• Introduction to Open shifts
• What is an Open shift vs Empty shift
• How to create an Open shift
• Claiming an Open Shift
  • via Deputy website
  • via Deputy Mobile apps
• Approving an Open Shift

Open Shift: A shift in the schedule that has no team member allocated to it yet but is available for all, or a select group of team members, to accept and work that shift.

Empty Shift: A shift in the schedule that has no team member allocated to it and has not been offered to any team members yet to claim.

1. On the Schedule page, you can drag the Open Shift into the area and day you want to create the shift.

Alternatively, you can click the + icon in the area you want to create a new shift.

2. In the pop-up that appears, click the Who is Working? box and select Open Shift from the dropdown list.

3. In the same window, fill in the rest of the details of the shift such as start, break and finish times, as well as any notes to the team member that takes the shift.

Note that if you select the Require approval check box then the scheduling manager will need to approve the team member that claims the shift before it will be assigned to them.

If you don't select this box then the open shift will go to the first recommended team member that is able to claim it.

4. When you are finished, click Save.

5. Ensure that you publish your schedule when you are finished. Select the Push notifications option if you want to alert your team members to the open shift.

If your team members have notifications turned on for the Deputy mobile app then when a manager publishes shifts, they will be alerted when an Open Shift appears. They are then able to claim the shift directly from the Deputy mobile app.
Alternatively, if notifications are not turned on, team members can still claim Open Shifts via the Deputy app or web browser application.

1. Log into Deputy at once.deputy.com

2. Navigate to the Me tab. In the Calendar section, the Open Shift will appear on the relevant day on the calendar. 

3. After clicking on the Open shift, a pop-up window will open.

4. If the manager does not require a final approval on who claims the shift then you can click Claim Shift to take the shift for yourself. In this scenario, the first suitable team member to claim the shift will take it.

If the manager has set the Open shift up to require a manager approval on who claims the shift, then you can click Request Shift.

Now, your shift request, along with other team members requests for the open shift will await approval by the manager who will select a team member to take the shift.

This system does not rely on first in, first served.

You can withdraw the shift request again if you need to by clicking Withdraw Shift.

If you have notifications turned on for your Deputy app you will receive a notification whenever there is a new Open shift.

1. In the Deputy app, and navigate to the Home tab and tap Available Shifts.

2. Tap on the Open Shift you want to claim.

3. As described above for claiming shifts vs the web application, if the manager does not require a final approval on who claims the shift then you can click Claim Shift to take the shift for yourself. In this scenario, the first suitable team member to claim the shift will take it.

If the manager has set the Open shift up to require a manager approval on who claims the shift, then you can tap Request Shift.

Now, your shift request, along with other team members requests for the open shift will await approval by the manager who will select a team member to take the shift.

This system does not rely on first in, first served.

You can withdraw the shift request again if you need to by tapping Withdraw Shift.

Managers will receive notifications when a team member claims an open shift. If managers are logged into the Deputy mobile app then they will receive a push notification on their phone, otherwise, they will receive an email.

Notifications (via push or email as described above) will be sent to certain managers according to the configuration applied in the Location's Scheduling Settings. Read more in FAQs about manager notifications.

Managers can also view who claimed the shift in the schedule or shift history.

Managers can review their dashboard to see which Open shifts requiring approval have been claimed.

Note that Open shifts requiring approval will not trigger a manager notification when a team member requests to work an open shift.

In the event that the scheduling manager has ticked require approval when creating an Open shift then the manager will need to select a team member from those that have requested to work the shift.

1. Managers can see Open shifts requests requiring approval on their dashboard, and click to open them.

2. Or the manager can also click on the Open shift in the schedule. It will show how many team members have made requests for that shift.

3. You can see which team members have requested to work the open shift. You can sort the team members by:

• first to respond
• alphabetical
• cost of shift

You can also cancel the shift if necessary. In this instance, the team members will be notified by push notification that the shift has now been cancelled.

4. Once you have selected a team member to work the open shift, click on Confirm.

You can see the approval in the Shift history under Shift Actions.

Open shifts that did not have the Require approval check box ticked when creating an Open shift will be automatically assigned to the team member that claims them first.

You can still see what happens in the Shift history under Shift Actions.

For more information on creating Open shifts with Approval please read: Open Shifts with Approval