Scheduler

Overview

The Scheduler is where shifts are planned, assigned to workers, checked for compliance and approved before anyone is paid or billed. Click Schedule in the sidebar to open it. The page heading reads Scheduler. Office staff build the roster here. Staff Members see only their own shifts. A row of tabs under the heading moves between the areas: Calendar, SIL Houses, Recurring, Programs, Timesheets and Alerts.

Common tasks

Find your way around the calendar

1. Click Schedule in the sidebar. The Calendar tab opens on the current week.
2. Choose a layout with the view buttons: Timeline, By Worker (a row per worker), By Client (a row per client) or By House (a row per SIL house).
3. Move between weeks with the ‹ and › arrow buttons, or click Today to jump back. Weeks run Monday to Sunday.
4. Narrow the view with the funding filters (All, NDIS, Aged Care, DVA) and the All Workers / All Clients dropdowns.
5. On a phone the calendar shows one day at a time. Use the arrows to change day and Go to Today to come back.
6. Click any shift to open its detail panel. You can also drag a shift to another day.
7. Shifts at the same time sit side by side. Drafts look different from scheduled shifts.

Check what needs attention

1. On the Calendar tab, click Needs attention (top right).
2. The panel lists Unassigned shifts and Conflicts (unresolved clashes). Click an item to open that shift and fix it.

Add a shift quickly (Quick Add)

Use Quick Add for a simple shift when you do not need to set billing detail by hand.

1. Click Quick Add. The Add Shift panel opens.
2. Fill in Client, Service Type, Worker and the Start and End times. Notes is optional. Workers who cannot be rostered are greyed out with not rosterable after their name.
3. For a Support at Home client the Service Type list is the participant’s own budget lines, each with its rate and (on budget). Other catalogue services are marked (not on budget). A participant with no budget this quarter sees “No Support at Home budget for this quarter”.
4. Save. You will see Shift created.

Add a shift with full billing detail (the Add Shift wizard)

Use Add Shift for anything that will be claimed or invoiced. It opens a full-screen window with four steps: Basic Details, Billing, Travel & Payroll, Review. Press Escape or click the × (Close wizard) to leave. An unsaved draft is discarded.

1. Step 1, Basic Details.
   • Client (required). Search by name. The funding stream fills in from the client (NDIS, DVA, Aged Care or Private) and a coloured panel shows their plan or budget. If a client has more than one funding source, no stream is guessed. Pick one yourself. For Support at Home the panel shows the participant’s own contribution rates and the remaining budget for the quarter.
   • Service Type (required). The list changes with the funding stream. Some types ask a follow-up, such as Therapist Type or Nurse Level.
   • Worker. The list is filtered by qualifications once a service type is chosen. Non-rosterable workers are greyed out. If nobody qualifies you will see “No workers match the qualification requirements for this service type.”
   • Schedule (required). Pick a date and the Start and End times. A blue bar shows the time category (for example “Weekday Daytime”), the billing item and rate, and an estimated bill.
   • Support Ratio. Shared ratios ask for the other participants. Multi-worker ratios ask for the extra workers and a Justification.
   • Recurring Shift and Group Session are covered below. NDIS shifts also offer Delivery Method, High Intensity, Behaviour Support, Program of Support (optional) and Shadow Shift.
   • Click Next: Billing.
2. Step 2, Billing. The support item, price and Estimated Total show, with the budget left before and after this shift. The rate can be edited up to any cap. A Support at Home rate follows the day and time of delivery, so a Saturday shift uses the Saturday rate. Participant Contribution fills in from the participant’s own rate.
3. Step 3, Travel & Payroll. See “Add travel and check the payroll preview” below.
4. Step 4, Review. Check the shift summary, the financials and the Compliance Check. Each result is BLOCK (must fix) or WARN (check, you can still go on). If everything passes you see All Clear.
5. Finish with Save as Draft or Confirm & Schedule. A draft is not counted against the client’s budget. A scheduled shift is. If a BLOCK remains, the confirm button is disabled until you resolve it. On success you see Shift created.

