Shift Replacement lets your employees resolve schedule changes among themselves, without you coordinating every handoff. When an employee opens a shift and chooses Find Replacement, they pick one of two request types:
Offer Shift: a one-way handoff. The employee gives the shift to a qualified teammate and is no longer scheduled for it.
Swap Shift: a two-way trade. The employee exchanges the shift with a teammate’s shift, so both stay scheduled and both keep their planned hours for the week.
You enable and control each request type separately, and you can require your approval on either one. This guide covers how to enable both types and how employees send each request.
How to Enable Shift Replacement Requests
Offer Shift and Swap Shift are enabled independently, so you can turn on one, the other, or both:
Access the Job Schedule from the left sidebar.
Click Access Schedule.
Click Settings in the top right corner.
Open the General tab.
To allow one-way handoffs, check Enable shift offer requests.
To allow two-way trades, check Enable shift swap requests.
Click Save Changes.
Each type has its own approval setting directly beneath it. See Admin Approval for Shift Replacements to require your review before a request takes effect.
How Users Send a Shift Replacement Request
From the mobile app or desktop, an employee starts from the shift itself and chooses the request type:
Access the Job Scheduler.
Open the shift to change.
Select Find a Replacement.
Choose Offer Shift to hand the shift off, or Swap Shift to trade it.
If they choose Offer Shift, they select one or more qualified teammates and send the request. The first teammate to accept takes the shift, which prevents the others from accepting.
If they choose Swap Shift, they pick a teammate and one of that teammate’s scheduled shifts to trade for, then send the request. The teammate can accept or decline. An employee can only swap with a teammate who is qualified for the shift and does not have a conflicting shift at the same time.
Note: In both cases the shift stays with the original employee until the request is accepted (and approved, if approval is required). Recipients get a push notification and respond from their Replacements tab.
Once the shift replacement is sent, all selected recipients will receive a push notification and can accept or reject the request by accessing their Job Scheduler, then their Replacements tab, pressing on the request, and then selecting either Accept or Reject.
Please note: if you send the replacement request to multiple users at once, the one who accepts it first, will prevent all others from accepting it. If admin approval is mandatory, your admin will have to review and decide whether to approve or not. If there is no admin approval required, once the first user accepts the replacement, they will be assigned to the shift.
ℹ️ Frequently Asked Questions
Can users see their request history?
Yes. Each user has their personal Replacements tab where they can always view their previous requests or previous requests they have received.
Can users delete replacement requests?
Yes! All they must do is enter their Replacements tab, access the Sent by Me section, press on the specific request they wish to cancel, and select Cancel Request. Please note that only pending requests can be deleted, and not those that have been already approved.
Is it possible for users to view other users' availability when asking for a replacement?
Yes! If a user is unavailable or has an overlapping shift at the same time, the user will be warned.
What does an admin see while a replacement request is pending?
Admins can see replacement requests before they are finalized. A shift with an open replacement is flagged on the schedule and appears under Pending Replacement Requests in the Issues view, and on mobile it shows in the Unresolved Issues bar. This applies both while the request is waiting for a coworker to respond and while it is waiting for admin approval, giving you early visibility into shifts that may need attention.
What is the difference between offering and swapping a shift?
Offering a shift is a one-way handoff: a teammate takes your shift and you are no longer scheduled for it. Swapping is a two-way trade: you and a teammate exchange shifts and both of you stay scheduled, so neither loses hours.
Does a swap change my total hours?
No. In a swap each employee takes the other’s shift, so both keep the same number of scheduled hours for the week.
Can I use one type but not the other?
Yes. Offer requests and swap requests are enabled separately in the General tab of the Schedule settings, so your admin can turn on either one on its own.
The shift replacement capability is available from the Advanced plan on the Operations Hub
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