Open Shifts

Open Shifts allow your employees to self-schedule themselves while saving the manager's time spent on considering which specific employee he wants to work the job. An Open Shift will be available for all eligible employees to apply for, and they can get assigned with it automatically, or the manager can choose to moderate who picks it up. 

In this guide, you will learn: 

• How managers can create an Open Shift
• How managers can view & organize an Open Shift
• How employees can apply for an available Open Shift 
• How managers can review, approve & deny Open Shift requests
• How managers can set up Open Shift alerts for their store
• How managers can set up the Open Shift acceptance deadline for their store
• How employees can manage Open Shift notifications for themselves.

You can always reach out to our Support team in case you require more information. 

 

Create an Open Shift

First, you need to log into your S+ account and make sure that you have the necessary permissions to schedule employees. 

Now navigate to the Manage Schedule screen from the Scheduling menu to schedule open shifts for your store.

 

To create a new Open Shift, click on the 'Create New Shift' option from the left Actions sidebar, or double click on any empty cell in the newly added OPEN SHIFTS row on the schedule table. This will bring up the Assign Shift modal.

From the Assign Shift modal, make sure 'Open Shift' is selected from the 'Employee' selection menu, and fill out the other options presented on the modal. 

Details for a few of the fields are listed below:

• 'Require Approval' checkbox:
  Managers can create two types of open shifts for their store:
  
  
  1.  Open Shift without Approval (default) - Open Shift will be assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis, meaning the employee who applies first will automatically claim the shift. The 'Require Approval' option needs to be unchecked for this.  
     
     
  2.  Open Shift with Approval - To have more control over who gets assigned with an open shift, the 'Require Approval' option can be checked, as it will allow the eligible employees to only request an available open shift pending their manager's approval. 
     
     
• Position:
  The role you want your employee to work. 

• Time:
  Shift start and end times 

• Break Details:
  Break type, start, and end times. 

• Commonly Used Shifts
  Optional tool to choose from commonly used shifts. This will auto-set each of the times. 

When finished click Save, or Save & Close, and be sure to Publish so that they are visible to your employees. 

 

View & Organize Open Shifts

Once saved, Open Shifts (published & unpublished), are presented in a separate 'OPEN SHIFTS' row on the Schedule table and can be easily managed from there. 

Multiple Open Shift Box & Multiple Open Shift Pop-up

The manager can schedule multiple Open Shifts for multiple positions for a date. 

If more than one Open Shift is created for a day, then a neutral-colored shift box - Multiple Open Shift Box - will be displayed in the OPEN SHIFTS row on the table. 

The Multiple Open Shift Box will display position names for the open shifts scheduled for a date.

Double-clicking on it will open up the Multiple Open Shift Pop-up, enlisting all the Open Shifts created for that date, so you can easily view and manage them from there, or add a new open shift for the same date. 

Click on the X icon, to close the pop-up when you are done.  

Copy Block

Using the Copy Block feature, you can quickly build schedules.

                                               

It will change color when active. You will then be able to click and drag copies of shifts to other blocks.

This will allow you to:

• Copy an Open Shift from one cell to another inside the OPEN SHIFTS row.
• Copy a Multiple Open Shift Box from one cell to another inside the OPEN SHIFTS row.
• Copy a regular shift from the employee rows to the OPEN SHIFTS row. 
• Copy an Open Shift from the OPEN SHIFTS row to the Employee rows to assign it to someone. 
  

Please note that the shifts will be copied as unpublished shifts. 

When you are finished copying you can disable the copy function by once again clicking the Copy Block option from the menu. 

Organizing by Drag & Drop

Using our drag & drop feature, you can easily organize and manage Open Shifts in the schedule table by:

• dragging and dropping Open Shifts (single & multiple) inside of the OPEN SHIFTS row.

• dragging your premade Shift Template from the left sidebar, and dropping it to the OPEN SHIFTS row to create an Open Shift. 
• dragging a regular shift from the Employee rows, and dropping it to the OPEN SHIFTS row to change it to an Open Shift. 
• dragging an Open Shift from the OPEN SHIFTS row, and dropping it to the Employee rows down below to assign it to someone (not applicable to the Multiple Open Shift Box).

