Skip to main content
How do I swap shifts?

How to swap shifts with, pick up shifts from, and respond to swap requests from your colleagues

Sophie Wilson avatar
Written by Sophie Wilson
Updated over 5 months ago

If enabled by your employer, RotaCloud allows you to swap your shifts with your colleagues. You can choose to simply offer up your shift to another staff member or, you can offer them your shift and offer to cover one of their shifts in return.

Offering your Shift to a Colleague on the App

You can give up one of your shifts through either the Rotas tab, Shifts tab, or Dashboard tab. Once you have found the shift you would like to offer to another colleague, simply tap on it. You will see a pop-up that gives details of the shift and, at the bottom of the screen, a button to 'Request shift swap'.

On the next screen, you can tap 'Select employee' to see a list of other employees who are eligible to work that role and can choose which user you'd like to offer your shift to. Once you've selected the user, tap 'Submit shift cover request' at the bottom of the page.

Your request will then be sent to this employee for them to approve or deny it. If they approve, it will then be sent to your Manager for final confirmation (if they have set it up to require approval).

Offering your Shift and Picking Up Another in Return on the App

You can also give up one of your shifts and choose to cover another in return. Again, this is done through either the Rotas tab, Shifts tab, or Dashboard tab. Once you have found the shift you would like to offer to another colleague, simply tap on it. You will see a pop-up that gives details of the shift and, at the bottom of the screen, a button to 'Request shift swap'. (See screenshots above).

On the next screen, you can tap 'Select employee' to see a list of other employees who are eligible to work that role (see screenshots above). Choose the employee you would like to offer your shift to, then, beneath their name tap 'Choose shift (optional). Tap on the date/ times of their shift you'd like to cover in return then tap 'Submit shift cover request' at the bottom of the page.

Your request will then be sent to this employee for them to approve or deny it. If they approve, it will then be sent to your Manager for final confirmation (if they have set it up to require approval).

Responding to a Request to Cover a Shift on the App

If one of your colleagues wants to swap a shift with you or offer you one of their shifts, you'll be notified of this and asked if you'd like to accept.

If you have any pending requests, the menu button in the upper right corner of the screen will have a red dot icon.

Tap the menu to open it and you’ll see how many requests you have next to the ‘Pending requests’ button.

Tap ‘Pending requests’ to see all outstanding requests, and tap the specific request to see more information about it. To respond, tap ‘Review’, and then choose ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’. If you accept and this requires approval, it will then be sent over to your manager for final confirmation.

Offering your Shift to a Colleague on Desktop

On a desktop, you can offer your shift to one of your colleagues from the Rotas page. Once on the the Rotas page, simply click on the shift you would like to offer and, on the pop-up box, click 'Request Shift Swap'.

You'll then be asked to select an employee to offer the shift to. Click the dropdown and select the employee you would like, then click 'Request Swap'.

Your request will then be sent to this employee for them to approve or deny it. If they approve, it will then be sent to your Manager for final confirmation (if they have set it up to require approval).

Offering your Shift and Picking Up Another in Return on Desktop

On a desktop, you can offer your shift to one of your colleagues from the Rotas page. Once on the the Rotas page, simply click on the shift you would like to swap and on the pop-up box, click 'Request Shift Swap'.

You'll then be asked to select an employee to offer the shift to. Click the dropdown and select the employee you would like. A second dropdown will appear showing that employee shifts - click this, and choose the shift of theirs you would like to cover in return.

Your request will then be sent to this employee for them to approve or deny it. If they approve, it will then be sent to your Manager for final confirmation (if they have set it up to require approval).

Did this answer your question?