Open shifts are shifts that are not assigned to anyone. When you add these and share them with staff, they are able to claim them and they will automatically assign to the user.
Enabling open shifts
Open shifts can be enabled by any admin user on your account - this will allow your employees to claim open shifts. If you don't tick to allow staff to claim open shifts, you will still see the open shifts row at the top of your Rotas page and can add shifts there, but staff will not be able to view or claim them.
To do this, click the cog icon in the top right of your screen to access your settings. Scroll down slightly to your Open Shifts section. Here, you can toggle on the option to 'Allow employees to claim open shifts'.
By default, RotaCloud will stop any shift clashes meaning employees cannot claim any open shifts that clash with existing shifts however, once enabled, you'll have the option to enable a number of different settings relating to claiming open shifts:
Prevent staff claiming open shifts that clash with booked leave
Will stop employees from claiming an open shift if they have existing leave which would clash with it (this will not stop clashes with pending leave the employee may have.
Prevent staff claiming open shifts that clash with scheduled days-off
Will stop employees claiming an open shift if it clashes with a non-working day - these are indicated by a grey cell on the rota*.
* To learn more about non-working days/days-off, click here.
The settings 'Prevent staff claiming open shifts that clash with booked leave' and 'Prevent staff claiming open shifts that clash with scheduled days-off' are currently released as a beta test and may be subject to minor changes in functionality.
Adding a shift video tutorial
Adding an open shift on desktop
Open shifts can be added on the Rotas tab. Navigate there and, in the 'Open shifts' row at the top of the page, click on the cell you'd like to add the shift to.
You can then fill in the details of the shift such as shift times, break, role etc. and choose to publish it if you like. When you've entered all the details you like, click 'Add'. Once published, all staff who can work that role at that location will be notified of the shift* and able to log in to claim it.
Adding an Open Shift on the app
You can add an open shift on any page of the app, to do this, tap the blue plus icon in the bottom right and select 'Add shift'.
You will then see a shift card which will default to an open shift and can add in the role (optional), location, date, start and end time, and, if you like, a break and note. You can also choose to publish the shift which will send a notification to all employees who can work that role and at that location* and will allow them to see it when they log in. When you've entered the details you need, tap 'Add shift'.
Who can claim an open shift
Once you publish an open shift, staff who are able to work that role and work at that location will be notified*. They can then log in and claim the shift. If they cannot work the role, cannot work at the location, or they already have a shift assigned that would clash, they won't be able to claim the shift.
Getting notified about claimed shifts
When an employee has claimed an open shift, you will be notified of this via email, app push, desktop and, if you have SMS enabled on your account, text message*.
The shift will also automatically be assigned to that employee once claimed.
*Each user has their own notifications settings section and will need to have these enabled in order to receive Open Shift notifications. For more information about notifications, click here.