 

Filter, Publish & Unpublish Open Shifts based on Position(s)

You can also filter and publish/unpublish Open Shift based on your store positions just like with regular shifts.

• Filter by Position(s)
  You can choose to filter the Open Shifts that you want to be displayed on the Schedule table, by selecting any one or multiple store positions from the Position Filter dropdown menu.
  
  
  
  
• Publish & Unpublish by Position(s):
  You can publish and unpublish the Open schedules based on the position(s) selected in Position Filter from the Publish drop-down on the Manage Schedule screen. These options will be enabled if at least one position is marked selected in the Position Filter drop-down menu. 
  
  

 

Apply for an Open Shift

After the Manager creates and publishes an Open Shift, all employees that are eligible for working that shift will get notified via email/SMS/in-app notifications, and be able to see it as an Available Open Shift on the web & mobile apps and apply for it.

Applying for an Open Shift via Web

If you are an employee who wishes to apply for an available Open Shift, you need to log in to your Scheduling+ web account at: https://app.schedulingplus.com/

Now you can view all available Open Shifts, that you are eligible for working, listed under the 'Available Shifts' widget on My Dashboard, and apply for them.

When creating an Open Shift for your store, the manager can enable/disable the 'Require Approval' option for it. Please read below to find out how to apply for Open Shifts with and without approval. 

Applying for an Available Open Shift without Manager's Approval

Open Shift without approval is assigned on the first-come-first-served basis - meaning whoever applies first will automatically get assigned with that shift, and it will no longer display as an available shift for the rest of the employees. 

To claim an Open Shift without Approval, you simply need to click on the 'Apply' button, and it will be added to your schedule right away. 

Applying for an Available Open Shift with Manager's Approval

Open Shift with approval can be requested by multiple employees pending the manager's review, and the manager needs to approve an employee to work that shift. 

To request an Open Shift with Approval, you simply need to click on the 'Apply' button and it goes onto the 'Cancel' state. An Open Shift request by your name will be sent to the manager for review.

If the manager approves your request to claim an Open Shift, then the shift will be added to your schedule. In case of denial, the shift will disappear from your Available Shifts widget. You would be notified of your manager's decision in both cases.

You can also withdraw your request by clicking on the 'Cancel' button if you no longer wish to work an Open Shift after applying for it. 

Applying for an Open Shift via Mobile (S+ Employee App)

Users of the S+ Employee App (iOS & Android) can view the available shifts (Open, Drop, and Swap) published for their store and apply for them easily from their mobile. Users will also receive push notifications & in-app messages for Open Shifts just like on the web app.  

The original 'Schedule' view has been divided into two sub-tabs:

• MY SCHEDULE - From here you can view your & your co-workers' scheduled shifts for the selected date range & store.
• AVAILABLE SHIFTS - From here you can view the available shifts including Open Shifts, Dropped Shifts & Swapped Shifts in your store for the selected date range, and apply for them. 

Log into the S+ Employee app using your credentials.

                                           

Make sure you have the 'Schedule' view opened from the primary navigation. Then, click on the 'AVAILABLE SHIFTS' tab from the top (secondary) navigation. You will be displayed with a list of all the available shifts in your store with their details. 

                                             

Applying for an Available Open Shift without Manager's Approval

Open Shift without approval is assigned on the first-come-first-served basis - meaning whoever applies first will automatically get assigned with that shift, and it will no longer display as an available shift for the rest of the employees. 

To claim an Open Shift without Approval, you simply need to click on the 'Apply' button, and it will be added to your schedule right away.

                                           

Applying for an Available Open Shift with Manager's Approval

Open Shift with approval can be requested by multiple employees pending the manager's review, and the manager needs to approve an employee to work that shift. 

To request an Open Shift with Approval, you simply need to click on the 'Apply' button and it goes onto the 'Pending' state, with a 'Cancel' button displayed below it. At the same time, an Open Shift request by your name will be sent to the manager for review.

