# The approvals inbox

One place for everything your team is waiting on you for — shift claims, trades, the shift pool, time off and availability.

For: Managers, Admins · On: Web, iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Scheduling](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling) · Last updated October 22, 2026 · Mays Team

When your team wants to pick up, give away or swap a shift, take time off or change their availability, the request lands in one queue for you to approve.

|  | On the web | In the app |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where | **Scheduling → Approvals** (the page is called **Approval Inbox**) | **Schedule → Approvals** |
| Shift pool | Yes | Yes |
| Shift claims | Yes | Yes |
| Shift trades | Yes | Yes |
| Time off | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | Yes | Yes |
| Count of what's waiting | No | A red number on **Approvals** and on the **Schedule** tab |

You see requests for the locations you're assigned to; each card names its location. Admins who aren't assigned to particular locations see all of them.

![The Approval Inbox on the web, subtitled Pending shift claims, trades, time off and availability: Shift pool with two open shifts with 1 claim each, Shift claims for Sofia Alvarez (with the warning Sofia Alvarez already works Sat, Oct 24 · 6:30 AM – 2:30 PM — You can still approve this) and Marcus Bell, Shift trades with Leo Martins → Jordan Ellis (Waiting on Jordan Ellis), and the start of Time off](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__approvals-inbox__01-approval-inbox-web.726f4c71ad.png)

## Shift pool

Every open shift and every shift someone has put up for grabs, with how many people have claimed it. Nothing to approve here — it's so you can see what still needs covering.

- **Recall** (web) or **Take it back** (app) returns a dropped shift to the person who dropped it and cancels any claims on it. That person gets **Your shift is back**.
- Only shifts that haven't started are listed — nobody can claim one after that, so an open shift nobody took leaves the pool when it starts (it stays on the schedule).

## Shift claims

Someone wants to pick up a shift: *Unassigned shift → Emma North*, or *Owen South's shift → Olivia South*. A **Cover request** tag means they said **Yes, I can** when you asked for cover with **Find cover** in the app — see [Finding cover for a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/find-cover). Click **Approve** to give them the shift, or **Decline**. (Older versions of the app show **Open shift** instead of **Cover request** — update the Mays app.)

Approving assigns the shift, declines anyone else who claimed it, and tells the claimant, the others and the person whose shift it was. If someone withdraws their claim (or changes a cover **Yes, I can** to **No**) before you decide, the card leaves Shift claims and you get **Shift claim withdrawn**; their **Shift claim submitted** or **Cover offer** notification disappears if you hadn't read it yet. See [Open shifts and dropping a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/open-shifts).

## Shift trades

A hand-off or swap between two coworkers, for example *Olivia South → Emma North* with a **Hand-off** or **Swap** tag. A swap shows what each person gives up and takes back.

- Until the coworker accepts, the card shows **Waiting on …** and can't be approved yet.
- Once they accept — *Coworker accepted* — click **Approve** to move the shift(s), or **Decline**.

See [Handing off and swapping shifts](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/shift-trades).

## Overlap warnings

If approving would put someone on two overlapping shifts, the card says so in amber — who, and the shift they already have, such as *Emma North already works Sat, Oct 10 · 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM* — followed by *You can still approve this.* Mays never blocks the approval; you decide. If several people asked for the same shift, the card tells you approving one cancels the others.

## Time off and availability

The list continues with **Time off** — who, the category, the dates, their reason and an AI suggestion, with **Approve** and **Decline** — and **Availability**.

- **On the web**, each time-off card also shows when it was asked for and how many hours of that category the person already has approved this year. **Details** opens the whole request. An availability card shows the dates (or *Repeats every week*) and has **Approve** and **Decline**; click **Review** first to compare the hours they asked for with the ones in effect now, and add a decision note. **Open Time Off** and **Open Availability** take you to the full lists, including requests already decided. If more than 100 are waiting, the link says how many the inbox shows.
- **In the app**, tap an availability request to review and decide it.

