RFI Employee Scheduling Software_V4.pdf

MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

Employee Scheduling Software

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 20-26

Commbuys Bid # BD-26-1206-40000-40000-124914

Contact Person:

Name: Shahzad Akbar

Title: Senior Director Procurement Operations

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

10 Park Plaza

Boston, MA 02116

SAkbar@mbta.com

ISSUE DATE: 1/30/2026

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a Request for Information (RFI) that can be found on www.COMMBUYS.com. Interested parties are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the RFI. Responders may also contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or the COMMBUYS

Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays.

http://www.commbuys.com/ mailto:COMMBUYS@state.ma.us

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

RFI #20-26 / COMMBUYS Bid # BD-26-1206-40000-40000-124914

Purchasing Department MBTA Procurement & Logistics

Address 10 Park Plaza, Room 2810

City, State Zip Code Boston, MA 02116

Procurement Contact Person Shahzad Akbar

E-Mail Address SAkbar@mbta.com

1. Description or Purpose of Procurement:

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is seeking information on the solutions available in today’s market for employee scheduling and workforce management. The MBTA is a public agency responsible for operating public transportation services in Massachusetts with over 8,000 employees, the vast majority of whom are represented by 28 unions through 16 collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Union employees work in frontline operations, building and skilled trades, and professional/administrative roles and work a variety of schedules, including overtime shifts, to meet the needs of 24/7 operations. Given the quantity of unions and CBAs, the MBTA must follow a complex set of rules including but not limited to employee wages (such as double time for the 7th consecutive day of work), pay differentials, schedules, breaks, and overtime.

At a minimum, the MBTA is seeking information on a single product suite or point solutions which can create employee schedules that comply with Hours of Service (HOS) rules and CBAs for four departments: Engineering & Maintenance (E&M), Vehicle Maintenance, Operations Control Center, and the Operations Training School. Other procedurally and more technically complex features of interest include real-time tracking of actual hours worked, reporting on hours scheduled and hours worked, safeguards on employees from being scheduled beyond work limits, the ability to generate overtime

“picklists” (a ranked list of employees eligible for overtime, often based on seniority), or integrations with other systems in use at the Agency. The capabilities of employee scheduling software available in today’s market would need to be carefully analyzed before determining which are suitable solutions for the

Agency’s needs. Any potential future implementation of such solutions would need to be properly scoped and phased given the possible introduction of new HOS rules in an already procedurally and technologically unintegrated environment.

The processes and technologies for scheduling and tracking actual hours worked are not centralized at the

MBTA. The Agency uses Oracle for its payroll system, an instance it shares with the Massachusetts state government; however, a payroll system is not “forward-looking” and only captures historical data relevant to making accurate payments to employees. For certain job classifications in Bus Operations and

Rail Operations departments use HASTUS by GIRO to create employee and vehicle schedules. This software also acts as the source of truth for actual hours worked and integrates with the Oracle payroll system. In most other departments, the processes for scheduling employees and tracking actual hours worked vary by department and are mostly “homegrown”. For example, in some departments, overtime scheduling and tracking the actual hours worked on overtime shifts is tracked entirely through Microsoft

Excel. In many departments, overtime shifts are offered to employees through individual phone calls.

Actual hours worked are often tracked by supervisors in spreadsheets before they are entered in the payroll system at the end of the week by a payroll clerk or the supervisor. In other departments, employees clock in and out using biometric time clocks integrated with the payroll system, but even these processes are buttressed by manual systems and processes.

mailto:SAkbar@mbta.com

In addition to rules determined by CBAs, employees are subject to HOS limits which vary by department according to Agency rules. The MBTA is currently creating a Fatigue Management Policy and conducting an analysis of its HOS rules, and developing an implementation plan for this policy and potentially new HOS rules. New HOS rules could include such limits as a maximum hours worked per week, caps on density of work hours, or mandatory rest periods. For the potential departments affected, the manual and unintegrated systems and processes for creating schedules and tracking actual hours worked are not capable of handling such complexity.

Requested Information (RFI Response):

Please formulate a response of not more than 15 pages. Material such as a title page, table of contents, and supplemental material or appendices are not included in that limit.

