Scheduling How To

The preview section provides quick access to critical data. Each option in the Overview section provides a high-level view of scheduling data.

Access this section by following this path:

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Overview Section

The Live Schedule overviews schedules at sites, zones, and departments. You can also perform many scheduling functions from here. You can also filter by account, user, or vendor.

Live Schedule Color Coding

• If the shift is Vacant and missed, Background color = red + left side = red
• If the shift is assigned and missed, Background color = none + left side = red
• If the shift is assigned and completed, Background color = none + left side = green
• If the shift is assigned and status_in, Background color = none + left side = blue
• If the shift is assigned and late, Background color = none + left side = yellow
  
  

Red Shift: Vacant shift past and future. The shift scheduled on the current date is not being worked.

Yellow Shift: Shift that has passed and was not worked.

Green Shift: Shift that has been worked.

Purple Shift: Shift in the future that is assigned (rolled).

Grey-blue shift: Shift that is assigned (not rolled) in the future.

Light Blue Shift: Shift that is currently being worked.

Black Background (Not Pictured): Shifts on closed days appear with a black background.

In Account Schedules

Red Shift (left side only): Shift has not been worked (no punch).

Red Shift (left side and tile): The shift is vacant and not worked.

Green Shift: Shift that has been worked.

Light Blue Shift: Shift that is currently being worked.

Dashboard: The scheduling dashboard provides a high-level overview of scheduling exceptions and general information about scheduled shifts and attendance.

1. Vacant Shifts: Shifts begin within the specified periods that do not have an employee assigned.
2. Unconfirmed Shifts: Shifts that guards have not confirmed.
3. Hours Summary: This window counts hours and shifts within specified periods.
4. Attendance Exceptions: View the exceptions for each type within the specified periods.

Schedule Overview:  View the calendar of all scheduled shifts, including all employees and all sites.

Employee Settings: Provides access to all employees and their related information, including name, title, pay type, and listing if they're employees or contractors. In addition, it provides their main contact number in the Employee Settings panel. 

Provides access to a calendar view of the selected employee's schedule or loads their actual schedule, allowing it to be modified on the fly.

The Setting button provides access to the employee's Settings, including their HR profile, Skills & Attributes, and schedule availability, among other settings. One other feature provided here is the ability to terminate an employee quickly.

Labor Budget P&L: This feature provides insight into Profit & Loss per account based on payroll and billing hours.

To set the permissions to work with the Labor Budget P&L report, go to Settings → Roles & Security → Admin Portal Roles → Choose any Role → Click on Scheduling permission → "View Labor Budget P&L."

• This permission controls the "Labor Budget P&L" tab.
• Go to Dashboard → Schedules & Attendance → below Overview →  Labor Budget P&L
  
  

Click on a Shift tile to view the information it contains.

1. Replace Button: Replace the employee assigned to the shift with another employee.
2. Cancel Button: Cancel the shift.
3. Shift Information:
   1. When the shift is starting
   2. Employee: The first and last name of the employee
   3. Date: The date of the shift
   4. Time: The start date and time of the shift.
   5. Hours: The hours clocked by the employee.
   6. Site: The name of the site.
4. Shift Pay Codes: A breakdown of the number of hours by pay code.
5. An analysis of the number of hours by pay code and by day.
6. Split Button: Split the shifts between two guards.
   1. Click the Split button.
   2. Select the time to split the shift.
   3. Select the employee and the break via minutes for the first shift.
   4. Select the employee and the break via minutes for the second shift.
   5. Click Save.
      
      

Replace Button: Click this button to select a different employee to work the shift.

Employee: The employee's name.

Date: The date of the shift.

Time: The start and end times of the shift.

Site: The name of the site or account.

Position: The name of the position.

Add Break: This button allows you to add a break manually.

Punch: The date and time of the punch-in and the punch-out.

Shift Pay Codes: The pay codes and the number of hours break down for the shift.

