AN ALGORITHM FOR MULTIPLE SHIFT SCHEDULING OF HIERARCHICAL WORKFORCE ON FOUR-DAY OR THREE-DAY WORKWEEKS

摘要

This paper presents an optimal algorithm for multiple shift scheduling of hierarchical categories of employees on four-day or three-day workweeks. Employees work four days (three days in the case of three-day workweek) each week, have at least a fraction A out of every B weekends off, work no more than four (three in the case of three- Day workweek) consecutive days in a workstretch and have at least some prescribed Number of hours off when changing shifts. Such contexts exist in many seven-day- a- week manufacturing and service organizations such as paper mills, steel plants and hospitals. We determine the most economical mix of categories of employees satisfying scheduling constraints under a pattern of demand for employees.