rota software

Get ready for the new 30 minute home care visit

Setting a rota on a tablet computer

With new guidelines recommending that home care visits to the elderly should last a minimum of 30 minutes, it’s more important than ever to have a simple and dependable staff clocking system and effective rota management software.

The guidance, developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), does allow for shorter visits but only if they are not the main visit of the day – for example, a follow up to check if a client has taken medicine. It also includes taking steps to ensure that clients know their carers by trying to use the same ones whenever possible and letting clients know in advance if their carers are likely to be late or not turn up.

To find out more about our wide range of attendance monitoring and staff scheduling systems and how they can help you meet the demands of this new gold standard for home care, visit our web pages using these links or contact us for further information.

Posted by administrator in Clocking and employee attendance, Domiciliary care and supported living, Mobile worker tracking, Rota software, Scheduling software

Look to the cloud if you want to share care and rota management software across different locations

white clouds to symbolise cloud computing

Employers looking for simple but versatile rota or care management software that can be used across multiple locations should consider easyLog’s latest range of cloud server-based options.

Designed to let users make connections to other sites via the internet more easily without the investment of a big IT infrastructure, these options use Windows Remote Desktop Services to distribute our care-Log+ care home system, Home Care Studio supported living solution and e-Log rota management software as remote applications.

Active Directory integration is also available for customers wanting to run easyLog products on existing Windows cloud hosting packages.

Benefits of switching to cloud-based systems include:

  • Small IT infrastructure required
  • Easy to share data and applications across several sites
  • Suits people working in different locations

Our cloud server-based options are available alongside web browser based applications and handheld apps to give a comprehensive range of solutions for people who need to work on the move.

Demonstrations and prices for all these options are available on request.

Posted by administrator in Care home management, Care record management, Care recording, Cleaning contractor software, Domiciliary care and supported living, Rota software

Staffing supported living services more efficiently with an electronic rota

St Joseph's Services provide a wide range of supported living services

Providing supported living services efficiently and cost-effectively requires meticulous staff management – especially when it comes to organising the rota. So it’s not surprising that the care provider featured in our latest case study, St Joseph’s Services, found fulfilling its complex range of services using a paper-based rota system time-consuming and unwieldy.

As business and support manager Eddy McGregor explains, the limitations of the staff rota system also affected the coverage the organisation was able to provide.

“The paper-based rota was time consuming to prepare, inflexible and did not provide sufficient detail to ensure effective coverage of contracts,” he says. “It was clearly an area where we could make improvements by using new technologies.”

Flexibility to deal with different care models

After looking at a number of electronic rota systems, St Joseph’s settled on easyLog’s e-Log software – because it offered the flexibility to function across both community care services and the care home sector. Eddy decided to pilot the rota management software in one of the organisation’s most complex service areas, Housing Support, which encompasses the two elements involved in all its other services – 24-hour support in one location and mixed support at various locations.

The new rota system was a success from the start. As well as being easy to set up and use, it has helped St Joseph’s cut costs, allocate staff more efficiently and improve record keeping.

“e-Log has enabled us to allocate staff to individual clients more effectively, allowing us to fulfil contracts, eliminate dead time, reduce overtime and costs, and report accurately and in good time to our funders,” Eddy concludes. “We are now working to roll out the system across the whole of St Joseph’s.”

Using the easyLog electronic rota software

Using the easyLog electronic rota software

Posted by administrator in Domiciliary care and supported living, Rota software

A Case Study on Forward Looking Dinosaurs

You can find an interesting new case study on the easyLog website about an implementation of the company’s staff scheduling software at a dinosaur-themed adventure park in Norfolk.

The Dinosaur Adventure park has expanded rapidly over the recent past and invested to make itself a major attraction in the local area. Their investment in easyLog’s staff scheduling software has also paid dividends as park operations manager Adam Goymour reveals, It’s given us a faster system, with an improved layout for departmental breakdown of rota costs, and provided the potential to look in far greater detail at our wage bill. It’s been well worth it.

