# Setting 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.

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

Let your manager know when you can and can't work. Your availability shows on the schedule while they build it, so they can plan around it.

You set it in the app under **Schedule → Availability**. There are two kinds:

- **Recurring** — your normal week, every week. A new recurring pattern replaces the old one.
- **Temporary** — a different week pattern for a date range (say, the summer), after which your recurring pattern comes back by itself. Your location has to allow it; if it doesn't, you'll only see **Recurring**.

Days you don't change count as available all day.

## Send your availability

1. Go to **Schedule → Availability** and tap **+**.
2. Next to **Type**, choose **Recurring** or **Temporary**. For **Temporary**, pick the **From** and **To** dates.
3. Tap a day in the strip.
4. Set its **Status**: **Available** or **Not available**.
5. Leave **Full Day** on for the whole day, or turn it off and pick the times:
   - **Available** with times — you can only work between them (*Available from* 9am – 5pm).
   - **Not available** with times — you can't work between them, but the rest of the day is open.
6. If your company asks for one, pick a **Reason** for a day you're not available. Add **Comments** if you like.
7. Repeat for the other days — a red dot marks each day you've changed.
8. Tap **Save**.

![The Availability editor on iPhone: Type Recurring, the Mon–Sun day strip with Sat selected and marked with a red dot, Status Not available, Full Day on, and the comment Weekend classes this term, with Save at the top](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__set-your-availability__01-availability-editor.44bd86d04f.png)

## Waiting for approval

Your request shows as **PENDING** in the list, with a note at the top: *Pending manager approval. Your current availability stays in effect until decided.* You'll get **Availability approved** or **Availability changes declined** when your manager decides. If your company doesn't ask managers to approve availability, it takes effect straight away.

![The Availability screen with the pending note, Edit and Cancel request buttons, and Olivia South's Recurring request marked PENDING](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__set-your-availability__02-pending-request.d1581b8e42.png)

While it's pending you can:

- **Cancel request** — withdraws it (it shows **CANCELLED**). There's no confirmation.
- **Edit** — make changes and **Save**. Your new request replaces the pending one. **Edit** starts from what you sent. (On older Android versions it starts from your approved availability — update the Mays app, or set every day again.) **Edit** always opens a recurring pattern — to change a pending temporary request, cancel it and send a new one.

Tap any request in the list to see it: **Requested** shows what you asked for, **Current** what's in effect this week, and a decided request shows who decided and their note.

## Good to know

- **Sending a new one** while an older recurring request is pending cancels the older one. A new temporary request cancels a pending temporary one for overlapping dates.
- **Clearing your limits:** to go back to available every day, set each day to **Available** with **Full Day** on and tap **Save**. The app only refuses a week that's exactly what you already have (*Nothing to submit yet — change at least one day.*). (Older versions of the app also need a comment on one day — update the Mays app.)
- **Times** must start and end on the same day; an overnight range like 10pm – 2am isn't accepted.
- **Reasons:** if your company has a reason list, every **Not available** day needs one, and some reasons also need a comment. The app tells you when you tap **Save**.
- **For a single day off**, send a time-off request instead — see [Requesting and approving time off](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/time-off-requests).
- **Your manager** sees your availability on the schedule grid and gets a warning before publishing a shift that clashes with it — but they can still schedule you. Approved availability doesn't change shifts already on the schedule.
- The day strip starts on your location's first day of the week. (Older versions of the app always start on Monday — update the Mays app.)

## For managers

Requests arrive in **Approvals** (under **Availability**) — **Schedule → Approvals** in the app, where you tap one to review it, and **Scheduling → Approvals** on the web. The web's **Scheduling → Availability** lists every request and also has a **Glance View** of everyone's week, a **Reasons** tab where admins set up the reason list, and **Add availability** to enter it for someone. See [The approvals inbox](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/approvals-inbox).

A manager's own availability goes to another manager of their location or an admin — managers can't approve their own (it shows **Waiting for another manager**). Admins can approve their own. See [Reviewing staff availability](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/manage-availability).

Admins choose whether availability needs approval (**Scheduling → Settings → Approvals → Require manager approval for availability changes**, on by default), and each location can turn **Temporary availability** off on its **Scheduling** tab — see [Setting up scheduling](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/set-up-scheduling).

## Related articles

- 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: [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: [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: [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.
- 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/set-your-availability