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Kronos Effective Dating (Part 2 - Workforce Scheduler)


My last article (Part 1) outlined how effective dates impacted the employee record for Workforce Timekeeper (WTK) items. In this article I will discuss how the Workforce Central (WFC) system handles effective dates for those components that apply to a Workforce Scheduler (WFS) licensed employee.  First, let’s start with a scenario: 

As a manger I like to keep track of certifications in Kronos Workforce to ensure that I find the most qualified person to fit a specialized job.

One of the key components of WFS is the ability to handle skills and certifications for employees. Why would I need this information? I need to find an employee with the exact skills and certifications that match an employee who called off today. I need to find someone that has the same certification but want to ensure that it has not expired. Out of say, 50 employees, which employee is best equipped to handle the available shift? I need a nurse with an active RN certification. When I open up the Schedule Planner (part of WFS) with my employee group, I can see that I have about 25 out of 50 employees that have active RN certifications (based on the effective date). I know when those certifications expire based on the expiration date. I see an RN available that normally works at a different location, and that today is her day off. The phone number for the RN is available in WFS, so I call her to see if she would be available to cover the shift. What information did I use from WFS? I used the employee’s Primary job (effective dated), demographic information (phone number), schedule, and certifications (also effective dated). This is a hypothetical situation specific to healthcare, but viewing certification information to assist with staffing could apply to many other industries. Some examples could include manager’s needing a payroll clerk with an APA certification, software engineer that is Microsoft MCSE certified, or perhaps even someone who is trained and certified on WFS!

Items that have effective dates in the People Editor for a WFS employee:


Primary Job (this is the same effective date as the labor account)

  • Job Transfer Set (determines which jobs a manager or an employee can transfer to)

  • Certifications (used to fulfill work or schedule requirements)

  • Skills (similar to certifications, also to fulfill work or schedule requirements)

  • Schedule Group Assignment (allows grouping of employees with similar scheduling characteristics)

  • Schedule Rule Set (includes Scheduler restrictions or requirements based on a criteria set)

  • Schedule Rule Overrides (used to over-ride the Schedule Rule Set)

All of the above items can be used for a WFS licensed employee and have the option of being effective dated. They are listed sequentially by the feature that typically gets the most usage. In the prior article, I mentioned the fact that the effective dates used may be for similar fields (e.g. the hire date and employment status effective date). WFS effective dates operate differently and are less dependent upon each other. For example, the certification grant date does not have to match a skill effective date. WFS specific effective date periods can also have gaps in time. For example I have one schedule rule override that covers 5/13/02 – 5/19/02 and a different rule override for 5/20/02- 6/9/2012. For some WFS items, gaps in time are not a good idea (especially an expired certification).

This is tracked inside of WFS for me!
 

Why bother tracking the effective date for a skill or certification?

I want the most qualified employee for the job that day! All my employee skills and certifications can be filtered by a Hyperfind in WFS Schedule Planner. For example, the RN certifications and effective dates can be included as part of a Hyperfind. This allows me to drill down to the employees I want. Now I am prepared for the next RN unexpected day off. I don't have to look at other employees and have a call list for candidates prepared.

Thank you for your time. How can we help with your Workforce Scheduler implementation? Leave a comment or contact us.

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