Roster app

Roster app: the staff roster, swaps and leave on every phone

The InShift roster app puts the roster in every staff member’s pocket, on iPhone and Android. They see their shifts the minute the roster is published, offer a shift to a colleague, apply for leave and check their hours and pay so far. Managers use the same app to approve requests, fill an empty shift and keep an eye on the day.

Start for freeSee the screens ↓

One rostering app for both sides of the roster

A rostering app has two kinds of user. The person on the roster wants to know when they’re working, who else is on and what they’ll be paid. The person who writes the roster wants fewer texts, quick answers on leave and a way to fill a shift when someone calls in sick at six in the morning. InShift is one app for both, on the App Store and Google Play, and what each person sees depends on their role.

A quick note before the screens: the app uses the British word for a roster, so the tab with your shifts is called “Rota”. It’s the same thing, and everything else works the same whether you run a cafe in Brisbane or a clinic in Christchurch. The screens below come from our live demo organisation.

Your roster

Your shifts on your phone the moment the roster is published

The app opens on today’s shift: start and finish times, shift type and location. The “Rota” tab shows the month with a dot on each working day. Tap a day to see the shift and, if their role is allowed to see the location’s roster, “Who else is working” and when.

  • Drafts stay with the manager until they hit “Publish”
  • A push notification when a published shift changes, and a reminder before every shift
  • “My schedule in the phone calendar” sends the shifts to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook
  • 24-hour time and a week that starts on Monday, set once for the whole organisation
Your roster in the app

Shift swaps

Can’t make a shift? Offer it to a colleague

On the “Substitute” screen, staff tap their shift and see who can take it: colleagues in the same position who are free that day. The colleague accepts on their own phone. Whether the swap goes through straight away or waits for a manager’s OK is up to you, under “Request rules”.

  • “Find a replacement” to hand on your own shift, “Available swaps” and “Take shift” to pick up a colleague’s
  • The shift is only offered to colleagues who are free and in the same position
  • Both people can see the status, and the manager gets a push when it needs their sign-off
  • Once approved, the shift moves across on the roster automatically
How to ask a colleague to cover
“Find a replacement”: pick the shift, pick a colleague, tap “Request”
“Available swaps”: take a colleague’s shift in one tap

Leave

Apply for annual leave and sick leave in the app

A request is just a type, the dates and a note. The app’s types are “Holiday”, “Sick leave”, “Personal” and “Unpaid”, so annual leave goes in as “Holiday”. The manager approves or rejects it from their phone or the admin panel, and the answer comes back as a push. The year’s allowance and the days left are always on screen.

  • Days used and days left, against the allowance set for each person in the panel
  • “Pending”, “Approved” or “Rejected”, with the manager’s note
  • Copying a week skips anyone on approved leave
  • Staff can withdraw a request until it’s been decided
How to apply for leave
“Requests”: the leave balance and where each request stands
A new request: type, dates, note

Open shifts

Someone’s called in sick? Send the shift out to the team

The manager posts the empty shift as an open shift. Everyone in the right position gets a “New open shift” push, and anyone after extra hours taps “I want it”. The manager picks from whoever put their hand up, and the shift goes straight onto that person’s roster.

  • Every open shift shows the date, hours, location and how many people want it
  • A push either way: “The shift is yours” or “The shift went to someone else”
  • Casuals hear about extra shifts without the manager ringing around
How to pick up an open shift

Hours and pay

Hours and pay so far, without asking the manager

The “Stats” screen totals up any period a person picks from the published roster: shifts, hours and the amount “Accrued” at their rate, then each shift day by day with its hours and pay. For a team paid fortnightly, the usual question before payday gets answered in the app.

  • Shifts and hours for the period you choose
  • “Accrued” at the rate set in the panel, with the rate shown underneath
  • The same numbers the manager sees in “Payroll”
Your pay in the app

For managers

Run the roster from your phone between shifts

Owners and location managers sign in to the same app and get extra screens: the team’s week on the home screen, the “Planner” for putting someone on a shift, requests waiting on a decision, and what’s owed. A full fortnight for twenty people is still quicker in the panel on a laptop, but a sick call or a leave request gets sorted from the floor.

