A shift swap app for hourly teams, with rules that hold
When someone can’t work a shift, the fix usually happens in a group text and never reaches the schedule. Smalti’s open shift marketplace lets staff give away or swap shifts from their phone, checks every trade against the rules you set, and updates both schedules together.
iPhone and Android apps · Browser console for managers · Hosted for you or on your own server
How a shift swap works in Smalti
Everything happens in the Smalti app on iPhone or Android, or in a browser at usesmalti.com/app.
Post the shift
A member who can’t work a shift posts it to the marketplace as a give-away, or as a swap for one of a coworker’s shifts.
Eligible coworkers respond
Only people who could legitimately work it see it as available: they take the give-away, or offer one of their own shifts in exchange.
Smalti checks the trade
Qualification for the position, working at that location, being free at that time, and your trade window — checked on every trade.
Both schedules update
The trade settles instantly, or after a manager approves it if you require that. Both schedules change together, and the trade goes into the history.
Who can take a shift
A shift swap app is only useful if the swaps it allows are ones you’d have approved anyway. Smalti applies the same rules to a trade as to a manager’s assignment.
- Qualified for the position. Each person carries the positions they’re cleared for; nobody can take a shift in a position they aren’t.
- Works at that location. People only trade into shifts at locations they belong to.
- Free at that time. A trade that would give someone two overlapping shifts is refused — even across time zones. How double-bookings are stopped.
- Inside your trade window. You set how close to a shift a trade can happen, and how many shifts one person can have posted at once.
- Overtime flagged first. Picking up or trading a shift that would take someone past 40 hours tells their manager — or, if you choose, is refused.
Instant trades or manager approval — your choice
Trades settle instantly by default, because every one has already passed the checks above. If you’d rather see them first, turn on manager approval for the whole organization, or only for particular locations or positions — for example, approval for one busy location while others trade freely.
Waiting trades show up in the manager console’s Today view alongside time-off requests and time corrections, so there’s one list of decisions rather than a stream of texts.
Swaps that reach the schedule, and a record of who agreed to what
When a swap is agreed in a group chat, the schedule is wrong until someone remembers to update it — and when two people both think they’ve covered the same shift, nobody finds out until the day. In Smalti the trade is the schedule change. Even two people claiming the same shift in the same second can’t both get it: one gets it, the other is told why not.
Every trade and approval is kept with who made it and when, so “who gave away Saturday?” has an answer. Team messaging is built in too — each position at a location has its own group, with no phone numbers shared.
Smalti isn’t a standalone swap app that individual workers download and set up among themselves. Accounts are issued by the employer, and swaps happen inside the schedule your organization runs. It is part of a full scheduling system with a time clock — see restaurants, clinics and care and retail and gyms.
Shift swap questions
Do managers have to approve every shift swap?
No. Trades settle instantly by default, and Smalti checks each one: the person taking the shift must be qualified for the position, work at that location, be free at that time and be within your trade window. You can turn on manager approval instead — for the whole organization, or for particular locations and positions.
What happens if two people grab the same open shift at once?
Only one of them gets it. The overlap and assignment rules are checked again at the moment the schedule is saved, so two people claiming the same shift in the same instant can’t both succeed — the other is told why not.
Can an employee download Smalti and start swapping shifts on their own?
No. Staff accounts come from the employer: staff sign in with the invitation their organization sends them and can’t create an account on their own. The business itself can start a free 30-day trial.
Is there a record of who swapped which shift?
Yes. Trades, approvals, edits to recorded time and changes to your rules are kept with who made them and when.
More about Smalti
Already use Smalti at work?
Staff accounts come from your employer — sign in with the invitation they sent you; there’s no sign-up in the app. Run the team? Start a free trial for your business.
Bring Smalti’s shift marketplace to your team
Tell us how many people you schedule, how swaps happen today, and what goes wrong — we’ll show you Smalti against your own week.
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