HS ASC: Setting Up Minor Rules

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.

Minor Rules are configured at the organization in the Above Store Console (ASC), while an employee's Minor Status determines how configured Minor Rules apply to that employee. For information about employee-level classifications, see HS: Managing Minor Status for Employees.

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 a School Calendar has not been created for the store, or if the employee is not assigned to a School Calendar, 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

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

To access Minor Rules:

• Navigate to Scheduling > Minor Rules.
• Existing Minor Rules and their configured age ranges are displayed.
• Select Edit to modify an existing Minor Rule, or select Add Minor Rule to create a new rule.
  

When creating a new Minor Rule:

• Enter a name for the rule.
• Select Add Age Range Definition to configure the scheduling restrictions for an age group.

Note: A Minor Rule can contain multiple Age Range Definitions to apply different restrictions to different age groups.

Configure Age Range Definitions

Each Minor Rule can include one or more Age Range Definitions. Age Range Definitions allow different scheduling restrictions to be configured for different age groups.

To configure an Age Range Definition:

• Select Add Age Range Definition to create a new age range, or select Edit for an existing age range.
• Enter the From and To ages for the employees to whom the rules should apply.
• Configure the applicable In-Session Rules and Non-Session Rules for the age range (details below).
• Select Save.

In-Session Rules

In-Session Rules define the scheduling restrictions that apply while school is considered to be in session.

Configure the applicable Weekly limits for the age range:

• Max Days – Maximum number of days the employee can be scheduled during the week.
• Max Hours – Maximum number of hours the employee can be scheduled during the week.
• Max Consecutive Days – Maximum number of consecutive days the employee can be scheduled.

Daily restrictions can then be configured for:

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

For each day type, configure the applicable Max Hours, Earliest Start, and Latest End values.

Non-Session Rules

Non-Session Rules define the scheduling restrictions that apply when HotSchedules determines that school is out of session based on the employee's assigned School Calendar.

Configure the applicable Weekly limits for the age range:

• Max Days – Maximum number of days the employee can be scheduled during the week.
• Max Hours – Maximum number of hours the employee can be scheduled during the week.
• Max Consecutive Days – Maximum number of consecutive days the employee can be scheduled.

Under Daily Hours, configure the applicable Max Hours, Earliest Start, and Latest End values.

Note: 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.

Strictly Enforce Minor Rules Setting

Select Strictly Enforce Minor Rules to prevent schedules from being posted when they contain Minor Rule violations. When enabled, violations must be corrected before the schedule can be posted.

When Strictly Enforce Minor Rules is not enabled, HotSchedules will display Minor Rule conflicts to managers, but the warnings do not prevent the schedule from being posted.

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.

Applying Minor Rules to 18-Year-Old High School Students

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.

Note: To use this functionality, the Extend Minor Age to 18 Staff Permission must be enabled for the organization. Contact Fourth Support for assistance with enabling this permission.

Once enabled, qualifying employees can be assigned the 18-Year-Old in High School Minor Status. For information about assigning and managing an employee's Minor Status, see HS: Managing Minor Status for Employees.

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

Assign Minor Rules to Locations

After configuring the Age Range Definitions for a Minor Rule, use the Assign tab to select the locations where the rule should apply.

To assign the Minor Rule:

• Open the applicable Minor Rule in ASC.
• Select the Assign tab.
• Select the locations that should use the Minor Rule.
• Select Save.

The Minor Rule's configured age ranges and scheduling restrictions will apply to employees at the assigned locations based on their applicable Minor Status.

Store-Level Scheduling Warnings

When Minor Rules are assigned to a location, HotSchedules evaluates employee schedules against the applicable configured rules.

When a scheduling action conflicts with a Minor Rule, HotSchedules displays a warning identifying the conflict.

Depending on the configuration of Strictly Enforce Minor Rules, the warning may either alert the manager to the conflict or prevent the schedule from being posted until the violation is corrected.

In addition, pink shift guides identify times when an employee cannot be scheduled based on the assigned Minor Rules. Hover over a pink guide to view the restricted time period.

Pink shift guides are displayed in:

• The Add Shift window
• SmartView

Related Articles

• HS: Managing Minor Status for Employees
• HS: Setting Up School Calendars