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Understanding General Availability for Shift-Based Positions

General Availability gives employees additional flexibility by allowing them to submit availability outside of existing shift templates. This helps managers schedule one-time or newly created shifts while continuing to use shift-based scheduling.

In This Article

  • What General Availability is
  • How employees enter General Availability
  • How General Availability affects Shift Templates
  • How Open and Closed availability affects changes
  • How managers use General Availability
  • How new Shift Templates are handled

How General Availability Works

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

To enter or update 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 General Availability is entered or updated:

  • 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 additional flexibility for one-time or newly created shifts.

General Availability and Closed Availability

If availability is Closed, changes to General Availability will not update the employee's Shift Template availability.

For example, if a Shift Template falls completely within an Available General Availability timeframe but the Shift Template continues to show the employee as Unavailable, check whether the employee's availability is currently Closed.

If General Availability needs to be changed and reflected in the employee's Shift Templates, reopen the employee's availability before making the changes.

Managers control whether availability is Open or Closed. Closed availability does not mean that an employee submitted or locked their availability.

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 newly created shifts that do not already have a Shift Template.

Creating New Shift Templates

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

If the employee's availability is Closed, reopen the availability before making changes that need to update the employee's Shift Template 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. The two work together for different scheduling situations.
  • Shift-based availability is used when scheduling from existing Shift Templates.
  • General Availability is used when scheduling shifts that do not have a Shift Template.
  • If availability is Closed, changes to General Availability will not update the employee's Shift Template availability.
  • 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. Because 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.

Need Additional Help?

If you have questions about General Availability or need assistance with an employee's availability or Shift Templates, contact SubItUp Support HERE and we can review your situation.