CREATING, CONFIRMING, AND MANAGING EMPLOYEE SCHEDULES

• US 20100306017A1
• Filed: 05/27/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Jacob A. Dreyfuss, Joel A. Frisch
• Original Assignee: Jacob A. Dreyfuss, Joel A. Frisch
• Inventors: Dreyfuss, Jacob A., Frisch, Joel A.
• Application Number:
  US12/472,813
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306017A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group

Abstract

A system and method for creating, confirming and managing employee schedules comprises creating a schedule having time slots comprising shifts having employees, publishing the schedule on a network to the employees, and receiving a response of a confirmation, a request for shift change, and a null response from each employee. For each employee, if a null response is received, a reminder is sent. If request for shift change is received, an alert is sent to eligible employees using a preferred communication mode, and if one of the eligible employees responds, the shift change may be confirmed automatically or with manager approval. If approved, the employee requesting the change and the eligible employee are notified of the change; if not approved, both employees are notified of the lack of change. The schedule can be published using an employee'"'"'s preferred communication mode. All steps contain implications for the system'"'"'s three-step color-coding schema.

Claims

1. A method for scheduling a plurality of employees, comprising steps of:

creating a schedule having a plurality of time slots comprising shifts, each shift having one employee of said plurality of employees;

publishing said schedule on a two-way communication network to each of said plurality of employees; and

receiving a response from each employee, wherein said response is one of a confirmation, a request for shift change, and a null response, and for each employee;

if the null response is received, sending a reminder to said employee, and

if the confirmation is received, saving the confirmation in the schedule, and

if the request for shift change is received, performing the steps of;

sending an alert to one or more eligible employees of said plurality of employees using a preferred communication mode of each of said eligible employees;

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is needed, alerting the manager and if the manager approves, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee, and if the manager does not approve, alerting the employee and the eligible employee; and

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is not needed, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said shifts change color in accordance with a three-step color-coding scheme.

3. The method according to claim 1, said step of creating comprising steps of:

establishing one or more jobs and the plurality of time slots; and

assigning at least one employee to each shift based on a job of the employee.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of assigning is performed using an auto-fill feature.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said communication network is web-based.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of publishing is performed by sending an alert to each employee using a preferred communication mode of said employee.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of publishing comprises changing a color of said schedule.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said response is sent on the communication network.

9. A computer readable medium having computer readable program for operating on a computer for scheduling a plurality of employees, said program comprising instructions that cause the computer to perform the steps of:

creating a schedule having a plurality of time slots comprising shifts, each shift having one employee of said plurality of employees;

publishing said schedule on a two-way communication network to each of said plurality of employees; and

receiving a response from each employee, wherein said response is one of a confirmation, a request for shift change, and a null response, and for each employee;

if the null response is received, sending a reminder to said employee, and

if the confirmation is received, saving the confirmation in the schedule, and

if the request for shift change is received, performing the steps of;

sending an alert to one or more eligible employees of said plurality of employees using a preferred communication mode of each of said eligible employees;

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is needed, alerting the manager and if the manager approves, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee, and if the manager does not approve, alerting the employee and the eligible employee; and

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is not needed, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee.

10. The program according to claim 9, wherein said shifts change color in accordance with a three-step color-coding scheme.

11. The program according to claim 9, said step of creating comprising steps of:

establishing one or more jobs and the plurality of time slots; and

assigning at least one employee to each shift based on a job of the employee.

12. The program according to claim 11, wherein said step of assigning is performed using an auto-fill feature.

13. The program according to claim 9, wherein said communication network is web-based.

14. The program according to claim 9, wherein said step of publishing is performed by sending an alert to each employee using a preferred communication mode of said employee.

15. The program according to claim 9, wherein said step of publishing comprises changing a color of said schedule.

16. The program according to claim 9, wherein said response is sent on the communication network.

17. A system for scheduling a plurality of employees, comprising:

a plurality of time slots having a plurality of time slots comprising shifts, each shift having one employee of said plurality of employees

a schedule having the plurality of time slots;

a two-way communication network publishing said schedule to each of said plurality of employees; and

a response received from each employee, wherein said response is one of a confirmation, a request for shift change, and a null response, and for each employee;

if the null response is received, sending a reminder to said employee, and

if the confirmation is received, saving the confirmation in the schedule, and

if the request for shift change is received, performing the steps of;

sending an alert to one or more eligible employees of said plurality of employees using a preferred communication mode of each of said eligible employees;

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is needed, alerting the manager and if the manager approves, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee, and if the manager does not approve, alerting the employee and the eligible employee; and

if one of the eligible employees responds and if manager approval is not needed, changing and saving the shift as the confirmation in the schedule and alerting the employee and the eligible employee.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said shifts change color in accordance with a three-step color-coding scheme and said communication network is web-based.

19. The system according to claim 17, further comprising one or more jobs wherein at least one employee is assigned to each shift based on a job of the employee.

20. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a preferred communication mode of said employee, wherein an alert of publishing of the schedule is sent to each employee using the preferred communication mode of said employee.