Accept, decline, or express interest in working shifts using shift offers
Shift offers are a flexible way for your manager to offer you work, rather than assigning shifts directly to your roster. Instead of being told when you're working, you get the chance to review available shifts and choose what fits around your schedule and personal commitments.
Depending on how the offer is set up, you may be able to accept shifts straight away or use the request option to show your interest. While requesting doesn't guarantee the shift, it’s a great way to let your manager know you're keen to pick up extra hours.
Shift offers also give you flexibility as things change; you can decline offers or cancel requests if they no longer suit your availability, helping you stay on top of your commitments.
This article will discuss how to manage shifts from the Shift Offers call-to-action card. For information on Job Offers, please see our guide here.
To see a virtual tour of the shift offers process, follow the link in the image below.
What are shift offers?
Shift offers are a way for your managers to gauge your interest in working shifts. Instead of rostering you on directly, they can use these to see if you’re available for extra hours or additional shifts when needed. Some managers may even use them as their main way of rostering.
You'll receive these through your employer's preferred method (email, SMS, or push notifications), and they'll also show up in your app as a call-to-action card.
When you're in the app, you might notice there are 2 different types of offer cards:
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Job offers - These are used for recurring or ongoing shifts sent out in bulk, like the same shift across multiple days (e.g. 9:00 am – 5:00 pm every Thursday for the next few weeks).
This option is first in, best dressed, so you'll need to accept them before someone else does.
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Shift offers - These are usually a bit more varied, with different times or roster details. How you respond will depend on how the offer has been set up by your manager:
Some shifts may be first in, best dressed, where accepting the offer will immediately add the shift to your roster.
Others may require you to request your interest, which lets your manager know you're available, but doesn't guarantee the shift. You will later receive a notification of the outcome of your request.
You might also see an Open badge on your offers. These are offers that have been opened up and made available to all employees in your business who can work the shift, not just a select few.
Best practice is to review all job and shift offers sent to you and respond promptly. This article will focus on shift offers. If you want to learn more about job offers, check out our guide.
Accept, decline or request interest in an offer
A great habit is to check your shift offers regularly and action them as soon as you can. The sooner you respond, the sooner your manager knows you're keen to work.
By keeping on top of your offers, you're showing that you can take charge of your roster and stay on top of your commitments.
Once a shift has been assigned to you, it works like an accepted shift. If you can no longer do it, you'll need to either cancel it (if your employer uses this feature) or contact your manager and follow your company's process.
To accept shift offers:
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From your home page, select the Shift Offers call-to-action card. This will open the shift offers drawer.
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You'll see a list of all the offers sent to you. Take a moment to review the details of each shift carefully.
Tip: Any unread shift notes will have a red dot next to them. - Respond to each offer. Depending on the type of offer, you can respond in one of the following ways:
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Accept - Automatically roster yourself for the shift if you’re the first to respond.
- Decline/ Dismiss - Let your manager know you can’t do the shift. Once declined or dismissed, this can't be changed.
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Request - Show your manager you're interested in the shift. They'll then choose from the shortlist of employees who requested it.
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Accept - Automatically roster yourself for the shift if you’re the first to respond.
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Once you've actioned all your offers, you'll get an in-app message letting you know. This is important because the offer list only shows shifts that you haven't responded to.
- To see the offers you've been rostered to, or any shifts you’ve requested, you can check your upcoming roster on the home page screen.
Note: Don't miss out on shift offers, they can become unavailable when:
- Another employee accepts the shift before you
- The offer has expired
- The shift has already started or is in the past
- You have been assigned a shift that now conflicts with others you have requested interest in
If this happens, you'll get a follow-up message letting you know the shift is no longer available. It's a good idea to action your offers as soon as possible so you don't miss out.
Cancel a requested shift
If you've requested a shift, you can cancel it at any time before it's assigned to you (before it becomes a green rostered shift). This gives you the flexibility to change your response if your circumstances change.
To cancel a request:
- From your home page, go to the Upcoming Shifts section.
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Find the shift you've requested; these shifts will show in yellow. If the shift is in another week, use the arrows to move forward to the correct week.
- Select the shift to open the details.
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To cancel your request, select Cancel request.
FAQs
To view our most common leave FAQs, please refer to our 'FAQs - My shifts and work' guide here.