Consecutive days off per period

There are different techniques for managing employee’s time off.

This guide shows you how to include consecutive days off per period. Consecutive days off per period can be specified per week, month, or the entire schedule.

Prerequisites

Learn how to configure an API Key to run the examples in this guide:

Log in to Timefold Platform: app.timefold.ai
From the Dashboard, click your tenant, and from the drop-down menu select Tenant Settings, then choose API Keys.
Create a new API key or use an existing one. Ensure the list of models for the API key contains the Employee Shift Scheduling model.

In the examples, replace <API_KEY> with the API Key you just copied.

1. Define consecutive days off per period

Period rules are configured in contracts:

{
  "periodRules": [
    {
      "id": "min3ConsecutiveDaysOff",
      "period": "WEEK",
      "consecutiveDaysOffLimit":
        {
          "consecutiveDaysOffMin": 3
        },
      "satisfiability": "REQUIRED"
    }
  ]
}

periodRules must include an ID.

period sets the period the rule applies to, for instance, DAY, WEEK, MONTH, SCHEDULE.

Further information about period:

DAY spans a single day and occurs every day in the schedule.

WEEK spans 7 days and occurs every week (including partial weeks) in the schedule. The default start of the week is Monday, but this can be overridden to any day in the week:

{
  "scheduleParameterization": {
    "weekStart": "THURSDAY"
  }
}

MONTH spans the entire month. MONTH has a variable number of days depending on the days in the month and occurs every month (including partial months) in the schedule.

SCHEDULE spans the entire schedule.

You can define custom periods to apply to this rule in the following way:

{
  "scheduleParameterization": {
    "periods": [
      {
        "id": "PAY_PERIOD",
        "dateSpans": [
          {
            "start": "2023-01-01",
            "end": "2023-01-15"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The start and end dates are inclusive.

Learn about counting days in period rules:

By default, period rules count shifts within the defined period if the shift starts within the defined period. For instance, if you define a rule that an employee can only work 1 shift a day, a night shift that started on the previous day but ends the following morning will not be counted and another shift might be assigned on the same day as the night shift ended.

To change this behavior change the field periodShiftOverlapKind from START_ONLY to START_AND_END.

{
  "periodRules": [
    {
      "id": "Max8HoursPerDayFullTime",
      "period": "DAY",
      "minutesWorkedMax": 480,
      "satisfiability": "REQUIRED",
      "periodShiftOverlapKind": "START_AND_END"
    }
}

The consecutiveDaysOffLimit object must include consecutiveDaysOffMin with the minimum number of consecutive days off.

periodRules can include or exclude shifts based on shift tags.

{
  "periodRules": [
    {
      "id": "min3ConsecutiveDaysOff",
      "period": "WEEK",
      "consecutiveDaysOffLimit":
        {
          "consecutiveDaysOffMin": 3
        },
      "satisfiability": "REQUIRED",
      "includeShiftTags": ["Part-time"],
      "shiftTagMatches": "ALL"
    }
  ]
}

Further information about including or excluding shifts with shift tags:

Shifts with specific tags can be included or excluded by the rule. Tags are defined in shifts:

{
  "shifts": [
    {
      "id": "2027-02-01",
      "start": "2027-02-01T09:00:00Z",
      "end": "2027-02-01T17:00:00Z",
      "tags": ["Part-time"]
    }
  ]
}

Use includeShiftTags to include shifts with specific tags or excludeShiftTags to exclude shifts with specific tags.

shiftTagMatches can be set to ALL or ANY. The default behavior for shiftTagMatches is ALL, and if omitted, the default ALL will be used.

The rule can define either includeShiftTags or excludeShiftTags, but not both.

{
  "includeShiftTags": ["Part-time", "Weekend"],
  "shiftTagMatches": "ALL"
}

With shiftTagMatches set to ALL, all tags defined by the rule’s includeShiftTags attribute must be present in the shift. With shiftTagMatches set to ANY, at least one tag defined by the rule’s includeShiftTags attribute must be present in the shift.

{
  "excludeShiftTags": ["Part-time", "Weekend"],
  "shiftTagMatches": "ALL"
}

With shiftTagMatches set to ALL, all tags defined by the rule’s excludeShiftTags attribute cannot be present in the shift. This is useful when you want to exclude things in combination with each other. For instance, excluding the shift tags Part-time and Weekend with shiftTagMatches set to All, will exclude shifts that include the tags Part-time and Weekend from the rule. Shifts tagged only Part-time or only Weekend will not be excluded.

With shiftTagMatches set to ANY, any of the tags defined by the rule’s excludeShiftTags attribute cannot be present in the shift. This is useful when you need to exclude tags regardless of their relationship to other tags. For instance, excluding the shift tags Part-time and Weekend with shiftTagMatches set to ANY, will exclude any shift that includes the tags Part-time or Weekend, whether they occur together or not.

