# Open shifts and requests

> How a published shift with nobody on it, or one its person can no longer work, is offered to other staff, and how you approve or decline their requests.

Who this is for: Anyone with “Run the bar and events roster” (by default: Administrator, Bar Manager).
Last checked in release 2026.10.23, on 23 October 2026.
Source: https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/open-shifts/

A published shift that needs someone is **on offer** to other staff. They see it on their **My shifts** page, without anyone's name on it, and can ask for it. You decide each request on the roster, or let the first person to ask have it.

## When a shift is on offer

A published shift is on offer while:

- **nobody is on it**: an open shift, or an open place on a slot, that you published; or the person on it said no; or
- **the person on it can no longer work it**: they said yes, then pressed **I can no longer work this**.

Staff are offered only the shifts for positions they are marked for (or with no position). A shift that clashes with one they already have says **You already have a shift at this time.**, and they cannot ask for it. A shift stops being on offer once it has started.

## "I can no longer work this"

When someone who said yes can no longer work a shift, they say so on My shifts, with a note if they like. Managers are emailed. On the roster the shift turns red and says **Can no longer work it · told you** with when.

The shift **stays theirs** until you find cover. Its panel says so: "It stays theirs until you put someone else on it or approve a request below. Other staff can see it as a shift that needs someone." If they find they can work it after all, they can say so, and managers are told nothing more is needed.

A "no" to a shift they had not yet answered is different: it hands the shift straight back as an open shift.

## Requests

When someone asks for a shift, managers are emailed, and on the roster the shift says how many have asked, for example **1 asked for it**. The week's figures say how many need your decision.

To decide:

1. Press the shift to open its panel. **Asked for this shift** lists each person who asked, with when they asked and their hours this week.
2. Press **Approve** or **Decline**.

Approving puts them on the shift, confirmed, and tells them. Anyone else who asked, and whoever could not work it, is told as well. Nothing is left to publish. Declining tells that person.

Anything that moves a shift, puts someone else on it or deletes it closes its requests, and the people who asked are told it is no longer on offer.

## Letting the first person have it

> **Your club decides:** whether a manager approves each request. Press **Notifications** on the roster and untick **A manager approves each request for an open shift**, then press **Save settings**. "Turned off, the first person to ask gets the shift straight away and you are told." It is ticked to begin with.

## What it does not do

- Staff do not swap shifts with each other directly. One asks for a shift on offer; you decide, or the first to ask gets it.
- Staff see no names on an offered shift, so they do not see who could not work it.

## Related tasks

- [Publish the week's roster](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/publish-the-week/index.md)
- [How staff are told: email, text and My shifts](https://sportsclubos.net/help/roster/notifications/index.md)
- For staff: [See and answer your shifts](https://sportsclubos.net/help/me/answer-a-shift/index.md)