Manage Shift Replacements

Allow employees to request shift replacements with manager oversight.

Kate Taylor avatar
Written by Kate Taylor
Updated over a week ago

Tanda's Shift Replacement feature reduces the time it takes to find a replacement when an employee is unable to work their shift.

How it works

The shift replacement feature allows employees to request a replacement for their shift if they can't work it. When an employee requests a replacement, managers are given the option to:

  • Decline the request, or;

  • Offer the shift to some staff, or,

  • Offer the shift to all suitable employees

Managers are also able to initiate a shift replacement on an employee's behalf.


Turning on the shift replacement feature

The shift replacement feature is optional and is turned off by default.

To turn on the shift replacement feature:

  1. Log in to Tanda in a web browser at my.tanda.co

  2. Navigate to Settings > Rosters > Enable shift replacements

  3. Select enable shift replacements

  4. (optional) if you would like managers to approve shift replacement requests, select shift replacements require manager approval

The Create Own permission will also need to be enabled under Settings > All Settings > Permissions > Show Advanced Settings > Customise access & roles here > Rosters > Shift swap.


Request a replacement

Replacements can be requested by an employee, or by a manager on the employee's behalf.

When an employee requests their own shift replacement, managers will need to navigate to the Manage Replacements & claims page on the app, or the Shift Claiming page on the desktop roster to select which staff should be offered the shift.

When a manager requests a replacement on the employee's behalf, they'll be prompted to select which staff should be offered the shift straight away.

Request your own shift replacement

Once the relevant settings and permissions are enabled, staff can request a replacement themselves.

Through the employee's roster, they can select the shift they are unable to work, followed by the 'Request a replacement' button. If "shift replacements can be chosen by staff" is enabled the employee will be able to select "A specific team member" to offer the shift to another employee.

This will send a request to the manager to authorise the shift replacement.

Staff will be prompted to provide a reason for the replacement request, and will be given an estimated wage loss for losing the shift.

Learn more in the Staff: Requesting a shift replacement guide.

Request a shift replacement on an employee's behalf

Managers can initiate a shift replacement on behalf of an employee through both the mobile app and desktop app.

Request through the mobile app

To request a replacement on an employee's behalf:

  1. Open the mobile app and navigate to Shifts > Team roster

  2. Find and select the shift being replaced from the roster

  3. Click the Request Replacement button under the shift

After requesting a replacement, you'll be prompted to either decline request, offer to certain staff, or offer to all eligible staff. Continue to the Find a replacement section to learn more.

Request through the desktop app

To request a replacement through the desktop app:

  1. Navigate to the roster through Time & Attendance > Rosters

  2. Find the relevant shift being replaced

  3. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the shift card

  4. Select the Request Replacement option from the list

  5. Select whether the shift should be offered to Certain Staff or All Eligible Staff

Continue to the Find a replacement section to learn more.


Find a replacement

Once the replacement request has been made, available shifts can be sent to certain staff or all eligible staff that can work the shift.

📝 Important to note: If an employee (or manager on an employee's behalf) requests a shift replacement within 3 days of the scheduled start time, it will be offered to all eligible staff by default.

Offer shifts to certain staff

If the manager chooses to Offer to certain staff, they'll see an overview of cost and roster variances against each option.

Employees that are considered a Good Fit will appear at the top of the offer screen, while others will appear as Other Available Staff. Any roster validations that may be breached if a certain employee works the shift will also display.

Staff who have been specifically offered a shift will be given the option to Claim shift through the . Shifts offered to specific staff are allocated on a first in, best dressed basis - the first employee to claim it will have the shift automatically added to their roster.

Offer shifts to all eligible staff

If Offer to all eligible staff is selected, all staff that can work the shift and do not breach blocking roster validation settings will be notified of a shift to pick up.

Eligible staff can Offer to cover the shift through the Pick up shifts tab on the Shifts page of the app.

Managers must select an applicant to cover the shift from those that offered to cover. This can be done on the mobile app through Overview > Pending Tasks > Manage replacements & claims or on the desktop app through Time & Attendance > Roster > Tools > Shift claiming.

When reviewing the offers, they will appear as either Good Fits or Other Applicants. Once a replacement has been selected, the roster will be updated for the relevant employees.


FAQs and troubleshooting

Can employees swap shifts outside their team?
Employees can only swap within teams they have been assigned to.

What is a good fit?
A good fit is someone who is:

  • available,

  • works in the same team,

  • and will cost the same (or less)

Can employees find their own replacement?
No. Our feature has not been designed for employees to find their own replacement. This is deliberate to provide managers more control and oversight over costs.

Can employees trade shifts with each other?
No. Our cover request system is designed to minimise the amount of requests and roster changes. Shift ‘trades’ can be actioned by managers by editing the roster.

Why am I not receiving notifications?
To receive notifications you need to be a Team Manager in your employee settings, and be assigned to the relevant teams. Check that you haven’t turned notifications off for the Tanda App.

If a Team Manager hasn't logged into or used the app in the last 14 days, they will receive email notifications of shift replacement requests instead of app push notifications.

What if I don’t want my staff to access this feature?
You can turn the feature off in settings if you prefer to manually manage swaps between your staff.

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