The satisfiability of the rule can be REQUIRED or PREFERRED. If omitted, REQUIRED is the default.

2. Required consecutive days off per period

When the satisfiability of the rule is REQUIRED, the Consecutive days off per period not in required range for employee hard constraint is invoked, which makes sure the number of consecutive days off in the period is not below the limit specified in consecutiveDaysOffMin.

Shifts will be left unassigned if assigning them would break the Consecutive days off per period not in required range for employee constraint.

In the following example, there are 7 shifts, but Ann’s contract has a consecutiveDaysOffMin of 3. She is assigned 4 shifts, 3 shift are left unassigned, and Ann has 3 consecutive days off.

required consecutive days off per period

Input
Output

Try this example in Timefold Platform by saving this JSON into a file called sample.json and make the following API call:

curl -X POST -H "Content-type: application/json" -H 'X-API-KEY: <API_KEY>' https://app.timefold.ai/api/models/employee-scheduling/v1/schedules [email protected]

{
  "config": {
    "run": {
      "name": "Required consecutive days off per period example"
    }
  },
  "modelInput": {
    "contracts": [
      {
        "id": "fullTimeContract",
        "periodRules": [
          {
            "id": "min3ConsecutiveDaysOff",
            "period": "WEEK",
            "consecutiveDaysOffLimit":
            {
              "consecutiveDaysOffMin": 3
            },
            "satisfiability": "REQUIRED"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "employees": [
      {
        "id": "Ann",
        "contracts": [
          "fullTimeContract"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "shifts": [
      {
        "id": "Mon",
        "start": "2027-02-01T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-01T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Tue",
        "start": "2027-02-02T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-02T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Wed",
        "start": "2027-02-03T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-03T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Thu",
        "start": "2027-02-04T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-04T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Fri",
        "start": "2027-02-05T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-05T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sat",
        "start": "2027-02-06T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-06T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sun",
        "start": "2027-02-07T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-07T20:00:00Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}

To request the solution, locate the 'ID' from the response to the post operation and append it to the following API call:

curl -X GET -H 'X-API-KEY: <API_KEY>' https://app.timefold.ai/api/models/employee-scheduling/v1/schedules/<ID>

{
  "run": {
    "id": "ID",
    "name": "Required consecutive days off per period example",
    "submitDateTime": "2025-05-21T05:44:56.879779049Z",
    "startDateTime": "2025-05-21T05:45:10.293903708Z",
    "activeDateTime": "2025-05-21T05:45:10.480841039Z",
    "completeDateTime": "2025-05-21T05:45:41.356635819Z",
    "shutdownDateTime": "2025-05-21T05:45:41.538578833Z",
    "solverStatus": "SOLVING_COMPLETED",
    "score": "0hard/-3medium/0soft",
    "tags": [
      "system.profile:default"
    ],
    "validationResult": {
      "summary": "OK"
    }
  },
  "modelOutput": {
    "shifts": [
      {
        "id": "Mon",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Tue",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Wed",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Thu",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Fri",
        "employee": null
      },
      {
        "id": "Sat",
        "employee": null
      },
      {
        "id": "Sun",
        "employee": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "inputMetrics": {
    "employees": 1,
    "shifts": 7,
    "pinnedShifts": 0
  },
  "kpis": {
    "assignedShifts": 4,
    "unassignedShifts": 3,
    "workingTimeFairnessPercentage": null,
    "disruptionPercentage": 0.0,
    "averageDurationOfEmployeesPreferencesMet": null,
    "minimumDurationOfPreferencesMetAcrossEmployees": null,
    "averageDurationOfEmployeesUnpreferencesViolated": null,
    "maximumDurationOfUnpreferencesViolatedAcrossEmployees": null,
    "activatedEmployees": 1,
    "assignedMandatoryShifts": 4,
    "assignedOptionalShifts": 0,
    "assignedShiftGroups": null,
    "unassignedShiftGroups": null,
    "travelDistance": 0
  }
}

modelOutput contains the schedule with Ann assigned 4 shifts and 3 consecutive days off.

inputMetrics provides a breakdown of the inputs in the input dataset.

KPIs provides the KPIs for the output including:

{
  "assignedShifts": 4,
  "unassignedShifts": 3,
  "activatedEmployees": 1,
  "assignedMandatoryShifts": 4
}

3. Preferred consecutive days off per period

When the satisfiability of the rule is PREFERRED, the Consecutive days off per period not in preferred range for employee soft constraint is invoked.

With PREFERRED satisfiability you can also use consecutiveDaysOffMax to specify the maximum number of consecutive days off.

