What's covered in this guide?
How Does Availability and Unavailability Work in Workforce?
Unavailability is managed within the Availability feature. Employees should set their Ongoing Availability, which represents their regular working availability from week to week.
There are also Temporary Availability and Temporary Unavailability requests, which allow employees to make one-off changes to their ongoing availability. This allows employees to indicate both the times they can work and the times they cannot work.
Temporary Availability allows employees to make temporary changes to their ongoing availability. These requests allow available and unavailable times to be configured for each individual day within a selected date range.
Temporary Unavailability allows employees to mark each day within a selected date range as unavailable, either for the entire day or for specific times. This option is intended for quick, short-term changes to availability.
📝 Important to note: Any changes made by employees to ongoing or temporary availability may require manager approval before taking effect.
Submit Availability and Unavailability Requests
Ongoing Availability
To set your regular availability:
Open the Workforce app.
Navigate to Availability.
Select Add Ongoing Availability.
You can also create ongoing availability from the Workforce web platform by navigating to Time & Attendance > Availability > + New request > + Add Ongoing Availability.
📝 Important to note: Ongoing Availability must be configured before temporary availability changes can be submitted. In some cases, your organisation may have already configured your ongoing availability.
Enter:
The date the availability begins.
Whether the pattern repeats weekly or fortnightly.
Your availability for each day.
Each day can be configured as:
Unavailable all day.
Available all day.
Available for specific times.
When selecting Specific Times, enter the times you are available to work.
Once complete, click Create to submit the request for approval.
You'll see a summary under the Availability tab in the app once approved:
Temporary Availability
Temporary Availability allows employees to indicate they are available to work additional hours for a specific period.
This can be useful during periods such as school holidays, seasonal trading periods, or when your regular availability temporarily changes.
To create a temporary availability request:
Navigate to Availability.
Select Temporary Change.
Choose Temporary Availability.
Adjust your availability for each day within the selected date range.
Submit the request.
Once approved, the temporary availability will be reflected in your availability overview.
Temporary Unavailability
Temporary Unavailability allows employees to indicate they are unavailable to work for a specific day or date range.
This can be useful when:
You are travelling.
You have personal commitments.
You are temporarily unavailable outside of your normal availability pattern.
Mobile App
To create a request in the app:
Navigate to Availability.
Select Temporary Change.
Choose Temporary Unavailability.
Select the dates you cannot work.
Enter a reason if required.
Submit the request.
This will be sent to a manager for approval. Once approved, you'll see the temporary change in your Availability overview:
Desktop
To create a temporary unavailability request on the web:
Navigate to Availability.
Select New Request.
Choose Temporary Unavailability.
Complete the request details.
Submit for approval.
📝 Important to note: Availability restrictions and request limits may vary depending on your organisation's settings.
View and Edit Your Requests
You can view your upcoming availability requests within the Availability section of Workforce.
This includes:
Upcoming Ongoing Availability requests.
Upcoming Temporary Availability requests.
Upcoming Temporary Unavailability requests.
Any upcoming temporary changes can be found by first clicking Temporary Change on the Availability page:
Edit Requests
To edit an upcoming availability request:
Navigate to Availability.
Open the relevant request.
Select Edit.
Make your changes.
Select Update to save.
To delete an upcoming request:
Open the request.
Select Edit.
Choose Delete.
📝 Important to note: If an approved request is edited, it may return to a Pending status and require approval again.
Managers can also edit employee availability requests from the Workforce web platform.
View and Manage Your Employees' Availability
Mobile
Managers can view availability requests from employees they manage within the Workforce app.
Both ongoing and temporary availability requests will be displayed.
To review a request:
Navigate to Leave > Availability > Team
Open the request.
Review the details.
Click Show Details to review the request, and Decline or Approve to action
Desktop
To view employee availability requests on the web:
Navigate to Availability.
Review pending requests.
Filter by status, employee, date range, request type, or team as required.
Managers can review, approve, decline, and edit availability requests from this page.
Notifications
Employees may receive notifications when:
An availability request is approved.
An availability request is declined.
Managers may receive notifications when new availability requests require review.
Notification preferences can be managed from:
Mobile: Profile > Notification Preferences
Web: Notifications > Notification Settings
In the Schedule
Availability information is displayed when scheduling employees.
Employees who are unavailable may be identified within the schedule to help managers avoid assigning shifts outside approved availability.
Availability indicators may display:
Unavailable all day.
Available during specific times.
Temporary availability changes.
Temporary unavailability changes.
📝 Important to note: Temporary and ongoing availability are displayed consistently within the schedule view.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
When should I use Leave vs Availability?
When should I use Leave vs Availability?
Leave and Availability refer to similar but distinct concepts.
Leave is used to request time away from work, such as Annual Leave or Personal Leave.
Availability is used to indicate when you are generally available or unavailable to work. This is particularly useful for casual and part-time employees with varying work patterns.
Why can't I submit an availability request?
Why can't I submit an availability request?
Your organisation may have restrictions on availability requests, including notice periods that must be met before a request can be submitted.
If you are unable to submit a request, contact your manager for assistance.
What happens when my availability request is approved?
What happens when my availability request is approved?
Once approved, your availability will be updated and considered when future schedules are created.
Will editing an approved request require approval again?
Will editing an approved request require approval again?
In most cases, yes. Changes made to approved availability requests may return the request to a pending status until reviewed by a manager.