Overtime Period Start: The day on which the overtime clock re-sets.

Daily Shift Breakdown: This section shows a breakdown of shifts for the period and the number of hours assigned to each pay code.

The Edit Schedule tab allows you to make changes to the scheduled shift.

Scheduled Date/Time

• Time Range: The start and end times of the shift.
• Shift Start Date: The date when the shift begins.
• Break (in minutes): The duration of the break-in minutes.

Position Option

You can either use a position at the current site or search for a position at all sites/accounts.

Note: Archived positions will be available for selection in this section.

Employee

• Type: Select from employees assigned to the site or search all employees.
• Employee: The name of the selected employee.
• Comment/Note (Optional): Enter an optional note in this field.

Use this tab to view and enter shift notes.

Note/Comment: Enter notes about the shift.

Add as billing note: For reference purposes only. Check the box to flag the note as a billing note.

You can use this tab to approve the shift and change the approved hours, billing, or payroll hours.

Payroll: Select the option to pay or not pay the shift.

Billing: Choose the option to bill or not bill the shift.

Options: Select the option of a regular shift or of time off.

Approved: Enter the approved number of hours.

Payroll Override: The number of hours to be paid differs from the approved hours.

Billing Override: Enter the number of hours to be billed if different from the approved hours.

Overrides Payroll Rate: Enter a rate to override the existing payroll rate.

Overrides Billing Rate: Enter a rate to override the existing billing rate.

To use the Scheduling & Attendance Module, you must set the defaults. Default settings will be used across the platform unless you decide to override them in specific locations such as a site, zone, or complete department.

Settings > BackOffice Configurations > BackOffice Default > Schedule Default Settings.

You can follow the guidance below to set your defaults.

The Reports section is your one-stop shop for the information you need. Information can be downloaded easily, and it is an excellent analytical tool that provides a broad view of services, employees, and schedules.

View the Reports Section here:

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Reports Section.

Hourly Services: Access the complete list of hourly services, with all their details, such as regular pay rate, overtime pay rate, billing information, and much more.

Employee Summary: This summarizes the employees' scheduled hours and views the employees' schedules.

Scheduling Summary: Provides a summary of all schedules and their respective information for a specific time frame.

The Schedule Preparation section is where Schedulers will create Schedule Templates and assign employee shifts. 

Access this section by following this path:

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Schedule Preparation Section.

The options in this section allow schedulers to create shifts at different operational entities such as Sites (Clients), Departments, or Zones. From the Schedule Preparation section, you can select where to schedule the employee's shifts.

Sites (Clients): Dedicated or static employees can be scheduled at sites because their duties never require leaving the assigned site.

Departments: Administrative staff and salaried supervisors can use the Departments option.

Zones: Mobile or patrol employees should be scheduled at zones since their duties typically require visiting several sites during their shift.

The Attendance and Resolution section provides a view of real-time time attendance. Additionally, this section offers options for different expectations typically managed by schedulers. This section can be used to monitor attendance and forecast issues in the schedule. Each option in this section serves a specific purpose for managing shifts.

To access this section, please follow the bath below:

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Attendance & Resolution Section.

Attendance Watch: View the real-time time and attendance of employees. The visual layout provides a quick view of whether employees showed up and clocked in as scheduled. This section also includes information about Lone Worker check-ins.

Batch Timeclock: It is the option where schedulers can clock users in or out.

Vacant Shifts: List all vacant shifts and assign them to employees.

Unconfirmed Shifts: Access the list of scheduled shifts that an employee still needs to confirm. 

Proposal Queue: View shifts offered to employees and whether they have accepted them.

Shifts Notes: Consult and read all notes created during shifts in a single place.

Positions are used across the platform for key features such as Scheduling, Billing, and Mobile Patrol. You must have at least one position at a site, zone, or department to schedule employees within said location.

You can create positions at sites, zones, or departments.

From a Site:

Sites (Client) > Select Site > Overview > Positions > Create a Position.

