Employee schedule with variable lunch times

Question

I am trying to set up an employee schedule that calculates the hours worked each day. If the hours worked are <=5, no lunch time is subtracted; if the hours worked are >5 but <9, 30 minutes are subtracted; if the hours worked are >=9, 1 hour is subtracted. I'm fine if I only calculate a single lunch unit—it's when I try to get it to figure all three options that I get the little red triangle. I've tried using IF(AND( but I'm pretty sure I'm screwing up what goes within the parentheses and where the opening and closing parentheses go. Should I be using IF(OR( instead? A whole string of IF(s?
I've got the start and end time cells formatted as "Automatic/Date-none/Time-7:08 PM" and the cell for the hours worked formatted as "Duration-0h0m" if that makes any difference.
Also, the employee schedule template has a fairly involved formula for calculating the hours. I was able to get Numbers to figure the duration by subtracting the start time from the end time, which seems much simpler. Is there some reason I'm unaware of why this would not be a good way to do it? What do the empty quote marks mean in the template's formula?

Answer 1

storesr wrote:
(T)he employee schedule template has a fairly involved formula for calculating the hours. I was able to get Numbers to figure the duration by subtracting the start time from the end time, which seems much simpler. Is there some reason I'm unaware of why this would not be a good way to do it? What do the empty quote marks mean in the template's formula?
The formula used in the template is:
=IF(OR(C7="",C8=""),"",IFERROR(C8-C7-Administration Information :: $B$1,""))
The heart of the formula,— *C8-C7-Administration Information :: $B$1* — does what you're doing—subtracts the start time (C7) from the end time (C8), and subtracts the lunch break (Administration Information::$B$1) from that.
The first IF statement says "if either of C7 OR C8 contains the null string (""), THEN return the null string (""),ELSE do the IFERROR part.
This keeps the result cell appearing blank until both the start and stop times have been set using the popups in C7 and C8.
IFERROR works as an error filter, and returns the part after the comma (the null string in this case) IF it encounters an ERROR in performing the calculation in the part before the comma. I initially found it a bit confusing as it seems to be set up in the opposite order from IF.
I am trying to set up an employee schedule that calculates the hours worked each day. If the hours worked are <=5, no lunch time is subtracted; if the hours worked are >5 but <9, 30 minutes are subtracted; if the hours worked are >=9, 1 hour is subtracted.
A pair of nested IF statements, and a modification of the Admin Info table to include the two breakpoints and their associated lunch break durations should work here.
Modify the Administration Information table by adding a column before column B and a row Above row 1.
Add the break points into B1 and B2 of this table, and the short lunch beak time into C1.
Duration of lunch break | 5h 0m | 0h 30m
Duration of lunch break | 9h 0m | 1h 0m
Maximum weekly hours |               | 40h 0m
Overtime pay                 |                | 150%
=IF(C8-C7>Administration Information :: $B$2,C8-C7-Administration Information :: $C$2,IF(C8-C7>Administration Information :: $B$1,C8-C7-Administration Information :: $C$1,C8-C7))
This formula can work on its own in C9, or can be used (without the leading = sign) in place of the first part of the IFERROR statement in the original formula in C9, leaving the rest of that formula as is, and retaining the benefits described above.
Regards,
Barry