Create an open shift when a participant needs support and you want eligible staff to pick it up, or to ask for it, instead of assigning someone now.
You need permission to create or update the roster. A shift whose end time has already passed cannot be an open shift. On the website, a non-compliant staff member is a hard stop and cannot be selected for an ordinary assigned shift.
Create an open shift
Go to Roster.
Select Shift, or click an empty roster cell. The cell fills in the date. A cell for a non-compliant staff member does not open a new shift.
Select the participant, date, and start and end times. Use Repeat when the shift should recur.
Open the Staff list and select Create open shift. The row says “Let eligible staff claim or request this shift.”
Under Assignment, select First to claim or Admin approval.
Under Available to, select Selected staff or Participant teams.
For Selected staff, select at least one staff member. That list is fixed — a person who joins the company later is not added automatically. For Participant teams, choose a participant who belongs to a team first, then use View staff to check who is included. Staff in the participant's team at the time they look can see the shift. If no participant is selected, the choice says “Select a participant first.” If the participant has no team, the website changes this choice to Selected staff and may show “No team is assigned to this participant.”
Select the Service. Use + Add service for another part of the shift, and add Notes when staff need them.
Select Save draft to keep the shift hidden from the app, or Publish to offer it to the chosen staff. Eligible staff can then receive a notification titled New Open Shift Available.
To leave open-shift mode before you save, select Assign staff instead, or choose a staff member. Either action makes it an ordinary assigned shift.
Find an open shift on the roster
Use the Open shifts filter. A published open shift is badged Open Shift. A draft is badged Open Shift (Draft). A shift that ended with nobody assigned is badged Open Shift (Unfilled). The shift card shows Open, or the number of requests.
Make several shifts open
Show the unassigned shifts you want to change.
From the roster actions menu, select Make Shifts Open.
Choose who can see the shifts and how they are assigned. The window labels these Same team or Selected staff, and Auto assign or Require admin approval (the same ideas as Participant teams, Selected staff, First to claim, and Admin approval on a single shift).
Select Make Open.
Assigned shifts, shifts that are already open, and shifts that have ended are skipped. A draft stays a draft until you publish it, and staff are not notified while it remains a draft.
Review a request
Open the shift.
Select Review beside the requests. After the shift has ended, the link says View and approval is not available.
Select Approve for the person you want. This only selects them in the shift. It does not save yet.
Select Save draft or Publish.
For eligibility badges, conflicts, and when the app shows Pick Up Shift versus Request Shift, see Understanding Open Shift Approvals and Staff Conflicts.
Common questions
Can I assign staff and keep the shift open? No. Choosing a staff member turns the open shift into an assigned shift.
Do support workers see draft open shifts? No. Only published open shifts that have not ended appear in the app.
What happens after the end time? A shift cannot be made open once its end time has passed. An open shift that ends with nobody assigned is labelled Open Shift (Unfilled). Support workers can no longer pick it up, and Approve is not available.
Related guides
Understanding Open Shifts — What Open Shifts are and when to use them.
How to Find and Request an Open Shift — How support workers find and request shifts.
Understanding Open Shift Approvals and Staff Conflicts — Approvals, eligibility and scheduling conflicts.