Scheduling Shifts

The Scheduling module is a full-featured calendar and shift management system. Create shifts, assign guards, publish schedules, and track coverage across all your sites.

Accessing Scheduling

Navigate to Operations → Scheduling in the sidebar. The section expands to reveal:

• Schedule View — weekly calendar
• Shifts — shift list and management
• Templates — reusable shift patterns
• Shift Exchange — guard-initiated exchanges
• Shift Swaps — swap request approvals
• Vacation Requests — time-off approvals

Schedule View (Weekly Calendar)

The main calendar shows all shifts for the selected week.

• Navigate weeks using the left/right arrows.
• Filter by site to focus on one location.
• Color coding indicates shift status:
  • Draft (gray)
  • Published (blue)
  • Completed (green)

Click any shift block to view details or edit.

Creating a Shift

1. Click Create Shift or click an empty time slot on the calendar.
2. Fill in:
   • Site — select the location.
   • Date — start date.
   • Start Time and End Time.
   • Guard — assign a specific guard, or leave open for later.
   • Position/Role — optional role requirement.
   • Notes — special instructions.
3. Click Save as Draft or Save & Publish.

Shift Statuses

Shift Templates

Templates let you save common shift patterns for reuse.

1. Go to Scheduling → Templates.
2. Click Create Template.
3. Define the shift pattern (site, times, days of the week, required role).
4. Save the template.
5. When creating shifts, click Apply Template to auto-fill from a saved pattern.

Publishing Schedules

Draft shifts are invisible to guards. To make them live:

1. Select the shifts you want to publish (checkbox or select all).
2. Click Publish.
3. Guards receive a notification about their new assignments.

Shift Exchanges & Swaps

Guards can request to swap or exchange shifts with each other.

Reviewing Swaps

1. Go to Scheduling → Shift Swaps.
2. Review pending requests — you'll see who wants to swap, the shifts involved, and the reason.
3. Approve or Reject each request.

Auto-Approval

Go to Scheduling → Auto-Approval to configure rules:

• Enable/disable auto-approval globally.
• Require same-role matching.
• Set maximum hours difference.
• Enable conflict checking.

When enabled, qualifying swaps are approved automatically without admin review.

Swap Analytics

Visit Scheduling → Swap Analytics to see:

• Swap trends over time.
• Most-requested guards and shifts.
• Approval/rejection rates.

Vacation Requests

1. Go to Scheduling → Vacation Requests (or Team → Vacation Requests).
2. View all pending time-off requests.
3. See the requested dates, leave type (vacation, sick, personal, etc.), and reason.
4. Approve or Deny each request.
5. Approved requests automatically block the guard from being scheduled on those dates.

Forecasting

Go to Scheduling → Forecasting to predict staffing needs:

• Select a forecast window: 1, 2, 4, or 8 weeks.
• Filter by site.
• See projected demand vs. available guards.
• Identify coverage gaps before they become problems.

Tips

• Publish weekly — guards rely on timely schedule updates.
• Use templates for recurring shift patterns to save time.
• Enable auto-approval for low-risk swap types to reduce admin overhead.
• Check forecasting at the start of each week to spot coverage gaps.

Related Articles

• Managing Guards
• Run Sheets
• Payroll Management
• Time-Off Requests

Related Focused Guides

• Reviewing Weekly Coverage and Publishing Draft Shifts
• Using the Admin Operations Workspace