{
  "periodRules": [
    {
      "id": "min2Max4ConsecutiveDaysOff",
      "period": "WEEK",
      "consecutiveDaysOffLimit":
        {
          "consecutiveDaysOffMin": 2,
          "consecutiveDaysOffMax": 4
        },
      "satisfiability": "PREFERRED"
    }
  ]
}

Ann might not get the specified number of consecutive days off if there is no alternative, but this constraint adds a soft penalty to the run score for any matches to the constraint, incentivizing Timefold to find an alternative solution.

This rule is more likely to be satisfied for employees with a higher employee priority.

In the following example, there are 7 shifts, but Ann’s contract has a consecutiveDaysOffMin of 2 and a consecutiveDaysOffMax of 4. Ann is assigned all 7 shifts and a soft penalty is added to the run score.

preferred consecutive days off per period

Input
Output

Try this example in Timefold Platform by saving this JSON into a file called sample.json and make the following API call:

curl -X POST -H "Content-type: application/json" -H 'X-API-KEY: <API_KEY>' https://app.timefold.ai/api/models/employee-scheduling/v1/schedules [email protected]

{
  "config": {
    "run": {
      "name": "Preferred consecutive days off per period example"
    }
  },
  "modelInput": {
    "contracts": [
      {
        "id": "fullTimeContract",
        "periodRules": [
          {
            "id": "min2Max4ConsecutiveDaysOff",
            "period": "WEEK",
            "consecutiveDaysOffLimit":
            {
              "consecutiveDaysOffMin": 2,
              "consecutiveDaysOffMax": 4
            },
            "satisfiability": "PREFERRED"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "employees": [
      {
        "id": "Ann",
        "contracts": [
          "fullTimeContract"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "shifts": [
      {
        "id": "Mon",
        "start": "2027-02-01T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-01T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Tue",
        "start": "2027-02-02T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-02T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Wed",
        "start": "2027-02-03T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-03T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Thu",
        "start": "2027-02-04T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-04T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Fri",
        "start": "2027-02-05T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-05T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sat",
        "start": "2027-02-06T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-06T20:00:00Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sun",
        "start": "2027-02-07T08:00:00Z",
        "end": "2027-02-07T20:00:00Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}

To request the solution, locate the 'ID' from the response to the post operation and append it to the following API call:

curl -X GET -H 'X-API-KEY: <API_KEY>' https://app.timefold.ai/api/models/employee-scheduling/v1/schedules/<ID>

{
  "run": {
    "id": "ID",
    "name": "Preferred consecutive days off per period example",
    "submitDateTime": "2025-05-21T06:02:15.19120876Z",
    "startDateTime": "2025-05-21T06:02:27.374599154Z",
    "activeDateTime": "2025-05-21T06:02:27.607351296Z",
    "completeDateTime": "2025-05-21T06:02:58.510711184Z",
    "shutdownDateTime": "2025-05-21T06:02:58.770584101Z",
    "solverStatus": "SOLVING_COMPLETED",
    "score": "0hard/0medium/-1920soft",
    "tags": [
      "system.profile:default"
    ],
    "validationResult": {
      "summary": "OK"
    }
  },
  "modelOutput": {
    "shifts": [
      {
        "id": "Mon",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Tue",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Wed",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Thu",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Fri",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sat",
        "employee": "Ann"
      },
      {
        "id": "Sun",
        "employee": "Ann"
      }
    ]
  },
  "inputMetrics": {
    "employees": 1,
    "shifts": 7,
    "pinnedShifts": 0
  },
  "kpis": {
    "assignedShifts": 7,
    "unassignedShifts": 0,
    "workingTimeFairnessPercentage": null,
    "disruptionPercentage": 0.0,
    "averageDurationOfEmployeesPreferencesMet": null,
    "minimumDurationOfPreferencesMetAcrossEmployees": null,
    "averageDurationOfEmployeesUnpreferencesViolated": null,
    "maximumDurationOfUnpreferencesViolatedAcrossEmployees": null,
    "activatedEmployees": 1,
    "assignedMandatoryShifts": 7,
    "assignedOptionalShifts": 0,
    "assignedShiftGroups": null,
    "unassignedShiftGroups": null,
    "travelDistance": 0
  }
}

modelOutput contains the schedule with Ann assigned to all 7 shifts.

inputMetrics provides a breakdown of the inputs in the input dataset.

KPIs provides the KPIs for the output including:

{
  "assignedShifts": 7,
  "unassignedShifts": 0,
  "activatedEmployees": 1,
  "assignedMandatoryShifts": 7
}

See the full API spec or try the online API.
Learn more about employee shift scheduling from our YouTube playlist.
See other options for managing employees' Time off.

Consecutive days off per period

Prerequisites

1. Define consecutive days off per period

2. Required consecutive days off per period

3. Preferred consecutive days off per period

Next