Companies that provide security or cleaning services, for example, will typically contract with multiple clients at once to provide their services at different locations.
The main operational challenge is to ensure that the right people with the right skills are deployed reliably across sites at the right time. The shift roaster should at the same time ensure that all employment conditions are followed and the contractual requirements of the service agreement are met. It’s a difficult problem, even more so without the proper software tools.
For example, an employee may be deployed only within the working hours specified in their contract and at a pre-agreed location. Should there be a sudden need to work overtime, it must be within the terms of the Act and under prior agreement with the employee. Even if the employee voluntarily wants to work overtime and wants to get more pay, it can be prevented by the basic terms of the Employment Act.
During day-to-day operations, change and disruption are inevitable, and then the best plans must be adapted on the fly. So some flexibility must be built into the shift roster while always remaining efficient and productive. For example, there should always be standby people on call. Some additional capacity must also cater for leave, training and other activities. This additional capacity should only be used within the context of the law, and the employer must always keep accurate records and promptly note exceptions. Optimizing all of these factors is critical to profitability and ultimately business success.
The process of allocating people and resources to track shift activity while complying with workplace legislation is called workforce management compliance. Workforce management compliance ensures that the right skills are deployed to the right sites as efficiently as possible to optimize productivity and minimize risk.
