• The My Info screen will display personal information as well as recent performance statistics.



• Please enter a permanent address that we can use to send your required tax documentation each year.



• The XF and QAXF statistics that you see listed on this page are cumulative averages for the current 14-day period.



• The "Contact Number" and "E-mail Address" entries are linked to our distribution lists. Please use an e-mail address you will check regularly to receive company updates (typically a few e-mails are sent per month).



• In order to save changes you make to this page (or any other pages on COSA), you must click on the "UPDATE" button at the bottom of the screen to lock in changes.

• Details on pay rates can be found in the Compensation Policy document in COSA.
  
  

• The My Stats screen will display all your performance statistics for the last 30 days.
  
  
• The data from this screen can be used to track trends in performance.
  
  

• The Logged Hours screen will display your total logged hours for the day compared to your total scheduled hours for the day. The Logged Entries page will also show each time you logged in and out for the day.



• Use this screen to keep track of your time for the day. You should develop the habit of checking it before you leave for the day to make sure you were logged in for all of your scheduled hours.



• This page also keeps track of your logged hours for the Current Week, Current Pay Period, Last Pay Period, and for any particular day in the past, using the calendar feature.



• The Logged Hours screen will update whenever you click on it, but in order to get an accurate report of your compensation, you must log out of Formalizer and wait a full minute before viewing the Logged Hours screen.
  
  
• Individuals are responsible for completing all of their scheduled hours on a daily basis. That means you must finish all of your hours every day.
  
  
• If you scheduled yourself to work (for example) 4.0 hours, it is expected that you work 4.0 hours (not 3.99, not 3.75, etc.).
  
  
• It is almost always acceptable to work MORE hours than you are scheduled to work.
  
  
• Note also that 32 hours must be completed during the period in order to be eligible for pay rate increases. Anything less than 32 hours, even 31.99, will result in disqualification from those rates.



• Failure to complete shifts will typically require that you come back and make up those hours. You are in full control of scheduling yourself in advance, and we expect that whatever times you schedule yourself to work will be completed in full.
  
  
• Excessive abuse of schedule adherence and make-up hours can result in suspension or termination.
  
  

• The My Schedule and My Availability pages work together to create your schedule, but function separately and for different purposes. The My Availability page you can think of as the template for your base schedule. The My Schedule page is your actual schedule for the next 14 days.
  
  
• The My Schedule page will display the days and times that you are scheduled to work on a rolling 14-day period. As each day passes, a new day will automatically schedule itself based on what is reflected on your My Availability page.
  
  
• All scheduled shifts will be reflected in GREEN on your My Schedule page.



• The My Schedule page is also the page that you can use to make schedule change requests to your schedule. You can request to pick up hours or remove hours from this page by using the appropriate YELLOW and RED buttons on the right hand side.



• Cells that are colored DARK GREY indicate that we are either already scheduled to be staffed to full capacity or that we are closed during that time period. If you wish to submit a request for times that we are full, please call or e-mail the office.



• You can use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as your web browser on a PC to take advantage of all the functions of COSA. (Certain features may have issues while using a mobile device or Mac).

