HS ASC: Setting Up Minor Rules – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Overview

Minor Rules in HotSchedules allow organizations to define scheduling restrictions for employees under a specified age range. These rules can be configured to reflect organizational policies and regional requirements for scheduling minors.

When applied, Minor Rules enable the Scheduler to surface warnings or prevent scheduling actions that fall outside the defined parameters, helping managers identify potential conflicts when creating schedules.

How Minor Rules Work with School Calendars

Minor Rules can be used alongside School Calendars to apply different restrictions depending on whether school is in session.

In-Session Rules are applied when school is considered to be in session.
Non-Session Rules are applied when HotSchedules detects a period of three consecutive weeks or more where school is marked as out of session on the assigned School Calendar.

If no School Calendar is assigned to the location or employee, HotSchedules uses the In-Session Rules by default.

For information about creating and assigning School Calendars, see HS: Setting Up School Calendars.

Create or Edit Minor Rules (ASC)

Minor Rules are configured in the Above Store Console (ASC) under the Scheduling tab.

From this page, you can view existing Minor Rules and edit or delete them as needed. To create a new rule, select Add Minor Rule.

Enter a name for the rule, then select Add Age Range Definition to configure the scheduling restrictions for a specific age group.

Configure Age Range Definitions

First, define the age range that the rule applies to.

Keep the following in mind:

The ending age cannot be less than the starting age.
If the rule applies to a single age, enter the same age in both fields.
Minor Rules can also be applied to qualifying 18-year-old employees who are still in high school through the employee's Minor Status.

18-Year-Old Employees Subject to Minor Scheduling Rules

In some states, youth-employment scheduling restrictions can continue to apply to employees who are 18 years old and still enrolled in high school. HotSchedules supports this through a Minor Status classification that allows qualifying 18-year-old employees to remain subject to configured Minor Rules.

State	Employees Affected
Alabama	Employees age 18 who are enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school can remain subject to school-night work restrictions.
Nevada	Employees age 18 who are enrolled in high school and are not emancipated can remain subject to school-night work restrictions.

If your organization operates in Alabama or Nevada and needs Minor Rules to apply to qualifying 18-year-old employees, please see article: HS ASC: Minor Rules – Support for 18-Year-Old High School Students

Note: Minor employment requirements vary by jurisdiction. Organizations are responsible for determining which requirements apply to their employees.

Configure In-Session and Non-Session Rules

After defining the age range, configure the scheduling restrictions that should apply.

Each age range includes separate rule settings for:

In-Session Rules — when school is in session
Non-Session Rules — when school is out of session

Depending on your organization's requirements, you can define restrictions such as:

Maximum hours worked
Maximum days worked
Maximum consecutive days worked
Earliest start times
Latest end times
Daily hour limitations

Configure In-Session Daily Hours

For In-Session Rules, daily hour limits can be configured independently based on the type of day the employee is working and the type of day that follows.

You can enter a separate Max Hours value for each of the following:

School Day
Non-School Day
School Day followed by Non-School Day
Non-School Day followed by School Day

When scheduling a minor, HotSchedules applies the appropriate Max Hours value based on the shift's day type and the following day's type.

Earliest Start and Latest End times are entered using a single time field in 15-minute increments. If a time that is not on a 15-minute increment is entered, a caution message is displayed and the time is rounded to the nearest valid increment.

When finished configuring the rules, select Save.

Strictly Enforce Minor Rules

Organizations can choose whether configured Minor Rules provide scheduling warnings or are strictly enforced.

When Strictly Enforce Minor Rules is enabled in ASC, HotSchedules prevents supported scheduling actions that violate the configured Minor Rules.

Strict enforcement applies to configured restrictions including:

Earliest shift start time
Latest shift end time
Maximum hours per day
Maximum hours per week
Maximum days per week
Maximum consecutive days

When a violation occurs, HotSchedules displays the applicable conflict and restricts the scheduling action until the issue is corrected.

Depending on the scheduling action:

Add Shift — The shift cannot be saved until the violation is corrected.
Drag and Drop — A shift that would violate a Minor Rule cannot be assigned to the employee.
Copy/Paste — A violating shift cannot be pasted onto the employee's schedule.
Copy Schedule — The schedule can be copied, but violating employee shifts are converted to house shifts.
Apply Template — Violating employee shifts are converted to house shifts.

If strict enforcement is not enabled, configured Minor Rules can still surface scheduling warnings to help managers identify potential conflicts.

Assign Minor Rules to Locations

After creating the rule, it must be assigned to the appropriate locations.

Select the Assign tab.
Select the locations or states that should use this Minor Rule.
Select Save.

Once assigned, the rule will be enforced for the selected locations.

Store Level Scheduling Warnings

When a manager creates or edits a schedule, HotSchedules automatically evaluates scheduled shifts against the configured Minor Rules.

If a shift violates a Minor Rule, a scheduling warning is displayed to help identify the conflict.

If Strictly Enforce Minor Rules is enabled, supported scheduling actions that violate the rule are prevented until the conflict is corrected.

Minor Rules 6.png

In addition, pink shift guides appear during times when the employee cannot legally be scheduled according to the assigned Minor Rules. Hover over a pink guide to view the restricted time period.

These guides are displayed in both:

The Add Shift window
SmartView

Mobile Roster

The HotSchedules Mobile Roster also honors the Strictly Enforce Minor Rules setting configured in ASC.

When strict enforcement applies, managers creating or editing shifts from Mobile Roster are alerted when a shift violates the employee's applicable Minor Rules and cannot complete the violating scheduling action until the conflict is resolved.