Find Coverage Requests let a worker who can't make an assigned shift offer it directly to eligible teammates from their Worker Portal. Eligible teammates can claim the shift, your location's rules decide routine claims automatically, and managers only step in for claims the rules don't decide.
The original worker stays scheduled until a teammate's claim is approved. If no one picks up the shift before the request expires, the shift remains the original worker's responsibility.
Set Up Find Coverage Requests
Find Coverage is configured per location or location group in the Worker Requests settings, alongside drop shift, time off, and claim shift requests.
Click Shift in the left side panel.
Click the arrow to expand the left side panel and reveal the Shift subpages.
Click Settings.
In the left sidebar under Per Location, click Worker Requests.
Ensure the correct location group or location is selected in the top right corner. The Settings by locations page shows the Worker Request settings card.
Turn on Find Coverage Requests, then open it to see the Find Coverage Request settings.
Under Request Expiration, set how long before the shift start time requests will expire. Enter a number and choose a unit, such as minutes or days.
To stop some workers from starting a request, turn on Enable auto decline and click Add Conditions. See Set Auto Decline Conditions below.
Click Publish.
Claim Shift Rules Decide Auto-Approval
Auto-approval for Find Coverage requests at a location is controlled by the Claim Shift settings. Enable and configure auto-approval there to apply it to Find Coverage claims. See Configure Worker Request Automations.
Set Auto Decline Conditions
Auto decline conditions decide which workers can start a Find Coverage Request, based on the worker's own shift. A worker whose shift matches a condition doesn't see Find Coverage on that shift.
In the Auto decline Conditions window, enter a Condition title and a Message.
Under If all of the conditions are met, click Add attribute and build each condition. For example, Shift starts in is less than 3 days stops workers from requesting coverage for a shift that starts in less than 3 days.
Click Confirm.
Claims from teammates follow the location's Claim Shift rules. Claims those rules don't decide go to the Shift Dashboard for manager review.
Request Coverage as a Worker
Workers start a Find Coverage Request from an assigned, published shift in their Worker Portal.
Open the shift from the Dashboard or Schedule tab.
Select Find Coverage. If Drop Shift is also turned on for the location, select Can't Make This Shift first. The Can't make this shift? window offers Drop Shift and Find Coverage; select Find Coverage.
Review the confirmation, which reads "We have reached out to available teammates to see if they can cover your shift. We'll let you know once someone confirms the shift. If no one is available, you're expected to work this shift." Then select Close.
On the worker's schedule, the shift then shows Coverage requested. The request also appears as pending in the Requests section of the worker's Worker Portal.
Find Coverage Is Not A Release
tarting a request does not remove the worker from the shift. The shift stays on their schedule until a teammate's claim is approved.
When the Find Coverage Option Doesn't Appear
Workers don't see Find Coverage on a shift in any of these cases:
Find Coverage Requests is turned off for the shift's location.
The worker's shift matches an auto decline condition for the location.
No other worker could see the shift, because no one meets its job and location requirements or blocker rules exclude every other worker.
Find Coverage also stops appearing on a shift once its request deadline passes.
Claim a Coverage Shift
When a worker requests coverage, eligible teammates are notified by text, as they are for any claimable shift. The shift appears in the Open shifts tab of their Worker Portal, labelled Claimable. It isn't marked as a coverage request.
Eligible teammates meet the shift's job and location requirements and aren't excluded by blocker rules.
To pick up the shift, a teammate opens it in Open shifts and selects Claim Shift. The claim follows the location's Claim Shift rules:
Auto-approved — the claiming worker sees Approved and "Your shift claim has been approved and added to your schedule." The shift is removed from the original worker's schedule.
Not decided by a rule — the claim goes to the Shift Dashboard for manager review.
When a claim is approved, the original worker receives a text confirming that a teammate can cover the shift and that it has been removed from their schedule. The claiming worker receives the standard shift claim confirmation.
Review Find Coverage Requests
Claims that no rule decides appear as pending Find Coverage requests on the Shift Dashboard. Click the request to review it. The top section shows the original worker, shift times, location, and scheduled breaks.
Choose one of the following options, then save:
Review claim shift requests and assign — see the list of workers who claimed the shift and select one in the worker assignment dropdown. The selected worker receives a confirmation and the original worker is notified.
Decline request to workers that have claimed — the original worker receives a text confirming they are still scheduled to work the shift, and each claiming worker receives the standard shift claim rejection message.
Unassign and unpublish — the original worker receives a message that the shift has been removed from their schedule, and each claiming worker receives the standard shift claim rejection message.
See Coverage Requests on the Schedule
On the Schedule page, a shift block shows an indicator next to the assigned worker's name when that worker is looking for coverage. Hover over the indicator to see Worker is looking for coverage for this shift.
You can leave the shift as it is while the request runs. If you reassign the shift to another worker, or make it claimable, and then publish, the Find Coverage Request is canceled and the original worker receives the message for that schedule change. For example, reassigning the shift sends the original worker a message that their manager has updated their schedule.
Understand Request Expiration
Each request closes at the deadline set under Request Expiration in the location's Worker Requests settings, counted back from the shift start time. If no teammate's claim is approved by then:
Find Coverage is no longer shown for the shift.
The coverage indicator is removed from the shift on the Schedule page.
The original worker receives a text confirming that the shift remains on their schedule and they are expected to work it.
Set A Deadline That Leaves Time
Choose an expiration that gives teammates time to claim the shift and gives the original worker time to plan if no one does.