From a Zone:

Sites (Client) > Site Zones (Groups) > Select Zone > Positions > Create a Position

This will open the Create a position window you can fill.

Post Base Settings

The Post Base Settings are essential to identify and define the Position and communicate important information to the employees when sending them their schedules.

Post Name and Post ID: They will help you search for specific positions in the future, so use a name or an ID that makes sense and that you will remember.

Short Description of Tasks: This is for internal use only and should describe employees' activities.

Schedule Memo: Gather the information you wish to provide the employee scheduled for this position. For example, you could remind employees to dress according to the weather for an outdoor post. This information will be available in the email distribution of the schedule.

Status: Can be either "Active" or "Archived." If the position is still in use and you want to use it as part of your scheduling process, then make sure it is active; otherwise, you can archive it so it doesn't appear anymore.

Compliances

Requirements are also commonly referred to as Skills & Attributes. This section links the right skills and attributes to each position. This step is vital as it will allow only the right person with the suitable skill set to work in each position. 

Hard Requirements: They are requirements that the employee MUST have to be assigned the position. Someone without them won't appear in your search if you try to assign the position.

Conditional Requirements: The employee must have at least one of them to work at the position.

Soft Requirements: They are the preferred requirements; consider them "nice to haves."

Service Dates

Service dates will allow for better planning to start and stop scheduling for a position at the correct date.

Service Duration: Choose whether you want the position to be Ongoing or Temporary Service.

Begin Date: This is simply the date from which the position will be available to be scheduled.

Expense Reimbursement: Add Ad Hoc Earning items that will be reimbursed after approval.

Although you can use them separately, Skills and Attributes are an essential scheduling aspect. They can be certifications or permits; they can be employee skills or items the employee possesses, such as uniforms. Enabling Skills and Attributes ensures you always have the best available employee assigned to your client.

First, you can assign Skills and Attributes to individual employees. Then, set the Skills and Attributes for a position. Employees will only be able to work in positions where they have the necessary skills and attributes. 

The advantages of using skills and attributes include:

Scheduling: Only see employees that meet the necessary compliances for the post/position. Most likely, these compliances will be required from the client receiving the service. I.e., site-specific training, firearm license, First aid/CPR training,

Liability: Depending on the country, state, province, or area your employees will be working. This will help ensure they meet the minimum requirements to work for the Security Company. I.e., Security Guard Card, Driver's License, and Language.

Employee Management: With our date fields, you will ensure that all employees renew their certifications on time. TrackTik will warn admin users of soon-to-expire skills and attributes. Default settings will warn the admin 30 days before the expiry date. This setting can increase or decrease the days before a warning is triggered.

Growth for employees: This will help you promote the right employees in their current roles and toward new roles.

Please see the article on creating, assigning, and managing Skills and Attributes for more information.

The next step in the scheduling process involves creating Schedule Templates. Templates can be created and followed by the Site (Client), Zone, and Departments. You can set up weekly, bi-weekly, and custom-length schedules in TrackTik. The most common scenario is weekly schedules.

These are the basic steps involved in scheduling:

• Create a Template
  • Choose the right Settings
  • Assign employees to the Site
  • Create Recurring Shifts
  • Assign Recurring employees to Shifts
  • Manually confirm Template
• Switch to the Schedule
  • Create Ad-Hoc Items
  • Assign Vacant Shifts
  • Roll the Schedule to confirm
  • Publish the Schedule on the platform
  • Distribute the Schedule to employees

The following sections describe how to perform each of those steps.

The Schedule Template is a pattern that repeats when you define a template start date. Therefore, the more information you add to the template, the more time you save. Keep the following best practices in mind when creating a template:

• You can define a template at a site, a zone, or a department. 
• No matter where you create the template, you can also define breaks, shift start and end times, and the number of shifts to be worked each day.
• If the same person regularly works a shift, assign that person to the shift on the template. However, if different employees cover the shift from week to week, leave the shift unassigned on the template.
• If configured, you may see one column to set up a template for the site "Closed days." This will ensure that for each configured closed business day. The closed business day configuration will overwrite the regular schedule. 

