Managing Schedules and

Availability
Overview

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 1 of 11 Rev 1
Managing Schedules and Availability
System References
None

Distribution
Job Title*

Ownership
The Job Title [list@YourCompany.com?Subject=EDUxxxxx] is responsible for ensuring that this
document is necessary and that it reflects actual practice.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 2 of 11 Rev 1
Managing Schedules and Availability

Managing Availability
The availability of a person depends on their work schedule, absences, and holidays that affect
their time. For an enterprise, availability information is essential in a number of business
processes. For example, when you approve an absence, you may need to know the worker's
schedule to consider their commitments, the availability of other people in their team, and any
holidays, such as a planned company closure that affects their time.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 3 of 11 Rev 1
Recording Schedule Information

Recording Schedule Information

Oracle Applications provide alternative ways to set up and record schedule information in your
enterprise. Use:
• OTL to set up information such as holiday calendars, shifts, and work plans.
• Oracle HRMS to set up basic schedule information in various areas of your work
structures, such as default working hours for your business group, that you use for
information purposes only.
• The Oracle HRMS and Common Application Components (CAC) integrated features to
set up extensive schedule information, such as, shifts, schedules, and calendar events.
HRMS can calculate absence duration for a worker using the schedule and calendar events
information that you set up using this method. The HR application uses this method to
determine a worker's availability, if you do not use OTL.
Instructor Note
Explain that the CAC and HRMS integration method is superior because this functionality
enables you to determine a worker’s availability; you can use the schedule information in
HRMS for information purposes only. Absence duration calculation is an important feature that
separates the integrated functionality from OTL (which does not take into account absences).

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 4 of 11 Rev 1
HRMS and CAC Integrated Availability Features

HRMS and CAC Integrated Availability Features

You can use the integrated features from Oracle HRMS and CAC to set up information such as
shifts, schedules, and events to help you determine a worker's availability.
Schedules include details of available and unavailable working times for a resource for a
specified period of time. Using the CAC schedule repository, you can set up the schedules you
require in your enterprise. Important dates such as a public holiday can impact the working
time of your workforce. Using Oracle HRMS, you can record these dates as calendar events
and apply them to the relevant people in your enterprise. The following slides discuss the
HRMS and CAC availability features in detail.
Schedules
You define schedules to suit the different groups of people in your workforce. For example,
you can set up a regular schedule with a pattern of 8 hours, five days a week, starting on
Mondays and assign it to all the workers who work a regular week. You can then set up a shift
schedule with a pattern of 4 days on and 4 days off and assign it to your workers who work on
shifts. You define an exception to override an existing schedule pattern. For example, you
could define a holiday that changes a normal work day to an unavailable work day as an
exception to a schedule.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 5 of 11 Rev 1
 To create schedules, you use the Schedules function from the HRMS Maintain Schedules
menu. You store the schedules in the CAC schedule repository.
Instructor Note
Stress that you set up schedules using the CAC functionality, and that schedules are stored in
the CAC schedule repository.
Refer to Instructor Demo – Defining a Schedule [LAB3BE1Y]

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 6 of 11 Rev 1
Schedule Precedence

Schedule Precedence
For the HR application to determine a worker's availability effectively, you must have assigned
a schedule to them. To ensure that you have assigned a schedule to your workforce, assign a
schedule to the business group. This creates a default schedule for your workforce to inherit.
You can also assign schedules at the HR organization, job, position, and assignment levels,
which enables you to override the default schedule and define schedules for different groups of
workers.
When determining a worker's availability, the application searches for the worker's schedule
starting from the lowest level first. The diagram displays the different levels at which you can
assign a schedule, the order in which the application finds the information, and the order of
precedence.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 7 of 11 Rev 1
Schedule Eligibility

Schedule Eligibility
You can attach an existing eligibility profile to a schedule so that when an HR professional
assigns a schedule to a worker’s assignment, the application retrieves only those schedules the
worker is eligible for. A worker becomes eligible for a schedule if you attach an eligibility
profile to the schedule and the worker meets the eligibility criteria in the profile. For example,
associate a schedule with an an eligibility profile that identifies all workers in the UK. The
application retrieves this schedule (if the Eligible Schedules Only option is enabled) when you
assign a schedule to a UK worker.
To retrieve eligible schedules, you must ensure you attach at least one eligibility profile to a
schedule, and then run the Eligibility Engine concurrent process. Use the Schedule Eligibility
function to attach an eligibility profile to a schedule.
Instructor Note
Explain that this is an optional tool to restrict the number of schedules the application retrieves
during assignment, it does not prevent from overriding the eligibility.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 8 of 11 Rev 1
Exceptions

Exceptions and Calendar Events

An exception is an override of an existing schedule pattern. A holiday, for example, is an
exception that changes a normal work day to an unavailable work day. An exception can also
change a normal non-work day, such as Saturday, to an available work day. You can create
exceptions that apply only to a particular schedule during the schedule creation process.
Alternatively, you can set up global exceptions, which you can incorporate into any schedule.
Using HRMS, you can record important dates that affect all workers (public holidays, for
example) as calendar events and define the events as exceptions to a schedule.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 9 of 11 Rev 1
Defining Coverage for Calendar Events

Defining Coverage for Calendar Events

You define the coverage of a calendar to identify the group of people to whom the event may
apply. However, a worker may not be impacted by a calendar event even if the worker’s
assignment is included in the event’s coverage. A calendar event only impacts a worker's time
if they are scheduled to work at the same time as the event and if the event is defined as an
exception to the schedule.
In the example, you create a public holiday calendar event for Christmas day and attach it to
the UK node of the company’s geographical hierarchy. Person A and Person B both work in the
UK. Person A works in the factory and is on a shift- based schedule of four days working and
four days not working. Person B works in the administration department and is on a Monday to
Friday schedule. Person A is required to work public holidays so if Person A is scheduled to
work on a Thursday, then the calendar event does not impact their working day. Person B is not
required to work on public holidays, and as Person B is scheduled to work on a Thursday, the
event does impact their working day. Therefore, Person A is available to work on Christmas
day, and Person B is unavailable.
Refer to Instructor Demo – Setting up a Calendar Event [LAB3BE2Y]

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 10 of 11 Rev 1
Geographical Precedence for Calendar Events

Geographical Precedence for Calendar Events

If you use the geographical hierarchy as the type of coverage, then the HR application uses the
business group's legislation code to determine the country in which the person works in their
primary assignment. If the calendar event includes that country, then the event becomes
applicable for the person. You can override this default by using the location and assignment
EITs to identify a different geographical node in the hierarchy. The diagram displays the levels
you can use to identify a geographical node in which a worker belongs, and the order of
precedence.

Copyright © Oracle, 2007. All rights reserved.

Managing Schedules and Availability 376254152.doc

Effective 03/05/07 Page 11 of 11 Rev 1