A trainee is put on the rota with an ordinary shift, and in that shift you choose who mentors them. Only someone who is on shift at this location can be a mentor, and they mentor exactly the hours that overlap with their own shift. A trainee without a mentor is fine too: the shift then says “No mentor”.
Shifts and mentors can be set by anyone who edits the rota of this location. Someone who edits only their own shifts (“Own”) does not set mentors. The “Training” module must be on.
Where to find it
“Planner” → a location → “Week”, “Month”, “Day” or “List”. The trainee mark stands next to the trainee’s name in the grid, and the mentor’s shift says “Mentoring:” with the trainee’s name.
On a phone: “Planner”, the “Change mentor” icon on the trainee’s shift, see Training in the manager app.
Step by step: give a trainee a shift
- Click “+” in the trainee’s cell on the week or month, “Add person” in a shift card on “Day”, or “+” on “List”.
- Choose the shift or the person. For a trainee a second step “Mentor” appears: it lists who is on shift at this location during these hours, with their hours. Choose a mentor or “No mentor”.
- If the mentor is on shift for only part of the trainee’s hours, they mentor exactly that part, and the rest of the shift has no mentor.
The new shift window and “Custom shift” ask the same in the “Mentor” field.
Step by step: from the mentor’s shift
- Open the mentor’s shift on the rota.
- In the “Trainees” block click “Add trainee” and choose the person. The trainee gets a shift for the same hours. If they already have one, it is linked to this mentor.
Several mentors in one shift
Open the trainee’s shift, click “Split by hours” in the “Mentor” block and set the blocks: who, from when to when, and “Add another block” for the next one. To go back to one mentor: “One mentor for the whole shift”.
When a trainee is left without a mentor
If the mentor’s shift is moved, shortened, deleted or given to someone else, the trainee is left without a mentor for those hours. InShift asks before saving: the window “A trainee will be left without a mentor” lists them, for example “Ihor · 01.10 18:00 - 20:00 · was Olena”. “Cancel” changes nothing, “Change anyway” saves the change, and you set the trainee’s mentor later in their shift.
The same window appears when you approve the mentor’s swap or substitution. When you approve time off for someone who mentors trainees on those days, the window “This person mentors trainees on these days” says “We’ll approve the leave without touching shifts”, with the “Approve anyway” button.
If there was nobody to ask (the shift was edited from an old version of the app or through an integration), the trainee’s shift gets a yellow mark “Mentor dropped out: Olena”. The trainee’s shift window says “Mentor dropped out: Olena 12:00 - 18:00. Pick a new mentor, “No mentor”, or save as is: the mark will go away.”
Dismissing a mentor gives neither a window nor a mark: their blocks in the trainees’ future shifts are simply removed.
If you move the trainee’s own shift to another day or time of the same length, the mentor moves with it. If the mentor is not on shift at the new time, the window names those hours.
What the counters show
A trainee does not fill a staff place, so counters show them as a separate number: in the week header under the date the number of shifts and “+1 trainee”, in a shift card on “Day” the green number of people and “+1 trainee”, on “Home” a phrase like “3 people working now +1 trainee”, in the “Month” totals and in print “+1”. In Excel the coverage sheet gets a separate “Trainees” column if there are trainee shifts in the period. The manager app does the same, and the week strip shows “+1” in blue. When the module is off, “+1 trainee” is not shown.
Why an action is unavailable
There is no “Mentor” step: the person has no “Trainee” mark, you are adding several shifts at once, or you edit only your own shifts (“Own”). Several shifts: choose the mentor later in the shift itself.
Instead of a mentor it says “Ihor is a trainee from 29 Sep, and this shift is earlier: it is a regular one, without a mentor”: the “Trainee” mark applies from the day it was set. The person’s earlier shifts are staff shifts and need no mentor.
The “Mentor” step says “Nobody is on shift at this location during the trainee’s hours. Schedule the mentor’s shift first”: only someone working alongside can be a mentor. Schedule their shift first.
Saving says “Olena is on shift 10:00 - 14:00; mentor hours can’t go beyond it”: the block goes beyond the mentor’s own shift. Shorten the block or change the mentor’s shift.
In the “Who covers this shift?” window the trainee is greyed out with the label “trainee”: a trainee does not fill an open slot. Add them as a separate shift next to their mentor.
The trainee’s shift has a yellow “Mentor dropped out” mark: the mentor’s shift was changed, and the trainee has no mentor for those hours. Open the trainee’s shift, pick a new mentor or “No mentor” and save.
Questions and answers
Does the trainee see who mentors them?
Yes. In the app the shift card has the line “Mentor: Olena”, and “More” → “Training” lists the next shifts with mentors.
Can I put a trainee on a shift that already has everyone it needs?
Yes, there is no limit of people per shift. The counter shows them separately: “+1 trainee”.
What about the mentor bonus if their shift is still a draft?
The bonus waits for publication: money is counted only for published mentor shifts.
Does the mentor find out they are mentoring a trainee?
Yes. When the trainee’s shift is published, the mentor gets the notification “You are mentoring a trainee”.
I clicked “Change anyway”. How do I set a mentor now?
Open the trainee’s shift, in the “Mentor” block choose someone who is on shift during those hours, or “No mentor”, and save. The yellow mark goes away.
Does “Copy last week” copy mentors?
No. The mentor belongs to each shift, so after copying choose the mentors again.