How to handle employee shift swap requests
A swap looks like the easiest roster change there is: two people agree and the shift is still covered. The trouble is in what they cannot see, such as a skill the shift needs, the break before the next shift or extra hours that change the pay. Here is a process that says yes quickly to the swaps that are fine and catches the ones that are not.
Most swaps are arranged between two employees in a group chat or at the end of a shift, and the manager hears about it afterwards, or not at all. That is how a Saturday ends up with nobody who can close, a casual on a 13 hour day, or a timesheet that does not match the roster. You do not need to stop swaps. You need a rule that every swap is asked for, checked and recorded before it happens.
Swaps, cover and giving a shift away
People use the word swap for three different changes, and each needs a slightly different check. The glossary entries for a shift swap and an open shift set out the terms.
| Change | What happens | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Straight swap | Two people trade shifts, so each still works the same number of shifts | Both people’s skills, availability and breaks |
| Cover | One person takes another’s shift and gives nothing back | The extra hours and cost for the person picking it up |
| Giving a shift away | Someone wants to drop a shift and nobody has agreed to take it | This is an open shift, and filling it is your job |
Set the rules before the requests arrive
Write down how swaps work and share it with the team, ideally alongside the roster. A short policy is enough:
- Every swap is requested. Two employees agreeing between themselves is not enough. The request comes to the manager with both names and both shifts.
- The person asking finds the swap. The employee who wants the change finds a colleague who can take it, rather than the manager ringing around.
- Requests have a deadline. For example, 24 hours before the earlier of the two shifts, with an exception for emergencies.
- Like for like. The person taking the shift must be able to do what that shift needs, such as opening, closing or supervising.
- Nothing changes until it is approved. Both people work their original shifts until the roster shows the change.
- The roster is the record. Approved swaps are made on the roster itself, and the latest published roster is the one that counts.
A shift swap request form makes every request carry the same details: both names, both shifts, the reason and your answer.
The checks to make before you approve
Run the same checks every time, in the same order. Most swaps pass them in a minute or two.
- Both people agreeGet agreement from both employees in writing, even if it is a text message. A swap one of them has not confirmed is not a swap.
- The skills matchCheck the person taking the shift can do everything it needs: opening or closing, the coffee machine, the till, the bar or running the floor, and any licence the shift relies on.
- They are availableFor a part-time employee, check the new shift sits inside their agreed availability or pattern of work. For a casual, check it fits what they have told you.
- The breaks between shifts still workA swap can put a late close straight before an early open. Check the gap against the award, as set out below.
- The hours still workCheck the swap does not push anyone past a daily limit, or give a part-time employee more hours than they were rostered, which can change how those hours are paid.
- The cost is acceptableTrading a weekday for a weekend, or a permanent employee’s shift for a casual’s, can change the wage cost even when the hours are the same.
- Nobody is double bookedCheck neither person already has another shift, approved leave or an unavailable date at the new time.
The last check is the one most often missed, because the clash is on a different day of the roster from the swap. Preventing double-booking covers how to spot it.
The award rules that apply to a swap
An approved swap is a change to the roster, so the roster rules in the award apply to it. The rules below are from the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, the General Retail Industry Award 2020 and the Fast Food Industry Award 2020, as consolidated to 1 July 2026. Other awards set different rules, so confirm which one covers your business with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award tool.
| Rule | What it says | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Changing the roster by agreement | A full-time or part-time employee’s roster can be changed at any time by mutual agreement, or by the employer with 7 days’ notice | Restaurant 15.3(d); Hospitality 15.5(d) and 15.6(a) |
| Part-time availability | A part-time employee must not be rostered outside the availability agreed in writing | Restaurant and Hospitality 10.7(a) |
| Part-time hours beyond the roster | Time a part-time employee works beyond their rostered hours is paid at the overtime rate | Restaurant and Hospitality 10.13(b)(iii) |
| Part-time changes in retail | A change to a part-time employee’s regular pattern for a particular shift, by agreement, must be recorded in writing before the end of that shift; time beyond the guaranteed hours as agreed or varied is paid at the overtime rate | Retail 10.6 and 10.8 |
| Part-time changes in fast food | A change to a particular rostered shift by agreement must be recorded in writing by the end of that shift; without a record, hours beyond the regular pattern are paid at overtime rates | Fast Food 10.5 and 10.6 |
| Other retail employees | For employees other than part-time employees, the roster can be changed by mutual agreement at any time before the employee arrives for work, due to unexpected operational requirements | Retail 15.9(d) |
| Time between shifts | At least 10 hours between finishing ordinary hours one day and starting the next, or 8 hours at a changeover of rosters, for full-time and part-time employees | Restaurant 15.1(e); Hospitality 15.5(e) |
| Longest casual shift | A casual can be engaged for no more than 12 hours in a day or shift | Restaurant and Hospitality 11.2 |
| Shortest shift | A casual is paid for at least 2 hours each time under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, and 3 hours under the Fast Food award and generally under the Retail award; a part-time shift is at least 3 hours under all four | Restaurant 11.3 and 10.7(b); Hospitality 11.3 and 15.2(a); Retail 11.2 and 10.9; Fast Food 11.3 and 10.2 |
| Employees under 18 | An employee under 18 must not be required to work more than 10 hours in a shift | Restaurant and Hospitality 13.3 |
The consultation clause applies when an employer proposes to change someone’s regular roster (Restaurant clause 33, Hospitality clause 39, Retail clause 35). If a swap is going to become a person’s new regular pattern, treat it that way: explain the change, invite their views, including about family or caring responsibilities, and consider them. Pay rates are on the Hospitality Award pay rates page and the other award pages.