If you would like to discuss any functionality or issues raised in this blog, please call one of our team on 01892 834406 or e-mail us on info@easylog.co.uk

Posted by administrator in Business support, Clocking and employee attendance, Flexible working, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Scheduling software, Timesheets

Mobile Worker Tracking: A growing issue requiring different solutions

According to American analytical research company Techworld, (source: Techworld mobile worker research) this year it estimates there will be 1.3 billion mobile workers in the world. That’s a lot of employees who do not regularly attend the same place of work each day. Or put another way, that’s a lot of staff presenting their managers with some interesting logistical issues if they are required to complete a timesheet to record their work hours and location.

easyLog has always been mindful that the mobile worker requires a fundamentally different approach to electronic time and attendance management versus their static colleagues. Immediate issues arise in terms of the IT infrastructure that is available at any location, does the worker have a company-provided or a personal mobile phone? does the employer require just an attendance record or are there greater efficiencies to be gained from providing additional work-related information and data entry options?

In addressing these scenarios easyLog has developed a wide array of tools to assist the employee in recording their hours and working more efficiently. These in essence can be divided by either the type of solution platform used to record attendance, for example mobile phone, hardware device, land line call, PC login record, etc and by the visit scenario. So is the employee a regular visitor to the location? Do several staff visit the location? Are there multiple sites that an employee will visit in a day or week?

easyLog’s experience will help you find the most suitable and cost effective solution for the employee tracking requirements that you have. And this may involve different approaches to specific groups of employees within your organisation. This ‘mix and match’ response is very typical amongst easyLog clients but the solution will still present a single and common interface for the tracking and recording software.

Details of all our employee tracking solutions can be found on our website.

If you would like to discuss any functionality or issues raised in this blog please call one of our team on 01892 834406 or e-mail us on info@easylog.co.uk

Posted by administrator in Business support, Clocking and employee attendance, Flexible working, Invoicing staff time, Mobile worker tracking, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Scheduling software, Timesheets

How many hours do you pay when the clocks go forward or backward?

That’s an interesting point given that British Summertime officially starts this Sunday at 2am with the clock jumping forward by one hour.

So if you pay night staff by the hour will you be paying one hour less for anyone working the night shift starting this Saturday? And correspondingly of course do you pay an extra hour when the clocks go back in October and British Summertime comes to an end?

Some organisations appear to rely on the supposition that an employee working on the night shift when Summertime begins will also be working on the night shift when Summertime ends and therefore a natural order and balance to these things exists. But that is rather wishful thinking to my mind. Across those two days within any year an employee could be on a different shift, be off sick, have left or be on holiday. And if they’re on holiday and you pay that by the hour then what calculation do you use then to ensure the correct remuneration?

Surprisingly I find some organisations blissfully unaware of the point I am making; and when I bring it to their attention there seems to be an immediate fallback position of the ‘natural balance’ rule I mentioned earlier!

Aware of this conundrum or not, it really doesn’t matter if you are an easyLog customer using our staff scheduling software  as you can resolve the issue either way. A simple tick box parameter allows you to specify if you wish to pay to the exact hours worked or to the normal scheduled shift. And that will take care of any holiday hours calculations and payments as well.

If you are a current customer that would like some help with implementing this feature please call our Support Desk on 0845 225 3011. If you don’t currently use our scheduling software but this article has got you interested in exploring what other clever and efficient things it could do for your organisation then call us on 01892 834406 and speak with one of our team.

Posted by administrator in British summertime hours, Business support, Care home management, Clocking and employee attendance, Flexible working, Invoicing staff time, Nursing home management, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Scheduling software, Timesheets

Employee attendance management coming to a cloud near you

tablet-clouds-sml-crop

Soon managers will be able to monitor attendance, authorise hours and calculate pay for their mobile or office-based staff on the move and without any need for a PC whatsoever.

Our development team is currently building a web browser and Android version of our popular e-Log attendance management software  with Html5, CSS3 and PhoneGap development tools. This will allow our clocking management solutions to be operated on the cloud, anywhere and anytime – and with any kind of device.

Watch this blog for news of trial downloads in the near future.

Currently easyLog offers a range of staff clocking options using NFC-enabled Android tablets and phones.

Posted by administrator in Business support, Care home management, Clocking and employee attendance, Domiciliary care and supported living, Latest news, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Timesheets

easyLog’s staff scheduling software factors in the Bradford Factor

The Bradford Factor is a simple formula to help manage short term sick absences and determine when these have become excessive. Named after the University of Bradford Management School, where much of the original absenteeism research was conducted, the calculation was initially associated more with the public sector and very large corporations.

The Bradford Factor (B) formula is:

number of occasions sick (S) x number of occasions sick (S) x total number of days absent (D)

Using this formula an employee taking several single days of absence will generate a larger points score than a member of staff who has one extended period of illness within the same timescale. Although the calculation should always be viewed on a case-by-case basis, the implication is that the higher the points score the more prone the worker may be to casual absence.

