Frequently asked questions

An item highlighted in red on your staff rota notifies you when a staff member has requested a cancellation of a shift. By hovering your mouse over that entry you’ll see additional information about the cancellation, including the date cancelled and any reason provided by your employee.

To accept the cancellation you can right click on the entry and click "Accept". In the same way, to decline the request, click "Decline".

If you see a shift or shifts highlighted in blue on your rota this indicates entries which haven’t yet been accepted by your staff. This function can be very useful to identify staff who haven’t yet checked their schedule. The feature is optional and can be switched off from the Settings page by un-checking "Staff must accept changes" .

Of course! See below for 81 rota management tips & tricks.

1. You can save your changes at any time by pressing CTRL + S.
2. You can undo any unsaved mistakes by pressing CTRL + Z.
3. You can make changes to multiple cells at once by box-selecting them first with your mouse.
4. You can move back and forward through the weeks by pressing CTRL + left/right arrows on your keyboard.
5. For the best experience we recommend using an up to date browser such Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
6. You can right click any staff member or facility on your rota to swap their shift with another.
7. To split groups of shifts you can add a separator by entering a dash "-".
8. You can reorder your staff and facilities by dragging them up/down the left hand column of the rota.
9. You can change all references to "Facility" to anything you like via the display settings screen.
10. We will never extend your subscription or charge your credit card unless you request us to.
11. If you top-up for 12 months you'll get an automatic 20% discount.
12. You can save your data offline, so if you make a mistake or lose something, you can easily restore it!
13. For better printer and layout options we recommend you export to PDF first.
14. You can export your employees to a CSV file, make changes in Excel and then re-upload them.
15. Real-time reporting on the staff view will help you track staff costs and hours while you're scheduling.
16. You can use the reports to budget, forecast and track hours worked by staff and their associated costs.
17. You can track staff holiday, sick leave, training and other types of leave with the time off report.
18. You can quickly send a text or email at any time using the "Send a message" link in the menu.
19. You can enter global hourly rates and rate exceptions for all staff from your rota settings.
20. You can enable staff to edit their own schedule from the "Permissions" link on their staff profile.
21. Outbox messages won't be generated for staff that have opted out of receiving rota updates.
22. You can reset your staff passwords at any time from their staff profile.
23. You can add as many employees as you want to your rota at no extra cost.
24. Rotas once set up are continuous so it's best to leave specific dates out of the rota title.
25. You can stop your time off managers from approving their own time off requests from the settings screen.
26. You can use your text credits to automatically send shift reminders to staff the day before their shift.
27. You can change the start date of your holiday year from the settings screen.
28. You can add guests to your rota, giving them read-only access to view any upcoming shifts.
29. You don't have to enter staff email addresses, first names or last names. Just enter their initials!
30. You can change the first day of your reporting month from the settings screen.
31. You can keep your staff's contact details private from each other with options found in your privacy settings.
32. You can give staff the option to request and cancel shifts online. Requests are hidden until approved.
33. You can filter the reports by facility for a closer look at your where your staff hours and costs come from.
34. You can group the results of the budget report by week or month for a more top level view of your costs.
35. If you copy one cell and box-select a range before pasting it will paste into all the selected cells.
36. You can use the arrow keys to change the selected cell. You can hold shift to select a range of cells.
37. You can take a top level view of staff time off throughout the year with the time-off planner.
38. The notice board is public for all staff to share information. You can share files via the "Uploads" area.
