Swapping shifts with a colleague

Trade or hand over a shift directly with a colleague on a published roster — useful for last-minute plans, study days, or emergencies.

When something comes up at short notice and you can’t make your shift, you don’t need to chase an admin. Open the roster, pick a colleague, and confirm — the change is live the moment you tap Confirm.

Before you start

• The roster needs to be Published. Drafts can’t be swapped on.
• You need to be signed in to your PlanMyRounds account. If you’ve opened a shared public link, you’ll be prompted to log in first.

Start a swap

1. Open the roster

   Find the roster under Duty Plans, or open the public share link your team uses.

2. Find your shift

   Locate the shift you want to give up on the calendar.

3. Tap the swap icon

   Select the swap icon on your shift assignment. The Swap Duties panel opens, showing your shift date and shift type.

4. Let it find options

   PlanMyRounds searches for colleagues who are available and eligible. This takes a couple of seconds.

Choose a swap partner

The panel groups options by colleague. For each colleague you may see:

• Swap options — a specific date and shift they’re already working, which you would take in return. These are ranked by best match.
• Transfer option — the colleague takes your shift with nothing in return (single-arrow icon). Appears when they have a free slot on your shift’s date.

PlanMyRounds ranks options by:

• Scheduling fairness — how it affects workload across the team.
• Hours balance — keeping monthly hours roughly even.
• Preference compatibility — respecting shifts-to-avoid and other preferences.

Pick the option that works best for you.

If no colleagues are available, the panel explains why. The most common reasons: every other doctor already has a duty on those dates, or a swap would break a rest rule.

Confirm

After selecting an option, a confirmation panel shows exactly what changes — for you and your colleague. Review it and select Confirm.

The roster updates instantly and both of you receive a notification.

Swaps are re-validated at the moment you confirm, not just when the options load. If the roster has changed in the last few seconds (for example, an admin edited it), you may be asked to refresh and try again.

Next steps

How swaps are confirmed

Understand the auto-confirmation flow and the safety checks behind it.

Viewing swaps on a roster

See your updated assignment after a swap goes through.