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Open Shifts

An open shift is a shift with nobody on it yet. You post it, eligible staff see it in the Team App, and one of them picks it up. It is the quickest way to find cover when someone calls in sick, or to fill an extra shift on a busy weekend without ringing round.

The Open Shifts Row​

Open shifts live in the Open shifts row of the rota's week view. Each one shows its times and role, its claim mode (First claim or Approval), who can claim it (Role, or Targeted with the number of people picked), and how long is left until claiming closes. Shifts waiting for your approval show the number of requests.

Click an open shift to edit it. If it needs your approval and has requests waiting, clicking it opens the Claim requests panel instead. The menu on each open shift has the other actions: Edit (or Post again), Post to staff, Claim requests and Withdraw.

Posting an Open Shift​

  1. In the Open shifts row, click the day.
  2. Set the Start, End and Break (minutes), and choose a Role.
  3. Choose the Claim mode and Eligibility (see below).
  4. Check Claimable until (see When Claiming Closes).
  5. Add any Notes for staff (optional).
  6. Click Post to staff to post it now, or Save draft to post it later.

Posting sends eligible staff a "New open shift" notification, such as "Sat 10 Oct, 09:00 to 17:00". When several shifts are posted at once, staff get one notification instead: "3 shifts posted. Tap to view."

Owners, admins and members can post and edit open shifts.

Drafts​

A draft open shift has a DRAFT badge and says Not posted to staff yet. Staff cannot see it and nobody is notified. Post it from its menu with Post to staff, or publish the rota: Publish posts every draft open shift on the week at the same time as the shifts. A draft that has already started, or whose claim cutoff has passed, cannot be claimed, so Publish leaves it as a draft and tells you.

Claim Modes​

  • First claim wins (instant) - the first eligible person to claim the shift gets it straight away.
  • Requires manager approval - staff send a request, and you choose who gets it from the Claim requests panel.

Who Can Claim It​

  • Anyone with this role at this site - everyone whose role matches the shift's role and whose primary location is this site. Staff with no primary location count for every site.
  • Targeted (pick specific staff) - only the people you pick. They can be from any of your sites: the picker lists people At this site first, then Other sites. A targeted shift needs at least one person.

Only eligible staff see the shift in the Team App and get the notification.

Someone with an absence logged on the shift's day is left out: they do not see the shift, are not notified and cannot claim it. That way the person whose sickness opened the shift is not asked to cover it.

Someone on approved holiday that day can still choose to pick the shift up. The Team App warns them first that claiming gives that day back to their holiday allowance, and if the shift needs approval, the request warns you too. See Working on a Day Off.

Working on a Day Off​

When someone with time off on the shift's day gets the shift (they claim a first-claim shift, or you approve their request), that day is given back. They are working it, so it stops being time off and is not charged twice:

  • It comes off their time off, the same as unticking that day in the review. A request for that day only is cancelled.
  • Its hours go back to their holiday allowance, in the holiday year the day falls in.
  • It is no longer paid as holiday. The rota costs the day once, as the shift they work, and every week the request touched is worked out again.
  • A request still waiting for approval loses the day too, so approving it later does not charge it.
  • Unpaid leave and other time off that day are trimmed the same way. Only holiday has an allowance to go back to.
  • The request says what happened, for example "Mon 12 Oct given back: worked an open shift.", and the note shows under it on the Time Off page.
  • You are told. On a shift that needs approval, the claim request warns you before you approve. On a first-claim shift nobody approves, so the Open shift claimed notification says it, for example "Sam Smith's holiday on Mon 12 Oct was given back to their allowance (7.5 hours)."

Any of their own shifts that day that the holiday covered are not covered any more, so they count as worked again, the same as when you untick a day in the review. Everyone is told which ones before and after: the claim request ("Their 07:00 to 11:00 shift that day will then count as worked, not holiday. Remove it or make it an open shift if they are not working it."), the Open shift claimed notification, the note after you approve, and the person themselves in the Team App. If they are not working it, remove it or make it an open shift.

The day is not put back if the shift is later taken off them, for example converted back to an open shift, given to someone else or deleted. If they are no longer working that day, book it off again.

Someone with an absence logged that day still cannot take the shift.

When Claiming Closes​

Claimable until is the claim cutoff: the last moment staff can claim the shift. It is shown and saved in UK time. By default it is:

  • 07:00 on the day of the shift, or
  • 2 hours before the start, if that is earlier, or
  • the start time itself, if you are posting at such short notice that both of those have passed.

The default follows the start time until you change the cutoff yourself. The cutoff must be before the shift starts. A later one is refused with "Set the claim cutoff before the shift starts."

