ROSTERkey is able to alert Managers and Administrators when there is insufficient coverage for a particular role.  This warning is configured in the Configuration -> Alert -> Insufficient Coverage page.

The above example has 6 rules configured for the Insufficient Coverage Alert and is showing details of the "Officer Afternoon" rule.


Each rule configuration has the following information:

  • Name of the rule.
  • a date range to which the rule applies, i.e. From and To.
  • a message to be displayed when the rule is broken.
  • the severity of the alert.
  • whether or not the alert can be suppressed by managers.
    • The Severity and Suppressible attributes are further described here.
  • the number of workers required to be performing the selected Role.
  • the Location to which the rile applies.
  • the Shift Definition to which the rule applies.
  • a Start-Finish time to which the rule applies.
  • criteria specifying which Roles are required.
  • a day-of-the-week lock
  • Roster Definitions to which the rule applies
  • whether to lock the coverage to a Shift Definition.

Other considerations:

  • A Shift Definition or Start-Finish is always required but only one is allowed.
  • The role criteria specify what role we are checking coverage for.  The above example says we need at least 3 "Officers" on the Afternoon Shift.  This is because we have set "Officer" as the performing role, i.e. they must have this as their assigned role during the period being checked.  A "Competent Role" can also be specified, for example "Trainer".  If we had selected "Trainer" as the "Competent Role" in the above example, then we would need three workers assigned as an Officer as their role during the afternoon shift that also have the "Trainer" competency.
    • The Role criteria can be set as
      • "Any of" where the "Workers Required" will be counted from Workers assigned to any of the "Performing" roles, or
      • "All of" where the "Workers Required" must be for EACH of the "Performing" roles.  E.g. if the "Workers Required" was 3 and the "Performing Roles" had both Officer and Supervisor, then a total of 6 Workers would be required, consisting of 3 Officers and 3 Supervisors.  Four Officers and two Supervisors would not satisfy the rule in this case.
  • Without any of the other three data items used, the rule will check the following:
    • during the time of the Afternoon Shift (perhaps 2:00pm to 8:00pm)
    • look on each day
    • count the number of workers on duty that have the Officer role as their assigned role during that time
    • if there are less than 3 then alert the Managers


Fine-tuned matching: we can fine tune the matching by using some of the next three data items:

  • If the "Day of Week Lock" is used then only days that match the days selected for the lock are checked.  For example, if Monday to Friday are selected then Saturday and Sunday will not be checked for Officers.
  • Both "Roster Defs" and "Day of Week Lock" cannot be used in the same rule configuration.
  • To use "Roster Defs"
    • You must have a "Shift Definition" selected.  It does not work with a "Start-Finish".
    • Select the Roster Definitions that will be used as a source for the times of day to check.
    • All Roster Definitions selected will be merged to find all shifts that match the selected "Shift Definition".
    • The time of day for those chosen shifts will be checked for the required number of Officers. For example, if "Roster 1" has Afternoon Shifts on Monday and Tuesday, "Roster 2" has Afternoon Shifts on Wednesday and Thursday, and "Roster 3" has Afternoon Shifts on Friday but only "Roster 1" and "Roster 2" are chosen, then only afternoon shifts on Monday to Thursday are checked.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are not checked.
  • When NOT using "Lock To Shift Definition", the check does not care what shift the Officers are assigned to.  There could be a shift defined as "Special Afternoon Shift" that has some Officers on it.  These would be counted toward the required number of 3.
  • When "Lock To Shift Definition" IS being used:
    • A "Shift Definition" must be selected.
    • Only workers actually assigned to the specified shift are counted toward the required number of 3.


Triggered Alert showing on the Roster Administration page: