Employee Availability

Accurate availability data is the foundation of effective scheduling. This guide covers how to set and manage employee availability in ShiftAI.

Why Availability Matters

When availability is accurate, ShiftAI can:

• Create schedules without conflicts
• Respect employee preferences
• Distribute shifts fairly among available staff

When availability is inaccurate:

• Schedules conflict with real-world constraints
• Employees get assigned shifts they can't work
• Managers spend time fixing avoidable issues

Setting Up Availability

Employee Portal

Employees can set their own availability through the schedule link:

1. Open the schedule link shared by their manager
2. Verify their identity with phone number
3. Click Set Availability
4. Toggle each day on/off
5. Set start and end times for available days
6. Click Save Availability

Weekly Schedule Format

Availability is set as a weekly recurring pattern:

| Day | Available | Hours | |-----|-----------|-------| | Monday | Yes | 9:00 - 17:00 | | Tuesday | Yes | 9:00 - 17:00 | | Wednesday | No | — | | Thursday | Yes | 9:00 - 17:00 | | Friday | Yes | 9:00 - 21:00 | | Saturday | Yes | 12:00 - 20:00 | | Sunday | No | — |

How to Set Availability

For Each Day

1. Toggle - Switch the day on (available) or off (unavailable)
2. Start Time - When you can start working
3. End Time - When you need to finish

Default Settings

When first accessing availability:

• Monday through Friday: 9:00 - 17:00 (available)
• Saturday and Sunday: Unavailable

Employees should update these defaults to match their actual availability.

How the AI Uses Availability

When generating schedules, the AI scheduler:

1. Checks each employee's availability
2. Only assigns shifts within available hours
3. Respects unavailable days completely
4. Balances shifts among available employees

Best Practices

For Employees

1. Be accurate - Set availability that reflects when you can actually work
2. Update regularly - Change availability when your schedule changes
3. Be realistic - Don't mark yourself available for times you can't work
4. Consider commute - Account for travel time in your availability

For Managers

1. Share the schedule link - Employees need access to set availability
2. Remind employees - Ask team to update availability regularly
3. Review before scheduling - Check that availability data is current
4. Communicate changes - Let employees know when schedules are published

Common Scenarios

Student Employees

Students with class schedules:

• Set availability around class times
• Update when a new semester starts
• Mark exam periods as unavailable

Part-Time Workers

Employees with limited hours:

• Set specific days/times available
• Be clear about maximum hours
• Update if another job schedule changes

Flexible Workers

Employees with open availability:

• Can mark all days as available
• Set wide time ranges
• Will receive more shift assignments

Viewing Employee Availability

As a manager, you can see employee availability in the AI scheduler. When generating schedules, the system automatically considers each employee's set availability.

Integration with Scheduling

AI Scheduler

When you generate a schedule with the AI:

1. It reads all employee availability
2. Matches required shifts with available employees
3. Distributes hours fairly among qualified staff
4. Avoids scheduling outside available hours

Manual Scheduling

If you manually assign shifts:

• Check employee availability first
• Avoid assigning shifts when employees are unavailable
• Consider availability when making changes

Troubleshooting

"Employee shows no availability"

Causes:

• Employee hasn't set their availability yet
• All days marked as unavailable

Solutions:

• Ask employee to access the schedule link and set availability
• Verify they completed the setup process

"Can't generate schedule"

Causes:

• Not enough employee availability to cover shifts
• Too few employees available on certain days

Solutions:

• Review employee availability settings
• Add more employees if needed
• Adjust shift requirements to match available staff

"Employee can't access availability"

Causes:

• Don't have the schedule link
• Phone verification issue

Solutions:

• Share the schedule link with the employee
• Ensure their phone number is correct in the system

What's Next?

• AI Scheduler - How scheduling uses availability data
• Adding Employees - Set up your team
• Creating Schedules - Generate schedules with availability