Shift filling

SOP 700 - Shift Filling

Purpose:

To define shift-filling procedures by Station Agents for Field Operations Supervisors, currently defined as Dispatchers, Controllers, Rail Supervisors and Road Supervisors.

Responsibilities:

It is the responsibility of management  to determine whether open shifts are going to be filled and to notify the Station Agent to fill or leave the shift open.

It is the responsibility of the Station Agent on duty to perform shift-filling duties, which include checking the red book and special events calendar in Outlook.  The assigning of work shifts will be in accordance with the current Union contract.  The Hours of Service (HOS) Policy prevails on all work assignments.

Procedures:

Preparing work lists:

The Red Books and Exception Log Worksheets will be closed at 10:00 a.m. for initial assignment of the next day’s open work.  The Station Agent on duty will prepare the Worksheets with a list of open work compiled from Red Book requests, operations orders, managers’ directives, etc.  If there are more Auxiliaries than posted shifts to fill, ‘extra’ shifts will be created. Auxiliaries working an ‘extra’ shift may be used to fill regular shifts that come open after the Worksheets are initially closed.

Auxiliaries' work selection:

An Auxiliary needs to call the Station Agent before 11:00 a.m. to select an assignment for the next day's work. Should the Auxiliary fail to call by 11:00 a.m., that individual will be assigned to the shift with the earliest time off that will not create a pass-up.  If there is an open regular shift and an ‘extra’ shift at the same time, the regular shift will be assigned first.  Call 503-962-4715 for Elmo or 503-962-8119 for Ruby.

Assigning work:

Any whole regular shift assignment selected by an Auxiliary is that person's assignment for the day.  If there are more Auxiliary supervisors available than open shifts and an ‘extra’ shift is made up, the hours, duties and/or location may be changed or adjusted later to meet business needs at the discretion of management or Leads.  Full shifts that come open may be assigned to an Auxiliary working an ‘extra’ shift who has less than four hours on duty, if no Hours-of-Service policy violation would result.  If a full shift comes open that cannot be covered by a single ‘extra’ shift Auxiliary, it may be covered by using two or more ‘extra’ shift Auxiliaries at straight time.  A Field Operations Manager may direct that a supervisor working an ‘extra’ shift be sent home early, with full shift pay, to prevent a pass-up.

Order of work assignment:

Filling full shifts:

1.    By seniority to the first available Auxiliary(s) at straight time pay.

2.    By seniority to the first available supervisor on RDO.

3.    By seniority to the first available supervisor already assigned to a shift (regular or RDO) who can work a double shift without violating the Hours of Service (HOS) Policy.

4.    If the full shift cannot be covered by #1, #2 or #3 it shall be offered in parts by seniority order without violating HOS.

Filling piecework:

A part shift is considered anything less than 7 hours and 30 minutes (for 8 hour shifts) and 9 hours and 30 minutes (for 10 hour shifts), and will be offered as piecework within HOS limits.

1.    To Auxiliary working ‘extra’ shift at straight time.

2.    In seniority order to anyone already assigned to a shift (regular or RDO) who can work the entire piece first without violating HOS rules.

3.   If the entire piece cannot be filled, then fill pieces by seniority.

NOTE: Rail Supervisors have three separate reporting stations and may not be offered extra work if there is a location conflict which would prevent starting the extra work, or their original shift, at the appointed time.

Pass-ups:

Supervisors may pass-up if they have less than nine hours off from the time they finish and are scheduled to start their next day’s shift. Supervisors must notify the Station Agent on duty within the first two hours of their shift previous to the shift they intend to pass-up. The Station Agent may then assign a time to call in or assign any open shift that allows for at least nine hours off.

Supervisors passing up will be allowed eight hours off before call-in and nine hours off before any work assignment. If all other attempts to fill the ‘passed-up’ shift fail, the supervisor who passed up may be brought in after nine hours off to fill the remainder of the shift.

Supervisors may not select work or make a trade that will put them into a pass-up position (less than nine hours between shifts) unless they intend to accomplish the work. Trading into a pass-up is not allowed.

Redbook Requests:

1.    Requests for time off may be entered into the Outlook Red Book up to one month in advance (date to date). Requests for time off for the seven TriMet recognized national holidays may be entered up to two months in advance (date to date).

2.    If a request is entered too early, the request will be deemed invalid.

3.    The guarantee off for each work group will be for whole days off first (8 or 10 hours as applicable).  Every attempt will be made to allow a part-day request if it is a valid entry.

4.    Requests for part of a day off must be in increments no less than one hour.

5.    Requests for time off after the guarantee for a department is met, or after the Red Book is closed, will require approval of applicable Manager or Assistant Manager.

6.    If a part-day off is allowed and cannot be filled with an available Auxiliary, the Station Agent will contact applicable management to determine if the work will be filled. A Lead may make this determination for Bus or Rail Supervisors.

Example: If there are three guaranteed days off given in a department, the first three whole-day requests will be guaranteed. This includes people off on signed full weeks of vacation. If there is one person off on a week’s vacation, the first two in the red book by entry date/time will be guaranteed off. Once three whole-day-off requests are granted all other requests will be considered based on the ability to cover the work, preferably at straight time.

Filling shifts by phone:

Supervisors are responsible for providing a contact phone number to be listed on the Notes Page of the appropriate Supervisor Exception Log. The Station Agent may use only this number when making calls outside of TriMet’s phone system.

The Station Agent will call Supervisors at the appropriate phone number to fill shifts or offer extra work.  If no direct contact is made, the Supervisor will have a minimum of two minutes to respond to messages.  The Station Agent on duty shall complete the process of filling open work in a manner that is as timely as reasonable and practical.

Occasionally circumstances dictate that a shift has to be filled on short notice.  In such cases, the defined order of filling shifts will still be followed.  If a supervisor cannot be on property at the time the shift starts, due to late notice from the Station Agent, they may be allowed to accept the shift if they can arrive within 30 minutes of the shift’s start time.

A record of calls made to fill open work will be kept on the Notes page of the appropriate Supervisor Exception Log.

Altering Shifts:

Shifts will not be altered without first obtaining the approval of the appropriate manager.  Page it out if he/she cannot be reached on the phone.

Trades:

All trading of shifts and days off is a privilege granted by the Association and District and may be cancelled at any time.  Both parties must agree.  All trades are marked up on the daily work sheet.

Supervisors cannot trade days with a person who is marked off sick prior to the trade.  Once a trade is made and approved in good faith, the trade will be honored even in the event of a Supervisor marking off for the first part of the trade.

Supervisors can trade work on holidays if both have signed up to work the day.  However, trades cannot be made between personnel who have signed up for the holiday and personnel who did not sign up for the holiday.

No trades are allowed between an overtime shift and a straight-time shift except as a last resort, when all other efforts to fill the work have failed.  Supervisors may not trade their shifts with open shifts, until all other efforts have been exhausted.

Personnel who Trade Work or Trade Days Off will be offered work in the seniority spot they are traded into.

General:

Supervisors can look up their information in the appropriate Exception Log for the date concerned.

Supervisors marking off are required to call in 60 minutes before a shift assignment in order to avoid an oversleep penalty.

A Supervisor who oversleeps may be utilized however best serves the business needs of the District that day.