Fair overtime allocation for security and shift staff: a method that ends the arguments
Allocate overtime by ranking everyone by the least overtime hours on record, then the least in the last 90 days, then the longest since their last; skip anyone on leave, already on duty, or without enough rest. Record the hours, the reason and who authorised it. When the table is visible to the team, the arguments stop.
Why it goes wrong
Overtime is usually given to whoever is nearest, answers the phone, or is liked. Over a year the same few people collect most of it, the rest resent it, and nobody can show the pattern because it lives in a chat group.
The method
Keep one register of every overtime hour with reason and authoriser. Before offering a shift, rank the eligible team: lowest all-time overtime first, then lowest in the last 90 days, then longest since their last. Eligible means not on leave, not already on duty that day, and enough rest since the previous duty. Offer it to the top of the list; if they decline, the next.
Show the table
Publish the ranking with the roster. Fairness that can be seen is fairness that is believed. A monthly report with each person's hours against the team average closes the conversation.
Automating it
WolfShift keeps the register, ranks next-in-line from the whole history, checks leave and rest for the day, and prints the fair-share table and overtime register in the monthly PDF.
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