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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-07-10
Steps: Set Up Hybrid Scheduling

Steps: Set Up Hybrid Scheduling

Set up hybrid scheduling to maximize labor coverage and maintain high levels of consistency for permanent staff while leveraging the Optimization Engine to adapt to changing operational needs. This setup enforces labor budgets and compliance rules across both static and Optimization Engine-generated shifts.
  1. Configure your high-level scheduling organization (HLSO) settings.
    1. Access the
      Edit Scheduling Settings
       task for your HLSO and, on the
      Validations
       tab, configure the validations for:
      1. Minimum Shift Length
      2. Maximum Shift Length
      3. Minimum Weekly Hours
      4. Maximum Weekly Hours
      To ensure that only casual workers receive labor-optimized shifts, lower the
      Maximum Weekly Hours
       configuration. Alternatively, you can use the
      Override Scheduling Settings for Worker
       task to set a worker-level
      Maximum Weekly Hours
       override to a value that doesn’t leave bandwidth to pick up leftover shifts.
    2. Configure the
      Consistency
       setting on the
      Scheduling Engine Settings
       tab.
      To ensure you successfully fill any excess labor demand each week after your static shifts are accounted for, set the
      Consistency
       setting value to 0. If
      Consistency
       is set to a high value, Workday prioritizes the creation of consistent shifts every week, which may ignore your labor demands and result in schedule gaps.
    3. Specify the schedule generation strategy:
      1. Access the
        Manager Experience
         tab.
      2. Select
        Labor Optimization
         as the
        Schedule Generation Strategy
        .
        This is a mandatory setting for hybrid scheduling to function.
    4. Click
      OK
       to submit your changes.
  2. (Optional) Access the
    Scheduling Workers with Work Schedule Calendar Assignments
     report to identify worker types at your organization.
    Static scheduling workers get their shifts from a combination of work schedule calendar assignments and shift profiles. You can use this report to view all static scheduling workers in a scheduling organization (SO), with permanent/static scheduling workers listed first, and casual workers listed last.
  3. Access the
    Schedule Workers
     task and configure your labor demand and budget for the selected organization on the
    Labor Demand
     tab.
    As you complete the details to allow for hybrid scheduling, be aware that:
    • Labor demand must account for all static shifts of permanent workers and any additional demand that requires casual workers.
    • Configure the minimum labor demand based on the shifts and profiles of your permanent workers. Any demand exceeding this minimum is delegated to casual workers.
    • Be aware that a zero or very low labor budget might prevent schedule generation if you don’t allow the Optimization Engine to exceed your labor budget.
  4. Access the
    Schedule Workers
     task to generate a schedule.
Workday recommends that you test this functionality as follows:
  1. Access the
    Scheduling Engine Settings
     tab of the
    Edit Scheduling Settings
     task.
  2. Specify a value of
    100%
     for 1
    Engine Setting
     option (such as
    Consistency
    ,
    Demand Coverage
    , or
    Labor Cost
    ), and leave the other settings at
    0%
    .
  3. Generate a schedule on the
    Schedule Workers
     task.
  4. Review the generated schedule output, and adjust your settings if necessary.