200,000 users strong world wide. DRoster is available in a stand alone version or an over a network version to share with other users, both free.Kappix invites anyone tired of paper-based scheduling or their old scheduling program to download DRoster and contact Nancy Berger at navushe(@) kappix (dot) com with any questions and recommendations.


CONTACT INFORMATION
Nancy Berger Kappix Employee Scheduling Software Producer navushe@kappix.com 972 547 259 303

Employee Vacation Request Form

Click Report to View

Employee Vacation Request Form

Unfortunately, there is no way to post a document/form in Blogger. So, for those of you interested in the form, please send me an email with "Employee Vacation Request Form" in the subject line (otherwise it will be considered spam and auto-deleted) and I'll be sure to send you the form via email.

My email is navushe(@) kappix (dot) com

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Nancy

'Tis the Season to Vacation - Handling Employee Vacations

Schedule Employee Vacations with DRoster

In Europe August is considered vacation time. Often the entire company shuts down for the month of August to allow their employees a good chill out in popular resorts. In France this is known as "La Grande Vacance" or the big vacation, practically considered a birthright. (see link below to an interesting article called: Time Off: The Europeans Do It Right by Liz Murry in Business Week). But for Americans and Canadians, vacation time is not a given. Employees need to request time off and employers and supervisors need to deal with the influx of requests.

Consequently, the process of handling vacations is August can be a royal headache for employers and supervisors. While big companies often regulate vacations with proper forms, guidelines, and policies, small businesses often don't have the vacation and time off policies needed to ensure proper staffing. These small businesses often rely on working out vacations on the fly which can create quite a conundrum. One of the last things a small business owner thinks of when starting a new business is how to schedule vacations and time off.

I've prepared a form for handling employees' vaction requests. It's a no nonsense form that anyone can easily use to manage requests for vacations and time off. It can be used on its own if a company wants to begin with a paper-based system or in conjunction with Kappix's Droster scheduler, as an aid in creating computerized schedules.

Please feel free to contact me at navushe@kappix.com and I'll send you the vacation request form.

Enjoy and Happy Vacation!





Time Off: The Europeans Do It Right

http://http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/jun2007/ca20070630_940712.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

New Company Logo

Free Employee Scheduling Software

I'm proud to present Kappix's new company logo!





Your feedback and ideas are most welcome. Please send your feedback to navushe@kappix.com

Seven Best Practises for Employee Scheduling

Free Employee Scheduling Software

Managers in the retail and service business often spend countless hours working out timetables and employee rosters, trying to get their shifts and schedules just right. Getting it "just right" is critical to maintaining proper service levels, satisfied customers, and quality employee retention. If you're one of those managers you'll be interested in the following best practices for scheduling employees.

1. Consider peak hours and high season; dead hours and low season when allocating the number of employees per shift. You want to ensure your customers are getting proper attention. Understaffing creates havoc for customers and employees. Not only can you lose customers but also employees. Overstaffing, on the other hand, is costly.

2. Plan for vacations, time-off, holidays in advance. Why wait till the last minute? Ask your employees to fill out a time-off request form at least one month in advance. Your employees will appreciate working for a business that cares about their leisure time.

3. Take your employees' preferences into account when scheduling. Some actually prefer night shifts or weekend shifts while others might not particularly like them but want them for their higher wages. Distribute highly sought after shifts evenly among employees as much as possible. Again, you need to know employees' preferred days and hours. Make sure you also ask them which days or hours they have problems with in order to avoid "violating" their preferences.

4. Employees' skill set, seniority,and experience play an important role in ensuring that each department/shift/station is allocated an optimized team. A skill set could be any ability required for the job such as knowledge of a foreign language (important for contact centers), certification or ability to operate certain machinery.In a team/crew scheduled for a particular shift, you really must have at least one experienced member who can guide the others or mentor the newer members.

You should put together a chart will such valuable info for scheduling purposes. Group your employees according to qualifications so that in case of a team member's absence, you know exactly who can fill in.

5. Always send your employees a copy of their schedules at least one month in advance for their approval. Ask them to check that schedules do not conflict, fill their weekly hours/quotas, and are in keeping with their preferences. Also request a confirmation from your employees. You can do all this via email using a template you can update monthly. If you have an automated scheduling program, you can send a report to all your employees instantly.

