DepenSys now offers two ways to allocate staff to units: by staff count (per person) or by hours worked. This flexibility allows homes to choose the approach that best matches how they plan, manage, and think about staffing on a day-to-day basis. A simple toggle within the view lets you switch between these two methods at any time, with all calculations updating automatically.
Traditionally, DepenSys has supported a per-person approach, where staff are allocated as full or fractional values to represent how individuals are shared across multiple units. While this works well for some homes, others have found it challenging to calculate and maintain fractional values - particularly where staff move between units during a shift.
To address this, staff allocations can now be entered directly as hours per unit. This allows managers to assign the exact number of hours a staff member contributes to each unit, removing the need for fractions and making shared staffing easier to understand and manage. Whether you think in terms of people or hours, DepenSys adapts to your preferred way of working—while still producing consistent, accurate staffing and care calculations behind the scenes
Example 1: One Staff Member Across Two Units on an 8 Hour Shift
This represents the staff member splitting their time evenly between both units. While accurate, fractional values can sometimes be difficult to calculate and interpret, particularly when shifts are not evenly divided (see below). By allocating hours directly, the same staffing arrangement can be entered in a clearer and more intuitive way, without the need for fractions. Both approaches represent the same total staffing contribution.
Example 2: One Staff Member Across Three Units on an 8 Hour Shift
In this scenario, calculating and maintaining fractional staff values can become more complex, especially when staff movement varies between shifts. Using hourly values makes the allocation immediately clear and easier to verify, while still accurately reflecting how the staff member’s time is distributed across units.
Why This Matters
Both methods produce the same underlying staffing and care calculations. The difference is purely in how the data is entered and viewed. Homes can choose the approach that feels most natural to them, thinking in terms of people or thinking in terms of hours, while DepenSys handles the calculations consistently in the background.