Blog

Snap Schedule 365 Enhancements Eclipse All Other Solutions

Being software development geeks as we are, the development team at Snap Schedule decided to push out an update to Snap Schedule 365 in conjunction with the North American Lunar Eclipse.  Here in Seattle, we’re expecting a 92% moon shadow, which will be very slick.  So, donning our ISO 12312-2 certified solar glasses, we’ll be staring into the sun on Monday, August 21, 2017, and hoping that the Seattle clouds… Read More »Snap Schedule 365 Enhancements Eclipse All Other Solutions

Configurable Choosers

Schedulers need to be able to quickly find information they need to create and maintain employee schedules.  Snap Schedule 365 uses a “chooser” window to allow schedulers to drag and drop the shift, employee, task or position onto the schedule with ease.  With the latest release of the software, those chooser windows have become even more powerful. The chooser window (on the right-hand side) can now be configured to display… Read More »Configurable Choosers

Contact Information for Shifts and Tasks

Snap Schedule 365 has always embraced the concept of both shifts and locations.  Every shift must be anchored to a location so an employee knows where to go for his assignment.  This approach works well for organizations that have very few workplace locations.  For instance, a hospital might have locations defined as: Emergency Department, General Surgery, Labor and Delivery, etc.  In such a case, shifts can be created for each… Read More »Contact Information for Shifts and Tasks

Improved Employee Availability

While the availability of employees is something that is fairly predictable from week to week, there are often times when an employee’s availability changes on specific days.  Historically, in order for the scheduler to ensure an employee was not asked to work during a time when he is not available, the scheduler used specific time off assignments as place-holders.  This, however, can be cumbersome, and a little confusing. With the… Read More »Improved Employee Availability

New Measures Taken in Washington and Oregon Regarding Paid Time Off

Washington state and Oregon have recently made headlines with changes they have enacted in regard to paid time off. Oregon made amendments to their paid-sick-time law, which more clearly defines some areas that rose questions, while Washington passed a paid family and medical leave program. Washington’s S.B. 5975 puts into place an option of providing paid leave for 12 weeks for employees that have a new child or need to… Read More »New Measures Taken in Washington and Oregon Regarding Paid Time Off

Municipality Employee Scheduling Legislation Trends

San Francisco, Emeryville, and San Jose are three main cities in California that have been a part of the local government trend in setting legislation surrounding employee scheduling. San Francisco enacted the Retail Workers Bill of Rights, which spawned similar legislation in other municipalities. A recent podcast by Littler Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) explored the increasing shift of municipality statutes regulating hiring and scheduling of workers. The WPI pointed out… Read More »Municipality Employee Scheduling Legislation Trends

Effects of Irregular Shifts and Work Schedules

Irregular shifts and on-call work schedules usually result in working variable hours throughout the week or even the month. Shift work is typically used to describe hours worked outside the regular 9a.m. to 5p.m. time frame, and includes evenings, nights, overnight, and on-call. Split shifts and rotating shifts also contribute to the irregular employee scheduling pattern across industries.  The causes of these irregular shifts and irregular employee schedules vary, but… Read More »Effects of Irregular Shifts and Work Schedules

Scheduling Tips for Night Shifts

Dispatch operations, medical facilities, hospitals, transportation, manufacturing plants, utility companies, and other businesses that operate 24/7 or schedule maintenance after hours must schedule employees to work night shifts. There are many factors to consider to ensure that employees are scheduled correctly to provide the needed shift coverage, don’t have conflicting shifts, receive the required rest period between shifts, and are properly compensated. There are federal and state laws to consider… Read More »Scheduling Tips for Night Shifts

Browning-Ferris Joint Employer Status Case Update

The public at large is still waiting for a decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on whether the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ruling in 2015, which changed the definition of joint employer, will be upheld. On March 9, 2017, Browning Ferris Industries (BFI), the NLRB, and the Union presented oral arguments to the D.C. Circuit Court. The circuit judges involved include Patricia Millet, Raymond Randolph, and Robert… Read More »Browning-Ferris Joint Employer Status Case Update

Schedule Views — Minimum Row Height and Cell Padding

In a recent update to Snap Schedule 365, we made an improvement to the Task View by Employee that reduced the size of task assignments by 10 pixels (5 pixels of padding on both the top and bottom).  We did this to allow the underlying shift assignment to be visible even when the task assignments cover the entire shift.  An example of that extra padding is shown below. We’ve heard… Read More »Schedule Views — Minimum Row Height and Cell Padding