6. Schedule days-off for training in advance. If your company offers training courses and seminars, you must factor those into your scheduling. Make sure that you know who is registered for training throughout the year to make allowances for their absence.

7. Create a stand-by list of employees. There's no need to scramble looking for replacement; prepare a list of employees willing to replace absent employees who call in sick at the last minute. This is a common occurrence so there's no reason not to be equipped with a list.


Following those seven best practices can make employee scheduling more effective. True, there are many factors to consider if you want effective scheduling but the rewards outweigh the effort. If you schedule the old-fashioned way on paper or on a simple spreadsheet, it's time to move on and get a good scheduling software program.

A good scheduler will not only save you time but it will optimize your staff to guarantee good service levels, satisfied customers, happy employees with a higher retention rate and an all-round positive work environment. Most of all, you can implement best practices for staff scheduling quickly and in a headache-free way.

TIP: Basic Employee Scheduling Online Tool

This tip is brought to you by: DRoster Free Employee Scheduling Software

If you're a newbie manager who needs to schedule your staff, here's a tip for starters.

*Get an overview of your scheduling needs.
*Begin with basic fixed shift
*Then narrow your roster down to more complex schedules.

To create an outline of your roster, try this online employee scheduling tool: the Days Off Calculator.

This freeware was created by David Grant and comes as a standalone as well as online. The website includes basic scheduling instructions - excellent for newbies - available at: http://www.daysoffcalculator.com/web.htm#instructions. For the online calculator, you'll need to make sure your pc is Javascript enabled. Access this lovely piece of employee scheduling calculator now

Highly recommended for beginners in the field who want to get a feel of what scheduling is about before attempting professional software such as DRoster employee scheduling software.

What is a Roster? Everything you Need to Know

Free Employee Scheduling Software

On the simplest level a roster is a list of people. Functionally, the list serves to associate people with certain duties, which often also includes a time schedule.

For example, forr how to make a family chore roster see:

http://support.gateway.com/s/tutorials/index/Tutorials.asp?cat=1&subcat=1&topic=37&series=851

Other sites of interest that relate to rosters are:

http://unionsafe.labor.net.au/hazards/104787141324939.html
http://time.iguw.tuwien.ac.at/nov2000miniB.htm
http://www.shiftwork-resources.com/
http://www.shiftwork.co.nz/12hour.htm
http://www.osh.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdf/shift-p.pdf
http://www.asap.cs.nott.ac.uk/publications/pdf/GarethThesis.pdf
http://www.few.vu.nl/~sapot/call-centers/Shift-Scheduling.pdf

Employee Scheduling DRoster - the boxshot

I'm very proud of Kappix's new boxshot. The Kappix team and I worked hard on developing the theme and branding attached to DRoster employee scheduling software. The colors associate perfectly with our website, http://www.kappix.com, and are quite harmonious. What do you think?

Nice Site

Free Employee Scheduling Software

nice sites for small businesses

Sticky Business Custom Labels
stickers, decals, embossed anniversary seals, personalized wine labels and much more. Quick delivery and great prices!

Press Release - http://www.press-base.com/Press Base is a FREE press release distribution web site,here we offer a FREE press release submissions!

Business Plexus

Free Employee Scheduling Software

"Free employee Scheduling Software". I've been searching for that key phrase on the major search engines. Over the past couple of weeks, I've looked into a number of 'free' applications. Turns out that the free employee scheduling software programs are indeed free, which is great.

However, upon further inspection, it appears that most are feature restricted (meaning you can't really try out all the software's features) or else they are time limited (meaning if you don't get around to using all the free scheduling features quickly - tough luck) . Most software companies that offer a free trial version employ this 'free' feature as a motivating factor to convert trial users into buyers. This psychological tactic is said to work. Yet, I have some reservations regarding this marketing tactic.

I don't hide the fact that I'd like everyone who needs employee scheduling software to buy DRoster. That is why Kappix markets DRoster as free employee scheduling software. However, my concern is whether my customer is a satisfied one. Did my customers really get a chance to familiarize themselves with DRoster without the time constraints and feature limitations prior to buying it? As a consumer, I know I would feel very uneasy about buying a product I didn't know inside out. Worse, I'd feel cheated if I had bought software that didn't live up to my expectations.

