Staff start the swap from their portal
A staff member opens the shift they cannot work and requests a swap, offering one or more of their shifts in exchange. The option only appears where your organisation allows swaps.
Smart Rostering
Staff-initiated swaps, kept in the workflow.
Handle swap requests, approvals, and replacement needs without breaking roster integrity.
What you get with Shift swap management.
- Swap requests from the staff portal
Staff raise swaps themselves from their phone, so changes don't get lost in calls and messages.
- Manager approval workflow
Every swap routes to a manager to approve, keeping you in control of who covers what.
- Assignment integrity preserved
Swaps respect the same suitability and safety rules, so coverage never quietly breaks.
Why it exists
The problem it solves.
Swaps arranged over text feel harmless until the roster no longer matches reality. The manager finds out after the fact, nobody checked whether the stand-in was qualified or already working, and payroll is reconciling a shift that officially belonged to someone else. Staff need flexibility; the organisation needs the swap to go through the roster, not around it.
How it works
Only eligible options are shown
BondiByte presents the swap options that are actually workable, so staff are choosing among realistic exchanges rather than free-texting a plan.
The other staff member responds
The proposed swap goes to the other person, who accepts or declines it from their own portal. Nobody is swapped without agreeing.
A manager has the final say
Where approval is required, an accepted swap waits for a manager to approve or reject it before the roster changes. You keep control of who covers what.
The roster stays true
Once approved, assignments are updated in the roster itself and the request history is kept, so the published roster, timesheets and records all agree.
What you can do.
Self-service swap requests
Staff raise swaps from their phone instead of ringing the office, with the request captured properly from the start.
Workable options only
Staff choose from eligible swap options rather than proposing anything at all, which keeps requests realistic.
Accept or decline by the other person
The staff member on the other side of the swap always gets the choice.
Manager approval queue
Accepted swaps line up in Approvals with clear statuses, ready for a quick approve or reject.
One active request at a time
Each staff member can have one outgoing swap request open at a time, and can cancel it, which keeps the queue clean.
How it connects.
You stay in control.
Shift swapping ships switched off. An owner or admin enables it for the organisation, and each site then decides separately whether its staff can raise a swap. Until both are on, the option is not in the staff portal at all and managers arrange every change themselves.
Require manager approval before a swap takes effect, so an agreed swap is still a proposed swap until you say yes.
Set a site-level limit on how many swaps each staff member can request, so swapping stays occasional rather than routine.
Learn how to use this feature.
Frequently asked questions.
Can staff swap with anyone?
No. Staff choose from the eligible options BondiByte presents, the other person must accept, and where approval is required a manager confirms before the roster changes.
Can a staff member have several swap requests running?
No. One active outgoing request at a time. They can cancel it and start another if plans change.
What if the other person says no?
They simply decline from their portal. The requester can cancel the request or wait on their other offered options.
Do we have to allow swaps at all?
No. Swapping starts switched off. Until an owner or admin turns it on for the organisation and a site allows it, staff cannot raise a swap and every change goes through a manager. Switching it on later is a deliberate decision, and you can switch it back off.
Where do managers deal with swaps?
In the Approvals area, where requests appear with their status and can be approved or rejected in a couple of clicks.
More in Smart Rostering.
Smart Rostering
Smart Rostering overview
The full rostering cycle in one supervised workflow.
Smart RosteringRoster patterns & periods
Set up your roster calendar once, capture how each site really runs, and let every future period start from that shape.
Smart RosteringShift creation & site templates
Create a whole period of shifts from your configured patterns and site or period settings, including recurring shifts.
Smart RosteringStaff interest requests
Ask the whole team who wants the shifts, in one step, and get answers you can actually roster from. Staff respond from their own portal, unsuitable responses are filtered out automatically, and interest flows straight into the roster suggestions.
Smart RosteringSuitability & hard-block checks
Critical conflicts are blocked before staff are even considered, then suitability signals rank who fits best.
Smart RosteringSmart recommendations
Once blockers clear, BondiByte ranks and prepares assignment options using the signals that matter to your operation.
See Shift swap management in BondiByte
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