If you in agreement with the principles outlined on assignment development, then you must take the following precaution when changing schedules:
•Produce schedule changes due to individual specific needs or desires rather than schedule or position needs and desires.
For example, if a certain area is supposed to be cleaned on one particular assignment because of close proximity, it should not be changed because of personal opinions such as the "head nurse asked to keep that cleaner." Even if there is a "swap" of duties between employees, the second principle is still violated and without objective cause. In the case of a department that is accustomed to being cleaned at a certain time of the day, a time change can probably be made without incident unless real operational issues come into play.
Another major problem with maintaining a good set of environmental service assignments is the tendency to make continual, small modifications. That is, little additions and deletions here and there to various schedules usually end up either hand-written on the cleaner's schedule or verbally agreed to between the manager or supervisor and the cleaner. Over a period of several months or years, these types of assignment changes created havoc on a once clean and efficient housekeeping program.
Because the environmental services assignments are designed to be equitable in workload and logical in work proximity, changes in one schedule almost invariably affects another. Certainly, make assignment changes, but first evaluate the workload and then consider the proximity. Formally update the employees with a hard copy and place a copy in the appropriate manual(s) when made.
If these two principles are utilized in evaluating assignments and schedule changes, personal modifications will be eliminated. Allegations of favoritism or unequal treatment of workload capacities within the department can be avoided.