The consequences are not only dissatisfied customers, but a disreputable name, which spreads like wildfire. On the other hand, satisfied customers can generate more potential customers by word of mouth. And THAT is much more important than merely selling a product: to create viral type sales.

Until further notice, it looks like Kappix will continue offering DRoster free employee scheduling software as a truly, completely, free, fully featured, fully functional, and unlimited in time scheduling program at http://www.kappix.com/setup.exe . No registration required (that's another topic I'll have to deliberate here with regards to marketing employee scheduling software online).

On this same tangent, I'd love to hear your take on how to convert free trial software users to buyers.

That's it for now. :o)

An Ambitious Project

I've decided it's time employers had a one stop source for everything employee scheduling. To begin with, I am going to create the glossary of employee scheduling terminology. I'll then discuss trends in scheduling employees, each time from a different angle.

All of us are employees, servicing someone. Some of us are both employees and employers. We spend at least half our lives at work (workaholics, much more). Clearly, a virtual space dedicated to this significant chunk of our lives begs reckoning. So why is employee scheduling the point from which I embark?

Why? Because schedules dictate our lives, define our work environment and are derived from a distinct world/organizational view.

Quite an ambitious project. I'm hoping for interaction with visitors and maybe I can even get experts to agree to be interviewed (hello there colleagues!). I'm hoping employees and employers will join in this ongoing discussion; will contribute to my blog and that my blog can contribute to a better understanding of the employee-employer-organization triangle.

:-) Nancy

Frequency of Keywords and Phrases for Employee Scheduling Software

So I've been doing lots of seo work. There are so many tools for keyword search. Each using various parameter but still quite similar in results. I tried looking for keywords that might work nicely for an employee scheduling software but are not overly competitive. A sobering experience! Here are the results of my searches on various tools such as wordtracker and overture and more:

108 shift scheduling software 106 work scheduling software
45 personnel scheduling software shift work 15002486 night shift 5006 night shift nurse 695 staff scheduling software 248 employee work schedule template 2864 work schedule 355 shift work schedule 135 rotating shift 197 employee scheduler 171 employee management software 547 personnel time tracking software 3924 time attendance software 61018 small business software 5109 employee time clock 2098 employee time tracking 188 employer solution 1989 employee scheduling 1838 employee scheduling software 695 staff scheduling software 645 free scheduling software 479 medical scheduling software 471 job scheduling 160 nurse scheduling software 1158 construction scheduling software 1060 construction scheduling 1031 block scheduling 959 day care scheduling software 950 room scheduling software 905 maintenance scheduling 884 scheduling program 695 staff scheduling software 645 free scheduling software 524 dispatch scheduling software 479 medical scheduling software 471 job scheduling 462 sports scheduling 451 resource scheduling 429 project scheduling software 413 medical appointment scheduling software 403 scheduling calendar 392 job scheduling software 382 facility scheduling software 33 automated scheduling software
471 job scheduling 392 job scheduling software 23970 scheduling software 1989 employee scheduling 8170 hr software 343 hr management software

deploying employees in shifts Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day Google = 0 AOL = 0 AmazonA9 = 0 Yahoo Index = 0 Inktomi = 0 Alta Vista = 0 MSN = 0 Teoma = 0 Ask Jeeves = 0 Hot Bot = 0 IWon = 0 Lycos = 0