                                         

If the manager approves your request to claim an Open Shift, then the shift will be added to your schedule. In case of denial, the shift will disappear from your Available Shifts widget. You would be notified of your manager's decision in both cases.

You can also withdraw your request by clicking on the 'Cancel' button if you no longer wish to work an Open Shift after applying for it. 

Review & Manage Open Shift Requests

Open Shift requiring approval allows managers to review who has requested to pick up the open shift and select the most qualified employee to work the shift. 

View Open Shift Requests

Once an employee applies for an available open shift that has the ‘Require Approval' option enabled in its shift settings, a new employee request of type ‘Open Shift’ will be created in the system. 

There are two ways to view the pending Open Shift Requests for your store.

1) From the Employee Requests (Pending) Widget:

First, you need to log into your Scheduling+ account and make sure you have the necessary permissions to review employee requests for your store.  

Then, open Store Dashboard and scroll down to the 'Employee Requests (pending)' widget that will enlist all pending requests, including the Open Shift Requests for your store. 

On clicking the 'Review' button, the Open Shift Request Modal will appear on the screen.

From here you will be able to see the shift details, all the employees who have applied for the shift, the approximate shift cost for them, and the acceptance deadline for the Open Shift Request.

2) From the Store Requests screen:

First, you need to log into your Scheduling+ account and make sure you have the necessary permissions to review employee requests for your store.  

Navigate to the Store Requests screen from the Settings drop-down menu, and be sure to apply the 'Pending' filter on the Requests table. From here you can view all pending requests, including the Open Shift Requests for your store. 

On clicking the 'Review' button, the Open Shift Request Modal will appear on the screen.

From here you will be able to see the shift details, all the employees who have applied for the shift, the approximate shift cost for them, and the acceptance deadline for the Open Shift Request.

Approve or Deny Open Shift Requests

Once you have managed to access the Open Shift Request Modal from the above-mentioned ways, based on the information presented on the modal, you can choose to:

• Approve an employee to work the open shift:
  Select any one employee from the list of applicants, and click on the 'Approve' button to assign him the shift. All other applicants will automatically be denied and notified of it. 
  
  
• Deny an employee to work the open shift:
  You can deny any one specific employee's request to pick up the Open Shift by hovering over his row, and then clicking on the X (deny) button. The denied employee would not be able to apply for the shift again and be notified of it. 
  
• Deny all:
  If you don't think anyone from the current list of applicants is qualified to work the job, you can click on the 'Deny All' button to reject their request. The denied employees would not be able to apply for the shift again and be notified of it. The Open Shift will remain available for the rest of the eligible employees who have not applied for it yet until the expiration of the acceptance deadline. 
  
• Close the modal:
  Click on the 'Cancel' button to close the review modal. 

Set up Acceptance Deadline for Open Shifts

Managers can configure the time (in hours before the shift start time) until which an open shift will be available for the employees to apply and the manager to approve/deny.

This can be done by navigating to the Store Update page from the Settings menu, and then updating the value for the 'Minimum Hours Before Applying for an Open Shift' field.

Be sure to click 'Save Changes' when you're done. 

Open Shift Alerts for Manager

The following two alerts have been added under the Company Alerts screen to notify managers about Open Shift Request Status:

• New Open Shift Request Alert - Recipient(s) will be sent an email and/or an SMS whenever someone applies for an open shift that was created for the store(s) inside the scope of the alert. 

• Open Shift Request Processed Alert- Recipient(s) will be sent an email and/or an SMS whenever the manager approves/denies a shift request for the store(s) inside the scope of the alert. 

Managers can set these alerts up by navigating to the Alerts screen from the Settings menu and then clicking on the 'Add Alert' button at the top right corner of the Alerts table. 

Open Shift Notifications for Employees

Employees will have the ability to customize how they receive Open Shift Request Status Notifications from their employee settings under the Notification Preferences tab. 

 

 

They can choose to be notified via an Email, SMS,  Dashboard/in-app Notifications, or a combination of these options in case of the following events:

• When a new Open Shift is published in his store for which he can apply 
• Canceling an Open Shift Request
• When manager makes a decision on open shift request (approve/deny)
• When system auto-denies an open shift request