In today’s changed economic climate, frequent short-term sick absences have become a significant cause for concern across all sizes of business – and use of the Bradford Factor has spread accordingly.

In response to this easyLog has implemented a Bradford Factor report into its market-leading e-Log+S staff scheduling software. The report can be run for any range of staff across any period of time and be introduced into a regular personnel review meeting or run on an ad hoc basis when concerns may arise about a specific employee’s attendance record.

The Bradford Factor is just one element in a range of employee reporting tools included as standard within the e-Log+ staff scheduling software – functionality designed to present managers with the information they need to run their workforce most efficiently. You can find out more about using the Bradford Factor and easyLog’s staff scheduling software to monitor patterns of employee absenteeism by watching our latest video – Absenteeism management from your staff rota.

Posted by administrator in Business support, Rota software, Scheduling software

New web pages for community-based care providers

As you may know we recently gave our specialist product for domiciliary care and supported living providers, Home Care Studio, an overhaul – and now we have completed a revamp of our web pages for community-based care customers to match.

We have divided the section into two parts for simplicity, covering the Home Care Studio software and visit recording hardware options.

The Home Care Studio pages detail the six main features of the system: client records and care plans, rostering, payroll and invoicing, staff records and training, the easyLog care-Logger app and risk assessments. Each description includes sample screen images that can be expanded to full size with a click of a mouse so you can see how it all looks for yourself.

The visit recording pages cover three options popular with our domiciliary care and supported living customers: mobile phone and tablet-based devices, SIM-based devices and our range of specialist terminals for mobile workers.

You can find out more about our software and hardware products for community-based care providers by checking out our web pages or discussing the options with one of our team.

Posted by administrator in Clocking and employee attendance, Domiciliary care and supported living, Latest news, Mobile worker tracking, Rota software, Scheduling software

Work even more efficiently with new Home Care Studio

Community care and supported living providers should take note that we have given our specialist home care software a makeover so it’s now even more effective if you have smaller numbers of service users. We have also given it a new name – Home Care Studio

The areas we have upgraded are:

  • Rotas – we have made it easier to find staff to fulfil contracts by providing multiple rota views to meet a range of circumstances
  • Risk assessment screens – these now feature improved scorecards so you can add more details
  • Care screens – we have included social care and person-centred care planning to give a better all round picture of the service user as an individual
  • Reporting – this now offers the option of printing out care documents in part or full for greater flexibility
  • Ease of use – we have improved functionality for handheld devices, such as smartphones and tablets, so it’s easier to make initial assessments, log service user information, clock in and out and check rota information on the move

If you want to know more about how Home Care Studio can help you save time and provide higher standards of care, visit our supported living web pages or contact us.

Posted by administrator in Domiciliary care and supported living, Rota software, Scheduling software

easyLog: Bringing further cost controls to your staff schedule

easyLog has introduced some significant functionality into its market-leading staff scheduling software module. Clients now have the option to enter daily predicted sales targets and then see an automatic projection of their anticipated profitability from the total number of hours on the rota and the employment wage costs for each day.

Although this feature would be welcomed by any type of business, it is especially helpful to easyLog’s growing number of clients in the retail and service sectors where daily wage costs are the biggest overhead and therefore the largest influence on bottom line profitability. The facility is incredibly easy to use. You simply enters your projected net sales and the software then displays the staff schedule hours total, the daily wage spend (based on the hours worked per person at their individual hourly rate held in the system) and daily wage spend as a percentage of projected sales. This latter statistic is often used to determine the manager’s budget for staff on any given day and is therefore especially useful.

An early and enthusiastic adopter

One early and enthusiastic adopter and user of this functionality is Jake Harris, owner of the busy Mokoko Coffee (formerly Jacob’s Coffee House) close to the main tourist attractions in Bath. “We operate on a daily budget, so we look at each day and work out when it’s going to get busy, when it’ll get quiet, when the peaks and lulls are likely to be, and how much money we are going to take,” Jake explains. “We needed the scheduling tool to be able to tell us what we would expect to spend on wages so we could make the necessary adjustments, such as shaving half an hour here, trimming an hour a day there.” Read our Mokoko Coffee case study here.

If you would like more information on easyLog’s range of staff scheduling solutions or wish to view the software, please contact easyLog on 01892 834406.

