August 8th, 2024, Release Notes: HS| Main 5.120 Scheduler Labor Generate, Settings, Mobile iOS and Forecasted Data

Summary

Select the release feature from the table below to be taken directly to that section of the release note.

Release date for all features: August 8th, 2024

Generate Labor from Scheduler

• Enabled by default? - Yes
• Set up by customer admin? - No
• Enable via support ticket? - No
• Affects configuration or data? - No
• Roles affected: - All users with ability to generate labor from the Forecast and Configuration.

What's Changing?

The ability to generate labor and delete labor has been added to the scheduler. 

Reason for the Change

We've added the ability to generate labor directly within the scheduler. Users who have permissions to generate labor from the Forecasting and Labor page will now also be able to generate labor from the scheduler. This enhancement is particularly beneficial for customers using Fourth's AI Forecasting solution, as it prepares for the launch of a new forecasting interface later in 2024.

Customers Affected

All Labor Optimization Customers. 

Release Note Info/Steps

• Users must have permission to Generate labor and the permission to Delete Labor
• Generating labor from the scheduler will generate for all jobs associated with a Labor Optimization rule. 
• Generating labor from the scheduler does not include the same elements found when generating from the forecasting page including: 
  • Ability to change the default schedule for the job
  • Schedule status
  • Estimated Labor %
  • Shifts and Location
  • All Jobs Summary
  • Shift Details

Maximum Consecutive Days Setting

• Enabled by default? - No
• Set up by customer admin? - No
• Enable via support ticket? - Yes
• Affects configuration or data? - Yes
• Roles affected: - All customers using Scheduling Thresholds

What's Changing?

A Client and/or Company level setting has been added to the HotSchedules support site where the default value can be set for the Scheduling Threshold Maximum Consecutive Days. 

Reason for the Change

In compliance with Illinois labor laws, which mandate that employees receive one day of rest in every seven, a scheduling threshold was integrated into HotSchedules in 2023 This feature primarily depends on managers to manually input the value. To streamline this process, a new setting has been introduced that allows customers to set this value by default, either for the entire company or exclusively for locations within Illinois. This ensures that managers are alerted when scheduling might result in a potential violation of this requirement. 

Customers Affected

All customers using Scheduling Thresholds. 

Release Note Info/Steps

To enable this setting, support site users with access to the Settings Editor can add the setting MAX_CONSEC_DAYS at either the company level or client level. 

This is a hierarchy-first setting, which means:

• If the value is set at the company level and not at the client level, the specified value is applied to all locations within the company. 
• If the value is set at the client level but not at the company level, only those clients with the setting are affected. 
• In cases of conflicting values between the company and client levels, the client value takes precedence. 

Additionally, managers with the ability to edit schedule thresholds via the availability tab can alter this value. 

Mobile iOS - Enforce Job and Schedule Relationship Roster  

• Enabled by default? - Yes
• Set up by customer admin? - No
• Enable via support ticket? - Yes
• Affects configuration or data? - Yes
• Roles affected: - All customers using the Mobile Roster.

What's Changing?

The mobile roster for iOS has been updated to enforce the relationship of a job to its default schedule assignment. 

Reason for the Change

Customers who configure the enforcement of job assignments to their parent schedules ensure that schedule costing remains accurate. This enforcement guarantees that users correctly assign jobs to the appropriate schedules when editing the roster on iOS devices. 

Customers Affected

All customers using Scheduling Thresholds. 

Release Note Info/Steps

When client permission 328, "Default Job/Schedule mapping and Functionality." is enabled, managers adding a shift to the mobile roster will see the job's schedule automatically populated and locked, mirroring the functionality of the web scheduler. If this permission is not enabled, users can select any schedule for the shift they are editing or adding. 

AI Forecast- Send Forecast Data to Data Lake

• Enabled by default? - Yes
• Set up by customer admin? - No
• Enable via support ticket? - Yes
• Affects configuration or data? - No
• Roles affected: - All customers using AI Forecasting AND Labor Optimization. 

What's Changing?

Forecast data that is locked at time of Labor Generation will now be sent to the data lake. 

Reason for the Change

Customers utilizing AI Forecasting have their forecasts locked when an adjustment is applied or when labor is generated for a given week. If the forecast is adjusted, it is sent back to the data lake and internal analytics tools to measure the Weighted Absolute Percentage error (WAPE) of the forecast used for labor and scheduling. If the forecast is not adjusted, data is not remitted to the data lake, preventing us from providing meaning insights to the customer. to ensure the locked forecast is always sent to the data lake, an additional trigger has been implemented: Generate Labor 

Customers Affected

All customers using Ai Forecasting AND Labor Optimization 

Release Note Info/Steps

In the rare instance that a customers is utilizing AI Forecasting without labor Optimization, the sole trigger for remitting the forecast to the data lake occurs when a user applies an adjustment to the weekly forecast.