A scheduling model incorporating information on daily availability of personnel

Abstract

The process of scheduling involves allocation of off days and assignment of shifts on working days for each employee in a manner such that the demand, service rules and work preferences are met at a minimum cost. This paper presents a scheduling model for known demand and staff size that is fixed for the planning horizon but can vary from day to day due to planned leaves taken by the personnel. The model integrates prescribed service rules and information on daily availability of personnel during the scheduling period. The problem is formulated as a 0/1 goal-programming model where the objective is to minimize the violations of requested leaves in the planning period. The paper does not address the larger problem of workforce planning and budgeting. The model is tested using real data from a hospital and solutions are obtained in reasonable time.