Overview
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
The company clearly communicates to staff when they are scheduled to work (and on what duties) via a Schedule that is available in the company’s nominated time tracking software, QuickBooks Workforce.
Crew booking and scheduling is undertaken or overseen by department managers and coordinators.
Schedule publishing
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
The minimum notice period for Schedule publishing under the LPA is 7-days. MPH publishes the Schedule in line with this requirement.
For example,
On Monday the 1st of July, the Schedule for next week (work between July 8th to July 14th) is published.
If Monday is a Public Holiday, the Schedule is published on the Friday before the Monday.
Weekly employees are notified via Teams in the #MPHAll chat when the Schedule is published.
Casuals are notified the Schedule is published via email.
When released, the Schedule details workdays, non-workdays, travel, start and (estimated) end times.
Notice periods for shift confirmation
Touring employees
- Casual
- Weekly
- Touring
Touring employee’s working days and estimated working hours are confirmed as far in advance as possible (sometimes months), via email per the company’s Crew Booking process.
From time-to-time Jobs may confirm late and advanced notice is not possible, but the 7-day notice period always applies (except in extenuating circumstances and by agreement only).
Weekly Factory and OPSS employees
- Weekly
- Factory
- Other
Weekly Factory and OPSS employees typically work set days and hours each week and the default shift entries are:
Mon – Fri, 08:30 – 16:35
i.e. 7.6h of work with a 30m unpaid Meal Break
However, all Factory and OPSS classified employees can have their Ordinary Hours scheduled on any of the 7-days of the week between 07:00 and 00:00 to meet the business’ needs.
Typically, the company knows in advance when a non-standard week will occur and managers schedule staff for non-standard weeks as soon as that information becomes available. Never more than 30 days and never less than 7-days in advance (except in extenuating circumstances and by agreement only).
Employees must check the Schedule each time it is published to confirm what days and times they are working in the following week and should never assume they are working Mon – Fri.
Casual Factory employees
- Casual
- Factory
Casual Factory employee hours are scheduled on an ad hoc basis dependent on the needs of the business. Casual Factory employees may be called in last minute (and accept if they’re available) or can be scheduled up to 30 days in advance.
Considerations when scheduling work
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
When scheduling employees, managers and coordinators consider in this order of influence:
- Employee safety
- Via the Fatigue Management policy
- This, the Working Times | Scheduling work shifts policy
- The entire Working Times suite of policies
- To ensure all scheduled shifts meet the policy correctly
- The needs of the department and MPH Jobs
- That is, what the company requires in terms of the number of people
- Skills required for the Job or task
- Examples include, Lighting Technician Level 1, 2, 3; Forklift license; relevant experience
- Training needs and opportunities
- What opportunities the company needs to provide to people to develop their skills
- Home and Job geographic locations
- That is, where the employee lives, and where the Job is, and what costs the company may incur because of greater distances
- Managing costs to the business
- For example, selecting “senior enough” staff, but not necessarily the most-senior
- Accommodation costs required
- Allocating Split Shifts in known downtime
- Staff preferences
- For example, working with Clients they like, in cities they prefer, or with people they like
When Scheduling employees, managers do not consider:
- Personal relationships
- “Personality matching”
Split Shifts
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
A Split Shift is when an employee works for a period, takes a significant break (typically several hours), then works again on the same day.
Employees may leave the Job site, and the Disconnect from Work policy applies during the break during split shifts, but employees are required to be at work, Ready for Work at the next agreed time.
For example,
✅ Camilo is scheduled to work for 4h on a Job. Camilo’s Technical Supervisor will not require Camilo for 4h – and does not require Camilo to be On-Call. Camilo clocks off for 4h, then returns to the Job site, and clocks on for 8h work.
Payment: Employees are paid their usual hourly rate for the work shifts and are not paid for the break between the split shifts.
Accessing the Schedule
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
Employees have access to the Schedule 7-days before their scheduled shifts.
To learn where and how to check the QB Schedule, see the Using QB Workforce guide.
Schedule changes
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
While the Schedule is made to be accurate on a best-effort basis, changes are sometimes necessary.
Changes that result in additional working days or hours will be discussed with employees to confirm their availability before making the change. Changes for fewer working hours are made at the manager’s discretion based on work requirements (shift or Job cancellations may apply).
Specific duties during a shift may be changed at the manager’s discretion.
