A technique to take leave into account in shift-rota design

Sick leave, vacations, and the like lead to substantial leave factors. Rota design techniques for covering leave are not always feasible. A small comp any was helped to develop a new rota. The main requirements were an ergonom ically better rota, less overtime caused by leave, and a rota that lets emp loyees take their vacation during the summer. The internal evaluation was u nanimously positive after 1 year. A prospective leave coverage was used, wi th different workhours during summer and spring and with a mixture of shift work and flexible day work. Later the rota was further refined, and broade r qualifications of the workers made a much simpler rota possible. The expe riences of this study indicate that problems with leave can be reduced if e xpected variations in leave are considered in the rota design by including variations in workhours. A further promising strategy is to mix shift work with other types of work when time is not a critical factor.