Using Open Shifts

Open Shifts allow your employees to self-schedule while saving the time managers spend considering which specific employee they want to work the job. An Open Shift will be available for all eligible employees to apply for, and they can automatically be assigned to it, or the manager can choose to moderate who picks it up.

This article covers:

• Creating an Open Shift
• Managing Shifts Across Different Views
• Copying and Pasting Open Shifts
• Using the Summary Box
• Open Shift Notifications
• Approving or Denying Open Shift Requests

Creating an Open Shift

To create an open shift:

1. From the Menu Bar, select Scheduling. 
2. Select Manage Schedule from the dropdown menu.  The Mange Schedule page displays. 
   
3. Select Create drop-down and choose Shift. 
   
   
   Or
   
   You can hover over any cell in the Open Shift row and then select the add icon.
   
   
   The Assign Shift form displays.
4. In the Employee drop-down, select Open Shift.
   
5. If you want a manager to approve any requests for this open shift, select the Require Approval checkbox. Leave this checkbox unchecked to allow eligible employees to claim this open shift on a first come first serve basis.
6. Enter all the required information to create the shift. See Creating a Shift without Templates for more information on individual fields.
7. Select Save. The newly created open shift appears in the OPEN SHIFT row of the schedule.
   

This completes creating a new open shift. Employees can apply for open shifts from the web and the mobile application.
From the Menu bar, select the Profile icon and then select My Dashboard. Available shifts appear in the Available Shifts widget.

 

Note:

• Employees must be in the same position to apply for an open shift.
• Employees must be available during the time specified in the open shift to apply.

Configuring Minimum Hours Prior to Applying for an Open Shift

At the store level, you can configure the deadline for applying for an open shift. For example, if the deadline is 24 hours, employees must apply for open shifts 24 hours before the shift starts.

To configure minimum hours prior to applying for an open shift:

1. From the menu bar, select the settings icon. The system displays the settings menu.
2. Under Company Settings, select Stores. 
   
   
   The Stores page displays.
   
3. Select the Edit  icon next to the store you wish to modify. The store settings page displays.
4. In the Minimum Hours Prior to Applying for an Open Shift field, enter the deadline for applying for an open shift.
   
5. Select Save Changes.

Note:

• The application deletes open shifts from the schedule when it passes the deadline.
• The system also deletes any pending open shift approval requests after the deadline (for open shifts where the Require Approval checkbox is selected.).

Managing Open Shifts Across Different Views

You can view and manage Open Shifts from multiple schedule views. The available actions stay the same across views, but how Open Shifts appear on the schedule changes based on the view you use.

Week and Two Week Views

In the Week and Two Weeks views, Open Shifts appear in the OPEN SHIFTS row.

An Open Shift appears as one of the following:

1. An individual shift card.
2. A summary box when multiple Open Shifts exist on the same day.

Select an individual Open Shift card to open the Assign/Edit Shift form.

Select a summary box to open a stacked view that shows all Open Shifts scheduled for that day. Select an open shift from the list to assign or edit the shift form.

From these views, you can:

• Create Open Shifts.
• Edit Open Shifts.
• Copy and paste Open Shifts.
• Delete Open Shifts.

Month View

In Month view, Open Shifts and Assigned Shifts both appear as individual shift cards. Month view does not use summary boxes.

All other interactions, including editing, copying, and deleting, work the same as they do for Assigned Shifts.

Copying and Pasting Open Shifts

You can copy and paste Open Shifts to schedule multiple identical shifts.

Week and Two Week Views

In Week and Two Week views:

1. Hover over the open shift card with your cursor. An action menu displays.
   
2. Select the actions menu (three dots) and choose Copy.
3. Paste the Open Shift into:
   • Different date cells, or
   • The same date cell multiple times.

When you paste an Open Shift multiple times into the same cell, a count indicator appears on the shift card showing how many instances exist.

If multiple pasted Open Shifts exist in the same cell, deleting the shift removes one instance at a time.

While pasting is in progress, copied and pasted shifts appear temporarily on the schedule.

Select Done to convert pasted instances into individual unpublished Open Shifts.

Month View

In Month view:

• Assigned Shifts cannot be pasted into the same cell if the employee is already scheduled during that time.
• You can paste Open Shifts multiple times into the same cell.

Using the Summary Box

When multiple Open Shifts exist on the same day in Week or Two Week views, the system may group them into a summary box.

The summary box:

• Displays the total number of Open Shifts scheduled for that day.
• Updates automatically when Open Shifts are:
  • Added.
  • Copied and pasted.
  • Deleted.

Select the summary box to open a stacked view where you can:

• View all Open Shifts for the selected day.
• Copy Individual Open Shifts
• Edit individual Open Shifts.
• Delete Open Shifts as needed.

This grouping reduces visual clutter while keeping all Open Shifts accessible.

Open Shift Notifications

Employees receive notifications when:

• When a new open shift is published for the store.
• Open shift request is canceled by an employee.
• The manager approves or denies an open shift request.
• An open shift request is automatically denied because the deadline has passed, or the open shift has been deleted/unpublished.
• They apply for an available open shift.

You can choose to receive Email, SMS, and or Dashboard notifications for each notification.

Approving or Denying Open Shift Requests

Managers can approve or deny open shift requests from their employees. To approve or deny a request:

1. Log in to your Scheduling+ account.
2. In the dashboard, find the Employee Requests (Pending) widget.
   Or
   Select Store Settings > Requests to view pending requests.
3. Select Review next to a request.
   
4. Review the request and select Approve or Deny All.
   
   
   If two or more employees have applied for the same open shift, select the radio button next to the name of the employee and then select Approve.
   
   Select Deny All to deny all requests.
   
   To deny the request from a specific employee, hover over the name of the employee and select the remove (x) icon.
    

This completes approving or denying open shift requests.