In this article we explain you the difference between required and schedules hours which are Hour Metrics that follow expected time, which we no longer use.
1. The Three Paths
| Path A | Path B | Path C |
What setup does the employee have? | active Shiftplan | regular or irregular Work Schedule assigned | Contractual hours only (no shift employee, no Work Schedule assigned) |
Source for scheduled time | Published shifts in Shiftplan | Work Schedule pattern | Contractual hours ÷ contracted working days |
Source for required time | Contractual hours - time off - public holidays | Contractual hours - time off - public holidays | Contractual hours - time off - public holidays |
2. Path A – Shiftplan employees
Scheduled time comes exclusively from published shifts. Contractual hours are used only for Required time.
Situation | Scheduled | Required |
Day with published shift(s) | Sum of shift hours (minus break deduction if enabled) | Contractual hours - time off - public holidays |
Day with no published shift | 0h | Contractual hours - time off - public holidays |
Public holiday | Shift hours if published, otherwise 0h | 0h |
Time off (paid/unpaid) | Shift hours if published, otherwise 0h | 0h |
Time off (hourly) | Shift hours if published, otherwise 0h | Contractual hours - hours of the Time off request |
Time off type no reduction | Shift hours if published, otherwise 0h | Contractual hours (not deducted) |
Scheduled is fully shift-driven: time off and public holidays don't reduce it.
Required is calculated from contractual hours independently, so the two columns can show very different numbers on the same day.
If Shiftplan is active but no shifts are assigned, Scheduled = 0h for all days.
Required still reflects contractual hours even when no shifts are assigned.
3. Path B – Work Schedule Assigned
Path B1 – Regular Work Schedule
Fixed hours per day (e.g. Mon–Fri, 8h each).
Situation | Scheduled | Required |
Normal working day | Hours as defined in Work Schedule | Same as Scheduled |
Non-working day (per work schedule) | 0h | 0h |
Public holiday | Hours as defined in Work Schedule | 0h (!) |
Time off (paid/unpaid) | Hours as defined in Work Schedule | 0h (!) |
Time off (hourly) | Hours as defined in Work Schedule | Contractual weekly hours - the hours of the Time Off request |
Time off type no reduction | Hours as defined in Work Schedule | Scheduled hours (not deducted) |
Scheduled time is never affected by time off or public holidays. Only Required changes. See the example below, only a non-working day reduces scheduled time, but for these three highlighted days only the 28th has required time.
Path B2 – Irregular Work Schedule (no Shiftplan)
Selected working days, no fixed daily hours. Required hours are distributed across the minimum working days per week.
Situation | Scheduled | Required |
Selected working day | Actual hours per day as defined in the Work Schedule (e.g. 4h on Friday) | weekly contracted hours ÷ minimum working days (e.g. 34h ÷ 5 = 6h 4min every working day) |
Non-working day | 0h | 0h |
Public holiday | Actual hours per day as defined in the Work Schedule | 0h |
Time off (paid/unpaid) | Actual hours per day as defined in the Work Schedule | 0h |
Time off (hourly) | Actual hours per day as defined in the Work Schedule | Calculated daily hours - the hours of the Time Off request |
Time off type no reduction | Actual hours per day as defined in the Work Schedule | Calculated daily hours (not deducted) |
Scheduled hours still show calculated hours on time off and public holiday days, but not on a non-working day. Only Required is reduced.
See the example below, only a non-working day reduces scheduled time, but for these four highlighted days only the 3 have the average working hours as required time.
4. Path C – Contracted Hours Only
No shiftplan employee and no work Schedule assigned.
Scheduled time = contractual weekly hours ÷ contracted working days (e.g. 32h ÷ 4 days = 8h/day).
Situation | Scheduled | Required |
Normal working day | Contractual daily average (e.g. 8h/working day) | Same as Scheduled |
Non-working day (e.g. Sunday) | 0h | 0h |
Public holiday | Contractual daily average (e.g. 8h/working day) | 0h |
Time off (paid/unpaid) | Contractual daily average (e.g. 8h/working day) | 0h |
Time off (hourly) | Contractual daily average (e.g. 8h/working day) | Contractual daily average - the hours of the Time Off request |
Time off type no reduction | Contractual daily average (e.g. 8h/working day) | Contracted daily average (not deducted) |
Scheduled is never affected by time off or public holidays. Only Required changes. See the example below, only a non-working day reduces scheduled time, but for these three highlighted days only the 28th has required time.
5. When does Scheduled show 0h?
Path | Scheduled shows 0h when... |
A – Shiftplan | No published shift (regardless of time off or holidays) |
B1 – Regular Work Schedule | Non-working day per schedule only |
B2 – Irregular Work Schedule | Non-selected day, day beyond weekly minimum working days |
C – Contracted hours | Non-working day only |
Note: Time off and public holidays never cause scheduled to show 0h — except in for Path A active shiftplan employees, when no shift was published.
6. What reduces Required time?
Applies to all paths:
Public holiday / Time off (full day) → 0h
Public holiday / Time off (half day) → half of the scheduled hours
Hourly time off → Scheduled − hours of time off request (min. 0h)
Time off "no reduction" type → no change