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 the Apps Marketplace.
- Publish a schedule — employees can only list or claim shifts that belong to a published schedule. Unpublished shifts do not appear.
- Choose an approval mode — the default is Auto-Approve All Claims, which means every eligible claim lands immediately. If you want manager review, switch to Smart Approval or Require Manager Approval in Settings → Workflow Settings.
Who can access the marketplace once it is enabled?
Every employee in the business can browse listings and claim or apply for shifts they are eligible for. Managers and admins see all listings for oversight. The Coverage Autopilot tab is visible only to managers and above. The Admin tab (Approval Queue, Audit Log, Settings) requires admin or app-admin access.
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 claim a particular shift?
The marketplace checks five things in order:
- Ownership — you cannot claim your own listing.
- Listing type — a Trade only listing cannot be claimed 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 either. If the admin has unlocked the shift’s location (Location Settings → disabled Location-Locked), any eligible employee can claim regardless of scope.
- Role / job function — your job function must match one the shift requires. If your business has skill-based role matching enabled, matching skills also qualify you.
- Schedule conflicts — you cannot claim a shift that overlaps with one you are already assigned.
Additional checks apply to manager-posted open shifts: contracted day-off rules, location-mode restrictions, and tier requirements are enforced before the claim.
Day-to-day
What is the difference between Pickup, Trade only, and Both?
These are the three listing types an employee chooses when posting a shift:
- Pickup — any eligible coworker can claim the shift in one click.
- Trade only — a coworker must apply by offering one of their own future shifts. No direct pickup is possible.
- Both — the listing accepts either a direct pickup or a trade application.
The default for a new listing is Pickup.
How does a shift trade work?
An employee posts a listing as Trade only or Both. 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.
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 claims a shift?
The marketplace runs conflict and eligibility checks, then transfers the assignment from the original holder to the claimer. The original holder’s assignment is removed and a new assignment is created. The lister, the claimer, and (depending on notification settings) eligible coworkers are notified. The claim is logged in the audit trail.
If manager approval is required, the claim is held as a pending request in the Approval Queue instead.
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 shift claims be handled? and choose one:
| Mode | UI label | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-approve | Auto-Approve All Claims | Every eligible claim is approved instantly. No manager review. |
| Smart approval | Smart Approval (Recommended) | Low-risk claims are approved automatically; the rest go to a manager. |
| Manager approval | Require Manager Approval for All Claims | Every claim waits for a manager to approve or reject it. |
What does smart approval auto-approve?
A claim 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 shift claim?
The Approval Authority setting in Settings controls this. Five options are available:
| UI label | Who approves |
|---|---|
| Any Manager with Shift Permissions (default) | Any manager with the “manage shifts” permission |
| Employee’s Direct Manager Only | The claiming employee’s direct manager from the org chart (checked up to 3 levels) |
| Shift Location Manager Only | A manager assigned to the shift’s location or its parent locations |
| Scheduling Team Manager Only | A manager of the shift’s scheduling team |
| Employee’s Manager, Location Manager, or Team Manager | 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. From the board, managers can:
- Send coverage offers to every eligible employee in one click.
- Escalate an uncovered shift to the location manager.
- Run a detection cycle on demand (admin or app-admin only) to refresh the at-risk list.
Autopilot offers and escalates — it never force-assigns a shift. A person always has to accept.
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 claimed a shift but it still says “pending” — what happened?
Your business is using Smart Approval or Require Manager Approval mode. Your claim did not meet the auto-approve criteria, so it was sent to a manager for review. You will be notified when the claim is approved or rejected.
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.
A shift listing shows “Not Eligible” — what does that mean?
The marketplace found at least one reason you cannot claim 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.
- The listing is trade-only and you have no eligible shifts to offer.
Hover over the indicator for the specific reason.
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 Now to trigger a full detection cycle.
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 four event types: New Listing, Listing Claimed, Application Received, and Application Status change.
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 the Apps Marketplace.
What are the listing and offer statuses?
| Record | Possible statuses |
|---|---|
| Listing | Open, Filled, Closed, Cancelled |
| Application | Pending, Accepted, Rejected, Withdrawn |
| Direct Offer | Pending, Accepted, Declined, Expired, Cancelled |
A listing can be closed or cancelled by its owner at any time before it is claimed. Once claimed (status changes to Filled), it is locked as a completed transfer.
More help
- Shift Marketplace Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Shift Marketplace questions from these articles.