How to respond to shift booking requests.
💡 Only the shifts you have uploaded are available for staff to view & request.
- The difference between booking & requesting a shift
- How to review submitted shift requests
- Approving shift requests
- Declining shift requests
- Deleting shift requests
The difference between booking & requesting a shift
There are two configurable options for shift bookings in Rota > Rota Settings > Rota Groups.
The first is called Approved Shift Bookings, and with this option selected, your team will submit requests for available shifts that need to be actioned.
The second is called Direct Shift Bookings, and is a 'first-come-first-served' approach. Enabling your teams to book straight into a shift.
Find out more about these Rota Group Settings.
❌ Only safe staffing is possible for either setting, so if an individual directly books into a shift that would break one of your rules, or working time directive, this will automatically be rejected.
How to review submitted shift requests
💡 If preferred, you can configure email notifications to be sent per rota group when staff are submitting shift requests.
To find & action pending requests, open Rota > Accept/Reject Bookings.
Finding your shifts
On the left-hand side of this screen, you can filter by: date; rota group; team & duty station.
The Shifts with requests section displays all shifts within your chosen parameters that have pending requests from your staff. Clicking on each of the vacant shifts will display who has submitted a request in the Booking details section, underneath.
Approving a shift request
To approve a shift request, select the person you want to allocate to the shift & press the green tick button, underneath the Booking details heading.
A confirmation window will then display and confirm that all other staff requesting the same shift will receive a decline email notification.
Lastly, you will be able to make any other changes (if necessary) in the edit shift window before pressing save.
How to decline a shift request
From the Rota > Accept/Reject Bookings screen and once you have selected the shift you are reviewing, in the Booking details section select the staff member whos request you want to decline and press the red no-entry button.
The decline booking window will then display, detailing the shift that was requested and a space for you to include a reason.
⚠️ Once you press decline, the individual will receive an email notification to update them, with the details you entered in the reason text box.
Deleting a shift request
To delete a shift request, without issuing an approved or declined response to the individual, simply select your chosen shift in the Shifts with requests section & the individual whos request you would like to delete.
Then press the red cross button on the right-hand side of the screen.
The delete shift bookings confirmation window will then display for your to confirm.
