Tech Tip :The Trades Feature in Aladtec

Using the Trades feature in the Aladtec system allows employees the ability to find someone else to take a shift if they are unable to work. Giving members the ability to trade shifts empowers them to manage their schedule while administrators have an easy to use tracking system at their fingertips. In this article we will examine the options available and discuss how best to configure the system to suit your needs.

 

Configuring Trades

Trades can be configured under the Trades section in the Setup menu. 

There are 2 trade types in the Aladtec System that handle exchanging shifts between members: Swaps & Giveaways. The system can be configured to allow Swaps, Giveaways, both or neither.

Choosing a Trade Type
Swaps: Swapping requires members to offer a shift in return when they accept a shift from another person. Swaps can be configured to restrict what types and times of shifts are exchanged. For example, one configuration option would be the requirement that swapped shifts must be on the same schedule and within the same pay period. 

Giveaways: A giveaway allows members the ability to offer a shift they are scheduled to work to all qualified employees and not receive one in return.

Both: When both Swaps & Giveaways are selected, the member initiating the trade chooses if they would like to receive a shift in return or not by selecting Swap or Giveaway.

Trade Configuration Options
Notifications:  Monitor member trades by setting the option to notify administrators via email and text message when a trade occurs. The notification is sent to the administrator based on the administrator’s personal setting in the ‘My Info’ page.

Trade approval method:  Choose to have trades automatically complete or require an administrator to approve or deny all trades before changes are made to the schedule.

Allow trading of Unpublished shifts:  If members are scheduled for a future date that is unpublished, they can be restricted or allowed to trade the shift.

Swapped Shifts must be repaid within:  Members can be restricted to only trade shifts that occur within the same: pay period, day, month, year, or custom time range.

Swapped shifts must both occur on:  Restrict member to only trade between the same schedule, position or shift time.

Initiating a Trade

 

Step 1 - Offering a Shift:  Members or administrators can initiate a trade from the ‘My Schedule’ or ‘Trades’ page.  It’s most commonly done from the ‘My Schedule’ page so let’s walk through an example of that.

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My Schedule Page

Step 2 - Selecting Trade Options:  Click a blue shift and and select ‘Request Trade’.
This displays the ‘Trade Details’ page allowing multiple options listed below.

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Trade Details Pop-up

• Trade Type:  If both swaps and giveaways are enabled, the member may select the appropriate type. If a member does not wish to receive a shift in return, select Giveaway. If Swap is selected, a member must offer a shift back in order to complete the trade.
• Times:  If the member would like to trade only a portion of the shift, they may specify the times by clicking ‘Change’ next to ‘Times’.
• Recipients:  If the member would only like to offer a shift to certain individuals, they can select their name from a list by clicking ‘Change’ next to ‘Recipients’.
• Additional Note for Recipients:  A member can send a note along with the request if additional detail is required.
• Additional note for Admins:  Members may include a note that only the administrators can see.

Accepting a Trade

Step 1 - Eligible Members are Notified:  Once a trade has been offered, notifications are sent to members based on their messaging options located on their ‘My Info’ page. Member can click a link from the email to access the system and take the shift.

Step 2 - Taking the Shift:  Eligible members can view the trade details and accept a trade by going to their ‘My Schedule’ page, and clicking on the offered trade.

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Clicking on a trade from the My Schedule page

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Trade request pop-up to take the shift

Step 3 - Taking the Shift if Swaps are Enabled:  If swaps are enabled, recipients need to select a shift to offer back to the member who initiated the trade. You can offer multiple shifts in return by checking the box ‘Offer Additional Shifts for Swap’, this allows the initiator of the swap the ability to choose a shift from those offered.

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Trade Request page - Offering a shift in return

Step 4 - Accepting the Offered Shift if Swaps are Enabled:  Once a shift has been offered back to the person who initiated the trade, they will be notified and can click the pending offer from the ‘My Schedule’ page to accept the shift exchange.

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My Schedule Page - Accepting a Trade

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Confirm Swap - Selecting the shift in return

Finalizing a Trade

 

Approving the Trade (if approval is required):  Trades can be configured to automatically approve or require an administrator to approve or deny the request. Many of the pages in the system allow administrators to process requests; however, most commonly used is the ‘Dashboard’ on the home page. Click on the link shown (screenshot below) in the dashboard to process the request.

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Home Page - Processing a trade from the dashboard

Conclusion

 

Activating trades in your system provides members control over their schedule while offering administrators the final say if preferred. Giving your members the responsibility and the capability of managing their own schedule reduces administrative workloads and is one of the greatest benefits of using Aladtec. This saves countless hours with you as the "middle man" fielding phone calls, texts and emails to deal with trades, swaps and giveaways.

If you have any questions on how to make trades work effectively with your system please give us a call at 888-749-5550 or email support@aladtec.com.