Workforce rules help you check whether staffing or costs meet your organization’s requirements. They can describe a minimum level of staffing, a maximum amount of position capacity, or a budget limit. Each rule connects a requirement with the workforce information and dates it should check.

A rule has two separate jobs: compare a measured result with a target, and determine the response when an action does not meet that target. Seeing a shortfall does not by itself tell you whether submission or approval is blocked. The response configured for that action determines what happens.

How a rule works

  1. Choose what to measure. Select a staffing or financial measure, such as Assigned FTE or calculated compensation.
  2. Choose where and when it applies. Set the department and optional job code and the dates for the requirement.
  3. Define the target. Enter a fixed FTE or financial target.
  4. Choose the condition. Use At least for a minimum or At most for a maximum.
  5. Choose action responses. Decide whether an unmet requirement provides information, warns, or blocks submission, approval, or application.
  6. Check the result. Review the measured value, target, dates, and explanation. Correct the information or proposal when needed, then check again.

Rules check the information recorded elsewhere. They do not create positions, fill vacancies, or schedule employees. Position and assignment changes and financial entries remain separate tasks.

Follow a staffing example

Suppose a department needs at least 6.0 Assigned FTEs from October 1. Its assignments currently provide 5.5 FTEs. A rule using Assigned FTE, At least, and a target of 6.0 shows a shortfall of 0.5 FTE.

The organization might use Warn and allow on submission and Block action on approval. A proposal that still leaves the department below 6.0 can be submitted with a warning, but it cannot pass the configured approval check. Review the proposal and the relevant staffing dates to understand what would meet the requirement.

Creating a vacant position does not increase Assigned FTE. An assignment provides filled capacity; whether it meets this rule also depends on its FTE, dates, and inclusion in the rule. A different rule measuring Position FTE answers a different question.

Targets, conditions, and actions

Each rule has one Target and a Condition. At least is met when the measured value equals or exceeds the target. At most is met when the value equals or stays below it. Use two rules when you need both a minimum and a maximum; each can have its own action responses.

The target and the response are separate choices. A target of 25 Position FTEs with At most can be information only, warn when a request is submitted, or block approval when the resulting staffing exceeds 25.

Response When the condition is not met
Information only Show the result and allow the action.
Warn and allow Show a warning and allow the action.
Block action Prevent the action.
Allow with warning if improving Allow a change only when it reduces an existing excess or shortfall without making another checked interval worse. Otherwise block.

Choose On submission, On approval, and On application separately. Other rules and permissions can still prevent an action. A saved comparison records an earlier check; a later action checks the proposed change again.

Unknown means information needed to calculate the result is missing. It is not zero. An improvement cannot be established from incomplete information. Checking requirements means the calculation is still running; wait for the complete result.

Staffing and budget dollars

Measure What it checks
Position FTE Position capacity, including vacancies.
Assigned FTE Capacity filled by employee assignments.
Budget capacity cost Budgeted cost of position capacity.
Staffed budget cost Budgeted cost of assigned capacity.
Calculated compensation Calculated compensation for included assignments.

Select Budget on a rule to include it in budget comparisons. A department can have separate FTE and dollar budget rules, and can meet one while exceeding the other. The Budget choice labels the rule; its condition and action responses determine its behavior.

Financial rules can check each applicable interval or total costs for a complete budget period. FTE is checked throughout the applicable period and is never added across months. A yearly cost rate and a complete fiscal-year cost total are different measures of time; choose the calculation that matches the budget amount.

Where each kind of setup belongs

Settings > Positions controls position identifiers, fields, assignment purposes, and allowed position and employee relationships. Workforce > Work schedules contains schedules. Settings > Workforce setup contains shift classifications.

Use Workforce rules to manage targets, conditions, action responses, and saved comparisons. Budget and compensation setup and viewing permissions are managed separately.

Find the rules that apply

The rules list starts with All rules. Leave From and Until blank to see the complete catalog, or enter dates to show rules whose windows overlap that period. Choose Approved or Workforce plan to see applicable requirements, then select Filter to apply your choices together. Approved defaults to today; a workforce plan defaults to its full period. Until is the first day outside the period. A rule can have several rows when its target changes during that period. Clear returns to the complete catalog.

Use Check rules to select departments and optionally Budgets only. Department selection finds relevant rules; it does not shrink a rule’s measured scope. Organization-wide rules remain included when you have permission to view them. A complete-period cost rule always checks its whole period.

A saved rule evaluation keeps the requirements and results used for that check. Later corrections do not rewrite it. Plan changes are checked against current requirements before application. Use the Actions or More menu to find saved results, imports, and reports available to you. A rule can still affect an action even when your access does not let you view its details.

Follow targets on a dashboard

A dashboard can bring staffing or cost results together with the rules that define your targets. A rule marked Budget remains the same rule wherever you view it: hiding its dashboard row does not remove its warning or blocking response. See dashboard target comparisons to understand automatic budget comparisons and the Rules and budgets widget.

Choose your next task

Start with Create and change a workforce rule to turn a requirement into a rule. Use Check rules and save results to review current or planned information. If a result is unexpected or an action is blocked, follow workforce rule troubleshooting.