RotaCloud's Availability tool allows you to enter when your staff are available or unavailable to work. You can input one-off entries or a repeating pattern and can always add shifts over these if needed - they simply act as a handy guide when planning shifts.
In your account settings, you can also choose to allow staff to enter their own patterns.
Adding one-off availability on desktop
To add a one-off entry of availability on desktop, click your Availability tab and use the dropdown menu in the top left to select your employee.
Next, click the day you'd like to add it availability/unavailability for and choose if it will be available or unavailable - it will default to a full day.
If you'd like to add specific times rather than a full day, untick the 'All day' option and you'll see the option to add in specific times. Click the dropdown menus beside the clock icon and select the start and end time you'd like.
Once you've made your selections, click 'Add'. You can repeat this for as many days as you need.
Adding an availability pattern on desktop
To create a repeating pattern for availability, to to your Availability tab and select 'Create repeating pattern' in the top right of your screen.
You can then select what dates you'd like the pattern to run between and how frequently the pattern will repeat at the top of your page.
Next, begin entering your pattern by clicking on a day you'd like to add availability or unavailability for - this will default to a full day but, if you'd like to add specific times, simply untick the 'All day'. Click the dropdown menus beside the clock icon and select the start and end time you'd like.
If you have the same pattern for multiple days in the week, you can tick these under the 'Copy to' section.
Repeat this for the days of the week you'd like to add your pattern to and, once done, click 'Create pattern'.
Viewing availability patterns on desktop
Availability patterns will show on the Rotas page to make planning around your employees' schedules simple. They can be toggled on and off as you need.
To do this, open your sort and filter menu in the top right corner of your screen and tick 'Availability'. You'll then see your patterns in red and/or green on the rota.
Adding one-off availability on the App
To set an availability for a single day, tap the three lines in the top right corner of the app and go to the 'Availability' section. You can then select the employee you'd like using the dropdown in the top left of your screen. When you see the calendar, tap on the day you'd like to add your Availability or Unavailability to, then tap the blue plus icon beneath the calendar, and choose ‘This day only’.
You’ll then be presented with the ‘Create availability’ screen. Choose whether you want to add Availability or Unavailability. If you’d like to add ‘All day’ tick this option or tap on the dashes beside the clock icons to enter the specific start and end times.
If you have more than one period you’d like to add, use the grey plus icon to add another period below.
When you’ve entered all of the times that you need, tap ‘Create one-off’ to add it.
Adding an availability pattern on the app
If you have a recurring pattern of when staff are free/busy, you can create a repeating Availability pattern. To do this tap the three lines in the top right corner of the app and go to the 'Availability' section. Select the employee you'd like using the dropdown in the top left of your screen.
To add a new pattern, tap on the date you’d like the pattern to start on the calendar. Tap the blue plus below the calendar on the right, and then tap ‘New repeating pattern’.
The start date of the new pattern will match the date that was selected on the calendar, but you can change this if you like. Set the start and end dates, and the availability that you set below will apply between these days.
Next, choose what length of repeating pattern you want to create. This can be one, two or four weeks. The pattern you set below will loop for as long as is necessary, until the end date.
Tap each day to set up availability or unavailability for that day. You can either set it for the whole day, or specific times of each day.
You can move to the next days by tapping a day’s name. Days that have nothing set will have no icon under the day’s name. Those with unavailability will have a red cross, and those with availability will have a green tick.
Once you’ve entered your pattern, scroll down and tap ‘Create pattern’ at the bottom of the page. You’ll be returned to the availability calendar, and can see the new pattern that you’ve created immediately.