🟡 This feature is currently limited to select Planday organisations or regions, with full availability gradually extending to all.
🔓 Access level in Planday: Administrator, Schedule manager
🌐 Subscription plan: Any
⏱️ Reading time: 3 min
For employees, see How to set your work availability in Planday.
What is Intelligent shift assignment
Intelligent shift assignment helps you fill open shifts faster by recommending the most suitable employee directly in the shift window.
When creating a new shift or editing an existing one, first specify the time and the required group or position. The employee selection list will then automatically prioritise the best-fit employee, who will appear at the top.
This feature builds on scheduling intelligence to help you assign shifts more efficiently and confidently, while supporting compliance and fair distribution of hours.
How shift assignment suggestions are made
Filtering the right staff - Only employees who meet the required department, employee group, and skill requirements are shown.
Smart ranking - Eligible employees are ranked based on availability, contracted hours, working time rules, skills and approved leave.
Clear explanations - Each employee includes a short note to explain the recommendation.
Full control - You can always override the suggestion and assign the shift to any eligible employee.
Shift assignment status explained
The following statuses indicate an employee's eligibility and potential conflicts for a shift assignment:
🟢 Available with xx hours remaining: Indicates the employee is ready to be scheduled, such as:
The employee has indicated a positive availability to work
They have remaining contracted hours that can be filled
They belong to the primary department associated with the shift
They match the skills criteria of the shift
🟠 Caution: Signals a potential issue, such as:
The hours breaking a scheduling rule (e.g., "Will exceed contract rules by 2h").
The employee has indicated they are not available for the shift.
🔴 Critical conflict: Indicates a severe conflict, such as:
"Overlapping shift"
"Absent" when the employee is on an approved holiday or leave.
"Working time rules conflict"
Exceeding the contracted hours by a specific amount (e.g., "Will exceed contract by xx hours").
FAQs
How are employees marked available?
How are employees marked available?
Updated: Only employees who have explicitly marked their availability as Available will appear in the suggestion list.
How is the list sorted?
How is the list sorted?
Employees are ranked based on:
Employees who have registered their availability are generally ranked higher than those who have not.
I can’t see assignment suggestions, even though availability has been set
I can’t see assignment suggestions, even though availability has been set
There may be a few reasons:
The feature may not yet be available in your region.
When creating an open shift, make sure you:
Select an employee group
Set the shift start and end time
The system needs this information to generate assignment suggestions.
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