Build the schedule¶
The schedule is built by a planning manager, usually one week at a time: lay the empty shifts, fill them, check, confirm, then tell the staff.
The schedule chart¶
Open Planning → Schedule. The chart shows the current week:
one row per role, then one row per staff member holding that role; the open shifts (without anyone) come first in each role;
on each staff row, the hours planned against the hours of the contract;
the person’s leaves grey their row;
a draft shift is hatched, an open shift has a dashed outline, a shift to check is red.
Use the arrows and Today to move in time. The scale button chooses Day, Week or Month, or a period of your own (From → To, then Apply). Over a week or a day each shift is drawn at its hours; over a month, as a mark per half day. The button next to it folds or unfolds every group.
On the chart:
click a shift to open it;
drag a shift to another staff member of the same role, or to another time;
drag its right edge to stretch or shorten it;
click an empty cell to create a shift (07:00–15:00 by default).
The chart also offers the calendar, list, kanban, pivot and graph views of the same shifts.
Note
On databases with the Enterprise edition of Odoo, the schedule opens on Odoo’s own Gantt chart, with the same buttons and the same banner.
The banner above the chart¶
For managers, a banner sums up what is left to do in the period on screen. Each counter is a button that filters the chart:
to check — shifts with an issue;
open shift(s) — shifts with nobody;
draft(s) — shifts the staff do not see yet;
to send — confirmed shifts the person concerned has not been told about.
When nothing is left: Everything is planned, confirmed and sent.
Critical periods on the chart¶
Over a week or a day, each role row shows one square per critical period, in the colour of its coverage: red = not enough staff, orange = more than needed, green = covered. Click a square to read the period, its hours, the role, the planned / needed staff and, for a rule per residents, the residents present. Over a month, open Critical periods in the banner to read the same figures as a table by role and day.
A staff member’s preferences¶
On a staff row, the sliders button (Preferences, managers only) shows what applies to the person in the period on screen: night and weekend work, preferred shift, personal weekly maximum and their scheduling preferences.
1. Lay the shifts from a template¶
In the chart, click Plan, then Apply a template.
Choose the Template and a day in the week or month to fill (Week or month of).
Read the summary: the shifts that already exist stay as they are; the missing ones will be created in draft and without anyone.
Click Apply.
From the list view, the Apply a template button does the same.
2. Plan the open shifts automatically¶
Click Plan, then Auto plan the open shifts. WideCare fills the open shifts of the period on screen, earliest first. A message says how many shifts were planned and, for those left open, why (nobody holds the role, on leave, weekly maximum reached…).
The automatic planning never breaks:
the role of the shift;
the person’s leaves and their other shifts at the same time;
the rest between two working days;
the week’s maximum: the contract, plus the weekly flexibility for a full time, limited by the personal weekly maximum when one is filled;
the hours of the contract over the period of the hours balance;
“no nights” and “no weekends” on the staff record;
the hard preferences.
Among the people allowed, it prefers the person assigned to the shift’s sector, the one whose preferred shift matches, the soft preferences, the person with the most hours left in the week and the one behind on their contract hours.
In the list view, select shifts and click Auto plan to plan only those.
3. Correct by hand¶
Open a shift, or drag it on the chart, to change the person or the time. In Staff member, only the people holding the shift’s role are offered.
A shift that breaks a rule turns red and shows the reason at the top of its form (overlaps another shift, during a leave, role not held, breaks a hard preference). Use the To check filter to find them all.
The shift form holds the Sector, the Dates, the Hours, a Label (AM, PM, Night…), Notes for the handover, the Role, the Staff member and the Team.
4. Confirm¶
Click Confirm (n) at the top of the chart: the drafts of the period on screen become Confirmed and the staff can see them. The button reappears as soon as new drafts exist.
When some drafts have nobody, a window says how many and offers:
Confirm anyway — the shifts without anyone are published as open shifts the staff holding the role can take;
Confirm only the assigned ones;
Cancel.
To change a published shift without the staff seeing a half-done version, open it and click Back to draft, then confirm it again.
5. Send the schedule¶
Click Send the schedule (n). The window lists the Recipients: only the staff whose shifts changed since the last sending. Choose a person in Preview for to read the email as they will receive it, then click Send.
Each person receives their shifts of the period and a See my schedule button to their personal page. → Shifts for the staff
A person whose published shift was removed or taken back to draft is written to as well, even without a shift left in the period (Schedule change to announce).
Staff without a work email are listed in a warning: they do not receive the schedule and their shifts stay “not sent”.
A confirmed shift not sent yet shows a blue notice on its form.
Useful filters¶
In the search bar: My shifts, Open shifts, Draft, Confirmed, Not sent yet, To check, Upcoming, and groupings by Role, Sector, Staff member, Team, Status and Day. The Actions menu of the list also offers Confirm, Send the schedule and Auto plan on the selected shifts.