Sofia García Manglano¹, Julien Maheut², Julio J. García-Sabater² and José P. García-Sabater²

¹ Universitat Politècnica de València, Dpto de Organización de empresas, Camino de Vera S/N, 46023 Valencia.

² Universitat Politècnica de València, Dpto de Organización de empresas, ROGLE, Camino de Vera S/N, 46023 Valencia.

sogarman@upv.edu.es, juma2@upv.es, jugarsa@upv.es, jpgarcia@upv.es

Abstract. In sheltered employment centers, staff planning, and scheduling is a critical task because legal issues are various and different but also because not any worker fits in any place at any time. This complexity is higher when the tasks/duties imply people with specific needs and activities in labour enclaves in a multisite context and in different sectors. In this paper, after a brief literature review and an approximation to a case study, a MILP model is proposed to solve the suggested problem.

Keywords: Manpower rostering, Workers with disabilities, Case study, MILP model.

1. Introduction

Setting up calendars for work teams in various places with different requirements is a highly complex task [1]. This problem is especially difficult when the workers to be considered have different training and skills levels [2]. And even more so when people have different capacities and/or must be accompanied by coaches [3].

The aim of this communication is to propose a mathematical model to solve the staff rostering problem in the case of a Spanish sheltered employment center in the Valencian Region. In such case study, the decision makers should manage the assignment and planning of work activities, weekly breaks, vacations, and days off for all the workers (workers with special needs as well as the coaches) while considering several types of affinity (between workers and others), the customers’ requirements, in a biweekly horizon. A MILP has been designed, calibrated, and implemented in the organization of the case study.

2. Literature review

Under the names of staff rostering and its synonyms, an extensive quantity of papers can be found. In a general sense, the shift planning problem involves assigning suitably qualified personnel to meet a time-dependent demand for different services, while observing industrial workplace arrangements and trying to satisfy the labour preferences of the workers.

Reviewing the existing papers, some specific cases of application can be found. Unfortunately, we have not found any research about staff rostering for people with disabilities taking into account their specific requirements.

3. Case study

The inclusion of people with special needs and different abilities in the labour market is only one step towards their insertion in “normal” life [4]. “Fundación Espurna” [5] is a non-profit organization that employs more than 350 workers, mainly with intellectual disabilities. Fundación Espurna holds its own sheltered employment centers and has several labour enclaves.

4. Conclusions

In this work, a MILP model to solve a sheltered employment center rostering problem is proposed. The suggested model has been designed for a specific sheltered employment center in the Valencian region.

References

1. De Causmaecker, P., Vanden Berghe, G.: Towards a reference model for timetabling and rostering. Ann. Oper. Res. 194, 167–176 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-010-0721-2
2. Harper, P.R., Powell, N.H., Williams, J.E.: Modelling the size and skill-mix of hospital nursing teams. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 61, 768–779 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2009.43
3. Garcia-Sabater, J.P., Maheut, J., Ruiz, A., Garcia-Sabater, J.J.: A framework for capacity and operations planning in services organizations employing workers with intellectual disabilities. Sustain. 12, 1–17 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229713
4. Jarhag, S., Nilsson, G., Werning, M.: Disabled persons and the labor market in Sweden, (2009)
5. Garcia-Sabater, J., Garcia-Sabater, J.P.: Fundación Espurna: A Case Study on Social Entrepreneurship. In: Social Entrepreneurship in Non-Profit and Profit Sectors. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 36. pp. 73–83. Springer, Cham (2017)