scheduling shifts Activity (Estimated): 6 web-wide search engine queries per day
shift manager Activity (Estimated): 7 web-wide search engine queries per day
shift templates Activity (Estimated): 3 web-wide search engine queries per day shift scheduling templates Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling templates Activity (Estimated): 4 web-wide search engine queries per day cheap employee scheduling software Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day staff scheduling Activity (Estimated): 34 web-wide search engine queries per day shift rotation schedule Activity (Estimated): 5 web-wide search engine queries per day time and attendance software Activity (Estimated): 9 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling freeware Activity (Estimated): 7 web-wide search engine queries per day free roster software Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day free rostering software Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee tracking software Activity (Estimated): 17 web-wide search engine queries per day staff scheduling software Activity (Estimated): 90 web-wide search engine queries per day staff rostering Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee roster Activity (Estimated): 3 web-wide search engine queries per day roster software Activity (Estimated): 5 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling tool Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day shift management tool Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day human resource management tool Activity (Estimated): 69 web-wide search engine queries per day human resource scheduling Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day hr scheduling Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling download Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling software download Activity (Estimated): 0 web-wide search engine queries per day employee time clock Activity (Estimated): 658 web-wide search engine queries per day job scheduling Activity (Estimated): 61 web-wide search engine queries per day shift software Activity (Estimated): 4 web-wide search engine queries per day employee management software Activity (Estimated): 22 web-wide search engine queries per day Employee scheduling program Activity (Estimated): 25 web-wide search engine queries per day scheduling software Activity (Estimated): 3,087 web-wide search engine queries per day free employee scheduling Activity (Estimated): 22 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling Activity (Estimated): 256 web-wide search engine queries per day free employee scheduling software Activity (Estimated): 35 web-wide search engine queries per day employee scheduling software Activity (Estimated): 237 web-wide search engine queries per day kappix Activity (Estimated): 6 web-wide search engine queries per day droster Activity (Estimated): 7 web-wide search engine queries per day work schedules Activity (Estimated): 34 web-wide search engine queries

Sifting through all these results is pure drudgery. I figured I would have to settle on one or two that best describe our software and service. I'm still testing those. Time will tell if they top the search engines.

Off topic: I've been away too long. I seem to store ideas and articles in folders instead of just publishing them on my blog. I think it has to do with my need to publish only well-polished written material. At that rate, I'll be lucky if I publish 5 pieces a year! It's about time to tackle this squeamish inhibition with a vengeance.

here goes.....

Work Schedules

employee scheduling software glossary for a software
Material for an Employee Scheduling Glossary I'm working on:

Leave
Alternative Work Schedules
Definitions

Alternative work schedulesare an umbrella term that refers to compressed work schedules and flexible work schedules.

Compressed work schedule means a fixed work schedule (no flexible time bands) in which an employee can complete the biweekly work requirement in less than 10 working days.

Flexible schedule means one of several types of work schedules all of which comprise core hours and flexible time bands.

Core hours are a term used in the context of flexible work schedules. It refers to the scheduled hours of the workday during which an employee must either be present at work, on leave, or using credit hours.

Flexible time band refers to the time periods on either side of core hours during the workday, workweek or pay period within the tour of duty in which an employee can vary arrival and departure time or work credit hours.

Credit hours are a term used in the context of flexible work schedules only. It refers to the non-overtime hours which an employee elects to work, with supervisory approval, during the flexible time band in the same or another day in order to have an equal amount of time off on another day (see discussion below). Basic work requirement means the number of non-overtime hours an employee must work or account for by leave before being eligible for overtime.

Authority
Subject to the obligation to negotiate with exclusive bargaining unit representatives, heads of operating units (and those to whom they have delegated authority) have authority to establish, modify, and terminate AWS plans. If a proposed or existing AWS plan is deemed to have an adverse agency impact, it may not be established, must be modified (e.g., an employee or group of employees must be excluded, the use of credit hours must be restricted, etc.) or it must be terminated. Note that an "adverse agency impact" is defined as: (1) a reduction of an agency's productivity; (2) a diminished level of services furnished to the public; or (3) an increase in the cost of agency operations (other than the administrative costs to process the establishment of an AWS program).

There is no authority to establish hybrid work schedules using the authorities for flexible and compressed work schedules in an attempt to create hybrid work schedules that provide unauthorized benefits for employees (see Comptroller General report B-179810, December 4, 1979, and 50 FLRA No. 28, February 23, 1995). Note however that some forms of flexible work schedules, such as maxiflex or flexible 5/4-9 schedules, allow work to be compressed in fewer than 10 workdays in a biweekly pay period.

