Article Highlights
- The problem: Making data-informed scheduling decisions
- The solution: Fire department personnel management software
- The benefits of fire department scheduling software
The problem: Making data-informed scheduling decisions
Fire department schedulers often valuable time developing schedules, compiling hours worked and submitting the information for payroll processing. But this can be a frustrating process – for both schedulers and department staff – because they lack a streamlined system for collecting employee schedule data and reports to make informed scheduling decisions.
Using traditional paper processes for schedule management is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Managers can spend up to 10 hours a week making employee schedules. They often spend several hours each week developing staff schedules, compiling hours worked and submitting the information for payroll processing. And while they make scheduling decisions based on availability, they frequently have to make changes based on PTO requests or shift swaps.
Fire department administrators also have to manually calculate staff hours and compile payroll reports. Manual schedules are prone to mistakes, confusion, and miscommunications about scheduling needs across the department. Unfortunately, without an easy way to analyze scheduling and staffing data, it's difficult to identify areas for improvement and coordinate fire department schedules. This can lead to insufficient fire department staffing levels from errors and miscommunications, which affect the department’s ability to serve citizens. It can also cause errors in payroll management that frustrate staff and create liability risks if staff are not adequately compensated for their hours.
The solution: Fire department personnel management software
PowerDMS' fire department scheduling software, PowerTime, streamlines schedule management by tracking employee hours and scheduling data in one central system with 24/7 access. You can leverage over 200 reports on scheduling data that you can export, send, or print depending on your fire department’s needs. Plus, PowerTime stores contact information, hire dates, IDs, and more, while also providing audit trails that track scheduling activity, including PTO banks, requests, and approvals.
In addition, PowerTime collects scheduling data for each pay period, which you can easily export into an external payroll system. This way, staff can review their timesheets digitally each pay period to check for errors and give their approval, reducing the number of complaints about incorrect timesheets.
The benefits of fire department scheduling software
PowrDMS’s fire department personnel management software allows departments to make data-driven decisions and easily create schedules without mistakenly leaving shifts unfilled, scheduling firefighters for too many shifts in a row, or giving preferential treatment concerning overtime.
PowerTime collects schedule data that lets you easily access schedule reports for a clear picture of scheduling across your fire department that can inform decisions and improvements. You can monitor time off requests and fire department staffing levels to ensure you always meet requirements. And with all your scheduling and employee information in one central location, both administrators and staff can access the information they need at any time, from any device.
Using PowerTime helps fire departments save time and effort on payroll by reducing a days-long process to a simple review and click of a button. Plus, the system’s automated tracking and reporting will reduce timesheet errors that come with manual processes and make staff feel more confident in the accuracy of payroll.
Get started
To see how PowerTime can streamline scheduling and support data-based decisions about shift management, schedule a free demo today.