Know which warnings will not stop you

These show as amber warnings. None of them stops you saving.

• Overlaps. If the client already has another shift in that window, the warning names the client and the clashing time. Two workers for one client is allowed. The same check covers every date of a recurring shift (it names the first clash) and every group session participant. If the worker is already booked for another client, a separate warning names that shift. When you click Confirm & Schedule, you are warned once. Click it again to save.
• Minimum engagement. A shift shorter than 2 hours (NDIS, Private, DVA) or 3 hours (Aged Care) warns that a minimum engagement applies and the worker is paid for it.
• Exit date. If a client has an exit date and the shift is after it, the warning says so, and the client shows “Client exited on” that date. A shift on the exit day itself does not warn.
• The wizard also warns about shifts outside plan dates, over 8 hours or on a public holiday.

One thing does stop you. If the End time is not after the Start time, a red message reads “The end time must be after the start time.” and Next: Billing stays off until you fix it.

Add travel and check the payroll preview

1. In Step 3 of the wizard, switch on Include a travel estimate. This appears for face-to-face NDIS, DVA and Private shifts. Support at Home shifts have no travel section because travel is built into the price.
2. Check the Vehicle type. It fills in from the worker’s profile, for example “Modified” with the line “from worker profile”. Change it for this shift if needed. A Manual override badge appears and the per-km rate changes.
3. Enter the travel minutes and kilometres. The per-km line shows the rate and the total, for example “36.0 km x $2.76/km”. Parking and tolls are not entered here. Workers claim them at cost after the shift.
4. The Payroll Preview is always visible. It shows the worker’s base rate and, for a weekend, evening, night or public holiday shift, a named penalty row such as “Penalty Saturday (150% penalty)”. It then shows the loaded rate, gross pay, super and total employer cost. A shift that crosses midnight is previewed in the band it falls into.
5. If the worker has no award classification you will see “No loaded rate on file” for that day instead of figures. Set the classification on the worker’s Employment tab. Without it, the Review step shows no employer cost or margin.
6. Click Next: Review.

To set the rates, an administrator opens Settings, then Pricing, then the Travel rates tab. There are two blocks, Standard and Modified for accessibility. Enter the rate and an effective-from date, then save. A rate above the NDIS maximum is refused with a message. The old rate is archived, not overwritten. A worker’s vehicle type is set on their profile, Employment tab, Pay Rate card. The per-km rate is fixed when the shift is approved, so later rate changes do not alter approved shifts.

Book a group session

1. Click Add Shift. In Step 1 pick the client, a Service Type such as Personal Care, a worker and the time.
2. Tick Group Session and add the other participants. The header counts everyone including the primary client.
3. Click Next: Billing. The Group Billing panel shows the hourly rate divided by the number of participants. It lists each person with their funding badge, their share and their own remaining budget. Anyone whose share is more than their remaining budget is shown in red.
4. On Review, each short participant gets a WARN such as “[name]’s share exceeds their remaining budget”. You can still confirm.
5. Click Confirm & Schedule. One shift is created for each participant. Each is charged at the divided rate to that person’s own funding stream, so a Private client is billed as Private.

Group Activity has no set rate. Enter one by hand and the panel divides it.

Repeat a shift (Recurring)

1. In Step 1 of the wizard tick Recurring Shift. Choose the Frequency (Daily, Weekly, Fortnightly (every 2 weeks), Monthly (same day each month)), the Days of Week, an End Condition and any Exception Dates (optional).
2. Open the Recurring tab to manage patterns. Use View in Calendar, Pause or Resume. You will see Pattern paused or Pattern resumed.

Change a shift

1. Click the shift, then Edit.
2. Change the times, worker or Service Type. The service list is the same as in the wizard, including (on budget) and (not on budget) for Support at Home. A service that no longer matches anything is shown as “not recognised”, with a flag. Pick a valid one to fix it. Saving works out the rate again.
3. Click Save Changes. You will see Shift updated.
4. Once a shift is Approved, its service is shown as read-only. Approved shifts keep their service.

