Overview
The Supported Departments setting determines which other departments a staff member can support.
A staff member remains assigned to their primary department. Selecting another department as a supported department:
Does not move the staff member to that department
Does not add the staff member to that department’s regular staff list
Does not include the staff member in that department’s automatic scheduling process
Instead, the staff member appears in the Support section of the selected department’s schedule workspace and can be assigned manually when needed.
How to Access This Setting
To select supported departments for a staff member:
Go to Department from the left menu.
Open the Staff Members tab.
Locate the staff member you want to update.
Click the three-dot menu at the end of the staff member’s row.
Select Edit.
Open the Departments tab.
Select one or more departments under Supported Departments.
Save the changes.
You can search for departments, select them individually, or use Select All when available.
A staff member can support multiple departments at the same time.
How the Setting Works
When a department is selected under Supported Departments:
The staff member remains part of their primary department.
The staff member becomes visible in the selected department’s schedule workspace.
The staff member can be assigned manually to shifts in the supported department.
The staff member is not considered during automatic scheduling for the supported department.
Assignments made in either department are reflected in the staff member’s schedule.
This allows managers to review the staff member’s existing assignments before assigning additional work in another department.
Viewing Support Staff in the Schedule Workspace
After a schedule has been created, supported staff members can be viewed from the schedule workspace.
To find them:
Open the relevant schedule.
Select the Staff view.
Scroll to the Support section at the bottom of the staff list.
Select a support staff member to view their schedule.
The staff member’s assignments from their primary department are also visible in this calendar.
If the staff member receives an assignment in the supported department, that assignment is also reflected in their schedule in the primary department.
Assigning Support Staff Manually
Support staff members are used only through manual assignment.
To assign a support staff member:
Open the schedule workspace for the supported department.
Select the staff member from the Support section.
Review their existing assignments and availability.
Add the required shift manually.
Support staff members are not assigned automatically when Run Auto Scheduling is used.
Example
Suppose a staff member belongs to the Emergency department and Intensive Care is selected as a supported department.
In this case:
The staff member remains an Emergency department staff member.
They appear under Support in the Intensive Care schedule workspace.
Their existing Emergency assignments are visible from the Intensive Care schedule.
The Intensive Care manager can assign them manually to a shift.
An assignment made in Intensive Care is also visible in the staff member’s Emergency schedule.
The staff member is not included in automatic scheduling for Intensive Care.
Important Considerations
A staff member always remains assigned to their primary department.
Supported staff are available only for manual assignment.
They are not included in the supported department’s automatic scheduling process.
A staff member can support more than one department.
Existing assignments should be reviewed before assigning support staff.
Assignments are reflected across the primary and supported department schedules.