Content Of AWS Plans

A properly documented AWS plan will identify:
• the organizational units/components covered by the plan;
• the employees covered or excluded by the plan;
• the conditions and procedures for restricting or denying individual employees or groups of employees from participation in the plan;
• the types of flexible and compressed work schedules permitted, and the specifics of each (e.g., flexible work schedules must define core and flexible time bands and the degree of flexibility permitted);
• a provision for credit hours, as appropriate;
• a description of the time accounting system to be used;
• the titles of the persons responsible for administration of the plan;
• the procedures for modifying or terminating the AWS plan; and
• the preceding information for each organizational element that is scheduled differently.
Non-Participation
Since flexible schedules are highly adaptable, employees' special needs can usually be accommodated easily. However, not every employee can work within the compressed work schedule environment since it entails a prolonged day and the schedule is fixed.
Absent an employee organization with exclusive bargaining rights, an employee cannot be required to participate in a compressed work schedule unless a majority of the employees of the unit have voted to be included.
When a compressed work schedule imposes a personal hardship, an employee may make a written request to the plan manager to be excepted from the schedule. By law, a manager must make a determination on the request within 10 days of its receipt. Either the employee must be excepted from participation in the compressed work schedule or reassigned to the first vacant position outside the program which is acceptable to the employee and for which he or she is qualified.

Two Categories Of AWS Schedules
There are two categories of AWS schedules: compressed and flexible. Whether an employee is under a compressed or a flexible work schedule determines the applicable overtime standard and the employee's night pay, holiday pay, or excused absence entitlement.

Compressed work schedules are fixed schedules. Under a compressed work schedule an employee must complete the 80-hour basic work requirement in less than 10 work days. For example, by working four 10-hour days for each of two weeks in a pay period or eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day for a total of nine days in a pay period. A compressed work schedule, by definition, has no flexible time bands, no core hours and no allowance for credit hours. An employee may not vary the daily or weekly tour in any way.

Flexible work schedules consist of core hours (including a non-compensable lunch period) and flexible time bands. In a flexible environment, employees must be present during core hours but they can deviate from a specified arrival and departure time and work credit hours during the flexible time band. Depending on the kind of flexible schedule worked by the employee, the work requirement may be 8 hours in a day and/or 40 in a week, or 80 in a pay period. In all cases, overtime hours are hours of work which are officially ordered in advance and which are in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Any hours in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week which are not officially ordered in advance will be deemed credit hours. There is no "suffered and permitted" concept of overtime under a flexible AWS. Under a flexible work schedule, management can establish different core hours for each day. Consistent with assuring service to the public, core time can be expanded or contracted relative to the outer limits of the organization's work day or to the amount of flexibility that is permitted employees relative to their specified arrival and departure hours. Management may also establish flexible time bands outside of the time bands for arrival/departure for the purpose of earning credit hours.

The following are descriptions of flexible work schedules starting with the most flexible and ending with the narrowest type of flexible work schedule:
A maxiflex schedule is a type of flexible work schedule that contains core hours on fewer than 10 workdays in the biweekly pay period. Flexible time bands are established for the start and end of the workday and may also be established midday (during the lunch break). Note that heads of operating units or those with delegated authority may choose not to establish core hours on each workday, thus providing maximum flexibility for employees. A full-time employee has a basic work requirement of 80 hours for the biweekly pay period and must be present for core hours, but may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday or the number of hours each week within the limits established by the unit plan. Note that leave may be granted in excess of 8-hours per day for employees on maxi flex schedules.

A variable week schedule is a type of flexible work schedule containing core hours on each workday in the biweekly pay period. Flexible time bands are established for the start and end of the workday and may also be established midday (during the lunch break). A full-time employee has a basic work requirement of 80 hours for the biweekly pay period and must be present for core hours, but may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday or the number of hours each week within the limits established by the unit plan. The length of each workday and workweek can be varied by credit hours.

A variable day schedule is a type of flexible work schedule containing core hours on each workday in the week. Flexible time bands are established for the start and end of the workday and may also be established midday (during the lunch break). A full-time employee has a basic work requirement of 40 hours in each week of the biweekly pay period and must be present for core hours, but may vary the number of hours worked on a given workday within the week within the limits established by the unit plan. The length of each workday can be varied by credit hours.

A gliding schedule is a type of flexible work schedule that requires the employee to work 8 hours a day and 40 hours each workweek but the employee may vary arrival and departure time on each of the 10 workdays of a pay period within limits established by the unit plan. The employee must be present for core hours. Flexible time bands are established for the start and end of the workday and may also be established midday (during the lunch break). A gliding schedule may provide for credit hours.

