Editing the White Box

Editing the White Box

The White Box:

  1. What is it?   Whenever our members work, there has to be a work code entered into Telestaff.  Examples of work codes include Full Staff, Buyback, OT, In Charge, etc.  However, when we just work our regular schedule time, the work code is called Regular Duty and appears as the infamous “white box”.  People have often thought that the boxes on their calendar that show their schedule (A=Red, B=Blue, C=Green, Days=Yellow) are their work code, but they are not.  These boxes only shows WHEN you are suppose to work, and do not show that you DID work.
  2. How does it get on my calendar?  Every night at midnight the Telestaff program looks at all employee’s calendars for the next 30 days.  Whenever an employee is scheduled to work (the Red, Blue, Green, or Yellow boxes), and DOES NOT have a leave code entered (Holiday, Vacation, etc.), Telestaff assumes that they will work that day and so it adds the Regular Duty code (white box). 
Alert
**IMOPRTANT NOTE** The following method only works for the day you are working (if entered before midnight) or future days. If adjustments need to be made at the end of a shift or previous days, follow the AFTER MIDNIGHT / END OF SHIFT GUIDE at the bottom of this guide.

Changing the white box:  

There are dozens of reasons where the employee may need to change their Regular Duty code.  If they are NOT going to work all or part of a scheduled day, or if they are modifying how they are working and a white box is present (30 days out), then the white box needs to be addressed somehow.


Changes to the ENTIRE work period (i.e. In-Charge for the full shift, taking 24 hours of Vacation, Holiday, or Personal Leave, etc.), REMOVE the white box :



Then ADD the desired code (Vacation, PL, IC, etc.


Changes to PART of the work period (i.e. taking a few hours of Personal Leave, In-Charge for a few hours, etc.), EDIT the white box :



Enter the appropriate code/notes and SAVE:


The code will appear on your calendar and roster. The missing white box will fill in the remaining parts of the shift at midnight.



On the ROSTER: If a LEAVE code was entered (Vacation, PL, etc.) the roster will reflect a vacancy for the hours that were entered. If a duty code was entered (In Charge, Acting, etc.) the roster will reflect that entry. 

There is always at-least one exception... The most common listed below.

SHIFT TRADES

  1. If the member enters a Shift Trade Not Working code on a scheduled day for ANY LENGTH OF TIME, the white box must first be REMOVED and then ADD the Shift Trade. If you do not remove the white box first you will not be able to add the member covering the shift.


Alert

AFTER MIDNIGHT / END OF SHIFT GUIDE

  1. If you are working a 24 hour shift on May 20 but the shift ends on the 21st and your code is to be effective after midnight, it has to be addressed with the following instruction - pay attention to the dates in the FROM and THROUGH fields:

      Example: You are working a regular 24-hour shift on 5/20/25 and need to use two hrs of PL3 at the end of your shift. 

  1. Edit the white box duration by selecting it and then edit. Adjust the From and/or Through appropriately and save. From (no change) to 05/21/25 06:30
  2. Add the appropriate working/leave code (AOC, or PL, etc.) ON THE 20th , add the From and Through time in this format - MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM From 05/21/2025 06:30 to 05/21/2025 0830
  3. Save 

  1. If the added work code falls in the middle of the shift the guide is similar but you must add the remaining regular duty.

      Example: You are working a regular duty  on May 20 from 08:30 to 09:30, then are driving (AOC) for two hours, then returning to your regular duty for the remainder.

  1. Edit the white box duration by selecting it and then edit. Adjust the From and/or Through appropriately and save. From 08:30 to 09:30
  2. Add the working or leave code (AOC, PL or other) ON THE 20th and add the From and Through time appropriately and save. Add AOC From 09:30 to 11:30. Add the appropriate note (driving during engineer quarterly meeting) 
    1. If the added work code starts on the following calendar day, you must use the date/time format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM.
  3. Add the remaining Regular Duty code. From 11:30 to 08:30







Striped bars on the work code means you entered the code on the wrong day. Try again!


A wrench icon on the roster means your times have overlapped and have a working code at the same time as a leave (non working) code. Try again!






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