When a change for the current or next calendar week is identified, the Schedule will be updated. The employee will be Actively Notified as soon as the change is made. Changes further in the future will be discussed with the employee via email.
If a shift or Job is cancelled employees are Actively Notified. The shift colour is changed to grey but retained in the Schedule for future reference if required. The Shift and job cancellations policy applies.
Shift naming
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
- Other
Shifts in the QB Schedule are consistently named for the type of work the employee is scheduled for (also indicated by a colour), or the specific Job the employee is assigned to (Jobs are assigned contrasting colours to differentiate them).
| Scenario | Artist / festival / event / stage / role name | Separator character | Other details 01 | Other details 02 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Festival | Knotfest (ST1) | > | Prep | (MEL) |
| Festival | Laneway (ST3) | > | Show | (BNE) |
| Tour | Jay Chou | > | Load-in | (SYD) |
| Tour Travel Hours | Flight (TTH) | [blank] | SYD to MEL | (Flight number) |
| Tour Travel Hours | Drive (TTH) | [blank] | Albury to MEL | [blank] |
| Weekly employee | Warehouse Technician | [blank] | [blank] | [blank] |
| Public Holiday | Public Holiday | [blank] | Christmas Day | [blank] |
| Tour Day Off | Jay Chou | > | TDO | (SYD) |
| Tour Travel Day | Jay Chou | > | TTD | (BNE) |
| Minimum Call Time | Knotfest (ST1) | > | Min. Call (3h) | (MEL) |
| RDO | RDO | > | [blank] | [blank] |
| Unexpected Leave | U/ Leave | [blank] | [blank] | [blank] |
| Planned Leave | P/ Leave | [blank] | [blank] | [blank] |
| Rest Day | Rest Day | [blank] | [blank] | [blank] |
| Local crew on Jobs | Jay Chou | > | Local Crew x8 | (MEL) |
| Local crew at the Warehouse | Warehouse | > | Local Crew x4 | [blank] |
Using the naming pattern defined above, some example shift titles are:
- Knotfest > Prep (MEL)
- Jay Chou > Load-in (SYD)
- Flight (TTH) SYD to MEL QF10
- Drive (TTH) Albury to MEL
- Warehouse Technician
- Public Holiday > Christmas Day
- Jay Chou > TDO (SYD)
- Jay Chou > TTD (BNE)
- RDO️
- Knotfest (ST1) > Min. Call (3h) (MEL)
- U/ Leave or P/ Leave
- Rest Day
- Jay Chou > Local Crew x8 (MEL)
- Warehouse > Local Crew x4
Shift colour
MPH applies colours to shifts to indicate the work being performed.
| Colour | Used for |
|---|---|
| Grey | Not working (Public Holiday, RDOs, Annual Leave, Not Available* or similar) |
| Red | Service, Repairs, Manufacturing, Maintenance employees |
| Orange | People assigned to Warehouse Department tasks. |
| Green | People assigned to Production Department tasks, other than work on Jobs. For example, as a Production Administrator. |
| Bloomy Plum | Managers and Administration employees. |
| Black | Duty Officer (See the Disconnect From Work Policy; the Duty Officer Guide and the “Roster Duty Officers” section of the Production Assistant DWM). |
| Blue | Any staff assigned to Training. |
| [other colours] | MPH Jobs (including Prep, Load-ins, Shows, Load-outs, Travel, Tour Days Off, On Call Days). See details below. |
Emojis in shift titles
Emojis are added to some shift titles to note (for employees and the Payroll Officer) when an allowance is due for that shift and what allowance is due. The emojis used are:
| Allowance type | Emoji used |
|---|---|
| Accommodation Allowance | ❌ |
| Camping Allowance | ⛺ |
| Tool Allowance | Nil. |
| Transmission Allowances | 🎦 |
| Travel Allowance | 🛎️ |
| Vehicle Allowance | 🚗 |
Non-work shifts
Rostered Days Off
RDOs are entered as a 7.6h shift.
If Work on an RDO occurs, the RDO shift remains in the Schedule, but a work shift is also entered in the relevant Job colour.
This ensures it is clear when an employee is on an RDO and when Work on an RDO has occurred.
When an employee is scheduled in advance to work 7-days in a week, Saturday and Sunday are always entered as the RDO.
