Shift Marketplace FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Shift Marketplace.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Shift Marketplace Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before employees can use the marketplace?
Yes. Three things must be in place before the marketplace works:
- Enable the app — Shift Marketplace requires a licence and is disabled by default. Enable it from Admin → Apps → All Apps.
- Publish a schedule — employees can only list or pick up shifts that belong to a published schedule. Unpublished shifts do not appear.
- Choose an approval mode — the default is Manager Approves All Pickups, which means every pickup request waits for an approver under Pickup Requests. To assign pickups without review, switch to Auto-Approve All Pickups; to approve low-risk pickups automatically, switch to Smart Approval — both in Settings → Workflow Settings.
Who can access the marketplace once it is enabled?
Every employee in the business can browse listings and pick up or apply for shifts they are eligible for. Managers and admins see all listings for oversight. The Coverage Autopilot tab is shown to managers and to the team or location managers coverage gaps escalate to. Pickup Requests is shown to anyone your Approval Authority setting names; Audit Log to admins, app admins and anyone granted it; Settings to admins and app admins.
Permissions and access
Who can change Shift Marketplace settings?
Only users with Admin or higher role, or users granted App Admin for Shift Marketplace. The settings page covers notification toggles, the approval workflow, the approval authority, and the general Enable Marketplace / Enable AI Agent switches.
What controls whether an employee can pick up a particular shift?
The marketplace checks five things in order:
- Ownership — you cannot pick up your own listing.
- Listing type — a Trade Only listing cannot be picked up directly; you must apply with a shift of your own.
- Group or location membership — the scheduling team’s swap scope determines whether you must be in the same team, the same location, or one of the teams it names, or whether anyone can pick it up. If the admin has unlocked the shift’s location (Shifts › Settings › Location Staffing Defaults → Location-Locked off), any eligible employee can pick it up regardless of scope.
- Role / job function — your job function must match one the shift requires, or be one your admin set to cover it (for example, an Assistant Store Manager covering a Store Manager shift, set in Shifts > Settings > Role-Based Eligibility). If your business has skill-based role matching enabled, matching skills also qualify you.
- Schedule conflicts — you cannot pick up a shift that overlaps with one you are already assigned. For trades, an admin can turn on Allow trades between overlapping shifts (see below).
Additional checks apply to manager-posted open shifts: contracted day-off rules, location-mode restrictions, and tier requirements are enforced before the pickup.
Day-to-day
What is the difference between Pickup Only, Trade Only, and Pickup or Trade?
These are the three listing types an employee chooses when posting a shift:
- Pickup Only — any eligible coworker can pick the shift up. Depending on your approval workflow, they get it at once or their request waits for approval.
- Trade Only — a coworker must apply by offering one of their own future shifts. No direct pickup is possible.
- Pickup or Trade — the listing accepts either a direct pickup or a trade application.
The default for a new listing is Pickup Only.
How does a shift trade work?
An employee posts a listing as Trade Only or Pickup or Trade. A coworker applies by selecting one of their own upcoming shifts to offer. The listing owner reviews the application and accepts or rejects it. On acceptance, both shift assignments swap in a single transfer and all other pending applicants are automatically rejected.
Can I trade for a shift that overlaps one of mine?
Only if your admin has turned on Allow trades between overlapping shifts (Shift Marketplace → Settings → Workflow Settings). It is off by default.
When it is on, you can see and apply for a Trade Only or Pickup or Trade listing that overlaps a shift you already work — for example, swapping your 1–9 pm shift for a coworker’s 9 am–5 pm shift on the same day. You must offer the shift that overlaps; the apply form selects it for you. The shift each person gives up is not counted as a conflict, against the daily-hours limit or against rest time. Every other rule still applies: location, team, role, and overlap with any other shift you work.
How do direct shift offers work?
An employee sends a private offer of their assigned shift to a specific coworker. The offer includes an optional note and expires after 7 days by default. The recipient can accept, decline, or let it expire. The sender can cancel the offer at any time while it is still pending.
What happens when someone picks up a shift?
The marketplace runs conflict and eligibility checks, then transfers the assignment from the original holder to the person picking it up. The original holder’s assignment is removed and a new assignment is created. The lister is notified, and the pickup is logged in the audit trail.
If manager approval is required, the pickup is held as a pending pickup request under Pickup Requests instead, and the approvers who can decide it are notified.
Can two employees list the same shift?
Yes. Multi-slot shifts allow each assigned employee to list their own slot independently. The same employee cannot create a duplicate open listing for the same shift, but different employees can.
Approval workflows
What are the three approval modes and how do I choose?
Open Settings → Workflow Settings → How should pickup requests be handled? and choose one:
| Mode | UI label | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-approve | Auto-Approve All Pickups | Every eligible pickup is approved instantly. No manager review. |
| Smart approval | Smart Approval | Low-risk pickups are approved automatically; the rest go to a manager. |
| Manager approval | Manager Approves All Pickups | Every pickup request waits for a manager to approve or decline it. |
What does smart approval auto-approve?
A pickup is auto-approved under smart approval when any of these conditions is true:
- The shift starts 48 or more hours from now.
