Shift trades overview
Shift trades enable agents to trade complete shifts with other agents. You can create a shift trade in the six week window that includes the current week. For example, if the work week starts on Monday (configured in the Business Unit settings) and today is Wednesday, June 10, 2024, then shift trading is allowed in the weeks of:
- June 10, 2024
- June 17, 2024
- June 24, 2024
- July 1, 2024
- July 8, 2024
- July 15, 2024
Shift trading enables agents to trade their scheduled shift with another shift by initiating a trade with another agent or selecting an alternate shift that is displayed in the Shift Trade Panel. You can choose whether to allow automatic approval for trade requests or queue them for administrator review. You can also set a minimum time between shift trade approval and shift start. For example, if the minimum is 24 hours, then agents cannot request a trade with a shift 10 hours from now. However, they can request a trade between shifts at least 24 hours from now.
Matching criteria requirements
You can configure agent matching criteria for trade requests. If the trade meets a constraint, then choose how to process the request. Matching requirements include:
- Queue membership
- Assigned language
- Assigned skills
- Ability to handle the same planning groups
You can choose any combination of requirements, or none. For example, you can specify that trades only occur between agents with the same language, set of skills, queue membership, and the ability to handle the same planning groups.
Shift trade rules
Shift trade rules include the following constraints, which you can set to allow, deny, or send for administrator review:
- Shift trades with unequal paid hours
- Shift trades that are one-sided
- Shift trades that result in minimum weekly paid time violations
- Shift trades that result in maximum weekly paid time violations
For shift trade rules, if you enable automatic review and set a constraint to allow, then the system can approve the trade. If you disable automatic review, then the system sends the request to an administrator for review. Violation messages are displayed when any shift trade rules prevent a trade. Click the collapsible section below for the list of violation messages.
The following violation messages are displayed when any of the shift trade rules prevent a trade:
- Agent capability mismatch
- Cannot trade with yourself
- Direct trade for other user
- Initiating shift activity category is disallowed
- Initiating shift changed
- Initiating shift doesn’t exist
- Initiating agent has a shift conflict
- Initiating shift has external activities
- Initiating agent’s time between shifts ({time}) is less than the minimum time between shifts ({min})
- Initiating agent’s paid time ({time}) for the planning period beginning {startDate} is greater than the maximum paid time ({max})
- Initiating agent’s paid time ({time}) for the planning period beginning {startDate} is less than the minimum paid time ({min})
- Initiating agent schedule does not exist
- Invalid state
- External activity in initiating shift overlaps with a non-interruptible activity in the receiving shift
- External activity in initiating shift is outside of the receiving shift’s bounds
- External activity in receiving shift overlaps with a non-interruptible activity in the initiating shift
- External activity in receiving shift is outside of the initiating shift’s bounds
- Minimum time between shifts rule cannot be fully evaluated for initiating agent
- Maximum paid time for planning period rule cannot be fully evaluated for initiating agent
- Minimum paid time for planning period rule cannot be fully evaluated for initiating agent
- Minimum time between shifts rule cannot be fully evaluated for receiving agent
- Maximum paid time for planning period rule cannot be fully evaluated for receiving agent
- Minimum paid time for planning period rule cannot be fully evaluated for receiving agent
- One sided trade
- Receiving agent has a shift conflict
- Receiving agent’s paid time ({time}) for the planning period beginning {startDate} is less than the minimum paid time ({min})
- Receiving agent’s paid time ({time}) for the planning period beginning {startDate} is greater than the maximum paid time ({max})
- Receiving agent’s time between shifts ({time}) is less than the minimum time between shifts ({min})
- Receiving agent schedule does not exist
- Receiving shift for one sided trade
- Receiving shift activity category is disallowed
- Receiving shift changed
- Receiving shift has external activities
- Receiving shift is no longer what initiating agent wanted
- Receiving shift missing for two sided trade
- Schedule is not published
- Service Goals not met
- Shift not found for {{agent}}
- Shift start is sooner than allowed
- Shift trading is not enabled
- Unequal paid time
- Week schedule is different
- Week schedule does not exist
- {{agent}}’s shift contains external activities
- {{agent}}’s shift contains an external activity that is outside the bounds of {{receivingAgent}}’s shift
- {agent} weekly paid {paid} (min {min}) for week of {weekDate}
- {agent} weekly paid {paid} (max {max}) for week of {weekDate}
Activity category trade rules
Activity category rules determine what to do with each activity type when an agent trades a shift with another agent. Determine whether to allow agents to trade shifts with certain activities, replace activities in the traded shifts with other activities, or leave the activities unchanged.
External activity trade rules
External activity trade rules determine what to do with each external activity type such as, activities placed by Activity Plans, Coaching or Learning features, when an agent trades the activity with another agent.
For information about enabling and configuring shift trades, see Enable and configure shift trades.