39. You can change the default colour of shift times, comments, requests and more on the colours and fonts screen.
40. You can change the start and finish days defining your rota working week from the settings screen.
41. You can change the "reply to" email address of staff alerts to any email address in your communications settings.
42. You can switch the display format for times on the rota from 12 hour to 24 hour in your display settings.
43. You can add time off from the rota by selecting a range, right click menu -> "Add" -> "Time off".
44. You can add a new shift or comment by double clicking in a cell.
45. If you want to copy a cell check you haven't selected an item inside it first (beware of the black arrow).
46. If you type your staff or facility names as a comment the system will automatically match them up for you.
47. You can quickly copy a shift by holding the shift key down while you drag it with the mouse.
48. You can change the currency symbol in the reports from the help section or from your profile (as a manager).
49. You can change the date formats in the system from the help section or from your profile (as a manager).
50. You can customise the site with your own logo and sub-domain free of charge with any 12 month purchase.
51. You can quickly transfer data to and from your templates by copying and pasting.
52. You can close any message box with the ENTER key, or by pressing the first letter of the text on the button.
53. To quickly select a column of cells you can click a cell and press CTRL + SHIFT + D.
54. To quickly select a row of cells you can click a cell and press CTRL + SHIFT + R.
55. To quickly add a staff holiday you can click a cell and press CTRL + SHIFT + H.
56. You can copy and paste cells (one or more) with the keyboard using CTRL + C to copy and CTRL + V to paste.
57. To scroll straight to the bottom of the rota press END or CTRL + END for the bottom right corner.
58. To scroll straight to the top of the rota press HOME or CTRL + HOME for the top right corner.
59. To scroll left and right along the rota press SHIFT + PAGEDOWN for right or SHIFT + PAGEUP for left.
60. If you ever decide to leave just let your account expire. There's no need to delete yourself or deregister.
61. By holding CTRL whilst selecting with your mouse you can create separate, split selections on the roster.
62. To keep your report history accurate you can set start and end dates on staff pay rates as they change.
63. Staff can request multiple shifts at once by highlighting multiple cells before right clicking to request.
64. If you use multiple rotas you can update all rota contact preferences using the "Contact preferences" link.
65. Administrators can add custom columns to staff and facilities, storing data specific to their business.
66. Data stored in custom columns can be kept private, shared with managers, shared with staff or made public.
67. Data stored in custom columns can be used to filter data across the system, including reports and the rota.
68. You can filter your roster by facility, department, job title or any custom column you add to the system.
69. Using formulas, you can create smart filters. Useful for filtering staff by age, or how much they're paid.
70. You can set up a 2nd set of rates within Findmyshift to help track how much you should charge your clients.
71. Staff can receive free push notifications for shift reminders on their Android and iOS devices.
72. You can avoid duplicate rates for each day of the week by creating "Weekday" or "Weekend" rates.
73. You can sort the staff and facility screens by clicking on the column headings.
74. You can display departments and job titles of staff beneath their names of on the staff view.
75. Administrators can choose to get notifications when their subscription or text credits are running low.
76. Salaried staff can earn overtime by adding a "x1" rate multiplier beneath their overtime shifts.
77. Staff that earn a day rate can earn hourly overtime by adding a rate multiplier to their overtime shift.
78. When salaries, day rates or hourly rates are entered our reports can forecast labour costs in real time.
79. Day rates are only ever paid when staff work a shift however salaries are paid every weekday regardless.
80. Rate exceptions apply to day rates in the same way they do to hourly rates.
81. You can set a shift as unpaid by adding "x0" or "Unpaid" in a comment beneath it.

