Use Position settings to decide whether people can hold more than one assignment at a time and whether positions can be shared. Choose the arrangement that matches your organization and the date it starts. Assignment purposes such as Acting do not override these rules.

Position, assignment, and employee external IDs follow the same organization-wide usage and management rules. Position and assignment controls are on this page. Employee controls are in Employee settings. See Position numbers and external IDs for the position controls.

These relationship rules are different from workforce rules, which compare staffing or costs with targets, and pay adjustment rules, which calculate additions or reductions to cost. Use this guide to control allowed position and employee relationships. Use Workforce rules for staffing requirements or budget limits.

Before you begin

You need the Manage position setup permission to change these settings. Review organization-wide effects before saving.

Choose the right position setting

Decision Use this guidance
Change the prefix or number of displayed digits in a position number Position numbers and external IDs
Show, label, require, or correct an external position ID Position numbers and external IDs
Show, label, require, or assign ownership of an external assignment ID Use External assignment ID on this page, then review Manage assignments
Limit which employee and position assignments may overlap Continue with this article
Create fields or choice lists for positions, employees, or assignments Set up fields and choices
Create work schedule choices Set up work schedules

Position settings do not define departments, job classification rates, actual compensation, approval reviewers, or report access. Follow the separate setup guide for each choice.

Configure external assignment IDs

Choose one usage for the external assignment ID:

  • Not used hides the field from assignment forms, details, search, and assignment imports. This is the default for organizations that do not match assignments with another system.
  • Optional shows the field and allows a blank value.
  • Required requires a value when FTE Tree manages the ID. Existing blank records remain available for review and correction.

Choose FTE Tree when authorized users and reviewed imports maintain the ID. If an enabled human resources connection supports assignment IDs, you can choose it instead. When the connected system manages the ID, you cannot enter or change it in FTE Tree forms or assignment imports. If a required ID is missing, review it through the connected system. You can still make unrelated changes in FTE Tree.

The connection choice appears only when it supports assignment IDs. Creating a connection alone does not let it maintain those IDs.

Choose an assignment rule

Choose whether overlapping assignments are flexible, limited to one position per employee, limited to one employee per position, or one-to-one. A restrictive choice needs a start date and checks existing assignments before it can be saved.

Rule Use it when
Flexible assignments Employees and positions may both have overlapping assignments
One position per employee An employee may have only one active assignment, but a position may have several employees
One employee per position A position may have only one active employee, but an employee may hold several positions
One-to-one assignments Each employee and each position may have only one active assignment

The rule applies when assignment dates overlap. It does not prevent a person from moving from one position to another after the earlier assignment ends, and it does not require every position to be staffed.

Use the least restrictive rule that matches the organization’s real staffing policy. A rule that is stricter than normal operations creates avoidable blocks during employee moves, shared appointments, temporary coverage, and imports.

Understand what the rule checks

The rule compares active assignment dates for the same employee, position, or both, depending on the choice.

  • Flexible assignments allows an employee to hold overlapping positions and a position to have overlapping employees.
  • One position per employee prevents one employee from holding overlapping positions. It still allows several employees to share one position when their combined FTE is allowed.
  • One employee per position prevents overlapping employees on one position. It still allows one employee to hold several positions.
  • One-to-one assignments applies both limits.

Assignment FTE is a separate check. A flexible assignment rule does not permit assigned FTE to exceed the organization’s allowed position capacity without producing an overassignment condition. See FTE, assignments, and vacancy for that calculation.

Example: moving to one-to-one assignments

An employee has a 0.5000 FTE assignment in position A and a 0.5000 FTE assignment in position B on September 1. That staffing pattern conflicts with a one-to-one rule beginning September 1.

End or correct one assignment before saving the stricter rule. If the organization will continue to use shared appointments, choose a rule that permits them.

Changing the rule does not rewrite assignment history. Resolve conflicts first, then save the stricter rule.

Example: a shared position

A separate full-time practice position (1 FTE) is shared by two employees, each working half-time (0.5 FTE), during the same dates. One employee per position and One-to-one assignments would block that approved staffing pattern. Flexible assignments or One position per employee can allow it, subject to the employee side of the selected rule.

Do not choose One-to-one assignments simply because the combined assignment is exactly 1.00 FTE. The rule counts overlapping employee-to-position relationships, not only the total FTE.

Plan a policy change

Before changing an organization-wide setting:

  1. Write down the business reason and the first date the policy should apply.
  2. Review assignments that overlap on or after that date.
  3. Confirm whether shared positions, joint appointments, temporary coverage, or employees with several positions must remain possible.
  4. Correct assignment dates or relationships that are wrong.
  5. Test the proposed rule with one allowed pattern and one pattern that should be blocked.
  6. Tell people who create assignments or prepare assignment imports what will change.

Do not use a stricter rule merely to fix one unusual record. Correct the record when it is wrong; change the organization rule only when the policy itself changed.

Use the start date correctly

The start date is the first date the assignment rule applies. A future start date gives the organization time to resolve conflicts before the new policy begins.

Earlier staffing history remains visible under the policy that applied at the time. A later rule does not rewrite an earlier valid shared appointment. When reviewing a blocked assignment, compare its full date range with the rule start date and every other assignment that overlaps those dates.

If the organization recorded the wrong rule or date, review the affected assignment history before correcting the setting. A correction can change which past assignment patterns are considered valid.

Check the result

  • Create or open a representative employee and position.
  • Add an assignment pattern the new rule should allow.
  • Try an overlapping pattern the rule should prevent.
  • Review dates immediately before and on the rule start date.
  • Confirm earlier valid assignment history remains visible.
  • Validate a representative assignment import if your organization uses imports.
  • Open Activity history for position settings and confirm the policy reason is understandable.

Use Manage assignments for the day-to-day steps to create, change, or end an employee assignment. Use Staffing or assignment issue when an existing assignment is blocked or produces an unexpected staffed, vacant, or overassigned result.

Does a one-to-one rule mean a position must always be staffed?

No. It limits overlapping assignments. A position can still be vacant.

Form choices

Use this reference to choose form values. Available choices depend on the task, selected date, and your access.

Assignment rule

This rule limits overlapping employee-to-position relationships. It does not replace FTE capacity checks.

Choice Meaning
Flexible assignments Allows employees to hold several positions and positions to have several employees.
One position per employee An employee can hold only one position at a time; a position can still be shared.
One employee per position A position can have only one employee at a time; an employee can still hold several positions.
One-to-one assignments Each employee can hold one position and each position can have one employee at a time.

For example, two half-time employees sharing a 1 FTE position need a rule that permits several employees on one position. Their combined 1 FTE does not make that relationship one-to-one. A stricter rule is checked against assignments overlapping its start date; review existing and scheduled arrangements before changing it.

Optional practice: check the rules before assigning someone

For exercises that change records, use a separate practice organization and complete the preparation below.

Practice steps and checks
  1. Open the assignment rules in position settings.
  2. Read whether the organization allows more than one assignment per employee or per position.
  3. Check that Avery can hold the walkthrough’s single 1.0 FTE assignment in Patient Services Coordinator.
  4. Open the assignment and check that it uses the intended employee, position, and dates.

The main example uses one full-time person in one full-time position.

For an optional hiring lesson, create a separate full-time vacant position and assign Casey Rowan to it. Use separate practice records if you want to try job sharing or overlapping assignments. The combined FTE must fit the position, and your organization’s assignment rules must allow the arrangement. Assignment purposes describe assignments; they do not override these rules.