Understanding General Availability for Shift-Based Positions

• What General Availability is
• How employees submit General Availability
• How General Availability affects shift templates
• How managers use General Availability
• How new shift templates are handled

How General Availability Works

Employees can submit General Availability in addition to their regular shift-based availability.

To submit General Availability:

1. Go to the General Availability tab.
2. Select the day of the week you want to update.
3. Click Add General Availability.
4. Enter the start and end times for when you are available.
5. Add additional availability blocks if needed.
6. Click Save.

Employees can create multiple availability blocks for a single day.

How General Availability Affects Shift Templates

General Availability works alongside shift-based availability.

When an employee submits General Availability:

• Any shift template that falls completely within an Available General Availability block will automatically be marked as Available.
• If any portion of a shift template overlaps with a General Availability block marked as Unavailable, the entire shift template will automatically be marked as Unavailable.
• Any shift template that is only partially covered by an Available General Availability block will remain unchanged.
• Existing shift template availability can still be edited independently.

This allows managers to continue using shift templates while giving employees the flexibility to submit availability for one-time or newly created shifts.

How Managers Use General Availability

When scheduling with existing shift templates:

• Managers will continue to see the employee's shift-based availability for those templates.

When creating a shift that does not use a shift template:

• SubItUp will reference the employee's General Availability to determine who is available to work.

This makes it easier to schedule one-time or last-minute shifts that don't already have a shift template.

Creating New Shift Templates

If a manager creates a new shift template after employees have submitted their General Availability, SubItUp will automatically update the availability for that template when the entire shift falls within an employee's General Availability.

This eliminates the need to collect availability again every time a new shift template is created.

Important Notes

• General Availability applies across all of an employee's shift-based positions.
• General Availability does not replace shift-based availability. Both work together to provide managers with more scheduling flexibility.
• Shift-based availability is still used when scheduling from existing shift templates.
• General Availability is used when scheduling shifts that do not have a shift template.
• At this time, General Availability cannot be disabled. If you do not want employees using this feature, it will need to be managed through your organization's internal policy.
• Managers cannot mass clear an employee's General Availability. Since General Availability applies across all of an employee's shift-based positions, a manager may not have permission to modify availability for every position the employee works. Employees are responsible for updating or removing their own General Availability as needed.

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