Cancel a shift

There is no Delete Shift button. Cancelling is the only way to remove a shift, so there is always a record of why.

1. Click the shift to open its panel, then click the amber Cancel button.
2. Type a Reason (required).
3. Check the notice Policy. It is worked out from the time until the shift starts: Two business days (disability) or Seven days (non-disability). The Notice period met box is ticked or not to match, with a line explaining why. You can change either one, but you must then give a reason.
4. For a recurring shift choose This shift only or This and all future (ends the series).
5. Click Confirm Cancel. You will see Shift cancelled (or Series cancelled). The card stays on the calendar with a line through it.
6. Reopen it any time to see the reason, the policy and whether notice was met. An older cancellation may read “Policy and notice answer not recorded”.

A shift already on an invoice or in a claim cannot be cancelled. You will see an explanation instead. A short-notice cancellation still goes to the approval queue.

Mark a shift Delivered

1. Click the shift, then Edit. Set Status to Delivered and click Save Changes. You will see Shift updated.
2. Nothing is paid or billed yet. The panel shows a Billing block reading, for example, “2.5 hrs, awaiting approval”. If no rate could be found it warns “Not billable” and names the service.
3. A What happens next box says the shift is waiting for manager approval. Click Open Timesheets to go to the approval queue.
4. If the shift has not started yet, you get an amber warning such as “This shift starts in 2 days. Mark it delivered anyway?” Click Save Changes again to confirm.
5. Only after a manager approves it does the status become Approved, a Costing card appear and the billable line reach Invoicing, Shift Billing.

Send a worker their completion link

1. Click a scheduled, in progress or delivered shift that has a worker, then Send completion link. The panel shows “Link sent to” the worker’s email and a copyable link with a Copy link button, so it works even if email fails.
2. The worker opens the link on their phone, checks the real finish time, adds kilometres, expenses with a receipt photo and a progress note, then sees “Sent to your manager for approval”. Resend link issues a new link and the old one stops working.
3. The organisation can send links automatically at each shift’s end time with the setting Send completion links automatically (on by default).

Approve the week’s shifts

This queue is the gate before pay or billing. Open the Timesheets tab (the heading is Timesheets, with Previous week and Next week links).

1. The top of the page counts shifts that Match the schedule, those that Need review and those Routed to another approver.
2. Shifts that match exactly are listed under Matches the schedule. Click Approve N matching shifts to approve them all, or expand one row and click its Approve. Approving writes the worker’s pay and the client’s bill. You will see a message such as Approved 1 shift.
3. Under Needs review, each row names the worker, client, date and what is different, in plain words, such as “Ran 22 minutes over”, “No finish time entered”, “No progress note for this shift”, “Unbillable” (no rate) or “Service date has not arrived yet”. Click a row to open it.
4. Inside a row you see scheduled and entered times, then Worker paid and Client billed. These are the exact amounts approval will write, and the labels say when they include travel or reimbursement. By default the client is billed for the scheduled hours and the worker is paid for the actual hours.
5. Choose an action:
   • Approve (or Approve anyway when there is no progress note).
   • Adjust and approve: correct the start, finish or kilometres, give a reason, and approve in one step. The worker sees what changed.
   • Send back to worker: a reason is required. The worker gets a fresh link and sees your reason. The shift moves to Waiting on worker until they resubmit.
6. Each expense line and the travel claim have a Disallow button that needs a reason. A disallowed line is marked “Declined” and the totals drop.
7. Some rows have no plain Approve:
   • No finish time: use Enter time or Send completion link.
   • No rate: only Adjust and approve and Send back to worker are offered. Add a rate under Settings, Services, then reload.
   • Marked Delivered before its start: it can be approved on or after the day.
   • Delivered by the person approving: it sits under Routed to another approver.
8. If the actual times fall in a different pay band from the one booked, a line shows the dollar difference before you approve. The bill uses the band actually delivered.
9. Approved shifts are listed under Approved this week with who approved them and when. Each is now a pending line in Invoicing, Shift Billing.

