# Finding cover for a shift

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.

For: Managers, Admins, Employees · On: iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Scheduling](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling) · Last updated October 16, 2026 · Mays Team

When someone can't make their shift, open it in the Mays app to see who's free. Then assign it to one person, offer it to the whole team, or ask the best matches if they can take it.

Finding cover is in the manager part of the app — the web has no **Find cover** screen. On the web, move the shift to someone else on the schedule grid or drag it to **Open shifts** (see [Building the weekly schedule](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/build-the-schedule)).

## Open Find cover

1. In the app, go to **Schedule → Manage schedule** (iPhone) or **Schedule → Manager Schedule** (Android). See [Managing the schedule from your phone](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/manage-schedule-on-mobile).
2. Tap the shift.
3. Under **Cover**, tap **Find cover**.

The button shows only on a published shift that has someone on it and hasn't started yet — not on a draft. For an open shift, just pick someone as the **Employee**. (Older versions of the app also show it on drafts, where it doesn't work — update the Mays app.)

![Find cover on iPhone for Tue, Oct 6, 2pm–10pm, with the Put in pool and AI outreach buttons, and Team availability listing Emma North — 17.5h this week, Available — and Olivia South greyed out with Already works 6:30am–2:30pm · 37.5h this week and Available (no availability set)](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__find-cover__01-find-cover.bfdf0888de.png)

## Who's free

The list (**Team availability** on iPhone, **Candidates** on Android) has everyone on the location's schedule except the person on the shift, best matches first:

| You see | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Available** | Their approved availability covers the shift. |
| **Partial: 9am – 3pm** or **Not available 3pm – 9:30pm** | They're only free for part of the day. iPhone marks whether the shift fits; Android adds *fits* or *doesn't fit*. |
| **Available (no availability set)** | They haven't told you when they can work. |
| **Unavailable** | Their availability says they can't work that day. |
| **Already works …** | They have another shift at that time. |
| **Time off** | They have approved time off that day. |
| **32h this week** | Their scheduled hours in the location's schedule week, drafts included, at every location. |

People who already work at that time or are off are greyed out and can't be picked. Pending availability and pending time off don't count.

## Three ways to cover it

**Assign it to someone.** Tap a person and confirm (**Assign to …** on iPhone, **Assign** on Android). If the week is already published, the change waits until you publish it — then the person gets **New shift assigned** and the original person gets **Shift reassigned**. (Older Android versions say they'll be scheduled "right away" — they're not, until you publish; update the Mays app.)

**Put in pool.** Tap **Put in pool** and confirm. The shift is marked **Up for grabs** and everyone else on the location's schedule gets **Shift up for grabs**; the person on it gets **Your shift was offered for cover**. It stays their shift until you approve someone's claim in **Approvals** — see [Open shifts and dropping a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/open-shifts). To undo it, open the shift and tap **Remove from shift pool**. You can't put a shift in the pool once it has started, or while it's in a hand-off or swap waiting on a decision (*This shift has a hand-off or swap waiting on a decision. Decline it in Approvals, or ask them to cancel it, first.*).

**AI outreach.** Tap **AI outreach**, then **Start outreach** (iPhone) or **Send outreach** (Android). Mays picks up to five people on the location's schedule who are free then — not already working, not off, not unavailable — favouring those who have covered and confirmed shifts before and rarely no-show. It never asks you or the person whose shift it is. Each gets a push, **Can you cover a shift?** (*Sat, Oct 10 8am at South needs cover — tap to answer.*) It doesn't use AI credits.

## What your team sees

Tapping **Can you cover a shift?** opens **Cover request**: the day and time, whose shift it is, the position, the location and the label, plus who else is **Working that day**. They tap **Yes, I can** or **No**, and can change their answer until the shift starts.

![The Cover request screen on iPhone: Can you cover this shift? Saturday, Oct 10, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Emma North's shift, Barista, South, Weekend opener; Working that day lists Emma North with a Needs cover badge, an open Cashier shift and Owen South; and the No and Yes, I can buttons](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__find-cover__02-cover-request.04bcd00f35.png)

**Answers come to you in Approvals.** When someone taps **Yes, I can**, you and the location's other managers and admins get **Cover offer** (*Olivia South can cover Emma North's Sat, Oct 10 8am–4pm shift. Approve it in Approvals.*), and their answer waits in **Approvals** under **Shift claims**, marked **Cover request** — see [The approvals inbox](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/approvals-inbox). Tap **Approve** to give them the shift: they get **Shift claim approved**, the person on it gets **Your shift was picked up**, and anyone else who said yes gets **Shift no longer available**. If they tap **No** before you decide, their answer leaves Approvals and you get **Shift claim withdrawn**. (Older versions of the app mark the card **Open shift** — update the Mays app.)

## Good to know

- **Publish first.** Find cover works on published shifts; on a draft, AI outreach says *Publish this shift before finding cover.*
- **On an older iPhone app,** assigning puts back the shift's published time and position — update the Mays app, or assign from the shift's **Employee** field.
- **On an older Android app,** AI outreach can go out twice — the button stays on. Update the Mays app.
- **Nothing is checked when you assign.** Mays greys out clashes in the list, but it doesn't stop you from scheduling someone who's unavailable — staffing is your call.
- Staff can turn these pushes off under **Profile → Notifications → Shift pool & trades** — see [Notifications](https://www.mays.app/help/mobile-apps/push-notifications).
- **Who can do this:** managers for their own locations, and admins. Scheduling is part of the **Pro** plan.

## Related articles

- Scheduling: [Managing the schedule from your phone](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/manage-schedule-on-mobile) — Check who's working today, see who's on the clock, and add, change, cover and publish shifts from the Schedule tab of the Mays app.
- 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: [The approvals inbox](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/approvals-inbox) — One place for everything your team is waiting on you for — shift claims, trades, the shift pool, time off and availability.
- 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: [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: [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.
- 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/find-cover