WFM UK: Scheduling: Setting Unavailability Blackout Days

Overview

Functionality in the Scheduling module called 'Unavailability Blackout Days' allows users to set ‘blackout’ days for when employees are trying to create unavailability in My Schedule. This means that employees can be prevented from creating unavailability on certain dates.

The Unavailability Blackout setting page will be visible if the Enable Open Shift Management Page Organisation Setting is enabled and can be utilised by users with specific user-level permissions assigned. This can be managed by customer admins (instructions below) and more information on these topics can be found in the following two articles:

Release Notes WFM: Labour Productivity: Customer Organisation Page
Release Notes WFM: Labour Productivity: Managing User Levels

User-Level Permissions

The following user-level permissions can be applied within the Scheduling module.

• From the Scheduling Homepage go to Settings > User Configuration > User Levels
• Select Edit against the required user level and apply any/all of the required permissions:
  • View Unavailability Blackout Days
  • Access to create/edit blackout days for current location
  • Access to create/edit blackout days for All Locations
• Then scroll down and Save

Fig.1 - User level permissions

Unavailability Blackout Days Page

• Within the Scheduling module, go to Settings > My Schedule Settings > Unavailability Blackout Days

Any existing blackout days will appear onscreen. Edit and Delete buttons will be available depending on the user's permissions (see Fig.2).

Fig.2 - Unavailability Blackout Days page - Edit and Delete buttons

Creating Blackout Days

• Select Create New
• Enter a Name and Date
• For the blackout day to be on the same date every year, select Recurring blackout Day?
• The All Locations tickbox (see FIg.3) will be available depending on the user's permissions
• Select Save

Fig.3 - Creating a new unavailability blackout day

The blackout day will then display in the table on the Unavailability Blackout Days page and become active on the specified date.

My Schedule

In the My Schedule app, blackout days are displayed in red on the calendar. If an employee attempts to create unavailability on a blackout day, a pop-up warning will show - see Fig.4 below.

 
Fig.4 - Attempting to create unavailability on a blackout day

If an employee creates a recurring unavailability request and there is a blackout day on one of the recurring days in the future, that day will be ignored but all other dates will be recorded. The recurring blackout day is indicated with a red icon as shown below in Fig.5. 

Fig.5 - Creating recurring unavailability for future blackout day