After reviewing the generated schedule on Wednesday, you notice your Pharmacy Technician, Abigail Gibson, isn’t being scheduled at all during the week. Which of the following would cause this?
O Minimum Base Hours set to 10
O Availability is not entered
O Workstation Proficiencies are set to “low” for all Workstations
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is Availability is not entered.
When scheduling employees, particularly in systems that automate or optimize the scheduling process, one of the key factors is the technician’s availability. If Abigail Gibson’s availability has not been entered into the scheduling system, the system won’t be able to assign her shifts or hours. The scheduling system typically looks at both the technician’s availability and the needs of the pharmacy to allocate shifts.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of why “Availability is not entered” would cause Abigail not to be scheduled:
- Role of Availability: Availability refers to the days and times when an employee is available to work. If this information is missing, the system cannot find a suitable slot for that employee, even if there are shifts that need to be filled.
- Impact of Missing Availability: Without availability, the scheduling system cannot consider Abigail Gibson as a potential candidate for any shifts, which is why you would notice that she is not scheduled at all. The system might treat her as unavailable by default, leading to her exclusion from the schedule entirely.
Other options are less likely to be the cause:
- Minimum Base Hours set to 10: If the minimum base hours are set to 10, the system would still try to allocate shifts to meet this requirement. If Abigail is available for those 10 hours, she would still be scheduled unless other factors prevent this (like availability or workstations).
- Workstation Proficiencies are set to “low” for all Workstations: While workstation proficiencies are important for determining which tasks or areas an employee can work in, a low proficiency would not automatically prevent scheduling. If Abigail is trained, the system might assign her to tasks within her proficiency range, though it may limit the types of shifts or responsibilities assigned to her.
Thus, the most likely reason for Abigail not being scheduled is that her availability has not been entered into the system.