  • “Planner”: the month by shift type, with “Add” in any empty slot
  • “Pending” requests with “Approve” and “Reject”
  • A location manager sees only their own locations
  • Today’s team by location, and who hasn’t installed the app yet
The planner on your phone
“Planner” on the phone
Leave requests: “Approve” in one tap

Also in the app

Notifications, team chat and more

Tap or click any screen to see it full size.

  • Notifications: swaps, open shifts, roster changes
  • Team chat: the whole team, one location or a group
  • Profile: position, leave balance, property
  • Settings: quiet hours and the phone calendar

From invite to first shift on screen

All your team needs is a phone and a code.

  1. 1

    Add each person

    In the panel or the manager’s app: name, position and location. Each person gets a six-digit invite code you can send by text, WhatsApp or email.

  2. 2

    They install InShift

    From the App Store or Google Play, then “Sign Up”, “I’m an employee” and the code. They set an email and password to sign in from then on.

  3. 3

    Publish the roster

    Every published shift shows up in their “Rota” tab, and any change after that comes through as a push.

Group chat roster vs a roster app

What changes for the team once the roster stops being a photo.

Where the roster lives

Roster in a group chat
A photo of a spreadsheet, buried by Tuesday
Roster app
The “Rota” tab, always up to date

A shift changes

Roster in a group chat
A message, and fingers crossed someone reads it
Roster app
A push to the person whose shift moved

A swap

Roster in a group chat
Two people agree, the manager finds out on the day
Roster app
A request the manager sees and approves

Leave

Roster in a group chat
A text, a sticky note, someone’s memory
Roster app
A dated request with a status and the days left

An empty shift

Roster in a group chat
Ringing round the casuals
Roster app
An open shift every eligible person sees at once

Hours before payday

Roster in a group chat
Ask the manager
Roster app
“Stats” with hours and pay so far

Frequently asked questions

What is a roster app?▾

An app that shows staff their roster and lets them do something about it: check their shifts, swap one, apply for leave or pick up an extra shift. The InShift app does all that for staff, and gives managers the planner and incoming requests in the same app. The roster itself is built in the admin panel, in a browser.

Why does the app say “Rota”?▾

“Rota” is the British word for a roster, and the English version of InShift uses it on the tab and the screens. It means exactly the same thing: who’s working which shift on which day.

Do staff pay for the app?▾

No, staff never pay for the app on their phone. InShift is Free for one location and up to 10 people; beyond that, you pay a monthly price for each active person on the “Employees” list, and the app is included. Prices are on the pricing page.

Which phones does it work on?▾

iPhone and Android: search for InShift on the App Store or Google Play. Staff sign in the first time with a six-digit code from their manager, and with an email and password after that.

Can casual staff pick up extra shifts?▾

Yes, through open shifts. The manager posts a shift with nobody on it, everyone in the right position gets a push, and anyone who wants it taps “I want it”. The manager chooses who gets it, and everyone else is told it’s gone to someone else.

Can staff mark the days they can’t work?▾

Not themselves. Whoever edits the roster marks a person’s “Can’t work” days, on the person’s card in the panel or in the planner. The mark doesn’t take anyone off a shift, but it shows on the roster, and “Publish” warns about any shift that falls on one. Staff let their manager know, or apply for leave in the app.

Can the roster go into my phone’s calendar?▾

Yes. “My schedule in the phone calendar” in the app’s settings gives you a link. Add it once to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook, and your shifts stay up to date on their own.

Does it work offline?▾

No, it needs a connection: the roster and requests live on the server, and the app doesn’t keep an offline copy. Shifts added to the phone’s calendar stay visible there like any other event.

Get the roster onto every phone this fortnight

Add the team in the panel, send out the invite codes and publish your first roster. The app is on the App Store and Google Play.

Start for free