Decision pattern

Staff Scheduling

Staff scheduling assigns people to shifts so required coverage and skill rules are met while availability, hours, rest, and preferences remain visible.

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Use this when

Managers need enough coverage by role and time, but each employee has availability, skills, hour limits, fairness needs, and preference trade-offs.

Inputs

coverage requirements, employee availability and skills, shift rules, hour and rest limits.

Constraints

Coverage by shift, Employee availability, Role skill requirements, Max weekly hours, Rest and overtime rules.

Decision output

shift roster, coverage gaps, hours by employee, rule exceptions.

A small example

The schedule is copied from last week, then repaired manually after conflicts and call-offs appear. The decision process makes the rules explicit, then compares feasible options against the stated objective: Meet coverage while minimizing overtime, uncovered shifts, and preference violations.

Employee	Role	Available days	Max hours	Preference	Skill
Ava	Server	Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri	32	Morning	FOH
Ben	Cook	Wed,Thu,Fri,Sat	40	Evening	Kitchen
Mina	Lead	Mon,Tue,Wed,Sun	36	Any	Supervisor

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