Adding Breaks and Meals to Shifts

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• Supervisor

Define the rules for assigning breaks and meals to shifts within shift sequences.

Related documentation:

• How Workforce Management works

Adding breaks to shifts

Use the Break Properties pane to define the rules for assigning breaks to shifts within shift sequences.

Tip

A shift can contain up to eight breaks.

Configuring breaks

To configure a break within a shift sequence:

1. In the Shifts pane, select the shift with which you want to associate this break.
2. In the right-side pane, select Shift Sequences.
3. In the upper-right corner of the Shift Sequences pane, click Add Break association with shift ( ).

   The Breaks To Be Associated With Shifts pane opens.

4. In this pane, do one of the following:
   • Add a new break by selecting New  . The new break is added to the list and can be assigned to a shift.
   • Create a copy of break by selecting it in the list and clicking Copy .

     You can copy the break to the same site, by checking the Copy to the Same Site check box, or copy it to another business unit and site within the enterprise.

   • Delete a break by selecting it in the list and clicking Delete . The break is no longer associated with any shift.
   • Enter search criteria in the Search field (for example, the name of the break) to quickly find the break you want to apply or copy.
5. To assign a break to a shift, select it and click Apply .

   The break appears in the Meals and Breaks Associated with this Shift list.

Break properties

• Break Name—The name of the break. Use names that clearly identify the break type. The break name must be unique within the site.
• Break Short Name—Enter a short name of up to 3 characters to identify this break. The short name appears in the Intra-Day and Agent Extended Schedule views.
• Schedule State Group—Select a Schedule State Group in the drop-down list.
• Duration of the Break—The duration of this break in one-minute increments, entered in hh:mm format.
• Minimum Length from Shift Start—The minimum amount of time that must pass before an agent can start this break. Enter the duration in the format hours:minutes.
• Maximum Length from Shift Start—The maximum amount of time that can pass before an agent starts this break. Enter the duration in the format hours:minutes.
• Minimum Length from Shift End—The minimum amount of time that must pass after an agent returns to work from this break until the end of the shift. Enter the duration in the format hours:minutes.
• Fixed Position—Determines whether the break has to occur at a specific point in the shift. Possible values are None, Start of Shift, and End of Shift.
• Start Step—The increments between break start times. For example, with a start step of 15 minutes, agents leave for the break 15 minutes apart.
• Start Offset—Sets how many minutes past the hour in the interval in which a break may occur that the start step calculation should begin. Use Start Offset to adjust the break start to a finer granularity than using only the start step alone. For example, if your Start Step is set to 15 and the Start Offset to 1, then breaks could start at 12:01AM, 12:16AM, 12:31AM, and so on. Enter values in hh:mm format.
• Paid Time—When selected, the break is paid.

Adding meals to shifts

Create a new meal for each shift that is included in the schedule. For example, if your site operates 24 hours a day, you might need to create meals called Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Swing.

Meals are always linked to a shift. These meals apply to all contracts associated with the shift. If a conflict arises that prevents a meal from being scheduled for an agent, the shift containing the meal cannot be assigned to the agent.

Tip

If no restrictions are involved (for example, a cafeteria with limited hours of operation), then configure regular breaks instead of meals for each shift.

Configuring meals

To configure a meal:

1. In the Shifts pane, select the shift with which you want to associate this meal.
2. In the right-side pane, select Shift Sequences.
3. In the upper-right corner of the Shift Sequences pane, click Add Meal association with shift .
4. When the Meals To Be Associated With Shifts pane opens, do one of the following:
   • Add a new meal by selecting New . The new meal is added to the list and can be assigned to a shift.
   • Create a copy of meal by selecting it in the list and clicking Copy .

     You can copy the meal to the same site, by checking the Copy to the Same Site check box, or copy it to another business unit and site within the enterprise.

   • Delete a meal by selecting it in the list and clicking Delete . The meal is no longer associated with any shift.
   • Enter search criteria in the Search field (for example, the name of the meal) to quickly find the meal you want to apply or copy.
5. To assign a meal to a shift, select it and click Apply.

   The meal appears in the Meals and Breaks Associated with this Shift list.

Meal properties

• Meal Name—The name of the meal. Use names, such as Lunch, Dinner, or Mid-afternoon break, that identify the meal type. The meal name must be unique within the site.
• Meal Short Name—Enter a short name of up to 3 characters to identify this meal. The short name appears in the Intra-Day and Agent Extended Schedule views.
• Schedule State Group—Select a Schedule State Group in the drop-down list.
• Duration of the Meal—The duration of this meal in one-minute increments, entered in hh:mm format.
• Minimum allowed duration of the Meal—The minimum allowed duration of this meal in one-minute increments, entered in minutes. Unchecking Allow to change meal duration indicates that this setting is not being used. The value must be less than the meal duration. Checking Allow to change meal duration and leaving the field value at 0:00 causes an error to display.
• Earliest Start Time—The earliest time that agents can begin to take this meal. This value plus the Duration cannot extend past the Latest End Time value.
• Latest End Time—The latest time that agents can complete this meal.
• Start Step—The increments between meal start times. For example, with a start step of 15 minutes, agents leave for lunch 15 minutes apart.
• Paid Time—If selected, this meal is paid. If cleared, this meal is unpaid.

Qualification

• Min Time Before This Meal—The minimum amount of time after the shift start time before agents are allowed to take this meal. For example, agents might be required to work for at least two hours before the meal. Enter the duration in the hh:mm format. The time before a meal can include breaks or other meals.
• Min Time After This Meal—The minimum amount of time between the meal and the shift end time. For example, agents might be required to work for at least four hours after the meal. Enter the duration in the hh:mm format hours:minutes. The time after a meal can include breaks or other meals.