Stringency
Users often have multiple assignments for the same course. This can happen for several reasons, such as:
- A user is associated with two different audiences and the assignment is made to both audiences
- An assignment is created for one audience, then edited for a lower level audience
- A user inherits an assignment from one audience, and then is associated with a new audience that also has the assignment
- A course assigned at the audience level is edited at the individual level
These assignments typically have different settings such as due dates, initial training dates, validity periods, or different passing thresholds. Although these assignments all exist for the user within the system, the user is only required to complete one of the assignments. Therefor, the system must determine which assignment to make available to the user.
Stringency determines which assignment takes precedence over the other. Stringency rules are written to ensure your learners stay compliant with required training. Users will only see the assignment that is the most stringent.
The table below outlines the stringency rules applied when a user has multiple assignments for the same course.
| Order of Precedence |
Training Assignment Property |
Precedence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Individual or Audience Assignment |
Individual |
| 2 |
Required or Optional |
Required |
| 3 |
Training Type |
|
| 4 |
Validity in Days |
The shortest validity or recurring period is more stringent |
| 5 |
Due Date (for RDD requirements only)
Note: Refers to the due date for the recurring assignment only, and not the due date for the initial assignment.
|
The earliest due date is more stringent |
| 6 |
Passing Threshold |
The highest percentage is more stringent |
| 7 | Type of Initial Due Date setting. |
An initial due date that uses the x number of days setting takes precedence over a calendar date setting, and a calendar date setting is never considered. |
| 8 | The date the administrator created the assignment. |
If two identical courses both use the x number of days setting for the initial due date, the number of days is not considered, nor is a calendar date setting. The course that the administrator created first takes precedence. |
When applying stringency rules, the training property with the highest order of precedence is evaluated first. If more than one course has the same setting for that property, the system continues evaluating the properties based on the order of precedence until only one course is the most stringent.
Properties from each assignment are not combined. The user receives the most stringent assignment, and must meet the requirements for all properties set in that assignment. For example, if an RDD assignment has a validity period of 180 days, and an RCD assignment (for the same course) has a validity period of 365 days, users receive the RCD assignment with the validity period of 365 days. The 180 day validity period is more stringent than the 365 day validity period, but the training type of RCD has a higher order of precedence.
Additional examples
Example 1
Let's say you want to assign a course on preventing back injuries to all of your warehouse employees.
Sofia is an Inventory Supervisor at your Scottsdale Warehouse. She is a member of two audiences: All Employees, and the Warehouse Floor department.
Sofia inherits an assignment for a course on preventing back injuries from both audiences with the following property settings:
- The assignment inherited from the All Employees audience is required and has a recurring by completion date (RCD) set for every 720 days (the validity period).
- The assignment inherited from the Warehouse Floor audience is required, also recurs by completion date, but the validity period is every 365 days.
Since both assignments are inherited, required, and recur by completion date, the system evaluates the validity period to determine which assignment is most stringent.
Sofia receives the assignment she inherited from the Warehouse Floor audience because the validity period for that assignment is the most stringent.
Example 2
You determine that since Sofia is a supervisor and doesn't do any lifting, she doesn't need to take the course on preventing back injuries, but you'd like to make it available to her.
You create an individual assignment for Sofia and make it optional. Even though a required course is more stringent than an optional course, Sofia receives the optional assignment because an individual assignment always takes precedence over an inherited assignment.
Deleting an assignment
When there are multiple assignments made for the same course and you delete one of them, the system reverts back to the next most stringent assignment.
Example
Let's say your manager enters the warehouse on two different occasions and notices Sofia lifting heavy boxes in order to help her employees. In order to prevent a potential lawsuit, he wants Sofia to take the course on preventing back injuries on a more regular basis.
He deletes Sofia's individual assignment. Since her inherited assignments still exist, the system reverts back to the assignment made to the Warehouse Floor audience, because it's now Sofia's most stringent assignment.