Extra shift invitations

When clients are waiting for a time you cannot offer, you can ask a colleague to work an extra shift. Check the proposed hours, choose how many people you need, and invite colleagues to accept.

Open in app: Team schedule

Calendar suggestions are in preview. This guide describes the current flow, including the limits on recording staff availability.

Tell your manager when you can work

There is currently no staff self-service form in this flow for submitting your available dates or a repeating weekly availability pattern. You cannot yet use it to enter one day, several days, or “every Monday”. Tell your manager the dates and hours you can work, then accept or decline the specific extra-shift invitation they send you.

Do not confuse three different things:

Information	What it means
Available hours	Times a person may be able to work. This is not an agreed shift.
Rostered shift	Hours the person is scheduled to work at a location.
Accepted invitation	The person has accepted the particular extra shift offered to them.

Managers can create single or recurring shifts. Doing that schedules work; it is not a way for staff to submit their preferences.

Understand the labels before inviting someone

The invitation form currently uses these labels:

Label	What you can conclude
Available hours recorded	An available-hours record covers the whole proposed time window. The person has not necessarily accepted this extra shift.
Availability not provided	There is no matching record covering the whole window. You can still invite the person and ask them. It does not mean an invitation has already been sent, or that they cannot work.

These labels describe the available information, not a reply to your invitation. A record alone does not tell you who entered it or whether the staff member recently confirmed it.

For example, an available-hours record for Monday 9am–1pm covers an invitation for Monday 10am–12pm. It does not cover Tuesday, or a Monday invitation ending at 2pm. The current suggestions use dated, non-repeating available-hours records; a repeating weekly pattern does not automatically produce Available hours recorded here.

Someone being available is also different from being eligible for the work. Service skills, approved leave, existing shifts and outstanding invitations can affect who you can invite. Availability not provided should not be read as a leave or conflict warning.

Ask someone to cover a busy period

In the calendar preview:

1. Open Team schedule in Week view and go to the dates you are planning.
2. Click the suggestion below a date, such as 2 clients waiting.
3. Read the proposed hours and the estimated number of waiting clients the extra cover could accommodate.
4. Click Choose who to invite.
5. Check Starts, Ends and Extra people needed, then select the colleagues to ask.
6. Click Send invites. Selecting a name alone does not send an invitation.

An estimate that extra cover could fit two waiting clients is not a promise that either client will book. The staff member must accept, and the new time must become available for booking.

Invite several people for one opening

Extra people needed is the number of extra people you want working, not the number of people you can ask.

For example, set Extra people needed to 1 and invite Bob, Amy and Charlie. The first successful acceptance fills the one opening. If another person then tries to accept, they are told the opening is filled; a second shift is not created.

Set Extra people needed to 2 when you actually need two extra people. One acceptance leaves one opening to fill. Each person is checked again when accepting, so being invited does not reserve a place or override a later leave or scheduling conflict.

Accept or decline an invitation

Open your personal invitation link, check the date, location and hours, and choose to accept or decline. The invitation link lets you respond without signing in. Keep it private because it allows a response to your invitation.

Invitations expire after 48 hours. Declining, letting an invitation expire, or finding that the opening has already been filled does not create a shift for you. An invitation can also be withdrawn if the extra cover is no longer needed or you no longer qualify at acceptance time.

A successful acceptance creates a one-off shift. Accepting the same invitation again does not create another shift.

Check what happens after you send an invitation

• Waiting for a reply: an invitation is pending; the person has not accepted yet.
• Extra cover confirmed: the required cover has accepted, but the new time is not open yet.
• Extra time is open: the new time is open. Clients have not necessarily booked it.
• More people needed: some cover is confirmed, but you have not filled every opening.
• Still looking for cover: nobody has accepted and there are no pending replies. Try another colleague or another time.

An invitation can be delivered by app push, in-app notification, email or SMS, depending on the person's account, contact details and device setup. Email and SMS include the response link. Do not assume that tapping a push notification opens the response page; use the invitation link to accept or decline.

If someone receives nothing, check that the invitation was sent and that their staff record is linked to the right account and contact details. Having a name in the team list is not enough to receive a push notification.

Try extra cover in your draft first

In Plan schedule, click the demand hint under a date to review the suggested hours. Where a colleague is suggested, choose Add [name] to draft. This adds a draft shift and refreshes the demand assessment; it does not send an invitation or confirm that the colleague can work.

Booking times change only after you publish. Agree the hours with the colleague before publishing. An assessment that suggests no extra cover is not a guarantee that every future booking will fit.

Leave a suggestion without acting on it

You can leave a calendar suggestion alone. There is no need to dismiss it or clear a list of decisions. To change an agreed shift, use the staff schedule.

Before sending any invitations, you can change the proposed start, end and number of extra people. After an invitation has been sent, those settings are locked, including after a decline or expiry. You can still invite other colleagues for unfilled openings, using the same hours and headcount.

People with a pending invitation show Invited · awaiting reply and cannot be selected again. People who accepted show Already accepted. Availability not provided remains selectable: you can ask that person to confirm. Earlier invitations with different hours retain their original hours and show a warning; they are not silently rewritten.

For an absence, use the leave process. Missing availability information is not a leave request.

Related

• Staff schedule — create single shifts and regular working patterns.
• Team load report — review booked capacity and unmet demand.
• Staff leave and time off — request and manage absences.