Workload coverage through nonsmooth optimization

Abstract

In this paper, workload coverage is the problem of identifying a pattern of days worked and days off, along with the number of hours worked on each work day. This pattern must satisfy certain work-related constraints and fit best to a predefined workload. In our study, we formulate the problem of workload coverage as an optimization problem. We propose a number of models which take into consideration various staffing constraints. For each of these models, our study aims to find a compromise between an accurate workload coverage and the ability to solve the corresponding optimization problems in a reasonable time. Numerical experiments on each model are carried out and the results are presented. Interestingly, the nonlinear programming approaches are found to be competitive with linear programming ones.

Keywords:

• workload planning
• convex programming
• linear programming

AMS Subject Classification :

• 90C25
• 90C50
• 90B70

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank an anonymous referee for his comments, which helped us improve significantly the quality of the manuscript.