Shift Alerts let you quickly notify employees about an open shift that needs coverage — by push notification, SMS text, or both. You can attach a message or incentive to sweeten the offer, and employees can accept right from their phone. Use shift alerts any time you need to fill a last-minute callout or cover an unassigned shift fast.

Getting There

From the left navigation, click Shifts & Alerts, then select Create Shift Alert under the Open Shift Alerts section. You can also click Create Shift Alert directly from the manager dashboard.

Creating a Shift Alert on the Web

The Create Shift Alert page has two tabs — choose the one that fits your situation:

Option 1: Open Shifts (use an existing unassigned shift)

Stay on the Open Shifts tab.
Select the open shift from the Open Shifts dropdown — this pulls from shifts already on your schedule that have no employee assigned.
Add an optional Message/incentive — something like "Whoever picks it up gets free lunch!" to encourage employees to claim it.
Toggle on Send push notifications and/or Send SMS text messages to choose how employees are notified. Push sends an in-app notification; SMS sends a text to their phone number on file.
Click Send Employees to choose which employees receive the alert, then send.

Option 2: Create Shift (build a new shift on the spot)

Click the Create Shift tab.
Set the Shift Date, Time, and Required Role.
Add an optional Message/incentive and Title.
Toggle on Send push notifications and/or Send SMS text messages.
Click Send Employees to select recipients and send.

💡 Only employees who hold the required role are shown in the employee selection list — so you're only alerting people who can actually cover the shift.

Creating a Shift Alert on Mobile

Mobile uses a 3-step wizard. You can access it two ways:

Tap Create Shift Alert on the Home dashboard
Go to More → Shift Alerts and tap the + button in the top right

Step 1 of 3 — Details: Select an existing open shift from the dropdown, or fill in the shift details manually (Shift Date, Start, End, Required Role). Add an optional message/incentive. Tap Next.

Step 2 of 3 — Employees: Select which employees should receive the alert. You can search by name and select multiple. Tap Next.

Step 3 of 3 — Send: Review the shift details and message, choose whether to send push notifications and/or SMS texts, then tap Send.

How Employees Receive and Respond

Once the alert is sent, notified employees receive a push notification or SMS they can tap to view the shift. The alert also appears on the employee's Home dashboard in the mobile app, where it stays visible until the shift is accepted or they decline it. Employees can accept or decline directly from the notification or their dashboard.

🔔 Employees who don't have the Teamsly app can still be reached via SMS if they have a phone number on file — useful for new hires or employees who haven't set up the app yet.

Tracking and Managing Shift Alerts

On the web: Go to Shifts & Alerts → Shift Alerts to see all your active alerts. Alerts are split into two sections:

Open Shift Alerts — alerts where the shift hasn't been claimed yet. Shows the shift, how many staff were notified, who created it, and current status.
Assigned Shift Alerts — alerts where an employee has accepted the shift. Shows who it was assigned to and when.

Click any alert to open the Shift Alert Details page, which shows the full shift info, the message sent, and a list of every employee who was notified along with their scheduled hours, phone number, and message status.

On mobile: Go to More → Shift Alerts. You'll see two tabs — Open Alerts (still awaiting a response) and My Alerts (alerts you created). Tap any alert to view its details, including which employees were notified and how many replies have come in. Tap the trash can icon to delete an alert.

✅ Once an employee accepts a shift alert, a manager can approve or deny the request from the web or mobile app before the shift is officially assigned.

Creating a Shift Alert