If you are participating in a self-rostering process, your hospital will usually send you an overview of the structure of the roster and your obligations.
For all self-rostering processes you will have one or more ‘windows’ of time (normally 1-2 weeks) to pick your shifts for the coming roster. Multiple windows are used if there are different rules at different times, for instance the first window might limit the number of shifts people can select until everyone has had fair access to the roster.
There are two types of self-roster used in HosPortal:
Selection-based rosters, where each user picks their shifts directly on a first-in-first-served basis. Once you pick your shifts no one else can select that shift. In these rosters you may be given a quota of shifts you need to fill.
Preference-based rosters, where you express preferences for shifts that the roster administrator will use when building the rosters. In this case you and any number of people can select the same shift, and the roster administrator will use HosPortal's roster-building algorithm and possibly some manual edits to build the roster.
When to select your shifts
You will receive email and/or SMS notifications to let you know:
when the window for self-rostering opens and closes
whether the roster is using selections or preferences
any rules about the process including
whether there are any restrictions on picking your shifts, and
any quota of shifts you need to select
You can pick your shifts at any time that the window is open. You can change your mind as often as you like during this time, although the amount of choice you have in selection-based rosters will reduce as other people pick shifts.
For selection rosters there is an advantage to getting in to pick your shifts as soon as possible. For preference rosters HosPortal does not consider when you pick your preferences when building the roster.
How shifts are credited to your quota
Note that you only receive credit towards your quota for shifts you select from the self-roster screen during the selection window.
You do not get credit towards your quota by swapping and accepting shifts from other users, no matter how those people came to be assigned on those shifts.
Seeing the self-roster status
When you log into HosPortal, if any of your hospitals has an open self-roster period, you can see the details on the left of your dashboard. You will see an overview panel for each self-roster that is currently active. Make sure to select the appropriate site (A).
The information is slightly different depending on whether you are participating in a selection roster (S) or a preference roster (P).
The information can see is:
The name of the self-roster process, which might be different to the name of the roster.
The name of the facility
Whether the self-roster is selection-based or preference-based.
The date range of the shifts that are being filled.
Whether the window is open, and a countdown timer until the window opens or closes.
If there are multiple windows
If you are participating in a selection roster with quotas, you have a status bar showing your progress to picking your shifts.
the 'Click to selfroster' will take you to the self-roster page regardless of whether you are able to pick your shifts.
Selecting your shifts: preference-based rosters
For preference-based rosters, see this help file here.
Selecting your shifts: selection-based rosters
For selection-based rosters, see this help file here.