How to Make a Schedule Change Request - To receive a guaranteed approval for a schedule change, you must submit a request online via the My Schedule page by no later than 5:00pm on the Monday that precedes the week of the request. Any schedule request received by this due date is considered an "on-time" request. Any request that is received after this due date is considered a "late" request, and is no longer guaranteed to be approved. - With all schedule requests, you are responsible for checking your My Schedule page for accuracy and to ensure that the request has been approved. On-Time Requests: Any on-time request for a removal of hours will be approved without the need to add any make-up hours. Simply make the request online via the My Schedule page, and no further correspondence is necessary. There are, however, two exceptions: All employees are expected to work a minimum of 16 hours a week, Monday through Friday. You are allowed to make a schedule request that would bring your hours below 16 hours a week, but not in consecutive weeks or consecutive pay periods. Any on-time schedule request that would bring your hourly total below 16 hours a week will only be approved if you have not fallen below 16 hours in the previous week or the previous pay period. If you submit an on-time request to remove hours that would bring you below 16 hours a week, Monday through Friday, and you have already done so in the previous week or previous pay period, your request will automatically be denied, and you will need to contact a supervisor for possible approval. Keep in mind that falling below 32 hours for the pay period will disqualify an employee from enhanced pay rates for that period. Requests to add hours do not need to be on-time to be approved. However, any request to add hours can only be approved based on an operational need and provided the office is not already scheduled to be at full capacity. Once you have added hours, those are your scheduled hours and you will be expected to work them as scheduled. These hours cannot exceed the established schedule maximum for a part-time employee. An employees schedule should not exceed 40 hours in a week unless they acquire prior written approval from management. Late Requests: Any late requests made after the deadline should likewise be made online via the My Schedule page. As a rule, late requests require that you also contact the office with an explanation for the request, either in person, via e-mail or by phone (see contact information above). Late requests will be automatically denied if no additional contact is made to provide information explaining the request. Late requests will be processed based on operational need. Any late requests for a removal of hours will require a request to pick up the same amount of hours elsewhere on your schedule (make-up hours). When determining where to put your make-up hours, we would first like to see if some or all of your make-up hours can be made up on the same day as the hours in question. If you can move your hours to another time of day rather than move them to a different day, your request is more likely to be approved. If you cannot move your hours to a different time of day in the same day, we next would prefer that you move your hours to a different day that is earlier in the week than the day in question, rather than later in the week. If you must push your hours to a different day later in the week, it is likely that you will be asked to make up extra additional hours on top of your make-up hours. This is decided on an operational need basis, also determined by the frequency with which you make late requests. Any request for a removal of hours for today's hours (for example, calling in sick, or an unforeseen emergency, etc.) is also considered to be a "late request" and an explanation for the request must be made either in person, via e-mail, or via telephone; otherwise, the request will automatically be denied. Depending on the situation and operational need, you may be required to reschedule the hours you're requesting to remove. In general, those who have excellent schedule adherence (fewer than one request per month) can expect to have their emergency requests approved. - Remember a late request is approved on an operational need basis, and is not guaranteed to be approved. Even if you contact the office with an explanation for your request, your request may be denied. You are responsible for checking to see whether your request has been approved, and you will be responsible for working any shifts that were "denied" for removal. If you cannot work a shift that has been denied you must contact us as soon as possible, and before those hours pass. - You are given a great deal of flexibility to create and manage your own schedule, and are expected to handle this responsibility in an appropriate manner. This means that you are to report for all scheduled shifts on time, and work the full duration of each shift exactly as they are reflected in COSA. ALL schedule deviation requests must be communicated to a supervisor in advance. - Uncommunicated schedule deviance that results in you falling short of finishing some or all of your hours for the day may result in additional make-up hours, or you may be subject to suspension, or you may be subject to release, (depending on the severity and frequency with which this happens). - Any request to remove hours for more than a week must be made via e-mail at least two weeks in advance in order to be considered for approval. - Holidays, term breaks, Spring Break, etc. are handled separately, and with different rules/guidelines. We will send an e-mail out explaining how we'll handle these situations usually 2-4 weeks in advance.

IMPORTANT NOTES about making changes to MY SCHEDULE

- We will review the schedule at a minimum of twice per day, once before 12:00 noon and once after 6:00pm. We will process requests for changes at these times.

- All requests to add or remove hours will show as "Pending" until the request has been approved or denied. Keep in mind that any late requests made after 5:00pm on the Monday for the following week will be granted on operational need, and you cannot assume the request will be granted. If the request is not approved, you will see "Denied" or "Pending" for those hours, and you are still responsible for working those hours.

- All Pending requests can be withdrawn or modified by re-clicking the pending blocks, red for red and yellow for yellow; then click update. Once a request has been Denied, it can no longer be withdrawn or modified without speaking to a supervisor.

- When making a schedule request on the My Schedule page, after you click update you must close your browser or navigate away from the My Schedule page. If your My Schedule page is still open on your computer when a supervisor tries to process the request, the changes will not go through and the request will remain pending.

- Any time you're going to be more than 15 minutes late for your shift, you need to contact the office, via phone or e-mail before you are late. You should also update your My Schedule page so that it reflects what time you'll be arriving and what time you'll be finishing your hours. You'll still be expected to finish the same amount of scheduled hours for the day. Keep in mind that seating is sometimes limited and moving hours around to certain times of the day is not always a possibility, so it's best to contact the office well in advance of you being late for your shift.

- Any time you would like to come in early for your shift, or on a day you are not scheduled, you should contact the office, via e-mail or by phone, to make sure there is room. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee that a seat will be available for you if you are not scheduled. Once you've arrived at the office, confirm with a supervisor that there is available seating, and update your My Schedule page to accurately reflect the hours you will be working.

• Offline time is given any time an employee logs out of Formalizer and then logs back in after less than 10 minutes has passed.
• This offline time is reflected as Break Hours and is what is used in the calculation for Break %.
• Contact an OS/OM should you want an override for a paid break longer than 10 minutes.