To set up a Schedule Template, follow one of those paths: 

Sites (Client) > Select Site > Schedules > Prepare > Template

Sites (client) > Site Zones (Groups) > Select Zone > Schedules > Prepare > Template

Employees > Department > View desired Department > Schedules > Prepare > Template.

This will open the following window. You can create and manage your Template and Schedule by switching from one to the other.

Follow the path below to access all site schedules, zones, and departments.

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Schedule Preparation section

Access to the TrackTik Scheduling module depends on roles and permissions.

Admin portal role: When creating an Admin role, you will give one or more of the following viewpoints: Schedule Template, Site Schedule, or Live Schedule. Those Viewpoints will provide the user access to every site/zone in the region.

Staff portal role:  When creating a Staff role, you can give the following viewpoints: Schedule Template and Site Schedule. This will be available through the Manager Dashboard; no On-site License is required. It will be limited to the site/zone the employee is assigned to. 

Note: If an employee accesses TrackTik with an Onsite license, they will see your published schedules. You can also grant Manager Dashboard access to supervisors. With this access, supervisors can schedule guards for all their sites.

Before you create shifts in the template, please follow the steps below to ensure the template settings are accurate.

1. Click on the Settings button above the scheduling grid 
2. Verify if closed days will affect the schedule. For example, if the location is locked over the weekend, should those days still be shown in the schedule? This allows you to automatically remove days from the calendar when employees are not required.
3. The Shift Board allows you to post Vacant Shifts to a community board where employees assigned to the site can pick up the vacant shifts. 
4. Set the template cycle duration. The template can work on a 7-day, 14-day, or a custom number of days.
5. Confirm the starting date for the template and click on the Save button.
   
   

Employees must be assigned to a site to be eligible to work shifts scheduled at the site. Please ensure all the employees at this site are currently assigned and available in the list on the screen's right-hand side.

Follow the steps below to register an employee on the site:

1. Click on the Assign Employee button 
2. Begin typing the name of the employee. 
3. Select the employee from the drop-down menu as it begins to populate. If the employee's pay is subject to change based on the post they work at the site, click on the checkbox Overwrite employee pay rate at this site.
4. Click the Save button to confirm that the selected employee appears in the correct list. 

Continue this process for each employee who will be working at the site.

If you set up availabilities for employees, shift tiles will show flags indicating whether the employee is available, may be available, or is not available. This will prevent schedulers from accidentally assigning employees who are not available to work.

Note: Availability flags will show in the Schedule view only.

You can set employee availability in the employee file in the Availabilities tab.

Green: Available

Yellow: May be available

Red: Not available.

You can enter a time of request for an employee in the employee's file by clicking the HR Profile button and then Time Off.

First Day Off: The first day of the employee's time off.

Return Date: Last day of the employee's time off.

Description: The reason for or type of time off.

Click the Create Time Off button to add the time off.

Schedulers will be blocked from assigning employees to shifts during the time-off period.

Once all shifts have been added, confirm that the template is complete. Review the template and remember what is shown in the Template view will continue to populate week after week. Leave some shifts vacant if a different employee may work those shifts in a given week. These vacant shifts can always be assigned as a one-time occurrence in the Schedule.

Once you have scheduled all known shifts in the template, change your view to the Schedule view. Here, you can finalize the schedule and publish it. Next, edit the schedule for one-time or non-recurrent shifts and assign vacant shifts from the template. 

Select a date range that includes the template start date. If no shifts appear, it may be because the date range is not filtered for dates where the template is applied.

One-time shifts must be created in the schedule view. This allows you to create a shift that will not populate the schedule week-over-week.

Follow the steps below to create one-time shifts in the schedule.

