Scheduling rules, roles and settings
Choose what is checked when someone is put on a shift, who manages the schedule, and how requests and pay estimates work.
Staff Scheduling is marked Coming soon. Only Magpie administrators can access it.
Every way someone is put on a shift is checked against the same rules: adding or changing a shift, copying a week, applying a template, auto-fill, a swap, a cover request, an offer and taking an open shift. Only team admins and scheduling managers change these settings.
Rules
On Settings, open Scheduling rules.
Some rules are always checked: two shifts at the same time, someone who is not working on that date, and someone on leave. The others can be turned on or off, and set to Blocks the shift, Warns or Shown as information:
- approved time off, and time off waiting for a decision;
- outside someone's availability;
- a position someone does not hold, or a location they are not set up for;
- a missing or expired qualification;
- outside someone's earliest start or latest finish;
- minimum rest between shifts, the most hours in a day or a week, someone's own maximum, and the most days in a row;
- daily and weekly overtime;
- breaks on long shifts, and split shifts.
Limits such as overtime are off until you set them. Magpie does not know the
employment rules that apply to you. Type hours or days as you would say them,
such as 10 or 40 hours.
A rule that blocks stops the shift. When Managers can override is on, a manager can save the shift anyway with a reason, which is recorded in the shift's history; employees and auto-fill cannot override. A rule that warns lets the shift be saved, and publishing it will need a reason. A change to a rule applies to checks from then on; published shifts do not change.
Who manages the schedule
Team admins manage everything. On Settings, open Who manages the schedule to give another member of the team a role:
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Manager | Plan, publish, decide requests and manage staff |
| Schedule editor | Plan shifts; publish and decide requests only if allowed |
| Schedule viewer | See the schedule and reports, and change nothing |
A role can cover every location or only some. People who only work shifts do not need a role; invite them from their profile instead.
Pay rates are hidden from everyone, admins included, until Sees pay rates is turned on for them.
Pay rates
Pay rates under Settings holds hourly rates for labour estimates on the publish review and in reports. A person's own rate comes first, then their position's, then their location's. These are estimates; Magpie does not run payroll.
Settings
| Setting | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Time zone, Week starts on, Clock | How times and weeks are shown, and where weekly limits start |
| No availability given | Whether a day with nothing said counts as available |
| Availability changes | Whether changes to someone's usual week need a manager's approval |
| Taking open shifts, Offered shifts, Swaps, Cover requests | Whether a manager decides or it happens straight away |
| Offers expire after | How long an offer lasts |
| Remind managers about uncovered shifts after | When managers will be reminded about a cover request nobody took |
| What employees see | Only their own shifts, who works at the same location, or the whole published schedule |
| Past shifts, Changes close to the start | Whether started shifts, and shifts starting soon, can be changed |
| Compare with Time Tracking | Whether reports show worked time against the schedule |
| Breaks and coverage | Whether someone on a timed break counts toward the people needed |
| Currency for pay estimates | The currency labour estimates are shown in |
For other questions, contact Contact support.