A flexi tour is a type of flexible work schedule that requires the employee to work 8 hours a day and 40 hours each workweek. The employee may choose his or her arrival and departure time. Once chosen, the employee must keep to the same schedule until the next opportunity to select a different schedule arises. The employee must be present for core hours. Flexible time bands are established for the start and end of the workday. A flexi tour schedule may provide for credit hours.

Credit Hours
Credit hours are base (nonovertime) hours which an employee on a flexible work schedule elects to work within a flexible time band in and in excess of the basic work requirement in order to have an equal amount of time off on the same or another day, workweek or pay period. Credit hours are peculiar to flexible work schedules and may not be earned by employees on compressed work schedules since a compressed work schedule is a fixed schedule. In addition, credit hours may not be earned by Senior Executive Service members nor for any government-related training that is scheduled and required by the agency.

Credit Hours Not Overtime. Credit hours earned should not be confused with overtime hours earned. Overtime hours are hours of work which management officially orders or approves in advance and which are in excess of 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. Credit hours are base hours which the employee elects to work so as to vary the length of a workday, workweek or pay period. Credit hours may not be the basis for overtime pay or compensatory time. When an employee separates from the Federal government, unused credit hours are paid at the employee's base rate.

Credit Hour Carryover. The law does not set any limits on the number of credit hours that an employee can earn in any pay period. The employing organization may limit the number of credit hours that an employee may earn in a day, a week, or a pay period. However, by law a full-time employee may not carry over more than 24 credit hours per pay period. The carryover of a part-time employee is limited to one-fourth of the employee’s biweekly basic work requirement.

Charging Credit Hours. Credit hours will normally be earned and used in increments consistent with bureau or Office policy for charging leave unless the organization's AWS plan provides otherwise. Credit hours must be recorded on the employee's T&A when earned and used. An employee may notify a supervisor of his or her wish to use credit hours and obtain supervisory approval by submitting an SF-71, Application for Leave, and marking it "credit hours" under "Other".

Paying and Liquidating Credit Hours. The payment or liquidation of credit hours is applicable when an employee separates from the Department, loses entitlement to earn credit hours, or moves from a full to part-time covered position that permits the earning/use of credit hours. In the later case, the credit hours in excess of the new maximum biweekly carryover must be used or liquidated via payment. Employees shall be paid not more than their current basic rate of pay for their unused credit hours. Administrative error permitting the carryover of more than 24 credit hours is not a basis for liquidating the balance over 24; they are forfeited.

Transferring Credit Hours. Heads of operating units with flexible work schedules in place that allow for credit hours, have the discretion to accept accrued credit hours of employees who move between operating units of the Department. In accepting transferred accrued credit hours, gaining agencies and operating units should be aware that they are agreeing to accept the financial liability for potential credit hour liquidation (paid at the employee’s current basic rate basic pay). Agencies and operating units may limit this liability by establishing a ceiling on the number of credit hours, below the allowable maximum carryover, that will be accepted for transfer.

Credit Hours and Training. Credit hours may not be earned if training or homework (for training) is required by an agency since required training does not constitute hours that an employee elects to work with supervisory approval. (See 5 U.S.C. 6121(4).)

Premium Pay And Excused Absence

For employees on flexible schedules:
- overtime is all hours of work in excess of 8 in day or 40 in a week which are officially ordered or authorized in advance of the time they are worked;
- by law, a maximum of 8 hours of excused absence may be credited towards the basic work requirement on a holiday (see 5 U.S.C. 6124). If the number of regularly scheduled hours for that day are greater than 8, the difference must be made up by a charge to accrued annual leave, accumulated credit hours or compensatory time, LWOP, or by working extra time in the same pay period as the holiday, but prior to the holiday;
- by law, Sunday pay is limited to 8 nonovertime hours for each tour that begins on Sunday (see the definition of Sunday work in 5 CFR 550.103); and
- night differential is payable for work performed between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6.a.m.; however, if the employee's tour of duty includes 8 or more hours of daylight, the employee is not entitled to night pay even though he or she elects to vary arrival or departure time during hours for which night pay is usually paid. If core hours are during daylight hours but the tour of duty includes less than 8 daytime hours, the employee is entitled to night pay for the difference between 8 hours and the available number of daytime hours in the tour. If core hours include night work, the employee is entitled to night pay for any no overtime work performed at night. A part-time employee is entitled to night pay only for night work performed during his or her basic work requirement.

