Request open shifts, swap or offer shifts in Shifts
Applies To
Teams Microsoft TeamsThis article applies to frontline workers.
Shifts makes it easy for you to manage your shifts and schedule. Depending on the schedule settings enabled for your team, you can submit requests for the following:
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Time off
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Pick up an open shift at your location and/or an open shift at other locations in your area
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Swap a shift with a teammate
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Offer a shift to a teammate
Your request is sent to a manager for approval. You can view and track all your requests in Shifts, including those pending manager approval.
In this article
Request an open shift
Open shifts are unassigned shifts that a manager made available for people to request. Want to pick up an extra shift? Find and request open shifts that work best for you.
Open shifts at your location
Here’s how to request an open shift on your team.
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In Shifts, tap Open Shifts > Your locations.
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Tap the shift you want to request.
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View the details, and then tap Request. Your request is sent to your manager for approval.
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When your manager approves (or denies) your request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your request is approved, you’ll see your assigned shift in the schedule.
Open shifts at other locations
If the open shifts across locations feature is set up for your team, you’ll see an Other locations tab in Shifts.
From here, you can see and request open shifts at other locations (teams) in your area that are also using this feature. Choose and pick up shifts at locations convenient to you!
To learn more, see Request an open shift at another location in Shifts.
Swap a shift
Want to swap a shift? Here’s how to swap shifts with a teammate.
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In Shifts, tap the shift you want to swap, and then tap Swap.
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Select a teammate’s shift.
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Add a reason for the swap or just tap Done.
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Your request is sent to your teammate, who receives a notification in their Teams Activity feed. Your teammate can choose to accept or decline your swap request.
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When your teammate responds to your swap request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your teammate accepts your request, the request is automatically sent to your manager for final approval.
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When your manager responds to the request, you and your teammate receive a notification in the Teams Activity feed. If the request was approved, your shift and your teammate’s shift are updated in the schedule.
Offer a shift
Need a shift covered? Here’s how to offer a shift to someone else on your team.
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In Shifts, tap the shift you want to offer, and then tap Offer.
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Tap Select team member, tap the teammate you want to offer your shift to, and then tap Next.
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Add a reason why you're offering the shift or just tap Done. Your request is sent to your teammate, who receives a notification in their Teams Activity feed. Your teammate can choose to accept or decline your offer request.
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When your teammate responds to your offer request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your teammate accepts your request, the request is automatically sent to your manager for final approval.
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When your manager responds to the request, you and your teammate receive a notification in the Teams Activity feed. If the request was approved, the shift change is updated in the schedule
Set a shift reminder
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Tap
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Turn on the Set shift reminder toggle. You'll get a notification one hour before your shift starts.
See your requests
In Shifts, tap Requests 
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The In progress section lists requests that are pending manager approval. You can cancel any request that’s still in progress.
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The Completed section lists requests that were approved (or denied) by a manager.
Choose a request to see its details.
Tip: You can also select the notification in your Teams Activity feed for a shift request. Doing this takes you to the specific request in Shifts.
In this article
Request an open shift
Open shifts are unassigned shifts that a manager made available for people to request. You’ll see them in the Open shifts row in the schedule. Want to pick up an extra shift? Find and request open shifts that work best for you.
Open shifts at your location
Here’s how to request an open shift on your team.
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In the schedule, go to the Open shifts row, and select an open shift.
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View the shift details and then choose Request. Your request is sent to your manager for approval.
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When your manager approves (or denies) your request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your request is approved, you’ll see your assigned shift in the schedule.
Open shifts at other locations
If the open shifts across locations feature is set up for your team, you’ll see an Other open shifts tab in Shifts.
From here, you can see and request open shifts at other locations (teams) in your area that are also using this feature. Choose and pick up shifts at locations convenient to you! 
To learn more, see Request an open shift at another location in Shifts.
Swap a shift
Here’s how to swap a shift with a teammate.
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Do one of the following:
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In the schedule, select the shift you want to swap, and then choose Swap.
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Go to the Requests tab in Shifts and then choose New request.
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Go to the Swap tab (if you’re not already there).
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Fill out the swap request by selecting one of your own shifts (if it’s not already selected) and a teammate’s shift. Add a note, if you want.
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When you’re ready, select Send request. Your request is sent to your teammate, who receives a notification in their Teams Activity feed. Your teammate can choose to accept or decline your swap request.
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When your teammate responds to your swap request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your teammate accepts your request, the request is automatically sent to your manager for final approval.
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When your manager responds to the request, you and your teammate receive a notification in the Teams Activity feed. If the request was approved, your shift and your teammate’s shift are updated in the schedule.
Offer a shift
Here’s how to offer a shift to a teammate. Offer a shift to someone if you want them to cover a shift for you.
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Do one of the following:
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In the schedule, select the shift you want to offer, and then choose Offer.
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Go to the Requests tab in Shifts and then choose New request.
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Go to the Offer tab (if you’re not already there).
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Fill out the offer request details by selecting the shift you want to offer (if it’s not already selected) and the teammate you want to offer it to.
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When you’re ready, select Send request. Your request is sent to your teammate, who receives a notification in their Teams Activity feed. Your teammate can choose to accept or decline your offer request.
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When your teammate responds to your offer request, you’ll get a notification in your Teams Activity feed. If your teammate accepts your request, the request is automatically sent to your manager for final approval.
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When your manager responds to the request, you and your teammate receive a notification in the Teams Activity feed. If the request was approved, the shift change is updated in the schedule.
View your requests
To view your requests, go to the Requests tab in Shifts. Here, you’ll see all your shift and time-off requests and the status of each request:
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The In progress section lists requests that are pending manager approval. You can cancel any request that’s still in progress.
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The Completed section lists requests that were approved (or denied) by a manager.
Choose a request to see its details.
Tip: You can also select the notification in your Teams Activity feed for a shift request. Doing this takes you to the specific request on the Requests tab in Shifts.
See also
For IT admins
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