How does shift coverage (swaps) work?
Last updated August 19, 2026
Can't work a shift? Offer it for coverage instead of just canceling — a teammate can pick it up, and an admin confirms the swap.
- On My schedule, find the shift and choose Offer for coverage.
- Teammates see it in the open coverage requests and can claim it.
- An admin approves the swap, which reassigns the shift.
Note
When someone claims a shift, Kickstool checks for conflicts — overlapping shifts or their own time off — and warns them before they commit.
Offering just one desk, not the whole shift
If a shift covers more than one desk — say, Info Desk until noon, then Shelving — you don't have to give up the whole day to get help with one part of it. Each desk assignment on a multi-desk shift gets its own Offer just this action right alongside the whole-shift offer button. Offer only the Shelving stretch, and you keep the Info Desk portion on your own schedule.
Tip
This is what most people reach for mid-PTO: you're out for the afternoon but still doing your morning desk time, so you offer just the affected assignment instead of the entire shift.
On the Coverage board, an assignment-scoped offer shows as the specific desk and window it covers — for example Shelving on Aug 6, 12 – 2 PM — rather than the full shift's span, so whoever's browsing knows exactly what they'd be picking up.
Admins posting on someone's behalf
Admins can also post a whole shift for coverage on someone's behalf. Say Priya has an approved day off but her Tuesday closing shift is still on the schedule — from Time off → Approvals, the admin can choose Post for coverage right on that shift instead of asking her to log in and do it herself. It shows up on the Coverage board exactly like a self-offered shift, and Priya keeps the shift until someone claims it and a director approves the move.
Note
Posting on someone's behalf currently works at the whole-shift level only — the "just this desk" scoped offer above is something the shift's own owner offers themselves, from their own schedule.
A request moves through Open → Awaiting approval → Approved (or Denied). You can withdraw an offer while it's still open, and decision notes explain any denial.
Whether staff and volunteers can request coverage at all is a permission your admins control. Admins also choose which shifts a person can offer: confirmed time off only (the default — you need approved time off covering the shift), or any of their upcoming shifts.