See also: Working Times | Rostered Days Off (RDOs).
Rest Days
Rest Days are entered as a 7.6h shift.
If Work on a Rest Day occurs, the Rest Day shift remains in the Schedule, but a work shift is also entered in the relevant Job colour.
This ensures it is clear when an employee is on a Rest Day and when work on a Rest Day has occurred.
See also: Working Times | Rostered Days Off (RDOs).
Tour Travel Hours
Tour Travel Hours are entered in the Schedule reflecting the 1h paid time before the Scheduled Departure Time and with the shift ending 30m after the Scheduled Arrival Time. The flight shift will contain the flight and reservation numbers.
When travel bookings change, this information is updated promptly (employees will also receive an Active Notification of this change).
Tour Travel Hours are entered as:
- 1h before the Schedule Time of Departure (or the lobby call time if relevant)
- [Flight time]
- 30m after the Actual Time of Arrival
See also: Working Times | On-Call Hours.
If work is also to occur on this day, a separate work shift is entered.
Tour Travel Day
A Tour Travel Day is entered as a 7.6h shift and will appear alongside the Tour Travel Hours (flight) shift.
Tour Day Off
A Tour Day Off is entered as a 7.6h shift. If an employee is called into work on a Tour Day Off, the work shift is entered alongside the TDO shift to indicate this occurred.
Leave
All Leave Types are entered in the Schedule.
If a full day of Leave is planned to be taken, or someone calls in sick for a full day, the shift is entered as 7.6h.
If less than a full day of Leave is being taken, the hours being taken are entered and the work shift is shortened accordingly.
Estimated shift lengths
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
- Touring
Shifts are often different lengths, depending on the Job or department work requirements. The company aims for as much accuracy as possible when creating the Schedule, but sometimes necessary data is not yet provided by Clients or the time it will take to complete work cannot be provided with 100% certainty.
When employees do not have set and regular shift lengths, estimates are used in the Schedule per this policy.
If a shift time changes, employees are Actively Notified, and the Schedule is updated.
Touring employee estimated shift lengths
- Casual
- Weekly
- Touring
This section applies to:
- Lighting Technicians
- Technical Supervisors
- Other technical touring employees
Estimates do not reflect guaranteed hours. Shifts may be longer, or shorter than estimated.
| Example activity | Estimated Shift Length | Meal Break (unpaid) | Default shift hours | Paid hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prep days | 8h 5m (8.1h) | 30m | 08:30 – 16:35 | 7h 35m (7.6h) |
| Prep + truck load (2 trucks) | 10h | 60m | 08:30 – 18:00 | 9h |
| Rigging Load-in | 4h | N/A | 12:00 – 16:00 | 4h |
| Load-in | 9h | 60m | 08:00 – 17:00 | 8h |
| Travel + Load-in | 14h | 90m | 06:30 – 20:30 | 12.5h |
| Load-in + Show | 17h | 120m | 07:00 – 00:00 | 15h |
| Load-in + programming | 15h | 90m | 08:00 – 00:00 | 13.5h |
| Show Day
(after programming the night before) |
9h | 60m | 15:00 – 00:00 | 8h |
| Show Day (no load-in or load-out) | 12h | 60m | 12:00 – 00:00 | 11h |
| Show Day + Load-out | 14h | 90m | 12:00 – 02:00 | 12.5h |
| Load-in + Show + Load-out | 17h | 120m | 07:00 – 02:00 | 15h |
| Tour Travel Hours |
|
|||
| Tour Travel Day | 7h 35m (7.6h) | |||
| Tour Day Off | 7h 35m (7.6h) | |||
| Minimum Call Time | Weekly: 4 hours Casual: 3 hours |
|||
Factory and OPSS employee estimated shift lengths
- Casual
- Weekly
- Factory
This section applies to:
- Warehouse Technicians, and Lighting Technicians acting as Warehouse Technicians
- Service Technicians
| Example activity | Estimates Shift Length | Meal Break (unpaid) | Default shift hours | Paid hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General position duties | 8h 5m (8.1h) | 30m | 08:30 – 16:35 | 7h 35m (7.6h) |
| De-prep | 8h 5m (8.1h) | 30m | 08:30 – 16:35 | 7h 35m (7.6h) |
| De-prep + truck unload (2 trucks) | 9h | 60m | 08:30 – 17:35 | 8h |