7shifts 101: Availability
In 7shifts, Availability allows employees to communicate their preferred work hours and recurring conflicts, such as school or another job, to their managers.
In this article, we'll dive into the different types of availability and provide you with the resources needed so you can manage your employees' scheduling needs.
Mobile: More menu icon > Availability.
Web: Schedule > Availability.
Things to Know
Important: For employees assigned to multiple locations, Admins must enable Allow submissions for published schedules within Company Settings to allow availability submissions.
- Admins manage Availability settings for the account under Settings > Company Settings > Availability.
- An employee's availability applies to all locations they are assigned to; separate availability for each location is not supported.
- Whether you want to use Recurring Availability only, or use both Recurring and Temporary Availability, you will likely want to set up your Availability Reasons.
Availability vs. Time Off
It is important to understand how 7shifts distinguishes between regular scheduling preferences and specific absence requests.
- Availability refers to the general times and days an employee is able or unable to work regularly. This helps managers create consistent schedules that align with recurring commitments.
- Time Off refers to specific dates or periods when an employee requests not to work, typically for one-off events like medical appointments or personal time. Learn more about Time Off here.
Recurring vs. Temporary Availability
7shifts provides two ways to communicate scheduling needs based on how long those needs last.
- Recurring Availability: This is ongoing and applies automatically to all future and past weeks on the Schedule page (e.g., "I can never work Tuesdays due to class").
- Temporary Availability: This applies only to a specific time range and overrides Recurring Availability for those dates (e.g., "I am available to work more hours during my upcoming school break"). Outside of the Temporary Availability timespan, the Schedule page will automatically show their Recurring Availability.
Note: Admins must manually enable the Temporary Availability function under Company Settings > Availability. Otherwise, employees can only submit Recurring Availability by default.
Next Steps
Once you understand the types of availability, you can begin managing your team's submissions:
Add Employee Availability
Edit Employee Availability
Availability Approvals
Availability Reason Settings
Scheduling FAQs