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Swap a shift with a colleague

Ask a colleague to take one of your shifts from your iPhone, and accept or decline when a colleague asks you.

Who can do this: Everyone, for their own shifts. A manager’s approval is needed as well unless your restaurant has switched that off.

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On this page

A swap hands one shift to one colleague. You ask, they accept, and in most restaurants a manager then approves. Until all of that has happened the shift is still yours. Swaps are asked for and answered on the phone.

Ask a colleague to take your shift

  1. Open the shift: Shifts, then tap it.
  2. Press Find cover. The sheet shows the steps your request will go through and a list of the people who work at your location.
  3. Press Ask beside the colleague. The sheet changes to Asked, with their name.
  4. Press Done. It says Swap proposed. The shift now shows a Cover section so you can see it is under way.

Answer when a colleague asks you

  1. You get a line in Inbox. Tap it, or open Me and press Swaps. The screen is Swap inbox.
  2. The request is under Waiting on you, with the shift’s day and times. Under it is what each answer does: declining leaves the shift with them; accepting either makes it yours or sends it to a manager.
  3. Press Accept or Decline. It says Swap accepted or Swap declined and the request moves down to Answered.

What happens next

  • If no manager’s approval is needed, the shift moves to the colleague the moment they accept.
  • If it is, the request goes to the people who approve swaps. When one of them approves, the shift moves. If they decline, it stays where it was. See Approve a shift swap.
  • The person who asked is told when their colleague answers, and both are told what a manager decides.
  • If a manager changes who works the shift, or its times, while a swap is waiting, the swap is cancelled and you are both told.

If it doesn’t work

There is no Find cover button
The button is only on your own shifts that have not started, and not while a swap for that shift is already under way or the shift has been offered out as an open shift.
“A swap is already in progress for this shift”
You have already asked someone. Wait for their answer.
“Cannot swap past shifts”
The shift has already started.
“Couldn’t answer the swap”, with “Recipient has an overlapping shift”
You pressed Accept but you are already working at that time, so the shift cannot come to you. Press Decline so your colleague can ask someone else.
“Couldn’t answer the swap”, with “Recipient has approved time off overlapping this shift”
You have approved time off then. Press Decline.
“That swap was cancelled.”
The request ended before you answered, usually because the shift was changed.
“No one to ask”
Nobody else works at your location yet.

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