For employees on compressed schedules earn:
- overtime hours are all hours of work which are officially ordered in advance and which are in excess of the specified hours that constitute the compressed work schedule;
- holiday pay is payable for all non-overtime hours of a holiday worked (see 5 U.S.C. 6128(c) and (d));
- Sunday pay is payable for all scheduled no overtime hours of a tour that begins or ends on Sunday (see 5 U.S.C. 6128(c) and (d)); and
- night pay is payable for all regularly scheduled hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Excused Absence. The amount of excused absence to be granted to an employee on a flexible schedule will be based on the non-overtime hours of the employee's typical schedule for that day. Since an employee on a compressed schedule works a fixed schedule, the amount of excused absence granted will equal the fixed hours of the employee's schedule.
AWS And Travel Or Training
At the discretion of supervisory officials, an employee on an AWS may be temporarily changed to a basic work schedule (i.e., 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) in the event that official travel and/or training is scheduled for one or more days during a pay period. A one pay period advance notice of the variation in work schedule is not required under this situation.
AWS And Senior Executive Service (SES) Employees
The law does not prohibit SES employees from working an AWS schedule; however, by law, they may not earn credit hours under an alternative work schedule.
Timekeeping in the AWS Environment
The law requires that there be an affirmative means of ensuring that AWS employees meet their hours of work requirement. This requirement can be met by use of the CD-465, Alternative Work Schedule Attendance Log, which requires employees to record their arrival and departure times following one another. "Seriatim," as this is called, assures relative accuracy in the times recorded. Also, time and attendance worksheets can be used for the recording of daily arrival and departure times; hours worked, including premium pay and credit hours; and leave taken as well as other absences such as jury duty, military leave, etc. No time accounting device is needed if a supervisor is visually aware (because he or she works the same schedule as his or her employees) or uses such techniques as making arrangements with other supervisory personnel to provide observation, occasional telephone calls to the employee during times the supervisor is not present but the employee is scheduled to be, or determining reasonableness of work output for time spent.
Determining "In Lieu of" Holidays when Holidays Fall on No workdays
If a holiday falls on a non-workday of an employee on a flexible or compressed work schedule–except for holidays falling on a Sunday non-workday– the employee’s preceding workday is the designated "in lieu of" holiday. (See 5 U.S.C. 6103(b).) If a holiday falls on a Sunday non-workday of an employee on a flexible or compressed work schedule, the employee’s subsequent workday is the designated "in lieu of" holiday. (See section 3 of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971.)
The head of an agency may prescribe a different "in lieu of" holiday for full-time employees on a compressed work schedule when it is deemed that a different "in lieu of" holiday is necessary to prevent an "adverse agency impact." (See 5 U.S.C. 6103(d).)
Part-time employees are not entitled to an "in lieu of" holiday when a holiday falls on a non-workday of the employee. (See 5 CFR 610.405.)
Also see State and Local Holidays.

Gotta recall where I found all this precious information. I like how it so accurately defines the different kinds of employee scheduling possibilities. I'll use these definitions expand on them for my employee scheduling glossary.

Thought Provoking Marketing Blogs 'n' Sites

When my brain feels like a "white space" I find myself surfing the web for thought provoking sites - something stimulating and inspiring. I know I've hit something good when I find myself prolonging my stay at the expense of all the important tasks I ought to be doing. Some call it procrastination; I call it incidental learning. Makes me feel more at ease. My previous post suggested that I'd be back with more on marcom writing. Thing is, there's just too much to say. So I started surfing in and out of websites to get ideas about how to organize my material. I read the following blogs:

http://www.smallbusinessbranding.com/

http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/

http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2006/05/01/989.html

http://blog.marketingprofs.com/2006/05/why_are_big_companies_hiding_t.html

I'll tell you what I liked about each.

On Writing for Marketing Purposes

It was more of a marcom piece actually. Marketing is a multi-faceted job. Not all marketing directors have marcom writers. I do the marcom myself. Writing the article "Small Businesses..." was an engaging but enjoyable task. One of the goals I set was to believe everything I wrote and I've achieved that. More to come on marcom.