- The employee is trusted: they have at least 3 months tenure AND their MangoScore tier is Top Tier or Reliable (or their reliability score is 75% or above), OR they hold a Manager or higher role.
- The employee is already working that day at the same location or scheduling team as the shift.
- The shift covers an urgent critical role — it needs coverage, starts within 24 hours, and has an unfilled critical role (Supervisor, Manager, Security, or Medical).
Everything else is routed to a manager for review.
Who can approve a pickup request?
The Approval Authority setting in Settings controls this. Five options are available:
| UI label | Who approves |
|---|---|
| Any Shift Manager (default) | Any manager with the “manage shifts” permission |
| Direct Manager | The requesting employee’s direct manager from the org chart — one level only, so a manager further up the chain cannot approve |
| Shift Location Manager | A manager assigned to the shift’s location or its parent locations |
| Team Manager | A manager of the shift’s scheduling team |
| Any of the Three Managers | Any of the above three |
Admins and super-admins can always approve regardless of this setting.
Coverage Autopilot
What is Coverage Autopilot and who can use it?
Coverage Autopilot is a manager tool that surfaces shifts at risk of going uncovered in the next 7 days. It is shown to managers and above, and to the team or location managers coverage gaps escalate to. Admins and Shifts & Scheduling app admins see every store’s shifts; everyone else sees the shifts at the stores they schedule — the ones its buttons let them act on. From the board, managers can:
- Send coverage offers to up to 10 of the best-matched eligible employees (you confirm before they go out).
- Escalate an uncovered shift to another manager: the shift’s team manager first, then a manager at its location, then any other manager in your organization.
- Run the autopilot on demand (admin or app-admin only) instead of waiting for its 15-minute run.
Autopilot never rosters anyone on its own: an offer waits for the employee to respond, and auto-fill waits for an approver.
When something looks wrong
Why can’t I see any shifts in the marketplace?
Three common causes:
- No published schedule — listings and open shifts only appear when their parent schedule is published.
- Eligibility filtering — employees see only shifts they qualify for (team membership, location, role, no conflicts). Ask a manager or admin to check the same page; they see all listings.
- Marketplace disabled — verify that Enable Marketplace is switched on in Settings → General.
I tried to pick up a shift but it still says “pending” — what happened?
Your business is using Smart Approval or Manager Approves All Pickups mode. Your pickup request did not meet the auto-approve criteria, so it was sent to a manager for review. The button says so before you tap it: Pick Up means the shift is added to your schedule at once, Request means it waits for an approver. You will be notified when the pickup request is approved or declined.
Changed your mind? Open the shift and choose Withdraw my request. If the shift goes to someone else first, or its listing is closed or cancelled, your request is declined automatically and you are told why.
My trade application was rejected, but I didn’t do anything wrong — why?
When the listing owner accepts a different applicant, all other pending applications are automatically rejected. This is not a judgment on your application — the shift was filled by someone else. The same happens when someone picks the shift up instead, or the listing is closed or cancelled; the notice says which.
A listing says “Can’t pick up” or “Can’t trade” — what does that mean?
The marketplace found at least one reason you cannot pick up or apply for that listing. Common reasons include:
- You are not a member of the shift’s scheduling team or location.
- Your job function does not match what the shift requires.
- You have a conflicting shift at the same time (for a trade, one that you are not offering in exchange).
- The listing is trade-only and you have no eligible shifts to offer.
The reasons are written under the badge.
Why are fully covered shifts showing as “at risk” on Coverage Autopilot?
The coverage flag can become stale after bulk imports or setup-wizard runs. Loading the Coverage Autopilot page automatically heals stale flags for shifts in the 7-day window (up to 200 shifts per page load). If the at-risk list still looks wrong, click Run Autopilot Now: it re-checks upcoming shifts at once, and also takes the actions its rules call for, as its 15-minute run does.
Notifications
Which notification channels does the marketplace support?
Three channels, each independently toggled in Settings → Notification Settings:
- In-app notifications (on by default)
- Email (on by default)
- SMS (off by default)
Below the channel switches, the Per-event Email & SMS card lets you enable or disable email and SMS individually for each event: New Listing, Listing Picked Up, Application Received, Application Status, Open Shift Filled, Open Shift Posted, Open Shift Picked Up, Shift Matched To You, Pickup Request Approved and Pickup Request Declined. A box ticked there sends nothing while its notification type or delivery channel above is off.
Licensing and limits
Does Shift Marketplace require a licence?
Yes. Shift Marketplace requires a licence and is disabled by default. An admin enables it for your business from Admin → Apps → All Apps.
What are the listing and offer statuses?
| Record | Possible statuses |
|---|---|
| Listing | Available, Covered or Traded, Closed, Cancelled |
| Application | Pending, Accepted, Rejected, Withdrawn |
| Direct Offer | Pending, Accepted, Declined, Expired, Cancelled |
A listing can be closed by its owner at any time before it is picked up; it is cancelled automatically if the owner stops holding the shift. Once picked up or traded (it reads Covered, or Traded), it is locked as a completed transfer.
More help
- Shift Marketplace Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Shift Marketplace questions from these articles.