Building rules in Shift is key to unlocking the full potential of shift management for your workers. Rules can be used to ensure your scheduling adheres to local and state regulations, ensuring your company stays compliant. For example, you may create a rule to ensure your workers have necessary breaks after working long hours or that they do not work too much overtime.
Creating Rules
To create a rule, follow the steps below:
In the left side panel, click Shift.
Click the arrow to expand the side panel, which will reveal the subpages under the Shift product. Then click Rules.
Click +Add a rule in the top right corner.
Type a name for the rule. Be as specific as possible in case you create similar rules with slight differences in the future.
Example: New York - Day of Rest & Meal Period Laws
Decide on the rule restriction type. You have two options to choose from:
Display a warning state: This will warn the user creating the schedule when they assign a worker that meets the conditions of the rule, but it will not prevent the user from assigning the worker.
Display a blocking state: This will prevent the user creating the schedule from assigning a worker to a shift that matches the conditions of the rule.
Type the display message that the user will see if they encounter the restriction warning or block when assigning a worker during scheduling creation.
Click +Add condition.
In the new Add condition builder, click +Add condition again. Select the type of condition you want to add. You have three options:
Worker Attribute: Anything related to the worker, such as their name, start date, location, or even their hours scheduled. You can create a rule based on any attribute in the Worker Profile, or on the worker's schedule, such as Consecutive scheduled hours. See Limit Consecutive Scheduled Hours below.
Shift event: Anything related to the shift, such as the shift duration, location, or job.
Compare attributes: You can even compare two attributes for more complex rules. For example, if you have a minimum certification requirement for a location, you can tag that location with the minimum value requirement and compare the certification on the Worker’s Profile to ensure they’re certified to work at the location.
Choose from templates: You’ll learn about using templates later in this article.
Select the value for the condition and any additional required fields. Examples of real customer rules are found in the next section of this article.
To duplicate or delete a condition, click the 3 dots button to the right and then Duplicate or Delete.
You can add additional layers of conditions by clicking +Add condition in the condition builder.
Click Add. You’ll be brought back to the main Create rule page, and the conditions will be listed in the Conditions section.
You can change the way the rule will function by changing the AND to OR. This will look at multiple conditions on either an AND or OR basis. This can help you essentially build two rules within one rule!
Example: Worker is in the state of Hawaii OR in the state of Texas. We would not want to use AND in this example.
You can also choose to add more conditions or a subgroup:
Adding conditions: Provides the flexibility to add as many conditions to your rule as needed.
Adding subgroups: Subgroups are used if you want to have both AND/OR operators in your rule.
To duplicate, edit, or delete any part of the conditions, click the 3 dots button to the right and then duplicate, edit, or delete.
Click Activate rule in the top right corner when finished.
Conflict Checks
As you build your rule, Fountain will automatically check for existing shifts that conflict with the rule you’re attempting to apply. This is seen in the top right corner of the Schedule Conflicts box.
Click the arrow to the right of each location with conflicts to see the existing shifts that conflict with the rule.
You can also download a CSV of all conflicting shifts across all locations. Once you resolve the shift conflicts or add a condition to your rule that bypasses the conflict, such as a shift start date condition past the last conflicting shift, the rule will be able to be saved successfully.
Limit Consecutive Scheduled Hours
The Consecutive scheduled hours condition caps how many hours in a row a worker can be scheduled, including when those hours are made up of several back-to-back shifts. Use it to enforce a rest-break policy, such as no more than 4 consecutive hours without a 1-hour break, for workers who work short shifts back to back and don't log breaks.
The condition looks at the worker's scheduled shifts. It doesn't use timesheets or logged breaks.
Add the Condition to a Rule
To add a consecutive scheduled hours limit to a rule:
Create a rule as described in Creating Rules above. Enter a Rule name, choose a Rule restriction, and write the message under Then Display message. To stop assignments and claims that go past the limit, choose Display a blocking state.
Under Conditions, click Add condition, then click Add condition again in the panel and select Worker Attribute.
Under Schedule, select Consecutive scheduled hours.
Choose an operator and enter the maximum number of consecutive hours in the hours and minutes boxes. For example, choose is greater than and enter 4 hours.
To require a rest period once a worker reaches the limit, enter a Break time requirement (optional) in the hours and minutes boxes below it.
To limit the rule to certain workers, click Add condition again and add another Worker Attribute, for example Location is in a specific location. A worker must meet all of the conditions for the rule to apply.
Click Apply to close the panel, then click Activate rule. You can also click Save as draft to activate it later.
With a 4-hour limit and a 1-hour break time requirement, the condition reads "Everyone whose Consecutive scheduled hours is greater than 4 hours until a break of 1 hour."
Understand How the Limit Applies
Once a worker reaches the limit:
Managers can't assign the worker to a shift that would take them past it.
The worker can't claim an open shift that would take them past it. Those shifts are hidden from the worker in their Worker Portal.
If the rule has a break time requirement, the limit stays in place until that much time has passed since the worker's last consecutive shift ended. After that, the worker can be assigned or claim shifts again.
A 30-minute gap between two shifts resets the count. The break time requirement only applies once a worker has reached the limit.
Example
A rule limits workers to 4 consecutive scheduled hours, with a 1-hour break time requirement. A worker is scheduled from 9 to 10 AM, 10 AM to 12 PM, and 12 to 1 PM, which is 4 consecutive hours.
Open shifts from 1 to 1:30 PM, 1:30 to 2 PM, and 1:30 to 4 PM are hidden from the worker, because they start before the 1-hour break is over.
The 2 to 4 PM open shift is visible, and the worker can claim it.
A manager can't assign the worker to the 1 to 1:30 PM shift.
Tell Workers About the Limit
Open shifts that would break the rule are hidden, so workers near their limit see fewer shifts to claim. Let workers know the rule exists so they understand why some shifts don't appear.
Customer Rule Examples
Below is a list of real-life customer example Shift rules, including the reason the rule was originally created.
New York - Day of Rest & Meal Period Laws
This rule ensures two state laws:
The worker takes a break for rest and meals if their shift is longer than 6 hours.
The worker isn’t scheduled for more than six days in a row due to rest day requirements.
Overtime warning
This rule displays a warning for the worker if they have been scheduled for more than 40 hours.
Illinois Minor School Year Law
This rule ensures that minor workers who are in school do not work more than 3 hours on school days, which is a required state law. You’ll notice there are conditions for start date and end date, which capture the school year.
Rules Templates
When creating conditions for a new rule, you’ll have the option to save it as a template. This is helpful to build similar rules quickly in the future.
To save a condition as a template, click the Save as Template button at the bottom of the condition builder expanded pop-out. Then, type a name for the template and click Confirm.
To use a previously saved template when creating a new rule, select Choose from templates after clicking +Add condition in the condition builder expanded pop-out. Search for the name in the search box.
Rules Table
Saved rules are listed on the Rules Table. To access the table, click Shift in the left side panel. Then click the arrow to expand the side panel, which will reveal the subpages under the Shift product. Finally, click Rules.
At the top of the Table, you can search for a rule or organize your view via status tabs: all, active, inactive, or deleted.
The table will list the name of the rule, when it was last updated, the rule restriction type (either blocker or warning), and the status. Clicking the status toggle will turn the rule active or inactive.
Click the 3 dots button to the right of the rule’s name to edit, duplicate, or delete the rule.
Use the filter button to find specific rules in the table. You can filter by rule name, restriction type, or status.