Vacant Shifts – S4labour

What Are Vacant Shifts?

Vacant shifts allow managers to add unfilled shifts to the rota, showing only the job role (not a named employee). This makes it easy to see where cover is needed and helps with rota planning before all shifts are assigned.

Key Points:

Vacant shifts can be added to any rota.
They display only the job role, not an employee name.
Vacant shifts can be edited, moved, or deleted like any other shift.
When you assign an employee to a vacant shift, it becomes a normal shift.

How to Use Vacant Shifts

Go to your site’s rota view.
In the bottom left of the screen, select Add Vacant.
Choose the job role and enter the start and end times.
Select Save.
The shift will appear in the rota showing only the job role.

Why Use Vacant Shifts?

Clearly see where cover is required.
Plan rotas without needing to use dummy employees.
Build your rota even if you don’t yet know who will work each shift.

Vacant Shift Costing (Optional Feature)

Vacant Shift Costing is an additional feature that shows the estimated cost of each vacant shift directly on the rota. This helps managers forecast labour spend before all shifts are filled.

Note: Vacant Shift Costing must be activated for each site. If you do not see estimated costs for vacant shifts, please contact Customer Success to enable this feature.

How Vacant Shift Costing Works (If Enabled)

Each vacant shift displays an estimated cost based on National Minimum Wage (NMW) plus employer National Insurance (NI) and Holiday Accrual.
When an employee is assigned, the shift cost updates to reflect their actual pay rate.
When a rota is locked, any remaining vacant shifts and their forecasted costs are removed so the final total reflects only worked shifts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What rate is used for the vacant shift cost?
A: If enabled, vacant shifts use the National Minimum Wage plus NI and Holiday Accrual for cost estimates.

Q: Does this change how I build rotas?
A: No. Rotas are built the same way, but vacant shifts can now display estimated costs if the feature is enabled.

Q: What happens when I fill a vacant shift?
A: The estimated cost is replaced with the employee’s actual pay rate.

Q: I can’t see the cost for vacant shifts. How do I get this activated?
A: Contact our Customer Success team to enable Vacant Shift Costing for your site.