👥 What are Secondary Teams?
Secondary teams are additional team memberships that allow employees to pick up vacant shifts from teams they don’t primarily work in.
This creates a flexible workforce where employees can cover shifts for other teams when their primary team members are unavailable.
📸 Suggested image: Diagram showing one employee connected to a Primary Team and multiple Secondary Teams with arrows to “vacant shifts.”
🔑 How Secondary Teams Work
Key Concepts
Primary Teams – Where employees are regular members and can be rostered normally
Secondary Teams – Additional teams where employees can only claim vacant shifts, not be directly rostered
Default Team – The employee’s main team used for payroll and reporting
Important Rules
An employee cannot be both a primary and secondary member of the same team
Employees already working in or managing a team cannot be added as secondary members of that team
Secondary members can only see and claim vacant shifts – they cannot be rostered directly
⚙️ Prerequisites
Before using Secondary Teams, make sure you’ve enabled:
Vacant Shift Claiming → Settings > Rosters
Secondary Teams → Settings > Rosters
🚀 Setting Up Secondary Teams
Step 1: Enable the Feature
Go to Settings > Rosters
Scroll to the Vacant Shifts section
Enable Vacant Shift Claiming
Enable Secondary Teams
Save your settings
Step 2: Assign Secondary Teams to Employees
Open the employee’s Profile
Navigate to Personal > Teams
In the Secondary Teams section, select additional teams
Save changes
💡 You can also use Bulk Actions to assign secondary teams to multiple employees at once.
📅 When to Use Secondary Teams
Ideal Use Cases
Cross-training initiatives
Seasonal flexibility (busy periods)
Small teams with coverage gaps
Multi-skilled workforce coverage
Emergency backup for absences
Examples
Kitchen staff helping with front-of-house during peak times
Admin staff covering reception
Experienced employees assisting in training
Part-time staff picking up extra hours
👩💼 How It Works
For Employees
Primary Team Members
Can be rostered directly
Receive normal shift notifications
Can claim vacant shifts from secondary teams
Secondary Team Members
Cannot be rostered directly
Can see and claim vacant shifts only
Must wait for shifts to become vacant
For Managers
When publishing vacant shifts, managers can:
Make them available to primary members only
Or to primary + secondary members
✅ This gives managers flexibility and control over shift coverage.
🌟 Benefits
Increased shift coverage
Workforce flexibility with cross-trained staff
Reduced understaffing
More employee opportunities for extra hours
Cost efficiency without extra hires
🏆 Best Practices
Cross-train thoroughly – ensure employees are skilled for backup roles
Set clear expectations – secondary = vacant shifts only
Monitor utilization – track shift claiming activity
Review regularly – check who still needs secondary assignments
Communicate clearly – keep teams updated on arrangements
🔧 Troubleshooting
❌ Employee can’t be added as secondary
Check if they’re already a primary member or manager
Make sure the feature is enabled in Settings
❌ Secondary members not seeing vacant shifts
Confirm Vacant Shift Claiming is enabled
Verify shifts are published to both primary + secondary
Check the employee has the mobile app + correct permissions
❌ Too many people claiming shifts
Limit secondary assignments
Use manager approval for claims
Review which teams need extra coverage
🔗 Related Features
Vacant Shift Claiming – Core feature for Secondary Teams
Shift Acknowledgement – Helps track shift acceptance/completion
Team Management – Organize primary and secondary team structures