Schedule Settings and Permissions

A detailed guide to Step 1 of the schedule creation wizard, covering week control, employee visibility, and the eight employee action permissions that control what your team can do with their shifts.

What Is This?

When you create a new schedule, Step 1 asks you to configure basic information as well as important settings that define how the schedule behaves. Two of the most critical settings are:

Employee visibility

mdash; controls which employees can see which other employees on the schedule.

Employee action permissions

mdash; eight individual toggles that determine what actions employees can take on their own shifts, each with an optional “with manager confirmation” sub-option.

Getting these settings right is essential for balancing employee flexibility with managerial control.

Prerequisites

#	Prerequisite	Details
1	Active Shifton account	You must have a registered company account
2	Admin, Owner, or Manager role	You need permissions to create or edit schedules
3	A project created	The schedule must be linked to a project

Step-by-Step Instructions

Accessing Schedule Settings

Schedule permissions are configured in Step 1 of the schedule creation wizard, and can also be edited later:

During creation:

Fill in Step 1 of the + Add schedule wizard.

For an existing schedule:

Click the edit (pencil) icon on the schedule row in the Schedules list. An edit dialog opens with all the same fields.

Select Week Control Type

This required dropdown controls how the system handles overtime in this schedule. Default: Allow with confirmation.

Option	Description
Allow with confirmation	Overtime is permitted but flagged for manager confirmation (default)
Allow	Overtime is permitted without confirmation
Disallow	Overtime shifts are flagged as problematic (shown with a red indicator) — shifts are not blocked from creation but are marked

This setting appears as “Overtime” in the schedule Overview block.

Allow Employees to See All Shifts

When this checkbox is enabled, employees can see their colleagues’ shifts — not just their own.

A nested radio-button option appears when enabled:

Option	Description
Show all employees	Employee sees shifts of all colleagues in the schedule
Show employees with the same position	Employee sees only shifts of colleagues with the same position

Default: disabled (employees see only their own shifts).

Employee Action Permissions

Step 1 includes eight permission toggles that control what employees can do with shifts. Each permission can be turned on or off, and most have an additional sub-option: With manager confirmation (requires a manager to approve the action before it takes effect).

#	Permission	Default	Description
1	Allow shift swapping	On	Employees can request to swap their shift with a colleague. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (on by default); “Swap shifts with the same position only” (off by default)
2	Allow employees to send shifts to the open shift list	Off	Employee can release their shift into the open shifts pool. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (on by default)
3	Allow employees to create their own shifts	Off	Employee can request to create a new shift for themselves. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (off by default)
4	Allow employees to create breaks	Off	Employee can add breaks within their shifts. Requires the Breaks module. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (off by default)
5	Allow employees to drop shifts	Off	Employee can give up an assigned shift. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (off by default)
6	Allow employees to take shifts from the Open Shifts list	On	Employee can claim an unassigned open shift. Sub-option: “With manager confirmation” (on by default)
7	Allow employees to swap breaks between different shift templates	Off	Employees can exchange break times across different shift templates. Requires the Breaks module.
8	Allow employees to split shifts	Off	Employee can divide a single shift into two separate time blocks.

Additional Schedule Settings

Two additional numeric fields appear in the schedule settings (below the permission toggles):

Field	Default	Description
Maximum shifts in a row	0	Maximum consecutive shifts an employee can be assigned. 0 = no limit. The system shows a warning if this limit would be exceeded.
Minimum break between shifts (in hours)	0.0000	Minimum required rest time between two shifts. 0 = no limit.

How to Configure Permissions

For each of the eight permissions, decide whether to enable or disable it.

If enabled, decide whether to also require manager confirmation:

Enabled without confirmation

mdash; employees can take the action immediately.

Enabled with confirmation

mdash; employees can request the action, but it only takes effect after a manager approves it.

Disabled

mdash; employees cannot take this action at all.

After configuring all permissions, click Next to proceed to Step 2.

Recommended Permission Configurations

Team Type	Suggested Settings
Small trusted team	Enable most permissions without manager confirmation for maximum flexibility
Medium team	Enable permissions with manager confirmation for swap, drop, and open shifts
Large or regulated team	Enable only essential permissions, all with manager confirmation
Fully managed	Disable all employee permissions — managers control everything

Which Employee Request Types Each Permission Activates

When a permission is enabled, employees see the corresponding request type in their Requests page and mobile app:

Permission	Request type
Allow shift swapping	Shift Swap request
Allow employees to send shifts to the open shift list	Send to Open List request
Allow employees to create their own shifts	Create Shift request
Allow employees to create breaks	Create Break request
Allow employees to drop shifts	Drop Shift request
Allow employees to take shifts from the Open Shifts list	Take from Open List request
Allow employees to swap breaks	Break Swap request
Allow employees to split shifts	Split Shift request

Access Permissions

Role	View Settings	Configure Settings	Approve Employee Requests
Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes
Admin	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Yes (assigned schedules)	Yes (assigned schedules)	Yes (assigned employees)
Employee	No	No	No

FAQ

Q: Can I change permissions after the schedule is created?
A: Yes. Click the edit (pencil) icon on the schedule in the Schedules list. The same settings dialog opens and all changes take effect immediately after saving.

Q: What happens to pending requests if I disable a permission?
A: Pending requests for a disabled permission will need to be manually resolved. It is good practice to handle all pending requests before changing permission settings.

Q: Does “with manager confirmation” notify the manager automatically?
A: Yes. When an employee takes an action that requires confirmation, the assigned manager receives a notification and can approve or reject the request.

Q: Can I set different permissions for different employees within the same schedule?
A: No. Permissions apply to all employees in the schedule equally. If you need different permission levels, create separate schedules with different settings.

Q: What is the “Split shifts” permission used for?
A: Splitting a shift allows an employee to divide a single long shift into two shorter ones — for example, converting an 8-hour shift into a 4-hour morning block and a 4-hour afternoon block.

Q: I enabled a permission but the employee doesn’t see the option — why?
A: Check that: (1) the setting was saved, (2) the employee is assigned to this specific schedule, and (3) the required module is active (Breaks module for break-related permissions).

Possible Issues and Solutions

Issue	Possible Cause	Solution
Employees cannot swap shifts even though the permission is enabled	The “with manager confirmation” sub-option is on and no manager has approved	Check the pending requests queue and approve or reject swap requests
Manager is not receiving confirmation requests	Notification settings are misconfigured	Verify that the manager’s notification preferences include schedule actions
Employees see too many colleagues on the schedule	Employee visibility is set to “All employees”	Switch to “Same position” to limit visibility
Permission changes are not taking effect	Browser cache is serving old settings	Ask employees to refresh their browser or clear cache
Cannot find the permissions section	Scrolled past it in the Step 1 form	Scroll down in the Step 1 form — permissions are typically at the bottom