Posted by administrator in Business support, Flexible working, Latest news, Rota software, Scheduling software

Get your teeth into Android Lollipop

If you are thinking about upgrading your existing handheld devices, or are planning to start using smartphones and tablets for the first time, there’s no need to worry about running your easyLog rota management and staff scheduling software on your new hardware. All our apps have now been tested and are working on Android 5.0 Lollipop.

And remember, if you need any help and advice on choosing equipment, just give us a call. We’ll be happy to help.

Posted by administrator in Business support, Care home management, Latest news

Full-time, part-time, extra shifts – no problem

A flexible workforce is good for your staffing budget – but it can be a major headache when it comes to managing the rota and calculating pay.

If you have staff working full-time, part-time, extra shifts or a few hours here and there, read our case study to find out how one employer is using our software to take the guesswork out of managing his highly flexible workforce.

“We operate on a daily budget, so we look at each day and work out when it’s going to get busy, when it’ll get quiet, and how much money we are going to take,” he says.

“If we know we’re going to have a busy day we can afford to have more people in and on a quieter day, fewer people. So it’s not just about filling spaces or job functions but also about hitting the budget.”

Our case study features a retail catering business but we can create similar systems for all kinds of employers and industries, from hotels and restaurants to the healthcare sector and college campuses.

Posted by administrator in Flexible working, Latest news, Rota software, Scheduling software

Windows 8 to revolutionise rotas

easyLog w8 rota app

Overlaying the ideal rota over the main rota

Touchscreen technology has already revolutionised mobile phones and will soon be coming to a desktop or laptop computer near you – which is why easyLog is shortly releasing a rota management app specifically designed for Windows 8 touchscreens.

The Windows 8 app has been created with speed and ease of use in mind. There are minimal menus and pop-ups and no setting-up screens are required, because the rota is based on existing e-Log+S core user functionality defined on the main system. So, whoever is setting the rota just selects the relevant job function and shift, then taps on where they want it to go.

As well as tablet PCs, the app can be run on a traditional PC – desktop or laptop – with a touchscreen monitor. Although the computer must have the Windows 8 operating system installed, the monitor does not need to be W8 compatible – a Windows 7-combatible monitor is equally suitable.

“We wanted to take advantage of the user-friendliness of touchscreen technology to make rota creation even easier for everyone – and the new Windows 8 environment has enabled us to do that,” explains easyLog marketing manager Nicola Clark.

“We realise that few of our clients are using tablets and other touchscreen devices right now. But it is the technology of the future and we strongly believe it will transform the way people use computers in their working lives in a very short time.”

easyLog’s W8 rota app at a glance

  • Designed to Windows 8 development guidelines
  • Can be used with touchscreen or mouse on W8 operating system
  • Ideal for Windows 7 compatible touchscreen monitors as well as tablet PCs
  • Minimal menus and pop-ups
  • Easy to operate for users of all levels
  • Works in conjunction with e-Log+S staff scheduling software
  • Fast connection to server by broadband to avoid Terminal Services and Citrix type environments

Please contact easyLog for more information about the Win 8 app. You can see more images of the W8 touchscreen rota on our Facebook page.

Posted by administrator in Latest news, Rota software, Scheduling software

(TOIL) Time Off In Lieu now available in easyLog+S Staff Scheduling software

For those organisations, especially in the public sector, that operate a TOIL (Time Off In Lieu) system for their employees, help is now at hand to monitor and report on this efficiently within easyLog’s staff scheduling software.

A TOIL system allows employees, in agreement with their line manager, the option to take additional (non-holiday) time off instead of being paid at a higher overtime rate. Like a bank account with a running balance, an employee therefore earns TOIL hours and then has them debited as they take time off in the future. Usually TOIL hours must be taken within an agreed period or the TOIL credits are lost.

easyLog’s implementation of TOIL within its scheduling software allows the manager to see instantly the TOIL hours on the rota. The periods of TOIL both given and taken can be viewed together with the original shifts that were additionally worked  to earn TOIL and the shifts that will not now be worked due to TOIL being taken. Each employee has a TOIL account that can be viewed across any date range and shows the current balance of TOIL at any time together with any notes that the manager made at the point of agreeing, giving or removing TOIL periods.

The TOIL facility is available to any client currently on software support and will be provided within their next automatic upgrade.

Any organisation that is not a current user of our staff scheduling application but would like to discuss or see a demonstration of the software’s TOIL functionality can contact our offices on 01892 834406 or e-mail info@easylog.co.uk.

