Shift plan
What is a shift plan and what should you pay attention to?
Introduction: What is a shift plan?
A duty roster is a tool for staff scheduling. The duty roster displays shifts and working hours clearly and collectively in one place. It shows which employees are in the company at what times and what tasks they are working on. Attendances can thus be coordinated and, depending on the system selected, can also be viewed in real time. Working hours are also recorded in the duty roster. Future duty scheduling, which goes beyond the status quo, in turn draws on data from time recording, the vacation planner and other absences (such as illness). Thanks to this existing data, duty rosters become more precise and can more easily accommodate employees' wishes. The most effective and ergonomic deployment of employees can thus ensure a high quality of service and achieve the company's objectives. However, to ensure that this process runs smoothly and makes planners, employees and the company happy, there are a few things to consider.
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How does a shift plan help me with staff planning?
Personnel planning is often complex, even in small companies, and there are many factors to consider. The right employees, with the right qualifications, must be in the right place at the right time. The next step, of course, is to coordinate and harmonize the schedules of full-time, part-time and mini-job employees. There should also be enough employees on duty to ensure that operations run smoothly. This number is usually the result of many years of experience in personnel planning or, in the case of digital duty scheduling, can also be forecast. In order to avoid staff shortages in the respective work areas, a suitable replacement should also be found as quickly as possible if an employee is absent. A clear duty roster can help here. Ideally, a qualification matrix is also available. At this point, the duty roster has already achieved its minimum objective: it has coordinated and structured personnel planning. However, it is also able to ensure that employees can perform at their best. To achieve this, their needs must be included in the duty roster and their health and ergonomics must be taken into account. Especially with shift work, it is necessary to establish a healthy rotation.
While manual personnel planning in relevant computer programs can quickly lead to a loss of overview, the (secure) transfer of data to a digital duty roster can guarantee exactly that: keeping an overview. However, there are a few things to bear in mind.
What do you need to consider when creating a shift plan?
What legal framework conditions must be taken into account when creating a shift plan?
There are a number of aspects that must be taken into account if the duty roster is to be successful. Of course, there are also some soft factors, such as the successful involvement of employees in the planning, but here we will focus on the legal framework. In Germany, the daily working time is generally limited to a maximum of eight hours. In exceptional cases, this can be higher, for example in hospitals, where 24-hour shifts are not uncommon. Normally, however, the average working time per day must not exceed eight hours over a 24-week period.
Breaks and rest periods are just as important for planning a legally compliant duty roster. Employees working six hours or more must take a break of at least 30 minutes. For more than nine hours, the break must be at least 45 minutes. At the end of the working day, a rest period of at least eleven hours must be observed. Breaks and rest periods must be planned correctly, but must of course also be adhered to. Intuitive, digital time recording can be a great help here. It makes it easier for employees to record their breaks and at the same time they are stored directly in the system and can be viewed if an audit is due. Of course, there are also some sectors and facilities where exceptions may apply. These include catering, care, on-call duty and hospitals. There may also be exceptions to Section 9 ArbZG, according to which Sundays and public holidays are exempt from employment. Apart from the sectors already mentioned, deviations can also occur in multi-shift operations with day and night shifts. For example, the start or end of the Sunday and public holiday rest period can be brought forward or back by up to six hours.
Apart from the legally regulated working hours, the involvement of employees is also stipulated. Although the employer may decide when employees are to perform their work when drawing up a duty roster, they are obliged to take the interests of the employees into account. The works council ensures that this is the case. According to Section 87 (1) No. 2 BetrVG, it is entitled to co-determine working hours and breaks. For this reason, duty rosters are subject to approval in many large companies. Once a duty roster has been drawn up, the works council and employee representatives have a right of co-determination.
What role does data protection play in duty rostering?
A shift plan always contains personal data; its functionality is based on this. This data includes the real name, address and date of birth, but also working hours, absences such as vacation and sick days, as well as overtime. The data from the duty roster may not simply be published within a company. Privacy must be maintained for data protection reasons. Of course, this also means that it must be ensured that only employees with the appropriate authorizations can access this information. A company must manage and regularly update these authorizations. If access and viewing rights are distributed and data protection is secured within the company, it is of course up to the employees themselves to decide with which colleagues they want to share personal data or overtime, working hours and vacation days beyond their own work area.
Easy online planning - thanks to the online shift plan from shyftplan
Professional shift planning can be a lengthy process. As mentioned in advance, there are countless things to consider when creating a functioning shift plan or duty roster that go far beyond the legal framework. Internal company agreements and employees' wishes must also be taken into account. These and many other factors must be sensibly integrated into the planning. This makes shift planning a thankless task - normally. Thanks to shyftplan as a tool for the professional creation of a duty roster, you are able to plan your staff as required, automatically taking into account the absences of your workforce and information from time recording and the vacation planner. shyftplan offers you the right solution for your individual requirements. This means you no longer have to worry about the many stumbling blocks that creating a duty roster can present. Instead, you can create your duty roster online in no time at all.