![The Time off and Availability sections of the web Approval Inbox: Leo Martins · Sick, Oct 27, 2026 · 9am – 1pm, Dentist appointment, with Decline and Approve; Sofia Alvarez · Vacation, Nov 2 – 4, 2026, Family wedding in Tampa, AI: Approve; Jordan Ellis · Personal, Nov 13, 2026, Waiting for another manager; then Priya Raman · Temporary, Nov 9 – Nov 22, 2026 and Marcus Bell · Recurring, Repeats every week, each with Review, Decline and Approve](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__approvals-inbox__03-time-off-and-availability-web.98de750d27.png)

A manager's own time-off or availability request shows here too, with *Waiting for another manager* (in the app, *Waiting for another manager — this is your own request*): managers can't approve their own requests. On the web neither card has buttons; in the app time off has no buttons, and opening your own availability request shows **Waiting for another manager** instead of **Approve** and **Decline**. Another manager of your location or an admin decides it. An admin's own request has the usual **Approve** and **Decline** — and so does a manager's when an admin has turned on **Managers can approve their own requests** under **Scheduling → Settings → Approvals** (see [Scheduling settings](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/scheduling-settings)).

![Approvals in the iPhone app: Shift claims for Emma North with an overlap warning and for Olivia South, each with Decline and Approve, then Time off for Olivia South · Vacation, 2026-10-19 – 2026-10-21, Family wedding, AI: approve, and the start of Availability](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__approvals-inbox__02-approvals-in-the-app.c76b8842bc.png)

You can also decide them from their own pages, **Scheduling → Time Off** and **Scheduling → Availability** on the web — see [Requesting and approving time off](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/time-off-requests) and [Reviewing staff availability](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/manage-availability).

## What the count includes

The red number in the app counts time off and availability waiting for you (for a manager, not their own requests, unless managers may approve their own), shift claims, and trades the coworker has already accepted. Trades still waiting for the coworker and the shift pool aren't counted. The web has no count — open **Approvals** to check.

## Settings

Admins find approval settings under **Scheduling → Settings → Approvals**:

- **Require manager approval for availability changes** (on by default) — turn it off and availability takes effect as soon as it's sent.
- Shift claims, hand-offs, swaps and time off always wait for a manager, whatever the other two boxes say.

## Good to know

- **Who can approve:** managers for their locations, and admins — anyone whose role can build the schedule (**Build & manage native schedule**), custom roles included. In the app, the **Approvals** row shows for exactly those people, and they're the ones who get the notifications below.
- There's no decline reason for claims and trades, and no confirmation — a click decides.
- **If a card doesn't go away** after you click **Approve** on the web, reload the page. The shift may have started or changed hands in the meantime, and the web doesn't say so yet.
- Notifications tell you about new requests: **Shift claim submitted**, **Cover offer**, **Shift trade to approve** (once the coworker has accepted), **New time-off request**, **New availability request** — and **Shift claim withdrawn** when someone takes a claim back. Tapping one opens **Approvals** in the app.

## Related articles

- Scheduling: [Open shifts and dropping a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/open-shifts) — Pick up extra shifts from Open shifts in the app, or drop a shift so a coworker can take it — your manager approves every claim.
- Scheduling: [Finding cover for a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/find-cover) — Someone can't make their shift? Open it in the Mays app, see who's free, then assign it, offer it to the team, or ask the best matches if they can take it.
- Scheduling: [Handing off and swapping shifts](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/shift-trades) — Give a shift to a coworker or swap it for one of theirs from the app. Your coworker accepts, then a manager approves before anything changes.
- Scheduling: [Requesting and approving time off](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/time-off-requests) — Ask for days off in the app, pick a category like Vacation or Sick, and follow your request. Managers approve or decline on the web or in the app.
- Scheduling: [Setting your availability](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/set-your-availability) — Tell your manager which days and hours you can work — as a weekly pattern, or for a date range — from the Availability screen in the Mays app.
- Scheduling: [Building the weekly schedule](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/build-the-schedule) — Build a location's week on the web — add, move, copy and edit shifts, add open shifts, and keep an eye on time off, availability and labor cost while you work.
- Scheduling: [Publishing the schedule and notifying staff](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/publish-the-schedule) — Your team only sees a week once you publish it. Check the warnings, choose who gets notified, publish — and republish, undo or clear a week when plans change.
- Mobile apps: [Notifications](https://www.mays.app/help/mobile-apps/push-notifications) — Mays notifies you in the app about shifts, tasks, approvals and chat. See them all under the bell, choose which ones reach your phone, and fix notifications that don't arrive.

## Still need help?

Send us a support request and a real person on the Mays team will get back to you.

[Contact support](https://www.mays.app/contact?topic=support) · [Call +1 (561) 286-3939](tel:+15612863939)

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/approvals-inbox