Shift Bidding

Shift bidding is the process of selecting a recurring pattern of shifts for a time period. A single pattern of shifts is called a "Line" or a "Tour". In general, employees are ranked by seniority (or similar method) and lines are awarded in that order. Each line might have a capacity of one or more employees. Once assignments are made up to a line's capacity, it is no longer available.

Prior to the assignment process, employees enter their choices (bids) and establish their priority (first, second, third, etc.). Employees can enter as many bids as necessary to ensure a choice is awarded. Choices can be added, removed, or re-prioritized prior to the assignment process.

The start page for shift bidding is the List page, found in the menu under Bidding > Shift Bids > List.

Selecting a Bid

Using the menu, open the Shifts Bids List page. Then click on the name of the bid, or one of the page links (Home, Search, or Bid Sheet). Once a bid is selected, the other pages in the menu will load for that bid.

Home Page

The home page for a bid shows setup information and any messages for the bid. Your overall rank is listed under "My Status".

Viewing Lines (Search)

The Search page lists all lines and related information. If the bid is accepting choices, then buttons are available for adding new choices and editing existing ones.

There are several links to click on for additional information. Each option is summarized below.

Calendar View of Line

Click the button in the "Name" column or click the "Pattern" days to open a calendar view of the line's shifts.

Other Choices

Click the button (with count) in the "Bids" column to see a list of other employee's choices. Depending on the settings, the names of other bidders may or may not be listed.

Add Choices

The "My Bids" column provides buttons to add or edit your choices. To add a new choice:

1. Click Add in the "My Bids" column for the line
2. (Optional) Select the choice number (priority)
3. Click Save

When added, the column updates to text with "Saved" and the choice number. The page will need to be refreshed to have the edit buttons show. The refresh link is at the top right of the page/toolbar.

The refresh link:

Edit Choices

Existing choices and their priority are listed in the "My Bids" column. To edit or delete a choice, click the button for that link.

In this example, the blue button (1) is the employee's first choice.

To change the choice number (priority):

1. Select a new value from the drop-down (limited to valid values),
2. Click Save.

To delete the choice:

1. Click Delete

View All

The View All page opens in a new tab and lists all lines across all dates, and summarizes the days that are OFF or have shifts. Clicking the links by "Text" will show or hide that text in the view. (Hiding station names helps the view if you only want to see days off).

Favorites

Favorites provide a way to define a filter/query to select a subset of lines. If you define a filter it can be used in two ways: 1) filter the Search list for readability, and 2) add a Favorite Choice.

Favorites are optional, and are an advanced option. (More help pending...)

Bid Sheet

The bid shift page lists your bids in priority order. The first three columns provide links to edit the choice and/or view the line in a calendar.

The summary at the top lists the total lines in choices (individual lines plus favorites) and the remaining lines available (after some assignments have been made).

The PDF button at the bottom generates a PDF file for download of the page. This is useful to save a non-editable record of the final bid sheet.

History

The history page lists edits to employee data and choices. This page is read-only and provides a log the changes that might affect the results of bidding. The timestamp fields at the top allow filtering to certain time spans. The "By" and "For" fields allow limiting to certain text (names) in the history.