How Do I Create a Fair Monthly Shift Schedule for Eight Employees in Mumbai?

Could you please help me create a monthly shift schedule roster for a team of eight skilled employees? I need to include the following shifts:

1. First Shift: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2. Second Shift: 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.
3. Night Shift: 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.
4. General Shift: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
5. Late General Shift: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
6. Late Morning Shift: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Roster Criteria:

- The shifts rotate weekly.
- The first shift is from Wednesday to Monday, with only one Tuesday.
- The second shift should be allocated at least twice a week.
- The general shift should be allocated at least twice a week.
- There are no weekends off.
- Only one employee can have a day off on Monday or Friday.
- There should be a minimum 12-hour gap between shifts.
- The same shift should not be allocated more than ten times in a month.

Can anyone suggest the best options to create this roster, based on the criteria given above? The location is Mumbai, India.

Creating a shift schedule based on the criteria you provided can be a complex task. However, this can be eased with the use of Excel and, if required, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. Open an Excel workbook and create a table with the dates of the month in the first column and the names of your eight employees in the first row.

2. Next, you will need to create a formula or VBA macro that considers all your criteria, including the shift times, the weekly rotation, the 12-hour gap between shifts, and the limitation on the number of times a shift is repeated in a month. This might require advanced knowledge of Excel formulas or VBA programming.

3. To ensure compliance with Indian labor laws, specifically the Factories Act 1948, make sure no worker is working more than 48 hours a week, and the spread over of work does not exceed 10.5 hours in a day.

4. When scheduling the shifts, avoid assigning the same employee with the first shift on Monday and the second shift on Sunday, as the gap between these shifts would not meet the 12-hour requirement.

5. Keep track of the number of times each shift is assigned to avoid exceeding the 10 times limit per month.

6. You can color-code the shifts for easy visualization and understanding.

If this task seems too complex to handle manually, you may want to consider using a shift scheduling software that can account for all these factors and automatically generate rosters. There are several available online, some even specifically designed for Indian labor laws.

Please note that this answer is a simplified guideline. Excel and VBA can be quite complex and might require professional help or extensive learning if you are not already familiar with these tools. Always make sure to double-check your roster to ensure it complies with all labor laws and company policies.