Consecutive

This rule allows you to control how many consecutive shifts or days employees can work. It can be used to set both minimum and maximum limits on consecutive work periods, helping you balance employee workload and prevent burnout.

Rule schema

object

Used to set targets and limits on the number of consecutive shifts that an employee works.

Show properties

string

required

Unique identifier for the rule.

array of string

Labels for the rule. Labels can be used to group rules together. For example, if multiple rules are related to the same shift type, they can all be labeled with the same label.

required

The importance of the rule. The higher the importance, the more it will be taking the rule into account. Under strict importance, the rule may never be violated.

object

Filters to determine the scope of the rule. Used to indicate what the rule should be applied to (which employees, which shifts, etc). Leaving this empty means that the rule always applies.

Show filters – properties

object

Filters entities by id and label.

Show employees – properties

array of string

Entity ids to match.

array of string

Entity labels to match.

object

Show matchTypes – properties

string (enum: NONE | ANY | ALL)

Used to indicate how to apply the id filters. For example, if set to NONE, entities with the specified ids will be excluded. Default: “ANY”.

string (enum: NONE | ANY | ALL)

Used to indicate how to apply the label filters. For example, if set to ANY, entities that have any of the specified labels will be included. Default: “ANY”.

object

Filters entities by id and label.

Show shifts – properties

array of string

Entity ids to match.

array of string

Entity labels to match.

object

Show matchTypes – properties

string (enum: NONE | ANY | ALL)

Used to indicate how to apply the id filters. For example, if set to NONE, entities with the specified ids will be excluded. Default: “ANY”.

string (enum: NONE | ANY | ALL)

Used to indicate how to apply the label filters. For example, if set to ANY, entities that have any of the specified labels will be included. Default: “ANY”.

object

required

Defines targets and limits on the number of consecutive shifts that an employee works.

Show targets – properties

integer

The minimum number of consecutive entities that an employee should ideally work. This cannot be set as a strict limit; any supplied min, including 0, requires non-STRICT importance.

integer

The maximum number of consecutive entities that an employee should work. STRICT importance makes this a hard limit; other importances penalize each entity beyond the maximum. To combine a soft minimum with a hard maximum, use separate rules.

Maximum consecutive shifts

To limit the maximum number of consecutive shifts or days an employee can work, use the max property in the targets object. With STRICT importance, this is a hard limit. With any other importance, it is a target: the solver will try to avoid days beyond the maximum.

The rule below strictly prevents employees from working more than 4 consecutive days. If an employee works on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, they must have at least one day off before working again.

{
  "id": "cc-max-4-days",
  "importance": "STRICT",
  "targets": {
    "max": 4
  }
}

Minimum consecutive shifts

To encourage employees to work a minimum number of consecutive shifts, use the min property in the targets object. This is treated as a target rather than a strict requirement, so the solver will try to achieve it but may not always succeed.

The rule below encourages employees to work at least 3 consecutive shifts when they do work. This helps create more predictable work patterns and reduces fragmentation.

{
  "id": "cc-min-3-shifts",
  "importance": "MEDIUM",
  "targets": {
    "min": 3
  }
}

Combining minimum and maximum

You can combine min and max in a non-strict rule to create a preferred range. Both targets are soft and use the rule’s importance. A strict rule containing min is rejected.

The rule below encourages employees to work between 3 and 5 consecutive days when they do work. The solver will try to avoid shorter groups and days beyond the maximum.

{
  "id": "cc-3-to-5-days",
  "importance": "MEDIUM",
  "targets": {
    "min": 3,
    "max": 5
  }
}

Filtering by employees and shifts

You can combine both employee and shift filters to create very specific rules for certain groups of employees working certain types of shifts.

The rule below strictly limits senior employees to a maximum of 2 consecutive intensive shifts, while other employees are not affected.

{
  "id": "cc-senior-intensive-max-2",
  "importance": "STRICT",
  "filters": {
    "employees": {
      "labels": ["senior"]
    },
    "shifts": {
      "labels": ["intensive"]
    }
  },
  "targets": {
    "max": 2
  }
}

Metrics

The following status metrics are available for tracking on Consecutive rules:

Metric key	Description
`CONSECUTIVE.MIN_VIOLATIONS`	Number of consecutive-work groups that are shorter than the configured minimum.
`CONSECUTIVE.EXCESSIVE_DAYS`	Total assigned days beyond the configured maximum across consecutive-work groups.

Getting started

Entities

Concepts

Reasoning

Status updates

Rule schema

Maximum consecutive shifts

Minimum consecutive shifts

Combining minimum and maximum

Filtering by employees and shifts

Metrics