Priority Lists

Priority Lists control the order in which substitutes receive calls, give substitutes preference over other substitutes, and determine the order in which jobs are offered either via the Internet browser, call-in, or call-out. These lists ensure the system finds the best-qualified substitute, according to policies, for each job. Typically, substitutes on priority lists receive calls before their profile setup is considered. A substitute can be placed on a location, location group, or an employee's Preferred list.

Employees cannot maintain priority lists, so administrators and operators must maintain these lists. Administrators can maintain preferred lists and can view Do Not Use and Automatic Assignment lists.

Not all substitutes should appear on preferred lists. Only the substitutes that will be offered the job first should appear. If you have too many substitutes on Preferred lists, the fill rate will not improve for jobs. Substitutes must be assigned to either a location or an employee, but not both.

You can create Priority lists for a specific classification code or a location or employee in general. The system typically calls lists with classifications first before lists without classifications. We recommend not to place a substitute on a list with a classification and a list without the classification.

Priority Lists Types

Each priority list type performs specialized functions.

Do Not Use - Active and Inactive Lists

The Do Not Use list identifies substitutes who should not be offered or assigned jobs at a given location or for a particular employee. The list applies to all standard and custom search rules and to all jobs that require a substitute. Thus, it is not a part of the search rule setup. A Do Not Use can be Active or Inactive. The system uses Active lists for job processing. Inactive lists are for historical tracking of Do Not Use entries for a substitute, employee, or location.

A substitute cannot simultaneously be on a location's Active Do Not Use list and other priority lists for the same location and classification.

The only exception is when specifying a substitute. If a caller can specify a substitute on the Active Do Not Use List, you can disable the option Check the Active Do Not Use List on the Parameters - Jobs tab.

If you select the field to enable this parameter, the system checks the appropriate Active Do Not Use lists when the request is made. If the specified substitute's name appears, the system will not allow that substitute to be requested or pre-arranged.

If you leave the field unchecked to disable this parameter, the system does not check the Active Do Not Use lists when the request for a substitute is made. The specified substitute will be called for the position even if on the Active Do Not Use List for that location or employee.

Active Do Not Use List

You can print a system-generated notification letter to mail to a substitute each time they are placed on an Active Do Not Use List. Access the letter from the Priority Lists page, and you can modify it before printing.

Optionally, you can assign a reason for a substitute being put on an Active Do Not Use list. Create and view the list of reasons for Active Do Not Use Lists on System Configuration, Reasons, Do Not Use Reasons. If Do Not Use entries have an associated reason, the system tracks the number of times a substitute has been placed on a Do Not Use List for a specific reason. Deleted entries, active or inactive, are removed from the reason count for a substitute.

If configured, the system sends an alert email to designated Operators when a substitute reaches a threshold for the number of times for a single Do Not Use reason.

Administrators who can Modify Do Not Use lists set ON in their Administrator profile can change the status of Active entries to Inactive.

Inactive Do Not Use List

The system does not use entries on the Inactive Do Not Use List to determine whether substitutes qualify for jobs. These entries are a historical log of Do Not Use entries.

Automatic Assignment List

This list is for locations with permanent substitutes who should be assigned before any other substitutes are called. You can add or remove this list from the search rule setup.

It assigns substitutes to the first jobs created for a location per day. The number of jobs assigned to substitutes from the Automatic Assignment list depends on the number of substitutes on that list. The system does not call these substitutes regarding these jobs. Instead, the substitutes must call or sign into the system each day to learn their assigned jobs. When a job requiring a substitute is reported, the system checks the location's Automatic Assignment List for an available substitute.

• If a substitute on the list for that location is available, the system assigns that substitute to the job and notifies the absence creator that the job has been assigned from the Automatic Assignment list.
• If no substitute is available from this list, the system creates the job as an open job and follows its normal procedures to locate a substitute or allow a substitute to be specified or prearranged. The Automatic Assignment list can override parameters that allow substitutes to be requested or prearranged.

You can change the order of the search rule lists to have the Auto Assignment list come before the Specified Substitute List. If a substitute is available on the Automatic Assignment list at the location of the job, the system does not consider a specified substitute if one is entered. However, the system operator can override the assignment of an automatic assignment substitute.

If a substitute assigned from the automatic assignment list cancels the job, the system assigns the job to the next available Automatic Assignment List substitute, unless that substitute has previously been assigned to that job. If no other substitutes are available from the Automatic Assignment list for that location, the system leaves the job open and follows its normal procedures to locate a substitute for the job.

The automatic assignment list is used before considering the in-house filling capacity of the location.

Preferred List

This list identifies substitutes who are preferred for an employee, location, or location group. Preferred lists can have a specific classification or have no classification. Search rules determine the order Preferred Lists. The system checks classification-specific Priority Lists first to attempt to match them with the classification of the job.

Maintaining Preferred Lists for employees can result in considerable data entry. If you decide to do so, we recommend limiting the number of substitutes allowed on the list.

Custom List

Operators can create Custom Lists and insert them into search rules to identify substitutes for specific circumstances. A Custom List can include unqualified substitutes to receive calls last in the search rules and after the general list.

Priority Lists Page

This screen allows you to search, review, modify, delete, add a substitute to a priority list, and create Priority List reports. From Administrator, choose Priority Lists.

Add a Priority List

1. Click New.
2. Enter the substitute ID or click Name Lookup.
3. Choose the list type for List of.
4. Choose the employee location, enter the employee ID, or click Name Lookup.
5. Enter a Sub List and Level.
6. Click Save.

Modify a Priority List

1. Enter criteria and click Search.
2. Click the substitute name.
3. Update the desired fields
4. Click Save.

Create Priority List Reports

1. Enter criteria and click Search.
2. Click Create Report.
3. Enter a report title.
4. Click New Page on Primary Sort.
5. Click View Report.

Active Do Not Use Lists

For these lists, there are additional options to inactivate the list and print a letter.

A substitute's Do Not Use reason count calculates as follows:

• Total of Active plus Inactive Do Not Use entries per Reason. Deleted Do Not Use entries, active or inactive, do not count.

To inactivate a list, select the Make Inactive field, then click Make Inactive.

To print a notification letter to the substitute to inform them of their entry on an Active Do Not Use list, select the Print Letter field, then click Print.