Who gets paid for the shift
The hours belong to the person who worked them. The timesheet and the pay run should follow the roster as changed, not the roster as first published. If the roster is never updated, the timesheet will not match it, and someone ends up paid for a shift they did not work, or not paid for one they did. The roster vs actual hours calculator shows where the two have drifted apart.
The cost of the shift can change too. The person taking it is paid the rate for their own classification and type of employment, at the time they work. A casual covering a permanent employee’s shift brings the 25% casual loading under all four awards above, and an employee on a higher classification costs more than one on a lower one. The roster cost calculator shows what a change does to the week.
A worked example: three requests for one weekend
A cafe covered by the Restaurant Industry Award gets three swap requests on a Monday for the coming weekend. The manager runs the same checks on each.
| Request | What the checks found | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Ana and Ben, casual baristas at the same level, want to trade Ana’s Saturday 7:00 to 12:00 for Ben’s Sunday 7:00 to 12:00 | Both are available, both run the machine, neither has another shift that weekend, and each shift is still 5 hours | Approved |
| Dana, a part-time cook rostered Friday 7:00 to 15:00 and Saturday 7:00 to 15:00, wants to trade her Friday for Chris’s Friday close, 15:30 to 23:30 | Dana would finish at 23:30 on Friday and start at 7:00 on Saturday, a gap of 7.5 hours, less than the 10 hours in clause 15.1(e) | Declined as asked. Eli, a part-time cook with no Saturday shift, swaps his Friday 7:00 to 15:00 with Chris instead |
| Fin, a casual, wants to give his Sunday 7:00 to 11:00 to Gus, a casual already rostered 11:00 to 20:00 | Gus would work 7:00 to 20:00, a 13 hour day, more than the 12 hour maximum for a casual in clause 11.2 | Declined for Gus. The shift is offered to Hana, a casual who is free on Sunday morning |
In the second request, Eli and Chris each still work 8 hours on Friday, both new times are inside their written availability, and neither has another shift within 10 hours of the new times, so nobody’s pay or breaks change. None of the three decisions was a judgement call about the people involved. Each came from looking at the roster and the award, which is what makes a no easy to explain.
Record every swap
Make the change on the roster itself, not only in a message thread, and republish it so both people and whoever runs the shift see the new version. Keep the request and both agreements with your records. For part-time employees, the written record carries weight: under the General Retail award a change by agreement must be recorded in writing, and a text message or email can do that (clause 10.6), and under the Fast Food award, if no record of an agreed variation to a shift is kept, hours beyond the regular pattern are paid at overtime rates (clause 10.6).
Employers must keep time and wages records for 7 years, including the hours worked by casual employees and by irregular part-time employees paid on the time they work. A swap that is only in a chat is hard to find again when a pay question comes up months later.
Roster Flow keeps the record in one place: availability and leave from staff phones, the roster published to everybody at once, clock ins that become timesheets, and approved hours sent to Xero, MYOB or a CSV file.
When to say no
- The person taking the shift cannot do what it needs
- It would break an award rule, such as the break between shifts or a part-time employee’s availability
- It adds hours or cost the week cannot carry
- One of the two has not agreed
- Swaps keep landing on the same person, who may find it hard to refuse
Say no with the reason and, where you can, a way it could work: a different colleague, a different shift or an open shift offered to the team. If someone cannot work a shift at all, the availability and leave guide covers the difference between a swap, an unavailable date and leave.
A shift swap checklist
- The team knows the swap rules and the request deadline
- Both employees have agreed in writing
- The person taking the shift has the skills it needs
- Part-time employees stay inside their availability or agreed pattern
- Nobody has less than the award’s break between shifts, or goes past a daily limit
- Any change in hours or cost has been checked
- The roster is updated and republished, and the timesheet will follow it
Questions
Do I have to approve a shift swap?
A roster change by mutual agreement is between the employer and the employee, so a swap two employees arrange needs your agreement too. Approve the ones that pass your checks, and give a reason for the ones that do not.
Can a part-time employee swap onto a shift outside their availability?
Not under the Restaurant or Hospitality awards, which say a part-time employee must not be rostered outside the availability agreed in writing (clause 10.7(a)). If their circumstances have genuinely changed, they can alter their availability with 14 days’ written notice.
Does a swap change the pay for the shift?
It can. The person who works the shift is paid at the rates for their own classification and type of employment, at the time they work it, so a casual covering a permanent employee brings the casual loading.
What if two employees swap without telling me?
Pay the hours to the person who actually worked them, then correct the roster so the records match. Check whether the swap broke an award rule, such as the break between shifts, and remind the team how swaps are requested.
How much notice should staff give for a swap?
That is your policy to set. Choose a deadline that leaves time to check the request, such as 24 hours before the earlier shift, with an exception for emergencies.
Is covering a sick employee the same as a swap?
No. Sick leave is an entitlement the employee takes by telling you as soon as possible, and the empty shift is yours to fill. A swap is a change two employees ask for in advance.
Sources
- Fair Work Commission: Restaurant Industry Award 2020 [MA000119]
- Fair Work Commission: Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009]
- Fair Work Commission: General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004]
- Fair Work Commission: Fast Food Industry Award 2020 [MA000003]
- Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award
- Fair Work Ombudsman: rosters
- Fair Work Ombudsman: record-keeping
- Fair Work Ombudsman: notice and medical certificates