Kappix Press Release

Big Minded Small Businesses Owners Tap into Corporate Software

PRZOOM - Newswire - Small business owners often feel compelled to keep up with the big guys by investing in expensive corporate business management software - a costly investment with little or no immediate ROI.



Running a small business is much harder than running a corporation. Surprising? Not if you're a small business entrepreneur.

As a fledling business owner on a restricted budget you have to multi-task, juggle, prioritize and balance. Unlike corporations, you don't have a specialized professional team to help you manage, allowing you to focus on more critical business strategies.Neither do you have the capital to afford such luxuries. At best you have about twenty employees that you need to train, supervise, motivate, schedule and pay.

You're the sole manager, running your business on a shoe-string budget with only 24 hours a day. Given such stressful financial and time constraints, how can you successfully maintain a balance between excellence, efficiency, and improving productivity all on your own?

The answer? Think big.

Manage your business like the big corporations do. Corporations rely on efficient organization that is cost-effective. Yes, even big companies have budget (granted big, but not unlimited) constraints that warrant resourcefulness. Today big businesses resort to business management software whenever possible to replace business processes that were once done manually, reducing costs of labor, time and human error.

Scheduling employees, for instance, used to be a tedious, time-consuming task before automated scheduling software made rosters, schedules and shift management a breeze. No big company would dream of wasting valuable time preparing workforce shedules and rosters manually.

Today, small businesses can not only easily be a more efficient organization with the help of such automated software but can also obtain business software at no cost. The business software market offers a wider variety of free trial software programs for evaluation before purchasing. The downside of those programs are either a time limitation (meaning you might not get fully acquainted with all features) or limited in features (meaning you can't test all the features). If you like the program, you find out it carries a corporate price tag.

On the other hand, there are companies (few though they exist) that offer free fully functional business management software, with no time/feature limitations. Small business owners often feel compelled to buy expensive software in order to keep up with the big guys. One common misconception is that if it's free, it couldn't be worthy or it's of low quality. This notion couldn't be farther from the truth in many cases. In fact, there have been cases where corporate software giants, despite being reputable (not to mention expensive), dissatisfied a few renowned organizations who purchased their software. Consequently, expensive software should never be automatically equated with quality; conversely, free should never be equated with low quality.

Kappix, for instance, provides free professional employee scheduling software on their website with no strings attached. Unlike many providers of business software, Kappix does not limit its users in time nor features and provides free support. Other companies such as Productivity-software by Spiritworks software development offer small businesses a range of information management software (though limited in time), fully functional. Whenever possible, seek free software that is not limited in features and preferably not limited in time. In both instances, business owners can get acquainted with the software with all features at their disposal before investing in it.

Today, more than ever, small businesses can "think big" - focus on more critical business issues by introducing free business management software into their small business. The abundance and immediate availability of free software like Kappix's DRoster Employee Scheduling Software can afford them the time to boost productivity without sacrificing valuable money and precious time. Think big, like the big successful corporations. At no cost.For more information about various free business management software or DRoster Employee Scheduling Software servicing your business, contact the author Nancy Berger.


Agency / Source: Kappix Employee Scheduling Software Producer


Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)

Distribution: [+] Press Release & Newswire Distribution Network via PRZOOM - NewswireToday

Marketing Director - The Plunge

"Marketing Director", sounds slick?. Now add Oracle, Microsoft, Google or any other Fortune 500 name to that title and you get sensory overload. It glitters with seven digits, prances with perks, and makes slick look silly.

I am a marketing director. Period. The oracle hasn't whispered sweet fortunes into my ear, and Google has yet to reward me with a plus one ranking. I'm not slick at all. I stumble through what I like to call a "white space" often feeling silly but more often feeling driven to give it definition and movement. What's more: I like it that way.

Plunging

White space. Vast, intimidating, foreign, tintillating, perplexing yet white. What is it about white space that tingles with a pinch of anxiety? It's only white. In fact, it isn't anything, yet. Perhaps it's that white space is imbued with endless possibilities, choices, decisions? Or maybe it's the burden of making those choices, the responsibility and accountability?

The cursor impatiently taps on the white; I slurp more coffee. It's time it tells me because I'll never be more prepared than I am now. I plunge into white space with hopes that it will be a becoming, downy friend.