Rotating Shifts Against an 80% Attendance Rule
Ms Amutenya works at a hardware store on a two-week rotating shift. In 'early' weeks she works 07:00–15:00, Monday to Friday; in 'late' weeks she works 13:00–21:00, Monday to Friday. She has applied to study part-time and must choose her courses at registration on Friday. The timetable is: Communication Skills, Monday and Wednesday 17:30–19:00; Introductory Statistics, Tuesday and Thursday 17:30–19:00; Computer Literacy practical, alternate Saturdays 08:00–11:00. The semester runs 14 weeks, and each course requires 80% attendance at scheduled sessions; a student below 80% is refused admission to the examination. Travel times: work to campus 30 minutes, campus to home 50 minutes, home to campus 65 minutes. Her sister collects her son from aftercare at 17:30 on weekdays, but travels for work during the last week of every month. The store approves shift swaps only if a colleague agrees in writing, and only three swaps are permitted per semester.
1. Assuming she registers for both weekday courses and arranges no swaps, calculate her attendance percentage in each course and in the Saturday practical, and state what this means for her registration.
Read the worked answer
Communication Skills (Mon and Wed, 14 weeks). 2 sessions × 14 weeks = 28 sessions. In each late week she is at work until 21:00 and misses both. Seven late weeks = 14 sessions missed, 14 attended. Attendance = 14 ÷ 28 = 50%.
Introductory Statistics (Tue and Thu). Identical structure: 28 sessions, 14 missed, 50%.
Computer Literacy practical (alternate Saturdays). 14 weeks ÷ 2 = 7 sessions. She does not work Saturdays, so on paper she can attend all 7 = 100%.
The 80% threshold. 80% of 28 = 22.4, and since sessions are whole, she needs 23 attendances in each weekday course. She has 14.
Conclusion. Registering for either weekday course without a work change guarantees she falls below the rule and is refused examination admission - she would pay fees and attend half a semester for nothing. The Saturday practical is the only course that is safe as her shifts currently stand. The correct decision on Friday is therefore not 'both courses' or 'all three', but the practical only, unless the shift problem is solved first.
2. Using the three-swap limit, determine whether shift swaps could rescue one weekday course to 80%, showing the arithmetic.
Read the worked answer
Best case for one course. She attends all 14 early-week sessions. Each swap converts one late-week session into an attendance, and she is allowed three.
14 + 3 = 17 attendances out of 28.
17 ÷ 28 = 60.7%, against the required 80% (23 sessions).
Shortfall: 6 more sessions, which would need six swaps, double the permitted maximum.
Second constraint. A swap is not automatic: a colleague must agree in writing for each one. Even in the best case she is relying on goodwill three times in 14 weeks, and the store can refuse.
Third constraint, easily missed. Her sister's travel in the last week of every month removes weekday childcare in roughly three of the fourteen weeks. If Ms Amutenya must collect her son at 17:30, she cannot be on campus at 17:30 even in an early week, which pushes her below 14 attendances before any late-week loss is counted.
Answer. Swaps cannot rescue a weekday course. The arithmetic gap (17 versus 23) is too large, and it is a best case that assumes perfect cooperation from the employer, the colleague and the sister. Any plan built on three swaps is a plan built on three things going right.
3. Recommend what she should register for on Friday and what she should do this semester, and state what new information would justify a different decision.
Read the worked answer
Register for: the Computer Literacy practical only. Seven Saturday sessions, no clash with the shift roster, and 100% attendance is achievable, so she completes a course rather than carrying a failed one.
Use the semester to remove the real obstacle, not to hope it disappears. Two concrete steps:
- Ask the store in writing for a fixed early shift (07:00–15:00) for the following semester, or a documented roster guarantee for Monday to Thursday. A verbal 'we'll see' is worth nothing at registration.
- Confirm with the examinations office, in writing, how the 80% rule treats documented work obligations - before registering, not after missing sessions.
Why not register and hope? The rule is arithmetic, not discretionary in practice: 14 of 28 sessions is 50%, and the fee is lost either way. Deferring two courses by one semester costs six months; failing them costs six months and the fees.
What would change the decision: (a) a written roster guarantee covering Monday to Thursday for all 14 weeks - then both weekday courses become viable; (b) a reliable second person to collect her son during her sister's travel weeks, which protects attendance even in early weeks; (c) written confirmation that missed sessions can be recovered through scheduled make-up classes or online equivalents that count towards attendance. Absent one of these, the recommendation stands: one course now, two later.