The article addresses a common scenario where one student cancels a lesson while another student books a make-up lesson with the same teacher. It raises the question of whether the teacher will be double-paid for the same availability slot.
Depending on your staff's pay rate settings, your teachers/instructors may be double-paid for the same appointment slot.
This situation typically arises in the following way.
Student A late-cancels their lesson on Monday at noon with teacher A.
Then student B self-books a make-up lesson in the Monday noon slot, or an admin books Student B into the Monday noon slot.
In this scenario, if your teachers are paid for late-canceled lessons, then your teacher will be paid twice for the same Monday noon appointment availability slot - once for the late-canceled lesson, once for the make-up lesson.
Typically, music schools pay their instructors for late-canceled appointments.
Therefore, the best way to prevent this situation from arising is to
(1) set a minimum enrollment window for your services, and
(2) minimize the difference between the late-cancellation window and the minimum enrollment limit.
(3) make sure that admin are aware that ignoring the minimum enrollment window when admin-booking can lead to paying teachers twice for the same lesson slot.
If you are not comfortable with paying teachers twice for the same availability slot, Opus1.io recommends that you not allow make-ups to be booked (by admin or via self-booking) after the late cancellation notice window has been passed.
1. Minimum Enrollment Window
This setting - labeled How much time ahead of the first appointment/class can clients self-enroll in the screenshot below - defines the minimum advance notice enforced during self-booking.
It is found in your services' calendar settings. In the example below, clients cannot self-enroll less than 1 day in advance.
2. Late-Cancellation Window
This setting - shown in the example below as Handle late cancellations differently than regular cancellations? If enabled, under how many hours before the appointment are cancellations considered late - defines the late-cancellation window.
In situations where teachers have been double-paid, it is usually the case that there is a significant gap between the minimum enrollment window and the late cancellation window.
If, for example, late cancellations are defined as cancellations with less than 28 hours' notice and the minimum enrollment window is 24 hours, there will be a 4-hour window of time where clients can potentially self-book into slots that have become available through late cancellations for which your teachers have already been paid.
Have questions? Email us at support@opus1.io.