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FAQ, Special Cases, and Common Error Sources in Utilization Display

This section answers frequently asked questions and shows typical pitfalls that can occur when interpreting or calculating utilization – especially in connection with special cases like weekend work, holidays, or incomplete settings.

Question: Why does utilization show more than 100% on weekends?​

  • Reason: No target hours are stored for weekends by default. The system uses the weekly average of working days (Mon–Fri) as the basis. All weekend bookings therefore count fully as additional work.
  • Example: 100% workload = 40h/week → Ø 8h per day. Saturday: 4h booked → 4h additional = 50% above standard → Saturday shows 150% utilization.
  • Note: This display is technically correct. A utilization >100% here doesn't mean overload, but additional work outside regular working hours. Consider this consciously in planning.

Question: Why don't the utilization values in the yearly view match those in the daily, weekly, or monthly views?​

  • Reason: In the daily, weekly, and monthly views, a day is only used for utilization calculation if a booking (assignment) exists – regardless of whether working hours are stored. In the yearly view, however, all days with stored working hours count – even if no booking exists.
  • Example: If working hours are stored for Saturday (e.g., 8h) but there's no booking, this day is counted as 0% utilization in the yearly view - in the weekly view it's not displayed at all.
  • Note: This can lead to utilization deviations – especially for weekend days or companies with individual working time models.
  • Solution: Only store working hours where work is actually done regularly. Recommendation: Don't define target hours for weekends if these days are normally free in the company.

Question: Why do holidays distort utilization in the yearly view?​

  • Reason: Holidays currently have working hours stored – the system treats them like regular working days. If no booking occurs on a holiday, the system shows 0% utilization, although no work should be done in reality.
  • Example: August 1st is officially free, but target hours are stored in the system. Without a booking, the day appears with 0% – this artificially lowers weekly and yearly utilization, although the day was correctly not used.
  • Note: This behavior is inconsistent with weekend logic: there, utilization is only calculated when actually booked. Holidays currently behave like working days, which distorts the evaluation.
  • Solution: Until the problem is solved, holidays should be manually recorded as absences (type "Holiday"). Recommendation: Enter holidays centrally as recurring appointments at the beginning of the year. Note: We're working on fixing this logic problem systemically so holidays are correctly considered in the future.

Question: Why are Saturday and Sunday hidden in the utilization chart – even when bookings exist there?​

  • Reason: Saturday and Sunday are deliberately hidden in the chart display because they remain empty at most companies. This prevents unnecessary gaps in the weekly progression. The display becomes more compact and readable.
  • Example: Even if there's a booking on Saturday, the day is not displayed in the chart.
  • Note: This hiding only affects the display, not the calculation.
  • Solution: Weekend bookings are still considered – even if the day isn't visible in the chart. This is merely a display optimization.

Question: Why isn't an employee's workload percentage considered in utilization?​

  • Reason: The stored workload percentage (e.g., 80%) is currently not automatically included in utilization calculation. The calculation is based exclusively on full-time target hours.
  • Example: An employee with 80% workload works 32h/week. If assigned 32h, the system shows only 80% utilization – although they're factually fully utilized.
  • Note: The display is technically correct in current system behavior, but doesn't correspond to actual utilization for part-time workloads.
  • Solution: Reduced work percentages must be manually represented through absences. Recommendation: For 80% workload, record the free day as a recurring appointment (e.g., every Friday).

Question: Why does the percentage display in the first line differ from the utilization chart for the same time period?​

  • Reason: The first line shows a rounded value because there's little space available – especially on smaller screens.
  • Example: For the same time period, the utilization chart shows 107.7% while the top line displays 108%.
  • Note: The calculation is correct in both cases – it's just a visual rounding.
  • Solution: We're working on improving the display in the future to enable more precision – even with limited space.

Question: Why does utilization show 0% although bookings exist?​

  • Reason: If no working hours (target hours) are stored, the system has no calculation basis. Without a target value, no utilization can be calculated even with existing bookings – the result is 0%.
  • Example: An employee is assigned for several days, but no working hours have been recorded yet. Utilization remains at 0% because the reference to target time is missing.
  • Note: The booking itself is saved but not put in relation to target time – hence the impression that no work was done.
  • Solution: Record working hours before planning – e.g., weekly target hours or shifts. Only with correctly stored target time is utilization calculated meaningfully.

Question: Why don't temporary employees affect utilization?​

  • Reason: Temporary employees are currently not included in the utilization of the own workforce. This logic was deliberately implemented because many companies only want to consider internal resources for capacity planning.
  • Example: A temporary employee is fully assigned, yet the department or team utilization shows no change.
  • Note: The decision is based on a practical need from planr development. However, we're aware this behavior doesn't fit all companies.
  • Solution: We're working on making this setting configurable in the future, so temporary employee inclusion can be activated as needed.

Question: Why does utilization show more than 100% although no vacancies are booked and all employees are fully assigned?​

  • Reason: Utilization over 100% can also occur when assignments exceed the stored target time. The system recognizes this as overload since more hours are planned than correspond to the work percentage.
  • Example: With target time of 8 hours per day, an assignment is 10 hours. This results in 125% utilization for this day.
  • Note: The calculation is correct – overload is also displayed without vacancies when more work is done than intended.
  • Solution: Check assignments for consistency with target time. Overloads can be used consciously (e.g., for overtime or weekend work) but should remain recognizable.

Question: Are employees who already have a departure date still considered in utilization?​

  • Answer: Yes, currently the departure date is not yet considered. Employees with a defined departure date are still included in utilization calculation even after this date.
  • Note: This can lead to distorted utilization values, especially in long-term planning.
  • Solution: We're working on automatically excluding employees from utilization calculation after their departure date.

Question: I've assigned all employees – why doesn't utilization show 100%?​

  • Reason: In such cases, something usually doesn't match with assignment duration or assignment level. It's crucial that the stored target time is fully assigned for each employee – e.g., with 100% workload → 8h per day.
  • Example: All 10 employees are assigned, but some bookings only have 4 of 8 hours stored or the assignment level is 50% → this results in utilization under 100%.
  • Note: The pure number of assignments isn't sufficient – duration and assignment level must also be correct.
  • Solution: Check assignments individually.