Pharmacie Donatus : Planification du Personnel avec les Préférences des Employés (French version)

In March 2017, a pharmacy in Berlin encountered a personnel scheduling problem. The pharmacy’s key activity was serving customers in-store with ready-made medication. These services had to be offered during regular opening hours, on occasional Sundays, and during pre-assigned emergency-service shifts. In addition, customer-specific formulations had to be prepared, and certain office duties had to be performed. A particular aspect of the problem was that, in addition to differences in the employment contracts, the employees’ preferred attendance times had to be considered. Although the issue was presented as an operational problem, long-term considerations of determining the cornerstones of the employment contracts could be addressed.