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  • Scheduling
  • Workspace
  • Schedule
  • Recurring shifts
  • Assignments

Edit or cancel recurring shifts

Understand what changes, what stays separate, and how assignments and published shifts are handled when editing a recurring shift.

Workspace owners and admins can change one shift in a recurring schedule or
apply a change from one date forward. ShiftDispatch keeps earlier shifts
unchanged.

Choose which shifts to change

Open a recurring shift and use Apply changes to:

  • This shift only changes just the shift you opened. It becomes a one-off
    exception to the recurring schedule.
  • This and future shifts changes the shift you opened and every later shift
    in the same recurring schedule. Earlier shifts are not changed.

For example, a school guard works every Tuesday from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. If
you open the October 6 shift, change the end time to 4:30 PM, and select This
and future shifts
, October 6 and all later Tuesdays end at 4:30 PM. Tuesdays
before October 6 still end at 4:00 PM.

How one-off changes are handled

A future shift may already be different because someone previously edited
This shift only. A broad edit preserves that one-off difference unless the
new edit changes the same field.

Suppose the regular schedule is 7:30 AM–4:00 PM, but one Tuesday was changed
to start at 7:00 AM:

  • A later broad edit that changes only the end time to 4:30 PM keeps that
    Tuesday's 7:00 AM start and changes its end to 4:30 PM.
  • A later broad edit that changes the start time to 8:00 AM replaces the
    one-off 7:00 AM start with 8:00 AM.

You can start This and future shifts from a one-off shift. Only the fields
you change become the new recurring values; unrelated one-off values do not
accidentally become the rule for the entire schedule.

If a one-off shift was moved to a different day, a later broad time change
keeps it on that moved day. If the series time zone changes, preserved one-off
times keep their local wall-clock value in the new time zone.

ShiftDispatch validates the final combination of organization, job site,
position, and template for every preserved one-off shift. If a preserved value
would no longer be valid after the broad edit, nothing is saved and the form
explains which reference must be changed.

Change the repeating days or end date

The updated repeating rule decides which dates exist from the selected shift
forward:

  • Adding a weekday creates shifts on the new weekday.
  • Removing a weekday cancels future shifts on that weekday, including shifts
    that had one-off changes.
  • Moving Ends earlier cancels shifts after the new end date.
  • Moving Ends later creates the additional shifts. A date cancelled by an
    earlier shortening can return as a newly created shift if the series is
    extended over that date again.

Recurring shifts can repeat for up to 12 months from the first occurrence.

Handle assigned personnel

When Apply selected personnel to future shifts is not selected, existing
future assignments stay as they are. This includes a future shift assigned to
someone different as a one-off change. New dates created by an extension or a
weekday change use the assignment on the shift you opened.

Select Apply selected personnel to future shifts when every shift from the
selected date forward should use the personnel currently selected in the
form. Clearing the selected personnel and applying that choice removes the
future assignments.

For example, Jordan normally works the series, but Casey covers one Tuesday:

  • Changing the series end time without applying personnel keeps Casey on that
    Tuesday.
  • Selecting Jordan and applying personnel replaces Casey and assigns Jordan
    to every future shift.

ShiftDispatch checks the complete updated schedule for assignment conflicts.
If any affected assignment overlaps another shift beyond the workspace's
allowed overlap, the change is rejected and no part of the recurring update is
saved.

Include published shifts

If a This and future shifts change or cancellation reaches published
shifts, select Include future published shifts to confirm that they should
be included. Without that confirmation, ShiftDispatch does not save the broad
change.

Changes to important details and cancellations may notify assigned personnel.

Cancel or delete recurring shifts

When cancelling a recurring shift, choose whether to cancel This shift only
or This and future shifts. A future cancellation follows the complete
recurring schedule, including later segments created by earlier broad edits and
one-off shifts.

Draft shifts can be deleted. Published shifts must be cancelled instead. If a
This and future shifts deletion reaches a published shift, the deletion is
rejected so published schedule history is not silently removed.

If a recurring change is rejected

  • Confirm Include future published shifts when published shifts are in the
    affected range.
  • Review the selected person's schedule for an overlap on any affected date.
  • Check that Ends is on or after the selected shift and within the 12-month
    limit.
  • Refresh the schedule and try again if another user may have changed the
    series.
  • If the message says the change would create a personnel assignment conflict
    but no overlap is visible, record the selected shift, date range, personnel,
    and intended times for your administrator or ShiftDispatch support.

Still need help?

Contact ShiftDispatch support and include the workspace, device, and step where the problem occurred.

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