Shift Swaps

How to make a request to swap one of your shifts with a colleague, and what to do if you receive a request to swap.

James Denham avatar
Written by James Denham
Updated over a week ago

Please note: This feature is optional and may have been disabled by your account’s Administrator.

The Shift Swap tool allows you to arrange cover for one of your shifts with one of your colleagues.

On the rota, you can select a shift that you’d prefer to not work, and choose the employee you want to ask for cover. You can optionally offer to work a shift for them in return, and if they accept, then your Manager is able to approve the swap in RotaCloud.

Requesting a swap

Desktop

When viewing the Rota on a Desktop, click on the shift itself to be shown your choices when it comes to requesting cover:

A screenshot of the Rotas page of RotaCloud. An employee has clicked a shift and the 'Request Unavailability' and 'Swap Shift' buttons are shown.

Click ‘Shift Swap’ to begin requesting to swap with another colleague. Next, choose your colleague’s name from the drop-down list. If you’d like, you can also choose one of their upcoming shifts to pick up from the 2nd menu:

A screenshot of the Rotas page, showing a shift swap form being filled out. An employee has been selected, and a shift to take on in return has been chosen. The Request Swap button shows in blue below.

When you’re ready, click ‘Request Swap’ and your colleague will receive a notification in RotaCloud to approve/deny your swap.

Mobile

On the RotaCloud mobile app, you can tap on the shift in question on the Dashboard, Rotas or Shifts pages. In all cases, tapping the shift will bring up the Shift Information sheet. Here, tap the ‘Request shift swap’ button.

An image of the Shift Information page in the RotaCloud app. A shift has been tapped, and more information about it is shown including the 'Request shift swap' button in blue at the bottom of the screen.

This will take you to the Shift swap request page, where you can select a colleague, and optionally a shift to take on in return, in the same way as on a Desktop. When you’ve selected the options that you need, tap ’Submit shift cover request’ to send this request to your colleague.

The 'Shift swap request' page in the RotaCloud app. An employee has been selected and a shift to take on in return has been selected. The 'Submit shift swap request' button shows in blue at the bottom of the screen.

Responding to a colleague’s request

If a colleague has requested that you pick up one of their shifts, you’ll be notified within RotaCloud, and can approve it, or deny it. If you approve the swap, then it may be forwarded on to a manager for final approval.

Note: Manager approval is an optional feature of RotaCloud, so be sure to only approve a swap when you’re sure you can work that shift!

Desktop

On the Desktop version of RotaCloud, the bell icon in the upper-right corner will show with a red notification. Click the bell to view your notifications, and select the notification to be taken straight to the relevant shift on the rota:

A GIF of the process of an Employee accepting a swap request from a colleague. The notification is selected, taking the user to the rota, and 'Accept' is then chosen before being confirmed with 'OK'.

You can also click on your colleague’s shift directly, on the rota to see this. Their shift will show with a yellow swap icon, denoting a pending swap request. Select ‘Accept’ or ‘Decline’ to respond to the request.

Mobile

In the mobile app, you’ll be notified of any pending requests with a red dot icon showing over the menu button in the upper right corner of the screen. With the menu open, you’ll see how many requests you have next to the ‘Pending requests’ button.

A screenshot of the Dashboard page of the RotaCloud app. The menu button in the upper right corner is highlighted.

Tap ‘Pending requests’ to see all outstanding requests, and tap the request to see more information about it. To respond, tap ‘Review’, and then choose ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’.

A GIF of the process of accepting a Shift Swap request in the RotaCloud app. The menu button in the upper-right is tapped, then 'Pending requests'. The request itself is then tapped, then 'Review', then 'Accept'.

Manager approval

If you deny the request, then your colleague will be notified, and no changes will be made to the rota. The shift will be marked with a red swap icon, denoting a denied request. If you accept it, then the request may then be sent to your Manager for final approval.

Manager approval is an optional feature of RotaCloud, so if a Manager isn’t required, then the request will be processed immediately.

What happens if the request is approved?

If your Manager approves, then both you and your colleague will be notified of the swap. The shift(s) will automatically be moved on your Rota, and they will be marked with a green swap icon.

What happens if the request is denied?

If the request is denied at any time, then no changes will be made on the rota. You and your colleague will be notified that the swap’s been denied, and the shift will show on the rota with a red swap icon, denoting a denied request.

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