Overview

When users request to swap and drop shifts, you can use the When I Work web app to process the requests from your computer.

Considerations

You must have supervisor, manager, or admin access privileges to process employee requests. If you’re a supervisor, you can only process requests for employees that belong to your schedules.
Swap and drop requests do not require approval if Require Manager Review for Swaps and Drops is turned off in the Scheduling Settings.
All requests have a status. More about these statuses at the bottom of this page.

When a request needs your attention:

We’ll send you an email and/or a mobile alert based on your alert preferences.
The Notification Bell in the top-left corner of the When I Work web app shows a count badge. Click Notification Bell for more information.

Hover over , then select Shift Requests.
Find the shift request.
1. Click Requests I Can Approve or All Requests.
  - Requests I Can Approve: Requests that are Pending Approval that you can act on, excluding your personal requests.
    NOTE: This tab is not present if approval is not required in the Scheduling Settings.
  - Requests I Can Accept: Requests that you can accept from other users and work for them
  - My Requests: Shows a list of requests you have submitted for yourself.
  - All Requests: Your personal requests and requests from others all in one place.
2. Search for a request or filter requests by Date Range, Status, Type and Schedule in the left sidebar.
Click the request that you want to process.
Requests with status Pending Approval need your attention.
(Optional) To send a message to the users involved, type a message under Conversation/Activity, then click Post.
(Optional) If you would like to change who the swap or drop request is offered to, uncheck a shift (swap request) or user (drop request) to remove it from the request.
Click Approve or Deny.
The users involved in the request are automatically notified. When the request is completed, you’ll receive a notification.

The steps are the same on both the Android and iOS applications, however the images below are from the iOS application.

From the When I Work Staff Scheduling app, tap the Shift Requests dashboard card.
Tap the Swap or Drop request you want to process.
(Optional) If you would like to change who the swap or drop request is offered to, clear the checkbox next to the shift (swap request) or user (drop request).
Tap Approve to approve the request. Users on the request are automatically notified
- Denying a request will notify the user that submitted the request, but not the other users listed.

Status	Pending Approval
Description	The request is waiting for approval from management.¹
Status	Pending Acceptance
Description	The request is waiting for a response from a coworker.
Status	Accepted
Description	A user has accepted the request.
Status	Canceled
Description	The manager or the user that created the request has canceled the request. A request can also be canceled automatically if the offered shift is changed by management.
Status	Declined
Description	All recipients of the request declined it.
Status	Expired
Description	The specific day regarding the request has passed; no one accepted or declined it in time.
Status	Denied
Description	The request was denied by management.

Status	Description
Pending Approval	The request is waiting for approval from management.¹
Pending Acceptance	The request is waiting for a response from a coworker.
Accepted	A user has accepted the request.
Canceled	The manager or the user that created the request has canceled the request. A request can also be canceled automatically if the offered shift is changed by management.
Declined	All recipients of the request declined it.
Expired	The specific day regarding the request has passed; no one accepted or declined it in time.
Denied	The request was denied by management.

¹ This status only appears when Require Manager Review for Swaps and Drops is enabled in the Scheduling Settings.

Updated on March 18, 2026