Workforce Management Overview

Appello's workforce management system is purpose-built for ICI (Institutional, Commercial, and Industrial) trade contractors who manage unionized and non-union field workers. It handles the full complexity of multi-trade, multi-local operations — union halls, Collective Bargaining Agreement wage tables, travel zones, apprenticeship progression, certifications, and crew management — in a single integrated platform.

Why Workforce Management Matters

ICI trade contractors face unique workforce challenges that general-purpose HR software doesn't address:

Challenge	How Appello Solves It
Workers belong to different union locals with different CBAs	Employment Agreements — multiple concurrent wage tables
Travel pay varies by distance from union hall to job site	Travel Rate Cards — automated zone-based travel calculations
Apprentice wages are a percentage of journeyman rates	Trade Classifications — CBA-aligned progression hierarchy
Workers need current safety certifications to work	Certification Matrix — real-time compliance tracking with expiry alerts
Crews are dispatched from different geographic halls	Union Hall Management — geographic dispatch tracking
Multiple trades work under different collective agreements	Multi-agreement support — each trade has its own wage structure

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Appello is the only workforce management platform in the ICI construction space with native support for union halls, CBA wage tables, and travel zone calculations. Competing platforms require manual tracking in spreadsheets or disconnected systems.

How Everything Connects

The workforce management modules work together as an integrated system:

Worker Profile
├── Department (Mechanical Insulation, Sheet Metal, etc.)
├── Trade Classification (Journeyman, Apprentice 3rd Year, Foreman, etc.)
├── Union Hall (Local 95 — Hamilton, Local 473 — London, etc.)
├── Employment Agreement (Local 95 CBA, Office Agreement, etc.)
│   ├── Wage Table → base rate, vacation, benefits, pension
│   └── Travel Rate Card → zone-based or distance-based travel, board, parking
├── User Groups (Crew A, Crew B, etc.)
├── Certifications (Working at Heights, WHMIS, First Aid, etc.)
└── Leave Types (Vacation, Sick, Union Business, etc.)

The Org Chart draws on the same Users and Departments data, but separately — it visualizes who reports to whom and does not feed into wage or travel calculations.

When a foreman submits a timesheet for a worker:

1. The system looks up the worker's trade classification and employment agreement.
2. It finds the correct wage rate from the agreement's active contract.
3. It calculates a travel allowance — automatically, from the agreement's travel rate card, if travel is zone-based; from a distance the worker enters, if travel is distance-based.
4. It applies the agreement's overtime rules.
5. Labour costs post to the job at the worker's burdened rate.

Feature Matrix

Feature	Description	Page
Union Halls	Configure local union halls and geographic branches	Union Hall Management
Employment Agreements	CBA (or non-union) wage tables with versioned contracts	Employment Agreements
Travel Rate Cards	Zone-based or distance-based travel, board, and parking allowances	Travel Rate Cards & Zones
Trade Classifications	Apprentice-to-superintendent progression, configured per agreement	Trade Classifications
Departments	Organizational divisions by trade or function	Departments
Org Chart	Visual map of reporting lines, built from Users and Departments	Org Chart
User Groups	Reusable worker groups for filtering, notifications, and recipients	User Groups
Leave Types	Configurable leave categories mapped to internal projects	Leave Types
Certifications	Safety and trade certification tracking with expiry alerts	Certifications

Getting Started

For a new Appello instance, configure workforce management in this order:

1. Departments — Set up your organizational structure
2. Union Halls — Add your local union halls and geographic branches
3. Employment Agreements — Create wage tables (CBA or non-union) and choose zone- or distance-based travel
4. Trade Classifications — Define the progression hierarchy for each agreement, from that agreement's own settings
5. Travel Rate Cards — Configure travel, board, and parking allowances per agreement
6. Leave Types — Set up time-off categories
7. Certifications — Define the certifications your workforce needs
8. Users — Add workers with their department, trade classification, hall, and agreement assignments, and set who they report to
9. User Groups — Build groups from your workers to use as filters, notification targets, and recipient lists

Org Chart needs no separate setup — once workers have a manager and a department assigned, the reporting structure appears automatically at Workforce → Org Chart.

Related Modules

• Timesheets — Where workforce data is consumed for time entry and payroll
• Scheduling — Schedule workers to jobs; filter the worker list by department or user group
• Dashboard — Company metrics including workforce KPIs (accessible from the sidebar home page)