Overview
Availability preferences and time off requests help you better understand when users can work so you can schedule them more effectively and avoid scheduling conflicts.
Depending on your view of the Scheduler, user’s availability and time off is displayed differently. See Schedule Views for more information on the ways you can view the Scheduler.
Considerations
- A user’s availability preferences show when a user is able to work. On an user’s availability calendar, two types of preferences can be set:
- Preferred: times that the user prefers to work.
- Unavailable: times that the user is not able to work. Users can still be scheduled for a shift during times set as unavailable.
- Time off requests are times when the user chooses not to work. Time off can be submitted as unpaid, paid (PTO), sick, or holiday. See Requesting Time Off for more information.
Day view
Day view in the Scheduler helps you visualize your user’s preferred times, unavailable times and time off through out the day.
Preferred times
A green bar shows that a user has entered a time when they prefer to work. Hover your cursor over the bar to see what times the user prefers to work.
If you add a shift on a day a user has entered a preferred time, shift templates display based on their availability preference:
- Highly Preferred: Shift templates with start and end times that fit within the user’s preferred times.
- Preferred: Shift templates with start and end times that overlap with the user’s preferred times.
Unavailable times
A grey bar shows that a user has entered a time where they are unavailable to work. Hover your cursor over the bar to see what times the user is unavailable to work.
If you add a shift on a day where a user has entered an unavailable time, shift templates that conflict with their preferences are greyed out. The hours the user has indicated they are unavailable to work display in red next to Unavailable.
Time off
Time off requests display in day view in the Scheduler so you can easily see when a user has requested time off and adjust their schedule if necessary. Time off requests that are pending can be identified by their diagonal stripes.
Week View
Week view on the Scheduler displays preferred times, unavailable times, time off, and conflicts to help you visualize your workplace’s availability for the week while building the schedule.
Preferred times
A green flag shows that a user has entered a time where they prefer to work. Hover your cursor over the flag to see what times the user prefers to work.
If you add a shift on a day a user has entered a preferred time, shift templates display based on their availability preference:
- Highly Preferred: Shift templates with start and end times that fit within the user’s preferred times.
- Preferred: Shift templates with start and end times that overlap with the user’s preferred times.
Unavailable times
A grey flag shows that a user has entered a time where they are unavailable to work. Hover your cursor over the flag to see what times the user is unavailable to work.
If you add a shift on a day where a user has entered an unavailable time, shift templates that conflict with their preferences are greyed out. The hours the user has indicated they’re unavailable to work display in red next to Unavailable.
Time off
Time off requests display in week view in the Scheduler so you can easily see when a user has requested time off and adjust their schedule if necessary. Time off requests show whether they’re pending or approved.
Conflicts
A red flag appears in the top-left corner of a shift to indicate a scheduling conflict.
Conflicts occur if a user is scheduled when they:
- Have approved time off
- Have indicated they’re unavailable to work
- Already have a scheduled shift