# Open shifts and dropping a shift

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.

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

Want more hours? Claim a shift from **Open shifts** in the app. Can't make a shift? Drop it so a coworker can pick it up. Either way, a manager approves who ends up working it.

There are two kinds of shifts to pick up:

- An **Open shift** — a shift your manager published with nobody on it.
- A shift that's **Up for Grabs** — a coworker's shift they've dropped.

## Pick up a shift

1. In the app, go to the **Schedule** tab and tap **Open shifts**. The red number is how many you can claim.
2. Each card shows the day and time, the location, whose shift it is (or *Unassigned — nobody is covering this yet*), the position and the label.
3. Tap **Claim**. The card changes to **Sent — manager will approve**, with **Withdraw claim** on the left if you change your mind.

![Open shifts in the app: Emma North's Sun Oct 18 3:30 PM – 8:30 PM shift at South, marked Up for Grabs, showing Withdraw claim on the left and Sent — manager will approve on the right, and a Mon Oct 19 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM open shift at South with a Claim button](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__open-shifts__01-open-shifts.58fc121b12.png)

**Changed your mind?** Tap **Withdraw claim**. The app asks *Withdraw your claim for the Sun, Oct 18 shift?* — tap **Withdraw** to take it back, or **Keep claim**. Your managers get **Shift claim withdrawn**, and the card shows **Claim** again if you want it after all.

![The confirmation in the app: Withdraw your claim for the Sun, Oct 18 shift? Your manager will be told you withdrew it, with Keep claim and Withdraw buttons](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__open-shifts__02-withdraw-claim.db5266a225.png)

You'll get **Shift claim approved** or **Shift claim declined** when your manager decides. If someone else gets it, you'll hear **Shift no longer available**.

- You can claim any open or up-for-grabs shift at the locations you work at, as long as it hasn't started. Positions don't limit what you can claim.
- The app doesn't warn you if a shift overlaps one you already have — your manager sees that when deciding.
- Several people can claim the same shift; the manager picks one and the others are declined.
- A shift you claimed keeps showing **Sent — manager will approve** until your manager decides, even after you leave the screen. (In older versions of the app it shows **Claim** again — your claim is still waiting, so don't claim it twice; update the Mays app.)

## Drop a shift

1. On the **Schedule** tab, find the shift under **Upcoming shifts** and tap **Drop shift**.
2. Confirm with **Put up for grabs**.
3. The shift now says *Up for grabs — waiting for a coworker to claim it*, and coworkers get a **Shift up for grabs** notification.

You can drop a shift until it starts (*That shift has already started — it can no longer be dropped.*). You can't drop a shift you've offered to a coworker, or one a coworker has asked for in a swap — cancel or answer that first.

**It's still your shift until a manager approves someone's claim.** When that happens you get **Your shift was picked up** and it leaves your schedule. If nobody takes it before it starts, it stays yours.

To cancel, tap **Take it back** on the shift.

Want to give it to someone specific instead? Use **Hand off** — see [Handing off and swapping shifts](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/shift-trades).

## For managers

**Offer a shift:** publish an open shift — in the **Open shifts** row of the schedule, or with **Open shift (unassigned)** as the employee. When you publish a week with open shifts, everyone at the location who can be scheduled is told. See [Building the weekly schedule](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/build-the-schedule).

**Approve claims:** you get **Shift claim submitted** (*Emma North claimed the open Sat, Oct 10 shift.*, or *… claimed Owen South's Sat, Oct 10 shift.* for a dropped one). Claims wait in the approvals inbox — **Scheduling → Approvals** on the web, **Schedule → Approvals** in the app — under **Shift claims**. If the person withdraws their claim before you decide, it leaves Approvals and you get **Shift claim withdrawn** (*Olivia South withdrew their claim for Emma North's Sun, Oct 18 shift.*); their **Shift claim submitted** notification is removed if you hadn't opened it yet. Tap **Approve** or **Decline**. Approving gives the shift to that person, declines everyone else's claim and tells the person who dropped it. If the claimant already works at that time, the card says so (*… already works …*) — you can still approve. See [The approvals inbox](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/approvals-inbox).

**Take a dropped shift off the board:** under **Shift pool**, click **Recall** (web) or tap **Take it back** (app). It goes back to its owner, who gets **Your shift is back**, and anyone who claimed it is told.

In the app you can also offer someone's shift yourself: open the shift in **Manage schedule** (iPhone) or **Manager Schedule** (Android), tap **Find cover**, then **Put in pool** — see [Finding cover for a shift](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/find-cover). Not once the shift has started, and not while it's in a hand-off or swap that's waiting on a decision.

## Good to know

- **Claims always need a manager.** There's no automatic approval.
- **Time off and dropped shifts:** if someone's time off is approved for a day they'd put up for grabs, the shift is taken off the board and stays on their schedule — find cover or reassign it yourself.
- **Shifts leave the Shift pool when they start.** Nobody can claim a shift that has started, so an open shift nobody took drops off the list then. It's still on the schedule — delete it there if you don't need it.
- **Upcoming shifts** covers the next 3 weeks, so you can drop a shift up to 3 weeks out.
- Employees drop and claim shifts in the app only; the web is for managers.
- Turn these notifications on or off under **Profile → Notifications → Shift pool & trades** — see [Notifications](https://www.mays.app/help/mobile-apps/push-notifications).

## Related articles

- 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: [Your schedule in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/my-schedule-on-mobile) — The Schedule tab in the Mays app shows your upcoming shifts, lets you confirm them, and opens open shifts, shift offers, time off, availability, your hours and the team schedule.
- 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: [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.
- 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.
- 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.

## 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/open-shifts