Overview
In the M-Pathways Human Resources Management System (HRMS), a Time and Labor work schedule refers to a template that identifies specific:
- Workdays and off days during the calendar week
- Number of hours worked on each workday
- Shift worked, if applicable
Generally, the schedules available in M-Pathways represent work on one shift (e.g. days-only, evenings-only) with the same workdays and hours from one week to the next. However, custom schedules can be built by the Payroll central offices to include multiple shifts, and/or changing workdays, and/or changing hours from one week to the next. Once created, custom schedules can be assigned to any employee.
How Schedules Are Used in Time Reporting
When timekeepers report time, they can click the Apply Schedule button on the timesheet page to apply a schedule and initially report employees’ regular work hours, including shift. Then, they make changes to that reported time so that it reflects the employee’s actual work (e.g., different/additional time reporting codes and hours/amounts).
In Punch Time units, schedules are applied via a batch process prior to the start of the pay period. These schedules only have shift differential Time Reporting Codes (TRCs). This is done because time reported via a Punch time clock only includes regular hours. If the schedules were not applied prior to the collection of in and out punches, the shift differential TRCs would need to be manually entered on the timesheet for each applicable shift.
Assigning Schedules to Employees
When a new employee is added to the M-Pathways system, the system assigns the employee a “zero-hour” schedule. This schedule does not include any workdays or hours, and it cannot be used to report time.
Timekeepers who report time directly in M-Pathways may choose to use employees’ schedule assignments to make it easier to report time. These timekeepers can assign new employees schedules that reflects the actual workdays, hours, and shifts they work. After that, the timekeepers should update the employees’ schedule assignments in M Pathways whenever their work schedules change.
Units that do not apply schedules to initially report employees’ time do not need to maintain schedule assignments in M Pathways. There is no impact as long as outdated schedule assignments are not applied when reporting time. If there is a risk that direct entry timekeepers may inadvertently apply incorrect schedule assignments to report time, they may choose to assign the “zero-hour” schedule to their employees.
Units are unlikely to use schedules in the following scenarios:
- When employees’ workdays, hours, or shifts are inconsistent, it is more efficient to report time directly without applying schedules and then making changes.
- Monthly employees who only have exception time reported do not need schedules because there is no need to report their regular hours.
- In self-service time entry units, employees report their own hours in Wolverine Access. They do not have the ability to apply a schedule for themselves.
Schedule IDs and Descriptions
Each schedule has an ID and a description. Both are used to identify a schedule. A search based on the first three characters of the Schedule ID is used to display a list of applicable schedules. Then, the description is viewed to determine the number of hours per workday. An example of a schedule is provided below to show how these values are interpreted:
- Schedule ID: E40411
- This is a five character ID that uniquely identifies each schedule.
- The 1st character identifies the shift (D = day, E = evening, N = night, M = mixed):
- This example starts with E, which indicates that it includes evening shift with the regular hours for each workday.
- The 2nd and 3rd characters indicate total hours for the week, which are 40 in this example.
When searching for a schedule in M-Pathways, use the shift and total hours/week as search criteria (first three characters of the Schedule ID). This will generate a list of applicable schedule IDs and schedule descriptions. For example, if you are searching for a day shift of 10 hours, enter D10 as the search criteria. A list of schedules that have 10 hours per week during the day shift will be displayed.
- Description: 40S10_M10_T10_W10_R___F___S___
- This identifies the work days and regular hours for a calendar week.
- The first two characters indicate the total weekly hours again (40). After that, each day of the week is represented by its 1st initial (except Thursday = R).
- Each workday is followed immediately by the number of hours for that day.
- The description above indicates that Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are workdays with 10 regular hours each (and evening shift, as identified by the Schedule ID).
For Schedule IDs that start with M (mixed shift), the Schedule ID and Description do not indicate the different types of shift for each workday. In this case, the Schedule Calendar page can be viewed to determine the shift for each workday. This page displays a Workday ID for each day of the schedule, which starts with the letter of the shift.