Building a roster doesn't always mean you've got every person locked in from the start. An empty shift holds the spot for you: the Work Group and shift time are set, there's just no one assigned yet. Come back and fill it in once you know who's working.
Working with empty shifts
Add one yourself any time you're building a roster. Start adding a shift as usual, and when you get to the step where you'd normally choose a person, select Empty Shift instead. Everything else you've set stays in place, you're just holding off on who's working it.
They'll also appear after copying a roster or loading a Smart Roster, if a shift couldn't be filled (say, someone was unavailable). You'll see a count of how many are left, so you know what needs sorting before you publish.
Filling, editing or deleting an empty shift
Click into an empty shift any time to:
Assign someone to it
Adjust the Work Group, times or break
Delete it if you don't need it after all
Need cover from someone outside the usual team? You can pick from other teams too, see Rockstar Shifts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my employees see an empty shift?
Will my employees see an empty shift?
No, empty shifts are for your eyes only while you're building the roster. They won't show up in the Employee Mobile App or roster emails.
Can an employee claim an empty shift themselves?
Can an employee claim an empty shift themselves?
No. Empty shifts aren't visible to employees, so there's nothing for them to claim. If someone already has a shift and needs cover, that's a different process, see Swapping Shifts with Cover Requests.
Can I still publish a roster if it has empty shifts?
Can I still publish a roster if it has empty shifts?
Yep. The rest of the day publishes as normal, the empty shift itself just sits unpublished until it's filled. You'll still get the green tick next to the date, plus an orange warning icon next to the tick and on the shift itself, just to flag there's still a gap.
Do empty shifts count towards anything before they're filled?
Do empty shifts count towards anything before they're filled?
They count towards your total rostered hours for the day, since the time is already set. They won't count towards roster cost though, since there's no one assigned yet to know the pay rate.