This help guide will discuss Tanda's Shift Replacements feature, including how to enable the feature and how to request and find shift replacements.
What's covered in this guide?
How it Works
Tanda's Shift Replacement feature reduces the time it takes to find a replacement when an employee can't work their shift.
This feature allows employees to request a replacement for their shift if they can't work. When an employee requests a replacement, managers are given the option to either:
Decline the request
Offer the shift to some staff
Offer the shift to all suitable employees
Managers can also initiate a shift replacement on an employee's behalf.
Enabling the Shift Replacement Feature
The shift replacement feature is optional. As such, it is turned off by default.
To turn on the shift replacement feature, follow this process:
Log in to Tanda using a web browser at my.tanda.co.
Navigate to Settings > Rosters > Shift replacements.
Tick the 'Enable shift replacements' setting.
If you would like managers to approve shift replacement requests, tick the setting 'Shift replacements and swaps require manager approval' [OPTIONAL].
The Create Own permission will also need to be enabled. To do so, navigate to Settings > All Settings > Permissions > Show Advanced Settings > Customise access & roles here > Rosters > Shift swap.
See our Customise permission levels help guide for more details on this process.
Requesting a Shift Replacement
Shift replacements can be requested by an employee or by a manager on an employee's behalf.
When an employee requests their own shift replacement, managers can navigate to the Manage replacement requests page on the Tanda Mobile App to select which staff should be offered the shift. Alternatively, they can navigate to the Shift Claiming page on the desktop roster (via Tools > Shift Claiming).
When a manager requests a replacement on the employee's behalf, they'll be prompted to select which staff member should be offered the shift immediately.
Request Your Own Shift Replacement [Employees]
Once the relevant settings and permissions have been enabled, staff can request a shift replacement themselves.
On Desktop:
To do so, employees can navigate to their roster, select the shift they can't work, and click on the three-dot menu (⋮). Then, select 'Request Replacement.'
On Mobile:
Alternatively, if requesting a replacement on the Tanda Mobile App, follow this process:
Navigate to the shift you can't work on the roster
Click the > icon
Click the Request a Replacement button on the next page
Select "Who are you offering your shift to?" (either 'anyone' or 'a specific team member,' depending on your settings)
Add a reason for the shift replacement request
Click Next
Confirm your estimated wage loss by clicking Confirm
This will send a request to your manager to authorise the shift replacement.
Learn more in the Staff: Requesting a shift replacement guide.
Request a Shift Replacement on an Employee's Behalf [Managers]
Managers can initiate a shift replacement on behalf of an employee either on desktop or via the Mobile App.
On Mobile:
To request a replacement on an employee's behalf:
Open the mobile app and navigate to the Roster tab
Find and select the shift being replaced
Click the Request Replacement button under the shift
After requesting a replacement, you'll be prompted to either decline the request, offer to certain staff, or offer to all eligible staff.
On Desktop:
To request a replacement on desktop:
Navigate to the roster through Time & Attendance > Rosters.
Find the relevant shift being replaced.
Click the three dots (⋮) in the top right corner of the shift card.
Select the Request Replacement option.
Select whether the shift should be offered to Certain Staff or All Eligible Staff.
Finding a Shift replacement
Once you have made a shift replacement request, available shifts can be sent to certain staff or all eligible staff.
📝 Important to note: If a shift replacement request was made 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 who 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 be displayed.
Staff who have been specifically offered a shift will be given the option to Claim shift through the Mobile App. 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 a manager selects Offer to all eligible staff, all staff that can work the shift and do not breach blocking roster validations 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 Rosters page of the mobile app.
Managers can then select an applicant to cover the shift from those who offered to cover it. 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 for the relevant employees will be updated.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Can employees swap shifts outside their team?
Can employees swap shifts outside their team?
Employees can only swap within teams they have been assigned to.
What is a good fit for the purposes of a shift replacement?
What is a good fit for the purposes of a shift replacement?
A good fit is someone who is:
Available (e.g. not already rostered),
Works in the same team,
And will cost the same (or less) as the initially scheduled shift
Why am I not receiving notifications?
Why am I not receiving notifications?
To receive notifications, you need to be a Team Manager in your employee settings and 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?
What if I don’t want my staff to access this feature?
You can turn the feature off in your settings at any time if you prefer to manually manage swaps between your staff. By default, the shift replacement feature is disabled.