Administrators have unrestricted access to view and edit staff, to view and edit pay-rates, to run reports and approve holiday requests made by staff.
Managers are not allowed to view or edit staff profiles but are able to schedule shifts for staff members on the rota.
Report managers can access all rota and report information. Read-only access prevents them from changing shifts, settings and profile information, however they are able to view all staff pay rates along with other sensitive information. This permission should not be assigned to normal staff members.
Time off managers are allowed to book and approve holidays on behalf of other staff members.
Self schedulers have the lowest permissions assignable which enable staff to add and edit their own shifts.

A template is a way of storing shift patterns that repeat every now and then so you can re-use them. You are given 12 rota template weeks which you can apply to your rota by right clicking in the rota and selecting the templates menu.

Sometimes you might find coloured dots appear in the cells of your rota. The yellow dots are used to show unsaved changes. Once you save the changes the dot may turn red, depending on the settings of your staff rota. If you have switched “automatic publishing” off the dot will turn red indicating that there is an unpublished item in the cell. Your staff won’t be able to see any unpublished items, so you can use this as a draft function, if required. When you choose to publish these items the red dot will disappear from the cell and your staff will then be able to view the changes you have made.

Staff can be re-ordered on the rota by holding the left mouse button down on their name and then dragging them up and down. The new spot for your employee will be highlighted yellow as you drag. Once you’re happy with where the new position is, release the left mouse button.

Swaps take place automatically when a request matches a cancellation between two staff members. For the system to swap shifts between two staff members, a rota must have the following settings enabled; "Staff can swap shifts times without approval", "Staff can request shift times & comments" and "Staff can request cancellations of shifts times & comments". Swaps are also only possible when there are no facilities or comments allocated to either of the staff members on the day. If a swap is not processed automatically a manager can still approve the shift request and cancellation manually.

Yes, if you accidentally lose or delete some data, you're able to roll-back your rota to a particular point in time, although to do this you must be logged in as an administrator of your rota. Once logged in visit the "Backups" page under the "Settings" menu. From here you can restore a backup of your rota, including staff data, facilities, settings, shifts, shift requests, time off requests, outbox messages, notice board messages, budgets and pay rates.

Unfortunately the latest version of Skype installs a plug-in to some browsers which interferes with web pages by inserting phone number links wherever it sees a series of numbers, including on the rota. Skype have issued a statement saying they are working on the problem, but until then it is advised that you disable the Skype plug-in if you want to remove these links from Findmyshift.

To disable the plug-in follow these quick steps: If you're using Internet Explorer, from the menu select "Tools" then "Skype Add-in for Internet Explorer". From here you can then switch off "Turn on number highlighting" and "Turn on name highlighting". If you then press OK and reload the page they should no longer be there..

Time off entries and requests can be changed, cancelled, approved or declined from the rota by double clicking on the entry. Time off entries can also be managed from the "Time off" screen.

Staff can be removed from your rota by entering a finish date in their profile. Staff profiles can be accessed and edited from the "Staff" page and clicking on the employee’s name.

You can also use the delete button on the a staff member's profile (under advanced options), which automatically sets their finish date to the day of the last shift they are scheduled to work on your staff rota. After doing this, if the employee still appears on the staff rota, it’s because there are shifts, schedules or time off in the future, past their finish date, that need to be cleared first.

Once the finish date on their profile has passed they will no longer be able to log in to your rota.

As a security measure, once staff have logged in and change their password their mobile number and email address are locked and can only be edited by themselves. This is to prevent rota managers from obtaining staff passwords.

Without this restriction, a manager could alter their staff member's contact details to their own, send themselves an email or text and retrieve the staff member's password.

Yes, there's a range of shortcut keys you and your employees can use while viewing and editing your staff rotas:

Mis-aligned columns on the rota are usually the result of zooming in or zooming out using your browsers built in zoom function. For best results we recommend you do not zoom in or out when viewing your staff rota. Alternatively, you can disable the floating columns by right clicking the rota, selecting "Preferences" and unticking "Float date heading".

Staff can only see shifts that you've published. By default, the system is set to automatically publish shifts, however if you've switched this off you'll need to right click your rota and find the "Publish" menu and select the time period to publish.

When you add your staff members to your rota, welcome messages are automatically generated and queued in the outbox for each staff member. When sent these messages will include the staff log in and passwords for accessing their rota on Findmyshift.

If you have lost or deleted these messages your staff will need to use the "Forgot password" link on the login page. The "Forgot password" link will reset and email them their new password.

Staff are bound by our terms and conditions in the same way rota managers are, for a number of reasons. Primarily, in most circumstances staff have access to privileged information about your company and it's staff. Staff are also able to upload content visible to you and other staff members which may or may not be acceptable. Our terms and conditions outline what is and what is not appropriate behaviour on the site, ensuring that all users are responsible for their actions. Our terms and conditions are in no way intended to lure your staff into a "hidden" contract with Out Crowd Ltd and we will never ask your staff to pay money to access your rota. Accepting the agreement is only accepting the rules we have outlined for Findmyshift, it is not a commitment to purchase any our services.

To copy and paste a week of schedules you just need to follow the below quick and easy steps:

1. Select a cell on your rota by left clicking it with your mouse then extend the selection through the week by dragging your mouse over the other cells.
2. Right click on the rota and select "Copy".
3. Select the dates of the week you want to copy over.
4. Right click the rota and select "Paste".