Find someone to cover a restaurant shift when a cook calls out sick
A cook texts at 5am that they're out. The agent finds who's free and won't hit overtime, texts them in order, and updates the schedule.
- Reach it by
- Text
- Phone
- Who can use it
- Your staff to call out and pick up shifts; managers for everything else
- Works in
- 7shifts, or your current schedule · Text messaging
The problem
Your opening cook texts at 5am. They're sick. The manager wakes up to it at 6:30 and starts texting the group chat, then calling people one at a time.
Whoever answers first gets the shift, even if they're already at 38 hours and it puts them into overtime. Or nobody answers, and the manager works the line.
What your agent does
- A cook texts that they're out"Sick, can't make my 6am"
- Your agent checks who's askingConfirms the shift, logs the call-out the way you track them
- Finds who can coverTrained for the station, not scheduled, under overtime
- Texts them in your orderOne at a time, until someone says yes
- Schedule updatedIn 7shifts, or sent to the manager to make in one tap
- The manager is toldWho's out, who's covering, hours this week
What you get
- Shifts covered before the manager is out of bed
- No surprise overtime from whoever answered first
- The schedule matches who's really working
- A record of every call-out and who picked it up
Who approves what
You set the rules: who can cover which station, the order to ask in, and the hours limit. Inside those rules, the swap can go through on its own. Anything outside them, like overtime or someone not trained on the station, goes to the manager on duty for a yes first.
Common questions
- What if nobody says yes?
- After the last person on the list, or by a time you set, the agent calls the manager on duty and tells them who it asked and who said no. The manager decides from there.
- Does it work with our scheduling app?
- With 7shifts, yes: you create an access key in your account and the agent changes shifts directly. Most other scheduling apps don't let outside tools change shifts, so the agent works from your schedule and sends the manager the swap to make in one tap.
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