Open shifts
Create shifts that employees can claim based on their availability, rather than assigning them directly. This article will guide you on how open shifts work and how to create them in Zoho Shifts.
How open shifts work
Open shifts are created without assigning them to a specific employee. Once you publish the schedule, the eligible employees are notified and can request to pick up these shifts. An employee will be notified about the open shift only if:
- They’re assigned to the same schedule and position as the open shift created.
- They don’t have overlapping assigned shifts across any schedule.
Open shift pick-up behavior can be controlled through the organization’s schedule preferences. To manage open shift pick-up behavior for the organization, you’ll need the Administrator access level or the Manage account and other settings permission.
- Go to the Settings menu in the top-right corner.
- Select Preferences under the Schedules section.
- Enable the Open Shift pickups requires manager approval if you need to review the pickup requests before assigning shifts. If manager approval is enabled, open shift requests are assigned only after approval. If this setting is disabled, shifts will be assigned to the employees who pick the available shifts first.
- Turn on Restrict pickups when employees’ schedule constraints are exceeded to apply constraint checks in addition to schedule and position. If constraint restrictions are enabled, only eligible employees receive notifications and can request the shift.
- Click Save.
To create open shifts
On web
On mobile
On web
To create open shifts, you’ll need Administrator access level or the Add, edit shifts permission. You can create open shifts only for the schedules you're assigned to. Before creating open shifts, check the Scheduling with filters and views article to improve your scheduling.
- Go to Schedule > Schedule Editor.
- Click a cell in the open shifts row for the desired date.
- Enter the shift’s start and end Times.
- Select Hide end time to restrict employees from seeing the shift end time. If this is enabled, you are letting the employees know only about the start time, but the end time depends on the work volume. This works best for businesses that operate on a peak-hour basis or fluctuating hours, where working hours can’t be fixed.
- If your organization has set up breaks and you want to schedule them for your employees, click +Add Break. Choose an available Break, update its duration if needed, and enter the Start Time.
- Select a Job Site if the employee needs to report to a location different from their usual workplace.
- Select a Position for which the employee is going to work on the scheduled shift.
- Choose Open Shift in the Employee field.
- Enter the count of employees needed based on your requirement.
- Enter shift Notes if you want to share some context or specific instructions for the employee about the shift.
- Select Repeat to have this shift recur on specific days. Refer to the Create repeat shifts article for more.
- Select the Publish and click Save Shift to create and publish the shift immediately. Employees are notified as soon as the shift is created.
- Click Save Shift without selecting Publish to keep the shift unpublished as a draft in the schedule editor. Draft shifts are not visible to employees, allowing you to create and review all required shifts, make adjustments, and publish them together once your schedule is ready. Employees are notified only after the shifts are published. Refer to the Publishing Shifts article for more details.
On mobile
- Open the Zoho Shifts mobile app.
- Tap Schedules at the bottom of your screen.
- Tap the + icon at the top-right corner.
- In the Add Shift window, select the date.
- Enter the shift’s Start and End Times.
- Select Hide end time to restrict employees from seeing the shift end time. If this is enabled, you are letting the employees know about reporting time, but the end time depends on the work volume. This works best for restaurants or businesses that operate on a peak-hour basis, where working hours can’t be fixed.
- If your organization has set up breaks and you want to schedule them for your employees, tap +Add Break. Choose an available Break, update its duration if needed, and enter the Start Time.
- Choose Open Shift in the employee field.
- Enter the number of employees needed.
- Select a Job Site if the employee needs to report to a location different from their usual workplace.
- Select a Position for which the employee is going to work on the scheduled shift.
- Enter Shift Notes if you want to share context or specific instructions for the employee.
- Tap Save. Refer to the Publishing Shifts article for more details.
What happens next
After you publish open shifts, eligible employees are notified and can pick them up from the web or mobile app. The shifts are assigned based on your schedule preferences:
- If manager approval is disabled, the shift is assigned instantly to the employee who picks it up first.
- If manager approval is enabled, open shift requests are created and must be approved by a manager. Once the requests are approved, the shifts will be assigned to the employees. Refer to the Manage open shift request article for more details regarding approving employees' pick-up requests.
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