Whatever the cutoff says, claiming always closes once the shift starts. A shift that has already started cannot be posted ("This shift has already started, so staff can no longer claim it."), and neither can one whose cutoff has passed ("The claim cutoff has already passed. Pick a later time.").

Expired Open Shifts​

If nobody has taken an open shift by its cutoff, or by the time it starts, it expires:

  • It stays on the Open shifts row with an EXPIRED badge.
  • Any requests still waiting are declined automatically.
  • You get an Unclaimed open shift notification in Brikly: "An open shift was not claimed in time."

Until the shift starts, you can use Post again to give it a new cutoff and post it once more. After it has started, the only option is Withdraw.

Drafts never expire, because staff could not see them.

Converting a Shift to an Open Shift​

When someone cannot work a shift they are already on, turn it into an open shift rather than deleting it:

  1. Click the shift on the rota.
  2. Click Convert to open shift.
  3. Check the Role (filled in from the shift, or the employee's main role), Claim mode, Eligibility and Claimable until.
  4. Click Convert.

The employee comes off the shift, and eligible staff can claim it. If the shift was published, the employee is told it was removed, and their weekly cost and the rota budget update straight away.

If you have already logged an absence or approved time off for that day, the shift is hidden under the leave on the rota. Use the Find cover button on the leave cell instead: it opens the same Convert to open shift dialog for the shift underneath.

Claim Requests​

For shifts that need your approval, the Claim requests panel lists everyone who has asked for the shift. Before you approve, it warns you about anything that might matter:

  • "Already working 07:00 to 12:00 at Station Road that day."
  • "Sam has approved holiday on Sat 10 Oct."
  • "Approving gives that day back to their holiday allowance (7.5 hours)."
  • "They have asked for holiday on Sat 10 Oct, not yet approved. Approving takes that day off the request (7.5 hours)."
  • "Their 07:00 to 11:00 shift that day will then count as worked, not holiday. Remove it or make it an open shift if they are not working it."

These are warnings only, and you can still approve. You can add an optional reason when you decline.

When approving gives time off back, the panel says so once it is done, for example "Sat 10 Oct is back in Sam Smith's holiday allowance (7.5 hours)." Sam's notification that the shift was approved says "That day is back in your holiday allowance." See Working on a Day Off.

If an approval or decline cannot go through, the reason is shown under the request, for example:

  • "This open shift has already been filled."
  • "The claim cutoff for this shift has passed, so it can no longer be approved."
  • "Sam Smith has no pay rate for Sat 10 Oct. Add one on their profile, then approve."
  • "This person has an absence logged on this day, so the shift cannot go to them. Change the absence first, or decline the request."

When you approve one request, the shift is theirs and everyone else's request is declined.

Editing and Withdrawing​

You can edit an open shift until someone has it. While requests are waiting, you can still change its cutoff, notes, claim mode and who can claim it.

Withdraw takes an open shift off the rota when you no longer need it. It is for owners and admins, and only while the rota can be edited (not locked). Withdrawing asks you to confirm, keeps the shift on record, and tells anyone with a waiting request. If someone claimed the shift a moment before you withdrew it, you see "Someone has just claimed this shift, so it can no longer be withdrawn." and the shift stays theirs.

Open shifts are always edited and withdrawn from the Open shifts row, so that anyone who asked for one is told what happened.

Costs​

An open shift costs nothing until someone takes it, and unclaimed or expired open shifts are not counted in the rota's scheduled hours or shift count.

When someone claims it (or you approve their request), the shift's cost is added to the rota budget, and that person's weekly employer NI and pension are worked out again with the extra hours. Converting a shift to an open shift takes its cost off the original employee in the same way.

What Staff See in the Team App​

Staff see the open shifts they can claim, with the pay for each one before tax: the hours at their own pay rate on that day (or the role's rate if they have none). Employer NI and pension are not included, because that is not what they take home. The home screen sums them up, for example "3 shifts across 2 days", with the range they could earn before tax.

Before claiming, the app warns them if the shift overlaps one of their own or falls on a day they have time off, and on a holiday day it says what claiming does: "Claiming this shift gives that day back to your holiday allowance (7.5 hours)." Once the cutoff passes or the shift starts, it says Claiming has closed. If a claim does not go through, they are told why. See Using the Team App.

When Someone Leaves​

Archiving an employee declines any open shift requests they had waiting and takes them off the people picked for targeted open shifts. If an open shift was offered only to them, the archive dialog tells you, so you can edit it to pick someone else or withdraw it.