WFM: Advanced Scheduling: Preparing a Schedule for Approval

Overview

Once a schedule week has been created it can be approved according to business practices. Schedules must be approved to enable payroll submission at the end of the week. For a schedule to be approved it must of course first be created on the system - see WFM - Advanced Scheduling: Scheduling for guidance.

This article explains how to prepare a schedule so that it's ready to be approved.

For a list of all available Advanced Scheduling articles, please visit: WFM - Advanced Scheduling: Getting Started

Please note: Approval must happen before the week commences. E.g. for Monday to Sunday rotas, the last point of approval is the Sunday before, if this isn't done before the new week starts it will not display in the relevant reports - and also won't appear in Fourth Analytics.

Process

• Select the Schedule tab from the homepage
• Tick the forecast (Fcst) boxes above each day to mark the schedule ready for approval

Fig.1 - Ticking Forecast (Fcst) boxes

Once all seven days are ticked, the schedule will show that it is ready for approval or rejection.

Rejected Schedules and Approval

Any rejected schedules must first be approved before they can be submitted to payroll.

• To check for rejected schedules, go to the Notifications area - select the envelope icon from the top-right corner

Fig.2- Navigating to the Notifications area
 

• Where a schedule has been rejected, select the envelope icon next to it to see if any notes have been added

Fig.3 - Viewing rejection notifications

• Make amendments to the schedule, based on the notes in the rejection notification

The actual approval of schedules will typically be carried out by a member of the business with an advanced level of access.

Fig.4 - Snapshot of schedule cost

Reporting

The Analysis Report can be run to support the scheduling and approval process. The report breaks down the wage cost within the location for that week, and can help gain a better understanding into the financial elements of the schedule. 

The Analysis Report can be run on a granular level by department and for individual employees. 

The schedule can be printed with or without employee hours, by department, or blank.