Module · Shift requests

Where to find it in the app

• Use it: Time & pay → Time off & shifts
• Turn it on/off: your business name (top-left) → Settings → Modules → Time & pay → Shift requests

Plan: Solo and Business · Module group: Your team · Navigation: Time & pay → Time off & shifts (Shift swaps tab)

1. Overview

Purpose. Staff swap shifts, give shifts away and call in unavailable (sick), and managers approve it all in one inbox. Open shifts can be claimed by anyone free. It keeps shift changes off group chats and in one auditable place.

Where a "Can't make it" shows. The moment a staff member says they can't make a rostered shift, that shift is tagged Needs cover on the roster (or Can't make it, pending while it awaits a manager's acknowledgement), it drops out of the Calendar's staff lanes, and whoever approves requests gets a bell line that opens the right week, as well as the email. Nothing about the shift is changed until you act on it.

2. When to use it

• When a staff member can't make a rostered shift.
• To let the team self-organise cover, with manager sign-off.

3. Required permissions

• View shift requests (requests.view).
• Approve swaps (requests.approve).

4. Navigation path

Time & pay → Time off & shifts (Shift swaps tab)

5. What you'll see

• Your upcoming shifts, each with the request actions your business has enabled: Request swap, Give away, Can't make it.
• Incoming items to action: swaps awaiting your accept/decline, requests awaiting a manager decision, open shifts to claim, and cover to mark sorted.
• A short "How requests work here" explainer.

6. Turning it on

Settings → Modules → Your team → Shift requests. In its settings you can enable/disable each request type (swap, giveaway, unavailable) to match how your team operates. Works with the Roster.

7. Step-by-step tasks

7a. Request a swap, giveaway or "can't make it" (staff)

1. Open Time & pay → Time off & shifts and pick the Shift swaps tab.
2. On the shift, choose Request swap, Give away or Can't make it.
3. For a swap, pick the coworker. If your business shares the roster with staff, you can also pick one of their shifts to take in return; when the swap goes through, your shift moves to them and theirs moves to you.
4. Add a short reason (e.g. "unwell", "away that weekend").
5. Submit. It goes to a coworker and/or a manager depending on the type.

Only your own shifts can be swapped, given away or flagged, and one shift can only have one open request at a time. A cut-off, if your business sets one, is counted to the shift's start time.

Who is told, and how often. A "can't make it" reaches the approvers straight away, so cover can be found. A shift given away is emailed to everyone who can see shift requests, so somebody can claim it. Things that need a manager's decision (an agreed swap, a claimed open shift) reach the approvers at most once an hour: the first straight away, the rest together in one email when the hour is up. Every one of them is on the page at once.

7b. Respond to a swap (coworker)

1. A swap aimed at you shows Accept / Decline.
2. Accepting passes it to a manager to approve.

7c. Approve / decline (manager)

1. In your inbox, Approve or Decline pending requests. A swap or a claim only reaches you once the coworker has agreed; if the roster has changed since it was raised, approving is refused and says so, so nothing moves by surprise.
2. When declining, add an optional note saying why (e.g. "no one else is trained on the coffee machine that day"), the requester sees it with the decision.
3. Mark sorted when cover for an open shift is arranged.

7d. Claim an open shift (staff)

1. Find an open shift in the list.
2. Choose Claim it to pick it up (subject to approval where required).

8. Examples

• Beginner: a staffer taps Can't make it on tomorrow's shift with reason "unwell"; the manager sees it and arranges cover.
• Real-world (café): two staff arrange a swap; the coworker accepts, the manager approves, and the roster updates.
• Advanced (venue): someone gives away a weekend shift; it becomes an open shift that another team member claims, with manager approval.

9. Reports & exports

The inbox is the live record of requests and their status; pending approvals also surface in the notifications bell. There's no separate export.

10. Common mistakes

• Assuming a swap is done when a coworker accepts, it still needs manager approval where configured.
• Using chat instead, log it here so cover is tracked and the roster stays accurate.
• A disabled request type, if you can't see "Give away", your business has that option switched off.
• Declining without a note, the requester only sees the decision and is left guessing; add a line saying why.

11. Troubleshooting

12. Error messages

Actions confirm inline; conflicts (e.g. a shift already taken) return a short message, re-check the inbox and act on the current state.

Related: Roster & timesheets · Leave