Best Practices for Contract/Credential Tracking
Contracts and credentials are beneficial for conflict checking so that members cannot be scheduled when a contract or credential expires. It also makes it so that you cannot schedule the worker for a future shift if their contract/credential is set to expire before the date of the shift. This tool can be used to track different credentials for different workgroups. For example, if one workgroup requires members to obtain an employee contract before being scheduled, that is possible with this tool.
Another benefit is for tracking certifications that expire. With Contracts and Credentials enabled, you can store the expiration date data in addition to any corresponding documentation for the credential type. Even if you do not track expiration dates with your contracts and credentials, you can still use this functionality to ensure that an employee is qualified prior to scheduling them for a shift.
Finally, you can set up notifications for contracts / credentials to keep Administrators in the loop about upcoming credential expirations.
- How to Create a New Contract/Credential Type
- First, add the contract or credential to the site. Go to Settings > List Settings > Contracts/Credentials Types > Add Contracts/Credentials Type
- When adding, you can determine if fields such as start date, end, date, document, and name are required. You can also adjust who can create/view/edit/delete contracts/credentials.
- You can set up expiration warning notifications to go out a certain number of days before the credential is set to expire.
- Notifications are sent to the individual with an expiring credential, the site administrator, and a manager for any teams the expiring contract / credential is enabled.
- First, add the contract or credential to the site. Go to Settings > List Settings > Contracts/Credentials Types > Add Contracts/Credentials Type
- Adding Contract/Credential to Workgroups
- Once added to the site, you can select which contracts/credentials types are necessary for a certain workgroup. For example, if your employees for a particular workgroup are required to have an employee contract in place before they can be scheduled, the workgroup settings are where you would indicate this.
- To update, go to Workgroups > All Workgroups > Select a Workgroup > Settings > Contracts/Credentials Types Required for Scheduling > Select All Applicable Contracts Needed for Scheduling
- Adding a Contract and Credential to your Profiles
Next, you will want add the proper documentation to the member. To do this, go to People > All Members > Select a Member > Click Contracts/Credentials Tab
- If an employee is exempt from holding a certain contract or credential, you can indicate that with the exemptions checkboxes.
- To add a contract or credential to the employee, click Add Contracts/Credentials
- Scheduling Members Using Contract and Credentials
- When you go to assign a shift, there will be a checkbox listed with the Assignability Preferences titles “Ignore Contracts/Credentials”. Selecting this checkbox will have the system ignore conflict checking of contracts and credentials. Additionally, if there is a member that does not show up on the list of members to assign, you can select the “Show Excluded” checkbox and it will show you all of the members that are missing a contract and credential as the reason why they are not showing up to be scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What happens when a contract/credential is about to expire?
- Notifications can be set up to be sent a custom number of days before a credential is set to expire.
- Who can set up contract/credential types?
- Site administrators.
- Who can add a contract/credential type to a team or worker?
- This is dependent on the permissions that are set upon creation of the contract/credential type. When contract/credentials are created, administrators will determine who can create, edit, view, and delete contract/credentials and who can create, edit, view, and delete contract/credential documents.
- Does a contract/credential change from an active status to inactive upon expiration?
- No. Contracts/credentials will remain in an active status until they are manually changed. This is by design so that when a contract/credential is added to a worker the person adding the contract is able to not enable the contract/credential as active until they are ready to do so.
- How is the conflict checking done when scheduling?
- Conflict checking is based on the permissions, team settings, and expiration date of the contract/credential.
- What happens if a contract/credential type is disabled?
- Once an administrator disables a contract/credential, the contract/credential type will no longer be available to add to a team as a requirement for scheduling workers of a team. The contract/credential type will also no longer be available to add to a worker’s profile.