Review compliance alerts

1. Click the Alerts tab. The heading reads Compliance Alerts. This tab is for office staff only.
2. The cards count Blocking Issues, Warnings and Total Alerts. Alerts are sorted with BLOCK first.
3. Each row names the client or worker it concerns and links to where you can fix it. For example Rest Break Breach means a worker has less than the minimum 10 hours between shifts. Budget Exhausted rows show how much of a budget is used.
4. When there is nothing to fix the page shows All Clear.

Enrol a participant in a Program of Support

1. Click the Programs tab, then New Program.
2. Fill in Program Name (required), Description, Support Category (required), Registration Group (optional), Start Date and End Date. Tick Group program and/or Individual program, and write the Intended Outcomes.
3. Click Create Program. You will see Program created. A program can run for at most six months. A longer one is refused with a message.
4. Click the program’s card. The Participants section reads “0 enrolled”.
5. Click Enrol Participant, pick a person and click Enrol. You will see Participant enrolled. The count updates and the person shows an Active badge.
6. In the wizard, choose the program under Program of Support (optional) for NDIS shifts.

Only clients with an NDIS number or an NDIS funding line can be picked.

Run a SIL house roster

1. Click the SIL Houses tab (heading SIL House Roster).
2. To add a house, click Add House. Fill in House Name (required), Address, Postcode, Max Participants, Claiming Method, Default Support Ratio and Status, then Save House.
3. Select a house. Cards show its Participants, Claiming Method and zone (or “Zone not set”). High-intensity residents are badged HI.
4. Click Add Resident, pick an NDIS client and save. A house cannot go over its max participants. Click Add Shift on the house to roster a real shift. It also appears on the main calendar.
5. Use the Previous week and Next week arrows, or Today, to move through weeks. Day headings carry the date.
6. By Day shows this week’s real shifts for the house. By Participant is the roster of care sheet, where you set each resident’s support ratio. Hours covered by a real shift are shaded and marked “Shift”. The summary card totals each resident’s Present / wk, Absent / wk and any Custom ratio.
7. Click Export RoC to download the roster of care for the week on screen. You will see RoC exported. An empty house cannot be exported.

See what a Staff Member sees

1. A Staff Member who clicks Schedule sees only their own shifts for the week, with their own clients. There is no Quick Add, no Add Shift and no worker or client filters.
2. Only the Calendar and Timesheets tabs show. Timesheets is a read-only My timesheet list of their own shifts, with client, planned and actual times and status. There are no approval buttons.
3. They can open their own worker page but not anyone else’s. If they try to change the schedule they see “Your role does not allow changes to the schedule.”

Tips

• Use Add Shift, not Quick Add, for anything that will be claimed or invoiced.
• Warnings never block. Only a BLOCK result, or an end time before the start, stops you.
• Greyed workers marked not rosterable have roster-blocking credentials outstanding. Fix this from their worker profile.
• Nothing is paid or billed until a manager approves the shift in Timesheets.
• If the Scheduler shows a Soon badge in your sidebar, it has not been switched on for your site.

Troubleshooting

• “No workers match the qualification requirements for this service type.” No current worker holds the qualifications needed. Pick another service type, or update the worker’s credentials first.
• The confirm button is disabled. The Review step found a BLOCK. Go Back, fix each item the message names and return to Review.
• I cannot find a Delete button. Shifts are cancelled, not deleted. Use Cancel.
• A shift I marked Delivered is not in Invoicing. It is waiting for approval. Open the Timesheets tab.
• “Service date has not arrived yet” The shift was marked Delivered before its start. Approve it on or after the day.
• A recurring shift did not appear on a date. Check the pattern’s Exception Dates and whether it is paused on the Recurring tab.