Using the Team App

The Brikly Team App is where your staff see their shifts, clock in and out, pick up open shifts, ask for time off, read announcements and chat with the team. This page describes what they see in the situations that most often lead to a question, so you know what is on their screen.

Staff sign in with their mobile number (see Adding Employees). What they can do depends on their access level.

Home and Clocking In

The home screen always shows the Clock In button, so nobody is stuck if something will not load. If today's shift cannot be loaded (a poor connection, say), Home says "Couldn't load today's shift. You can still clock in below." with Retry.

Today always means today's date in the UK. The app refreshes the list when it is brought back to the front and just after midnight, so yesterday's shift never shows as today's.

When someone clocks in or out:

• If Brikly accepts the punch, it is recorded straight away.
• If Brikly refuses it, the app says Clock in not recorded (or Clock out not recorded, Break not recorded) with the reason, such as "You're already clocked in." The punch is not kept, so they can check and try again.
• If there is no connection, the app says "Saved on this device, waiting to sync." and sends it later with the time they tapped.

Clocking in needs your business to have StaffBrik. If it doesn't, a clock-in is refused with "Clocking in is turned off because this workplace doesn't have StaffBrik. Ask your manager." Anyone already clocked in can still take their break and clock out, so a shift that has started can be finished.

After clocking out, the summary shows the day as well as the time when the clock-out was on a different day from the clock-in, for example a night shift that finished the next morning.

If location is switched off on the phone, or the app has been refused it, the clock map shows Location is off with an Open Settings button, and explains that the clock-in will be flagged for review. They can still clock in. If the phone cannot get a location fix at all, the site picker says "We couldn't get your location" rather than "You're not at any of your sites".

See Clock-In Locations & Verification for location checks and how saved records work.

Shifts

• Each shift card shows the shift's role, or the person's usual role when the shift has none of its own, in Shift Details too.
• Working With lists only colleagues at the same site whose shifts overlap theirs, each once. Colleagues who are on leave, or who have left, are not listed.
• A past shift at a site you have since removed keeps the site's name and address.
• Load more and Load previous week add shifts without jumping the list back to the top.
• In Shift Details, Prev and Next go to the shift before and after by date.

Shifts Covered by Leave

When approved time off or a logged absence covers one of someone's shifts, the app says so instead of expecting them in:

Leave	Label
Approved holiday	On holiday
Other approved time off	On leave
A logged absence	Absence logged

The shift card reads "Your 09:00 to 17:00 shift is covered.", and the shift's own page says "You're not expected to work this shift." A covered shift:

• Is left out of their hours for the week.
• Is never suggested when they clock in.
• Does not send them the "Your shift starts at..." reminder.

If someone on holiday picks up an open shift on that day, it shows as a normal shift they are working. Picking it up gives that day back: it comes off their time off and its hours go back to their holiday allowance.

Changed or Removed Shifts

If a manager deletes a shift or gives it to someone else while the person has it open, the app says "This shift is no longer on your rota. It may have been changed, removed or given to someone else." with Back to shifts.

When something does not load, the app says so in plain words and offers Retry, on the shift list, a shift, Time Off, Open Shifts and Settings. Sign Out in Settings always works, even when the rest of the page could not load.

Asking for a Clock Correction

Staff who forget to clock out, or punch the wrong time, can ask for a correction in the app. The times they pick land on the right day: a forgotten clock-out fixed the next morning is taken as the next morning, and the date is shown whenever a time is not on the shift's own day.

The app blocks impossible times before they are sent, using the same rules and wording as the Attendance page (for example "Check the clock-in and clock-out dates and times." for an entry longer than 16 hours). If Brikly refuses the request, the app says "Couldn't send your request" with the reason. Requests reach you on the Pending tab in Attendance: see Edit Requests from Staff.

Open Shifts

Staff see the open shifts they are eligible for, each with what they would earn before tax: the hours at their own pay rate (or the role's rate). The home screen sums them up, for example "3 shifts across 2 days", with the range they could earn.

