# Publishing the schedule and notifying staff

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.

For: Managers, Admins · On: Web, iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Scheduling](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling) · Last updated October 5, 2026 · Mays Team

Everything you build is a draft until you publish. Publishing puts the week in your team's app and calendars and tells the people whose shifts changed.

**Drafts are invisible to your team.** Until you publish, a new shift doesn't appear in anyone's **Schedule** tab, the **Team schedule**, the **Open shifts** list or their calendar feeds. Changes to a published shift — a new time, a different person, a deletion — stay behind the scenes too: staff keep seeing the published version.

![The South schedule with draft shifts outlined in dashes and the amber banner 2 scheduling conflicts — review before publishing, expanded to show TIME OFF: Owen South is on approved personal time-off on 2026-10-08 and UNAVAIL: Emma North is marked unavailable on 2026-10-11](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__publish-the-schedule__01-drafts-and-warnings.65f3baf011.png)

## Check the warnings

Above the grid, an amber banner counts anything worth a second look: **… scheduling conflicts — review before publishing**. Click **Fix warnings** to see the list:

| Tag | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **TIME OFF** | The person has approved time off that day. |
| **UNAVAIL** | The shift falls when the person said they aren't available, or outside the hours they are. |
| **BREAK** | A long shift doesn't leave room for a required meal break. Only at locations with break warnings turned on — see below. |
| **OVERLAP** | The person is on another shift at the same time — here or at another location, which the warning names. |
| **PREMIUM** | Someone's day would earn a spread-of-hours or split-shift premium under the location's rules, with what it costs. A second tag names who sets the rule, for example **New York**. Only where Labor law compliance's **Premiums** is on — see [Labor & compliance](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance). |
| **FOOD SAFETY** | For part of a day, nobody on shift has a valid food handler card or food manager certificate, where the state asks for a certified person on every shift (Hawaii, the District of Columbia). Only where Labor law compliance's **Food safety certificates** is on — see [Food safety certificates](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/food-safety-certificates). |
| **MINOR** | Someone under 18 would break a work rule for minors — hours, time of day, school hours or the position's minimum age. A second tag names the law (**Federal**, **Florida** …). Only where Labor law compliance's **Minors (under 18)** is on, and only people who manage the schedule see it. See [Scheduling minors](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/scheduling-minors). |

Warnings never stop you from publishing; they're there so you can fix things first if you want to. Find the shift on the grid — it has the same red **Time off**, **Unavailable**, **Overlaps** or **Minor rule** mark.

**Break warnings** appear when the location's **Labor & compliance** card (**Locations & Users → Locations →** the location **→ Scheduling**) has **Break rules** set (**California break rules**, offered at California locations) and **Warn at publish when a shift can't fit its breaks** is on. See [Labor & compliance (per location)](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance).

## Publish the week

1. In **Week** view, open the week you want to publish.
2. Click **Publish**.
3. The **Publish schedule** window shows what will change, for example *Pending changes: 16 new · 0 edited · 0 removed.*
4. Choose who hears about it:
   - **Notify only affected people (recommended)** — people whose shifts were added, changed or removed.
   - **Notify everyone at this location** — the same, plus a *Schedule published* notification to everyone else on the schedule.
5. Click **Publish**. A green message confirms it, for example *Published 16 new, 0 updated, 0 removed.*

![The Publish schedule window with Pending changes: 16 new · 0 edited · 0 removed, the Notify only affected people (recommended) option selected, Notify everyone at this location below it, and the Cancel and Publish buttons](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__publish-the-schedule__02-publish-dialog.edb4772820.png)

Publishing covers the **whole week at this location** — every department, whatever view or filter you're using. If you publish from **Month** view, it publishes the last week you had open in Week view, so switch to Week view first.

## Who gets told what

| Who | What they get |
| --- | --- |
| People with new shifts | A **Your schedule is ready** notification. |
| Someone whose shift moved to another day or time, or changed position | **Shift updated**. |
| Someone who lost a shift | **Shift removed** (or **Shifts removed** for several). |
| Someone given a shift that was someone else's | **New shift assigned**; the previous person gets **Shift reassigned**. |
| Everyone who can be scheduled, when the week has open shifts | **Open shifts available** — they can claim one in the app. |
| The location's other managers | A **Schedule updated** summary: how many shifts were added, changed and removed. |

Everyone whose shifts were added, changed or removed also gets an email with their shifts for the week (if they have an email address in Mays), whichever option you choose. Changing only a shift's break, label or notes publishes silently. Notifications follow each person's notification settings — see [Notifications](https://www.mays.app/help/mobile-apps/push-notifications).

With **Notify everyone at this location**, you can also publish a week with no changes to send everyone a reminder that the schedule is out.

## Changes after publishing

Edit the week as usual — changed shifts show *edited*, deleted ones *removed* — and click **Publish** again. Only the people affected by the new changes are told. If the location uses [shift confirmations](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/shift-confirmations), anyone whose time, position or shift changed needs to confirm again.

To undo, open the wrench menu (**Schedule tools**):

- **Revert** throws away every unpublished change to the week — new drafts, edits and deletions — and puts it back the way it was last published. Nobody is notified.
- **Clear** removes every shift from the week. Published shifts are marked *removed* and disappear for staff when you publish. **Drafts are deleted straight away** and Revert can't bring them back.

There's no "unpublish". To take a shift away from your team, delete it and publish.

## Publish from your phone

On iPhone go to **Schedule → Manage schedule**; on Android, **Schedule → Manager Schedule**. When the week has unpublished changes, a **Publish … change(s)** button appears. Tap it and choose **Notify only affected people** or **Notify everyone at this branch**. The app shows no warnings, and **Revert** and **Clear** are on the web only.

## Good to know

- **Who can publish:** admins and managers for their locations — anyone whose role can build the schedule.
- **If nothing happens** when you click **Publish** on the web, the week wasn't published. Reload the page; if it still fails, your role may not be allowed to publish at this location.
- The **Your schedule is ready** notification asks people to confirm their shifts only at locations that use shift confirmations.
- Published shifts show in your team's app right away — see [Your schedule in the app](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/my-schedule-on-mobile) — and in their calendar apps at the next refresh — see [Calendar sync](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/calendar-sync).

## Related articles

- 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: [Setting up scheduling](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/set-up-scheduling) — Get a location ready to schedule in Mays — choose Mays or 7shifts as its schedule, set the day its week starts, and pick who appears on the schedule.
- 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: [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.
- 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: [Calendar sync — see your Mays schedule in your own calendar](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/calendar-sync) — Subscribe to your shifts, the full schedule or events from Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook — and what to do when they don't refresh.
- Scheduling: [Shift confirmations](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/shift-confirmations) — Staff confirm each published shift in the Mays app, managers see who has confirmed, and anyone who hasn't gets a reminder when the shift is close.
- Time clock: [Labor & compliance (per location)](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance) — Where: Locations & Users → Locations → a location → Scheduling tab → Labor & compliance card.
- Scheduling: [Scheduling minors](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/scheduling-minors) — Turn on work rules for minors at a location (part of Labor law compliance), and Mays checks the hours and times of anyone under 18 against federal and state law. You get warnings on the schedule, and the auto-scheduler stays inside the limits. Nothing is ever blocked.
- Team & roles: [Food safety certificates](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/food-safety-certificates) — Keep food handler cards and food protection manager certificates on file with their expiry dates, see who is missing one or due at each location, and get reminders before a card expires.

## 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/publish-the-schedule