Response should be submitted in COMMBUYS and should address the following topics. The topics below should not be considered a definitive list of requirements for this software solution, but are all potential features the Agency is gathering information on at this time.

Bidders should describe their system's flexibility in the following areas:

Hours of Service (HOS) & Safety Compliance

1. Does your system contain a configurable HOS Rule Engine (i.e., the ability to define and adjust work and rest rules)? If yes, describe its capabilities relative to the workforce scenarios presented.

2. Does your system have automated HOS rule warnings or hard blocks from employees being scheduled in violation of work or rest rule limits?

3. Does your system have the ability to establish approval workflows for override of HOS standards? How does this process work?

4. Documentation & Audit of Exceptions – i.e., reporting that provides information when HOS or other scheduling rule exceptions were made

Overtime (OT) Administration

5. Does your system conduct real-time validation of overtime eligibility? How is this done? Are any interfaces required?

Time & Attendance (T&A) Verification

6. Manual tracking: for departments without time clock hardware/software, describe the supervisor workflow for entering "Actual" time, leave status (Sick, FMLA, Vacation), and unplanned absences.

7. What is the workflow process for reconciling discrepancies between a Scheduled Shift and the

Actual Punch (e.g., late arrivals, early departures, unauthorized OT).

8. Does your system provide real-time alerts, dashboards, and/or notifications for "no-shows" to allow for immediate operational adjustments?

Technical Integrations

9. Does your system have bi-directional sync capabilities for syncing data with:

o Payroll/ERP Systems (specifically Oracle): as a potential solution for determining actual hours worked, determining shift differentials, and/or union premiums.

o TimeClock Plus: as a potential solution for determining actual hours worked based on punches in/out by employees.

Vendor Experience & Discovery

10. Please provide examples of public transit agencies where you have implemented complex, multi-departmental CBA and HOS rules.

Security

11. Briefly describe your information security controls and processes.

12. What types of Information Security certifications/attestations does your platform support/provide?

Software Accessibility

13. Is your solution and included documentation compliant with the following: Web Content

Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1, levels A and AA? If not, in what areas is the solution noncompliant?

14. Does your solution have a completed Accessibility Compliance Report (ACR) from the latest version of the VPAT 2.1 (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) or equivalent? If so, does the ACR include reporting for WCAG 2.1 levels A and AA (AAA optional) and Functional

Performance Criteria (Section 508 requirements)?

Financial Considerations

15. Is your solution available through software resellers? If yes, please indicate the resellers that you currently work with. If no, please indicate if you would consider working with a reseller.

16. Please describe your license model including types of licenses.

17. Please provide representative pricing information for your solution. Assume XX users with possible expansion.

18. What is your model for implementation and training, and what are representative implementation and training costs?

2. Next Steps

Upon receipt of responses, the MBTA may request additional information or demonstration of system capability through email or virtual meeting.

THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION IS NOT A COMMITMENT TO PURCHASE A SOLUTION.

Responses to this RFI will be used to understand current capabilities and determine the merits of moving forward with a Request for Proposal (RFP). If the decision is to move forward, the MBTA will develop and refine business requirements for a possible future RFP. Any RFP will be posted on COMMBUYS, and the MBTA will endeavor to notify all companies that respond to this RFI.

3. RFI Calendar

Procurement Activity Date Time

RFI Published 1/30/2026 EOB

Deadline for Submission of Questions through COMMBUYS “Bid Q&A”

2/9/2026 2:00 PM

Response to Questions Posted Online 2/16/2026 2:00 PM

Deadline for Responses (“Bid Opening

Date/Time” in COMMBUYS)

3/5/2026 2:00 PM

Responders are required to monitor COMMBUYS for changes to the RFI calendar for this Bid.

4. Online Questions (Bid Q&A)

Written Questions must be entered through the “Bid Q&A” tab for the Bid in COMMBUYS no later than the Questions Due date and time indicated in the RFI Calendar (above). The MBTA reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Responder’s responsibility to verify questions were successfully posted on COMMBUYS.

Written Responses to Questions will be posted on the Bid Q&A Tab in COMMBUYS on or about the

“Response to Questions Posted Online” date indicated in the RFI Calendar (above).

5. RFI Attachments

List attachments here (if applicable)