Posted by administrator in Care home management, Latest news, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Scheduling software, Time off in lieu (TOIL), Timesheets

Get the right biometric reader for staff clocking

Whenever easyLog is asked to supply a biometric reader for recording staff attendance hours we will only make one recommendation based on our current experiences – implement a hand scanner.

Installing a biometric time clock presents many advantages. It uniquely proves the attendance of each employee without any possibility of another member of staff clocking in on their behalf. A biometric reader needs minimal administration because there are no cards or tags to distribute among the workforce and it removes the possibility of staff being unable to record their attendance because they have forgotten their badge or tag. However, these advantages will be lost, and time could even be wasted in calculating staff hours, if the biometric recording device you choose is unreliable in its primary task of correctly recognising an employee first time and every time.

Until easyLog is presented with a fingerprint reader that identifies an employee every time then the following remain true:

1. A fingerprint reader is based on identification of the minute detail of an individual’s finger. A process that is fine for highly secure access control in a clean environment but not always appropriate for busy staff wanting purely to clock in and out.

2. A biometric reader must be compatible with the situation in which it is operating. If workers are consistently involved in a dirty environment, frequently immerse their hands in water or handle cleaning chemicals, for example, a fingerprint reader will always struggle to identify the employee.

3. If a biometric reader cannot identify an employee with 100 per cent reliability it causes doubt. This affords the employee with an excuse for not recording their attendance. The reader is entrusted with providing irrefutable proof of time and attendance and is therefore critically relied upon for the calculation of staff pay. It must work first time and every time.

Based on easyLog’s considerable experience of implementing biometric readers, the only reliable and value-for-money biometric reader at this present time is hand scanning. A hand scanner, appropriately for time and attendance, views the shape of the individual hand and verifies this against his or her record. Its reliability is not impaired by dirt, cuts, hand gels, subtle changes in hand size due to heat or cold or immersion in water. With only a routine weekly cleaning procedure it will carry on working consistently with any size of workforce.

easyLog has implemented hand scanners with all of its time and attendance, pay analysis and staff scheduling software modules. In all cases the reliability of the applications has been completely matched by that of the biometric reader.

easyLog is always reviewing its product offerings and will be very pleased to hear of user experiences of fingerprint readers that differ from our conclusions.

Posted by administrator in Clocking and employee attendance, Invoicing staff time, Mobile worker tracking, Payroll analysis, Rota software, Scheduling software, Timesheets

Managing rotas on the move becomes a reality

A new app from easyLog for smart phones and tablet computers using the Android operating system takes working on the move a step further by allowing users to administer staff rotas quickly and effectively with only a standard wireless or GPRS (smart phone) internet connection.

The new software, developed in conjunction with Abicare, is ideally suited to coordinators who manage domiciliary care staff, work on call and have access to the internet via a home wireless connection or mobile phone with GPRS. Using this connection to link to a small portable device, such as a tablet or smart phone, is more convenient than PC-based options and means that users can easily access and amend the rota at short notice, even if they are on the move – for example, when doing home visits themselves, or during the evening or early morning when no office staff are available.

Users can update the rota system in real time, without returning to the office, and there’s no need for paper copies or follow-up administration, making it a very efficient way to deal with sickness absences and other last-minute staff changes.

“This system gives us access to service user details and enables us to reschedule staff on the move,” explains Sarah Mullins, coordinator of AbiCare’s West Wiltshire office. “This avoids us having to carry vast amounts of paperwork and means that we do not need extra administration when we eventually return to the office.”

Developing our own software means that we can update easyLog’s products in line with technological advances and changing customer needs – and it’s this forward thinking that is behind the latest version of our rota management software for portable devices.

Rotamanagement options include:

  • Spreadsheet view of selected rota periods for all required staff in 15-minute intervals
  • View of call times with client names
  • Indication of employee absence or unavailability
  • Ability to rearrange a call by changing time or member of care team
  • Ability to delete calls
  • Ability to insert calls based on unallocated contracts
  • List unallocated, or over allocated, contracts

Our domiciliary care software for tablets also features:

  • Client access/medical and home visit records
  • View and edit care plans
  • Employee, personal and training records
  • View and add call log/communication log items
  • Off-line function when not in wireless or GPRS range

We also have tablet-based products for care home administration and cleaning management administration. Please contact us to find out more.

Posted by administrator in Rota software