Fixed Schedule

Updated 1 month ago by Leigh Hutchens

This article relates to Classic.

There are several different ways to do scheduling in Quinyx. The most common ways are to use fixed schedules, templates, as well as ad hoc shifts, and often a combination of these methods.

Fixed schedules are used to create a rolling schedule that follows the same pattern over a longer period of time. For example, there may be a receptionist who works Monday-Friday 10am-6pm every week in the reception, or a chef who works every other week in the kitchen Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10am-7pm.

When we create the schedule, there are three steps that we need to go through:

  1. Create the fixed schedule,
  2. Roll it out in the actual schedule, in other words activate it,
  3. And lastly it is  published, made visible to staff members.

A fixed schedule is most often associated to a specific employee, but you can also create a fixed schedule for unmanned shifts which are, for instance, to be manned by extra hourly staff.

Create a Fixed schedule for an employee

  1. Navigate to the Schedule tab and then click Fixed schedules
  2. Click “Add” on the far right to create a new fixed schedule 
  3. Select an employee in the drop-down list “Select employee”
  4. Select the schedule period that the schedule will have.
     Note that the week in which the selected date falls will comprise schedule week 1 in the schedule cycle. It is particularly important to remember if you have more than one employee with their own schedule cycles and that schedule week 1 will fall in different calendar weeks for the various employees!
    To insert an end date in the fixed schedule the box to the right of the second calendar icon needs to be checked. An end date can be inserted if the schedule for instance will only apply during the summer, while a different fixed schedule will apply the remaining part of the year. However, common not to add and end date, thereby letting the fixed schedule provide a general foundation.
  5. Select how many weeks the schedule will roll for. As soon as you have selected a number of schedule weeks, you will be able to see relevant information about the employee’s nominal hours during the schedule period.
  6. If you like, you can add a comment to a fixed schedule. The comment will only be visible to you as the scheduler. An employee can have several fixed schedules. The employee might work according to one schedule during the summer and according to another one for the rest of the year. The comment field can be extremely useful in this case, to allow you to quickly see which schedule is to be rolled out.
  7. To add a shift click “add”
  8. Select week (if it is a rolling 2 week schedule you first build week 1 and then do the same but select 2 under “week”) select:
    1. Day
    2. Shift type
    3. Times and any breaks
    4. Check that correct agreement is specified
    5. Note:  In many organisations employees only have one agreement, but occasionally several agreements can be applied to the same employee. The different agreements may entail different working conditions and therefore, it is important for the shift to be scheduled with the correct agreement so that the correct information will end up in the payroll file.
    6. The cost centre generally appears automatically, so it does not usually need to be selected (depending on how Quinyx is configured).
  9. Save the shift
  10. Continue to build in the same way by clicking the Add new button for all of the days you want to create in the fixed schedule. Quinyx suggests the same shift type and times as the previous day to make the process quicker, but it is of course possible to adjust if needed. There is also a green arrow icon for building fixed schedules more efficiently. The green arrow can be used if you want to copy the shift from one day to another or all shifts in a week to another week.
  11. Save.
  12. When the fixed schedule is completed and saved you can see it in the overview.

Copy a fixed schedule

If you have more than one employee who works the same, or similar, fixed schedule you can copy a fixed schedule from one employee to another:

  1. Click Add to create a new fixed schedule
  2. Select an employee in the drop-down list “Select employee” (employee A)
  3. In the drop-down list “Select the schedule to be copied” select the existing schedule that is to be copied (from employee B).
  4. The fixed schedule will be copied from employee B to employee A. If the schedule should be exactly the same you only need to Save. Or you can click in and edit relevant shifts if there are differences. You can also change the starting date of the fixed schedule to make an “offset” between employee A and B’s fixed schedule.

When you build the fixed schedule you can also copy days/weeks. 

Select the green arrow

You can then choose to copy particular weeks or days, to build the fixed schedule more quickly.

Create an unmanned fixed schedule 

You can also create a fixed schedule that is vacant. This schedule can be used if for example you have a continuous need for extra staff bur do not know in advance who will be assigned. The schedule is created in exactly the same way as when you do a fixed schedule for an employee, except that you do not select an employee in the drop down list, but instead give the fixed schedule a relevant name. The schedule is  rolled out in the same way and the shifts can later be manned under Schedule.

Fixed schedule view

The view under the fixed schedule is very useful when you want to have an overview of how your schedule will look. Use the date selector to see how the schedule looks over a longer period. You can also copy or move shifts in the fixed schedules by dragging and dropping in this view.

Roll out the Fixed Schedule

When you are ready to use your Fixed schedule it is time to “roll it out”.

  1. Open the Scheduling tab and the heading Fixed Schedule
  2. Click the symbol
  3. Select the schedule(s) that you want to roll out by checking these
  4. Leave week-based as it is
  5. Select the period you want to roll out the schedule for
  6. Check availability - select if availability is to be checked, otherwise only vacations and absence are checked - these are checked by default
  7. Link matching punches automatically - Can be used if the manager has forgotten to roll out a fixed schedule for a period where the employee has already punched - checked by default.
  8. Restore reassigned/unassigned shifts - If you make changes in a fixed schedule and roll out over the old ones or roll back, you can leave the field unchecked (as a default setting) to leave changes that have been made in the schedule it will then be rolled out. If you choose to check reset reassigned/unassigned shifts these shifts will be deleted.
  9. Click on “Roll out shifts for this period”
  10. To override a warning check the box (you can choose “select all” and then the Approve button). Unchecked will be created as unmanned. In order to delete shifts you have not checked, instead of creating unmanned shifts, check the box Delete un-approved shifts. 
  11. Select Approve
    Note  If you roll out a schedule that breaks any rules of the employees agreement, a pop up window with warnings will display. If the shift is to be created despite these warnings, the warnings can be overridden. If you do not approve the warnings, the shift will be created as an unmanned shift in the schedule.
  12. The shifts are now created in the Schedule and Scheduled staff views

Roll back

You can roll back fixed schedules.

Click the icon with red arrow.

  1. Select relevant fixed schedules
  2. Select the dates that you want to roll the schedule back to
  3. Check Reset reassigned/unassigned shifts if a shift in the schedule has been changed after rolling out and you want to delete the changes
  4. Click the Roll back shifts for period button

Publish schedule

The Publish date at the bottom of the screen in the schedule view determines how far in the future employees can see their schedules. The publication date is set per unit. Once the schedule is published it can seen by the employees in the staff portal and mobile app.  White (published)  vs grey (unpublished), in the schedule, is an easy visual indicator of how far the schedule is published. 

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