This article will explain the difference between flexible, fixed, and floater shifts. These settings are determined by the shift group that a shift belongs to.

 

Flexible

A flexible or flex shift means that this shift has no set start and stop times. This is usually used for office employees, who may have the flexibilty to come in to work at 8:00am, 8:30am, or 9:00am as an example. Scheduling this for an employee will still round their hours based on the outside rounding rules applied, as well as apply the lunch and break rules from the shift.

 

Fixed 

Fixed shifts have a set start and stop time. This allows you to use in/out roundings to round their hours based on their scheduled time. It also allows you to see in reports and screens such as punch analysis if in employee is arriving late, leaving early, and more comparisons between their scheduled and actual times.

 

Floater

A floater shift is a variation of fixed shifts. It is meant so an employee can work in any shift belonging to a shift group, based on when they clock in. The option to use floater shifts is in Tools - General Settings - Schedule. 

Note: Enabling floater shifts will make all fixed shifts floaters.

 

Flex v Fixed v Floater Shifts Image 1

 

With a floater shift, the shift settings will add a new Cutoff field, between the Start and Stop times.

 

Flex v Fixed v Floater Shifts Image 2

 

If an employee's clock in time is after the Cutoff, the system moves down the list to compare with the next shift of the same shift group. The Cutoff value must be between the start and stop time of the current shift and must be before the start time of the next shift.