1. Hover over the bottom of the post/position and day in the schedule grid. 

Note: A light blue "+" button will appear. Click on this button. 

2. Enter the information for the ad hoc shift. 
3. Click on the Create button.
   
   

In the example above, the Security employee post/position shift on Thursday the 9th will only appear on that date. So, it won't be copied forward to the following Thursdays because it would be in the Template view.

Shifts configured in the Schedule view will occur once. 

Follow the steps below to assign an employee to a specific shift.

1. Click on the shift. 
2. Select the employee to assign and click on the arrow button in the selected employee's tile.

Note: The shift's color should change, indicating it has been selected. 

Note: The employee will be flagged if they are unavailable to work.

To better manage many shifts, applying the Template to the site with up-to-date information is possible without making it public. This will help you finalize your Schedule.

This option is called "Rolling the Template" and will help you validate the schedule for:

Potential Conflict:  If there is a schedule conflict for an employee part of your template, the shift will become vacant, and a yellow warning triangle will appear. Hovering over that triangle will let you know why this shift became vacant.

Overtime: If applicable, a red square showing the amount of OT (Overtime) hours for the shift will appear for each employee on your template.

Time-Off: If a time off request has been submitted by an employee on your template, the shift will become vacant with a yellow warning triangle, just like a schedule conflict.

Note: The Roll Templates button will only appear if Template validation is required before publishing. That will allow the Scheduler to plan for every adjustment before publishing. Publishing makes the schedule available to employees.

The Schedule is visible to guards after publishing. The Scheduler should only publish once all the changes have been made. Published shifts turn from grey to a solid bright color.  

Published shifts are accessible in the following places: TrackTik Mobile application, Employee portal, Distribution email sent to the employees affected, and IVR system by texting the word "Schedule."

Employees cannot clock into published shifts using the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). 

Follow the steps below when you are ready to publish.

1. Confirm that the date range is correct. 

Note: This information will also be shown in the pop-up window. All shifts included in this date range will be published and made available. 

2. Click on the Publish button and complete the information in the pop-up window. 
3. Click on the Save button when ready.

After completing this action, the number of shifts shown in the Publish button should change to zero, indicating that all shifts shown have been published. 

Note:  Even published shifts can be edited later. However, the changes will need to be published and redistributed.

You can then distribute email schedules that you have published. This email will include the name and the address of the site/client, the position, and the schedule memo at the position level, if applicable.

TrackTik will alert you if the employee needs an email address in their profile. You can add an email for that employee after the first scheduled distribution. Add the email to the employee profile, then go back and distribute it to anyone with a new email address.

If the employee doesn't have an email address and will not have one, the distribute button will remain green, indicating the employee did not get a schedule. You can then follow up with the employee to provide their schedule or ensure they will use another method to get it (mobile app, employee portal, IVR if set up).

You can distribute a schedule from the following areas:

From the main menu: Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Schedule Preparation section

From a Site: Sites (Clients) > Select Site > Schedules

Follow the steps below to distribute the schedules.

1. Click on the Distribute Schedule button. 
2. Validate the date range to be published and review the number of schedules and employees who will receive it by clicking Next.
   
   

Guards will receive an email with the list of shifts that they have been scheduled for. Also, an acknowledge button will appear if you say yes to requesting employee acknowledgment.

You can modify a Schedule once it has been published and distributed. Then, however, it will be necessary to distribute the changes to the schedule again. Rather than resending the entire schedule, the system will prompt you to send only updates for the shifts that have been modified since the schedule was initially distributed.

The Notify Changes button will only appear if there is a need to send updates to employees. You can access the Notify Changes button here:

Dashboard > Schedules & Attendance > Schedule Preparation section

Follow the steps below to notify employees of schedule changes.

1. Click on the Notify Changes button next to the Distribute Schedules button. 
2. Select and confirm the date range for the updated shifts. 
3. All modifications in the date range shown in the dialogue box (4 weeks from the current date) will be distributed once you click the Save button.