Contract Restrictions

Contract restrictions are a new way to restrict working practices on each contract. You can manage them under Pay > Contracts > Restriction Rules.

You can add as many restrictions as you wish, and each can be assigned to any number of contracts.

In addition, you can allow staff to opt out of the restriction by completing a document. For example, in the screenshot below, the ‘Working Time Directive’ restriction will be applied automatically unless the staff member signs the WTD Opt-out document.

You can apply time restrictions on how long a staff member can work before they need to take a break. The time period can now reach up to 12 months, and there are also more months and weeks options.

You can also configure the restrictions to be ignored during the exemption dates setup on the contract.

There are several types of restrictions:

• Limit of hours (averaged over a period) This is a limit of a maximum number of hours over a set time range. The range can be between one day and a year. The system will add up all of the hours and will not allow a staff member to be scheduled in excess of these hours. The averaged option looks at a period on each side of a shift and averages the hours. It’s great for a general limit.
• Limit of hours (strictly never any period over hours) - This limits a maximum number of hours over a set time range. This stricter version will look at the period immediately around the shift and ensure that the period where the shift falls in the middle will not exceed hours.
• Limit of hours (Monday - Sunday) - This limits the maximum number of hours over a set time range between Monday and Sunday. The range can be between one day and a year. The system will add up all of the hours and will not allow a staff member to be scheduled in excess of these hours. This is a simpler version of the limit that looks at the week the shift falls within and applies the limit to the shifts within that week.
• Maximum number of weekends worked - This limits how many weekends are worked during the set time range. A working weekend includes any weekend where there is a shift on one or both of the days.
• Required break duration - This restriction allows you to enforce a single break period of a number of hours during the set time range. For example, you can enforce an 11-hour rest within every 24 hours. You can also enforce 48 hours of rest every 10 days. This can go up a maximum of 12 months.
• Limit of Similar Shifts - This restriction allows you to enforce a rest period after the staff member has completed X shifts in a row between certain times. It’s perfect for preventing a staff member from being scheduled for a 5th night in a row and will ensure they receive a full rest period before working again.

Different Availability per Contract 

You can allow staff to provide different availability for each of their contracts. This is useful if you have staff in different roles and must specify their availability per contract. To use: The setting applies to all staff and can be enabled via System > Global Settings > Staff & Contracts > Contracts section. You will then need to enable Weekly Availability Preferences per Contract.

Note: Staff must review their availability once you make this change to ensure it is correct.