Understand the outcome
After publishing, requests and callouts are handled from the Request Queue so decisions stay consistent.
Scheduling runs the staffing period: collect availability, generate shifts from rotations, fill seats with best-fit suggestions or the auto-builder, check role and certification rules, and publish. After publishing, members trade, pick up open shifts, request time off, and report callouts that managers fill by escalating through tiers of qualified members.
This guide focuses specifically on “Manage open shifts, trades, time off, and callouts.” Complete it from an account with the appropriate Scheduling access, verify it from the affected member or operational view, and preserve existing records rather than repurposing historical configuration.
Before you begin
Make the decision before changing the screen. Record the current configuration when the department already uses this feature, and use a test record or test account when the change can affect active members.
- Decide whether trades and pickups need manager approval.
- Set up leave types and balances.
- Agree who escalates callouts.
Do not work around it from another member’s account. Confirm that Scheduling is enabled, its dependencies are active, and your role grants the exact management action required for this task.
Where to work and what access you need
Start from the portal destination named in the procedure. Administrators normally need permission to view Scheduling plus the specific create, edit, manage, approve, report, or all-record action used by the task. Visibility alone does not grant management access.
- Department Schedule
/modules/scheduling/schedule - My Schedule
/modules/scheduling/schedule?scope=mine - My Availability
/modules/scheduling/availability - Schedule Workspace
/modules/scheduling/workspace - Schedule builder
/modules/scheduling/focus - Open Shifts
/modules/scheduling/open-shifts - Request Queue
/modules/scheduling/requests-queue - My Requests
/modules/scheduling/my-requests - Trades
/modules/scheduling/trades - Time Off
/modules/scheduling/time-off - Templates
/modules/scheduling/templates - Analytics
/modules/scheduling/analytics - Reports
/modules/scheduling/reports - Settings
/modules/scheduling/settings - Setup
/modules/scheduling/setup
Required foundation
- Core must be enabled and correctly configured before this workflow can operate reliably.
If your department uses custom roles, test the procedure with that role—not only with a full administrator account. This confirms the people responsible for daily operations can complete the workflow without receiving unrelated access.
Complete the task
- Step 1Open the Request Queue
Filter trades, pickups, drops, time off, and callouts.
- Step 2Review the shift
Check the assignment, station, seat, and time.
- Step 3Check the member
Confirm availability, hour caps, qualifications, and conflicts.
- Step 4Decide
Approve or deny with a reason.
- Step 5Work a callout
Escalate tier by tier; cover requests go to qualified, available members and the first to accept is assigned.
- Step 6Confirm coverage
Check the schedule shows the right person.
Operational safeguards
Apply these module-level controls while completing the procedure. They prevent a technically saved configuration from becoming an operational or access problem later.
- Control point
Link personnel certifications to Certification Hub types before using certification seat rules. - Control point
Choose a period cadence and availability deadline members can meet. - Control point
Configure positions, seats, hour caps, and override permissions. - Control point
Decide whether trades and pickups need manager approval. - Control point
Agree who escalates callouts; tiers are advanced by a manager, not on a timer. - Control point
Compare a finished period with Time Clock before relying on planned-versus-actual analytics.
Verify the result
Do not consider the setup complete merely because the save action succeeded. Confirm the behavior from the user-facing or operational view, then retain evidence of the test when department policy requires it.
- Members see decisions under My Requests.
- Schedules agree.
- Seats stay qualified.
If any verification fails, return to the source configuration and correct it there. Do not edit a report or downstream record to conceal an incorrect setup.
Troubleshooting
A pickup can’t be requested
The shift must be open and the member must meet its requirements.
A callout isn’t moving
Tiers don’t advance on a timer; a manager must escalate.
Time off approved but the member is scheduled
Scheduling blocks new assignments during approved time off; check the existing assignment and reassign it.
Connected modules and downstream effects
A change here can alter what members see, what data appears in reports, or how another module completes its workflow. Review the connected areas below before making a department-wide change.
- Time ClockPortal and kiosk clock-in with password, PIN, or face, plus corrections and reports.
- TrainingEvents, attendance, hours and CE, certificates, self-logged training, and compliance.
- PayrollFire/EMS pay records, gross-to-net, run approvals, statements, and exports.
- Station BoardStation TV boards with live widgets, rotating slides, and protected launch links.
After deployment, test one complete workflow from the originating module through every connected destination your department uses. Document the final configuration so another administrator can audit or reproduce it later.
Continue in Scheduling
Return to the Scheduling module guide for connected workflows, dependencies, portal destinations, and additional procedures.