An overtime allowance is a shift's declared overtime policy, a flag for whether overtime is permitted plus a maximum hours per day that acts as a ceiling for overtime calculations, and in EDGEBIC it documents intent rather than silently stretching the base plan. It is where a shift states its boundary in one clear place.
This entry defines the overtime allowance and shows how it reads inside EDGEBIC by User Solutions. For the wider index of terms, see the manufacturing glossary; for the base hours it sits on top of, see what is shift time in production scheduling; and for the full calendar setup, see EDGEBIC shifts and calendars explained.
How it works
A shift carries two settings that together form its overtime allowance. The first is a flag for whether overtime is allowed on that shift. The second is a maximum hours per day, a ceiling used for overtime calculations, which defaults to eight.
These describe policy. The flag records that the shift may run overtime, and the ceiling records how far a day is meant to stretch when overtime is in play. Read together, they answer "what is this shift allowed to do?" without anyone having to inspect individual schedules.
The important nuance is that the allowance is informational: the base capacity the engine schedules against is the shift's ordinary working hours, decoded from its shift times. Turning on the flag does not automatically add hours to the plan. If you need more capacity on given days, you extend the working hours themselves; the allowance keeps the intent on record alongside them.
A concrete example
Think of a job posting that says "up to 10 hours per day, overtime available." That line sets expectations, but it does not by itself put anyone on the clock; the actual roster does. An overtime allowance is that job-posting line for a shift: it states the permitted ceiling and that overtime is on the table, while the roster, the shift's working hours, is what determines the hours actually planned.
Take a day shift with the overtime-allowed flag on and a maximum of ten hours per day, but working hours set to eight. The allowance says the shift may go to ten, yet the engine plans eight, because that is what the working hours declare. To actually schedule ten-hour days during a rush, you widen the shift's start and end for those days. The allowance documented the policy; the working hours delivered the capacity.
How EDGEBIC uses it
In EDGEBIC, the overtime allowance lives on the shift as the overtime-allowed flag and the maximum-hours-per-day ceiling. It gives planners and supervisors a single place to see a shift's overtime policy, which keeps decisions consistent instead of remembered case by case.
Because the base schedule is built from the shift's working hours, the allowance is a statement of intent rather than a lever that quietly extends the plan. That separation is deliberate and honest: the policy is visible, and the hours the engine commits are exactly the working hours you configured, no more. When a rush genuinely needs more capacity, you change the working hours, and the allowance sits beside them recording that overtime is sanctioned and how far it may go.
To set the base hours the allowance rides on, read what is shift time in production scheduling; to configure the whole calendar, read EDGEBIC shifts and calendars explained. For the general concept, see shift scheduling.
Expert Q&A: Deep Dive
Q: I need extra hours on the night shift for a rush week. Is the overtime allowance the field I change?
A: The overtime allowance documents the policy, but the hours the engine actually schedules come from the shift's working hours, so to get more capacity you extend the shift time for those days rather than relying on the flag. Set the overtime-allowed flag and the maximum-hours-per-day ceiling to reflect your intent, then widen the shift's start and end, or add days, so the base hours the engine sees genuinely increase. The allowance keeps the policy on record; the working hours are what change the plan.
Q: A supervisor asked what our shifts are allowed to run. Where do I find that without reading every schedule?
A: Read the shift's overtime allowance: the overtime-allowed flag tells you whether the shift may run overtime at all, and the maximum-hours-per-day value tells you the intended daily ceiling. Those two settings are the shift's stated boundary in one place, so you can answer the supervisor without inspecting individual schedules. They describe intent rather than what the engine forced, so treat them as the policy of record, and remember the base plan is built from the ordinary working hours the shift declares.
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