• An unpaid break is constituted by any time between Formalizer logins that is at least 32 minutes long.
• The system does not allow logins to Formalizer between 11 and 32 minutes from the most recent logout.
• This means that if you take a break and log back in to Formalizer, you will receive a paid break (if it's 10 minutes or less) or an unpaid break (if it's 32 minutes or longer).

• Break % is calculated by dividing the amount listed in the Break Hours column by the amount listed in the Logged In Hours column.
• You can calculate how many minutes of paid break 4% of your shift represents by multiplying the amount of hours you intend on working by 60, and then multiplying that number by 0.04.
• If you're scheduled for a 4 hour shift, 4 x 60 minutes = 240 minutes.
• 240 x 0.04 (4%) = 9.6 minutes
• This means for every 4 hours worked, you can log out of Formalizer for a paid break for up to 9.6 minutes and still be within the 4% break threshold
• The 4% metric is measured for the entire pay period (Logged Hours page with 'Current Pay Period' enabled). It is not necessary to be at 4% or below every day, only that the all-in average for the pay period is 4% or less as shown on the Logged Hours Page.

• The My Availability and My Schedule pages work together to create your schedule, but function separately and for different purposes. The My Availability page you can think of as the template for your base schedule. The My Schedule page is your actual schedule for the next 14 days.
  
  
• The My Schedule page will display the days and times that you are scheduled to work on a rolling 14-day period. As each day passes, a new day will automatically schedule itself based on what is reflected on your My Availability page.
  
  
• Use the dark blue "Requested" button to add hours to your Availability. Use the light gray "Available" button to remove hours from your Availability.
  
  
• When you enter your hours, click update and COSA will add those hours to your My Schedule page starting the very next day. The application updates once per day at approximately 3:00am.



• Removing hours from your My Availability page does not remove them from your My Schedule page. Removing hours from your My Availability page simply prevents those hours from being scheduled on any future days that have yet to be scheduled. All requests to remove hours from your My Schedule page must be submitted via the My Schedule page.



• You can use Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari as your web browser on a PC to take advantage of all the functions of COSA. (Certain features may have issues while using a mobile device or Mac).

How to Make Changes to My Availability Whenever you make changes to your MY AVAILABILITY, you must follow the process outlined below: (This is the trickiest part of using this application, and requires communication between you and the scheduling administrator) Changes to your Availability should only be done on the weekends (between Friday and Sunday). Go to the My Availability page and make the necessary modifications to your Availability so they reflect the new hours for which you wish to be automatically scheduled. You will see these changes reflected on your My Schedule page the very next day, because COSA updates My Availability changes once per day at approximately 3:00am. It is your responsibility to review your My Schedule page carefully the next day, to confirm the correct changes have been made. Please be aware that COSA will NOT remove any hours that had previously been scheduled on your My Schedule page prior to the update, but it WILL add whatever new hours you've requested. The result is that you may find yourself "double scheduled" on some days. If you find yourself double scheduled, enter a request on the My Schedule page to have the hours removed that you have been double scheduled for. Remember: If an Availability change is made mid-week, the next day it will alter your schedule for the current week. This is why Availability changes should only be done on the weekend (between Friday and Sunday). Send an e-mail to the appropriate scheduling address for your office (see above), stating that the reason for your request is due to a change in your Availability, and specify the EXACT DATE you wish these changes to take effect. In your e-mail, please include any pertinent information that you feel we should be aware of when processing your request. We will review your request and either approve it, or contact you for additional information. A request to remove hours that had been previously scheduled will be denied, unless those specific hours meet the deadline for guaranteed approval. Ask a supervisor if you are uncertain about this process.

Extended Time Off is a request for time off that would constitute at least two consecutive weeks of time not working (10+ consecutive business days Mon-Fri). In order to be eligible to request Extended Time Off, you must have logged at least 200 hours OR be at the level of productivity where your XF is at or below a 2.4 and we are reviewing 10% or less of your jobs (whichever comes first). There are General Guidelines discussed below (vacations, internships, studying abroad, etc.), and there are Special Guidelines for Finals, Spring Break, Summer Break, and Winter Break.


General Guidelines

In general, if you need to take Extended Time Off, you must submit a request at least two weeks prior to the start date of your time off, either in person, via e-mail, or by phone (see contact information above).

• We will need to know what day will be your last day working, and what day you intend to return.
  
