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Request, review, and complete shift swaps or drops

Last updated 2026-08-062 min read

Follow employee requests, coworker offers, and manager approval without losing shift coverage.

On this page

Employees can request a shift swap or drop from their weekly schedule, but submitting a request does not change the schedule. A manager must review the request before coverage changes.

Request a swap

  1. Open Employee → Schedule and select Request swap on your assigned shift.
  2. The request appears on the employee Shift swaps open board.
  3. Another employee offers one of their own shifts. The offered shift must belong to that employee and be on the same day as the requested shift.
  4. A manager opens Schedule → Swaps, reviews the available offers, and approves one offer or declines the request.

An employee offer is not final acceptance. When the manager approves a specific offer, Ellich exchanges the two shift assignees, accepts the selected offer, rejects the other offers, and notifies the affected employees. A second open request or a second pending offer from the same employee is blocked.

Request a drop

  1. Open Employee → Schedule and select Request drop.
  2. Track the pending request under Drop requests.
  3. A manager opens Schedule → Drops and approves or declines it.

Approval removes the employee from that shift and returns the shift to open coverage. Until approval, the employee remains responsible for the shift. Declining a drop leaves the assignment unchanged.

Review coverage safely

Before approving a swap, compare both employees' roles, hours, availability, and other shifts. The offer workflow verifies ownership and same-day eligibility, but the manager should still use Schedule → Conflicts to review overlaps, work outside availability, and hours over the weekly cap. The standalone conflicts page is informational; edit the roster or weekly schedule to resolve an issue.

If a request cannot be approved, confirm it is still open or pending and that the selected offer has not already been accepted or rejected.