Before they claim, the app warns them if the shift overlaps one of their own shifts or falls on a day they have time off, and asks them to confirm. On a holiday day the warning says what claiming does, for example "You have approved holiday on this date. Claiming this shift gives that day back to your holiday allowance (7.5 hours)." When the shift needs approval it says "If your manager gives you this shift, that day goes back to your holiday allowance." Holiday they have asked for but not had approved yet is mentioned too, because that day comes off the request. If the holiday covered one of their own shifts that day, the warning says that shift will then count as worked, for example "Your 07:00 to 11:00 shift that day will then count as worked, not holiday. Check with your manager if you are not working it."

• A successful claim closes the shift's details and shows "Shift claimed. It's yours." for a first-claim shift, or "Request sent. You'll be notified when the manager decides." when it needs approval. A claim on a holiday day adds "That day is back in your holiday allowance (7.5 hours)." Their time off and allowance update straight away.
• If the claim does not go through, they see "Couldn't claim this shift" with the reason, for example that someone else got there first. Withdrawing a request that fails says "Couldn't withdraw your request", with the reason.
• Once the claim cutoff has passed or the shift has started, the shift says Claiming has closed.

Staff with an absence logged on a day do not see that day's open shifts. See Open Shifts for how you post them.

Time Off

Staff request time off by choosing dates, and you approve it in StaffBrik (see Managing Time Off). The request form shows:

• What they have: "N hrs available after pending requests", and "N hrs waiting for approval" when they have requests not yet decided.
• What the dates would use, and from which holiday year's allowance, for example "This would use 40 hrs of your 2027 allowance." or "This would use 40 hrs, 32 hrs of them from this year's allowance."
• A gentle warning when that is more than they have available: "...more than the 24 hrs you have available. You can still send it, and your manager will decide."

The request keeps the dates they chose, but only the days they work in that range are booked (see Submitting a Request). Dates more than a year apart are refused: "Choose dates no more than a year apart."

Which site? If your business has more than one site and nothing says where the time off belongs (the person has no main site, and no shifts or working pattern on those days), the form asks "Which site is this for? This helps your manager plan cover." It lists your open sites and Not sure. It is optional: they can send the request without choosing. A chosen site is where the request shows for approval and where its holiday pay is charged once approved. If they skip it, you choose the site when you review the request. When the app can work the site out itself, it uses that and does not ask.

If a request is refused when they send it, for example because it clashes with time off they have already booked, the app says "Couldn't send your request" with the reason.

Staff can cancel a request that is still pending. If it has already been decided, the app says why it cannot be cancelled, "This request has been approved. Ask your manager to cancel it." or "This request was turned down, so there is nothing to cancel.", and refreshes the list.

Their holiday balance only counts the holiday year shown. Zero-hours and casual staff have no allowance to count down, because their holiday pay is part of their hourly rate. They see "Your holiday pay is included in your hourly rate, so there's no allowance to count down." instead of a balance (see Holiday Entitlements).

Notifications

The Notifications list in the app shows shift changes, shift reminders, time off decisions, open shift offers and announcements. It shows them even when Push notifications is switched off in the app's settings, or the phone has not given the app permission: those only stop the phone buzzing.

• Switching off a kind (Shift reminders, Team updates or Open shifts) mutes it completely: no phone notification and nothing in the list.
• Shift reminders follow the UK clock. They arrive the set time before the shift, in British Summer Time too. A shift just after midnight is reminded as well, and the reminder says "tomorrow". Holiday or sickness on the shift's day stops its reminder.
• Archived staff and staff whose Team App access is switched off get no notifications.
• Tapping a notification opens the shift if it is still theirs, or their shifts list if it was removed or cancelled. An approved open shift claim opens the shift. A declined, closed or withdrawn one opens Open shifts.
• The list refreshes each time it is opened and when a new notification arrives. Mark all read shows whenever something is unread.
• A deleted announcement shows "This announcement was removed." with Go back (or Back to announcements when there is nothing to go back to).
• A pinned announcement appears once, at the top of the feed.

When Someone Leaves

Archiving an employee takes away their Team App access for your business until you restore them. If they also work for another business that uses Brikly, their access there is not affected. See Archiving an Employee.