  
• If your request is for 10-21 days, your account will remain active, and we will deactivate your Auto-Schedule, so that the system no longer automatically schedules you.
• If your request is for more than 21 days, we will deactivate your account.


• In all cases, you will need to contact us again 1-2 days prior to your return date to request that you be added back to the scheduler, reminding us of your intended return date. We will then re-activate your schedule/account and send you an e-mail notification that your status has been updated.
  
  
• If you will need to adjust your schedule/availability, make those changes as soon as you've been notified that your schedule/account has been reactivated. All changes must be input prior to the start of your return date. You are responsible for checking your schedule to make sure it is correct upon your return.
  
  
• You will be expected to work at least 16 hours Mon-Fri for the week before you leave, and at least 16 hours Mon-Fri upon your return.
  
  
• If we do not hear back from you by the date you originally stated would be your return date, we will assume you have quit, and you might not be eligible for rehire if you fail to contact us after taking an extended time off without returning.

• If you are going to work part of Spring Break, but you would fall below 16 hours during the Mon-Fri week of Spring Break, you cannot remove hours from your schedule the week before/after Spring Break.
• If you are not working at all during the Mon-Fri week of Spring Break, you cannot remove hours from your schedule the week before/after Spring Break, AND you must work your schedule as normal the week before/after Spring Break.
• If you were hired with the prerequisite that you must work Spring Break, you will not be eligible to request off at all for Spring Break, and you must work at least 16 hours the week before/after Spring Break. Failure to adhere to this guideline may result in release, without eligibility of rehire.
• If you have any issues with your Spring Break schedule, or the Spring Break schedule guidelines, contact us as soon as possible.

• If you are leaving for most or all of Summer Break, we will deactivate your account on your stated last day.
  
  
  • If you are not returning, before your last day, check your My Info page to ensure your address information is correct. This is where we will mail your final check, and your tax information.
  • If you will be returning later in the summer or for the fall, you will need to contact us again 1-2 days prior to your return date to request that you be added back to the scheduler, reminding us of your intended return date. We will then re-activate your schedule/account and send you an e-mail notification that your status has been updated.
    
    
  • If you need to adjust your schedule/availability, make those changes as soon as you've been notified that your schedule/account has been reactivated. All changes must be input prior to the start of your return date. You are responsible for checking your schedule to make sure it is correct upon your return.
    
    
  • If we do not hear back from you by the date you originally stated would be your return date, we will assume you have quit, and you might not be eligible for rehire if you fail to contact us after taking an extended time off without returning.
    
    
• If you are working most of the summer, but are planning on taking a vacation at some point, see the General Guidelines above.
• If you were hired with the prerequisite that you must work Summer Break, you will not be eligible to request off for Extended Time Off during the Summer unless it was specifically requested, approved, and documented during the hiring process; however, you are allowed to make regular scheduling requests according to the normal schedule request procedures listed here. Failure to adhere to this guideline may result in release, without eligibility of rehire.

• If you are leaving for most or all of Winter Break, we will deactivate your account on your stated last day.
  
  
  • If you are not returning, before your last day, check your My Info page to ensure your address information is correct. This is where we will mail your final check, and your tax information.
  • If you will be returning later in the winter or for the spring, you will need to contact us again 1-2 days prior to your return date to request that you be added back to the scheduler, reminding us of your intended return date. We will then re-activate your schedule/account and send you an e-mail notification that your status has been updated.
    
    
  • If you need to adjust your schedule/availability, make those changes as soon as you've been notified that your schedule/account has been reactivated. All changes must be input prior to the start of your return date. You are responsible for checking your schedule to make sure it is correct upon your return.
    
    
  • If we do not hear back from you by the date you originally stated would be your return date, we will assume you have quit, and you might not be eligible for rehire if you fail to contact us after taking an extended time off without returning.
    
    
• If you are working most of the Winter, but are planning on taking a vacation at some point, see the General Guidelines above.
• If you were hired with the prerequisite that you must work Winter Break, you will not be eligible to request off for Extended Time Off during the Winter unless it was specifically requested, approved, and documented during the hiring process; however, you are allowed to make regular scheduling requests according to the normal schedule request procedures listed here. Failure to adhere to this guideline may result in release, without eligibility of rehire.

[Advanced Scribing Techniques] [Bookmarks] [Common Terms] [Compensation Policy] [Customer Ratings System] [CBS Employee Guidelines] [COSA] [CRM Standards] [E-mail Corrections] [Error Codes] [Reasons for FDS/FQA] [Referral Bonus Program] [Speed and Accuracy] [Standards] [Troubleshooting]