Shift Filling

Fill open shifts without working the phone tree

Frekyl identifies eligible employees, sends shift offers by SMS or automated IVR, captures responses, applies your configured award rules, and confirms coverage — without supervisors manually chasing the roster.

SMS & IVR Rules-based eligibility Configurable award logic
A plant operator receives a Frekyl text offering an open shift, replies with the claim code, and the shift is awarded and confirmed as covered seven minutes later
The manual way

An open shift shouldn’t start  hours of manual phone calls

The vacancy is the easy part. What follows it is a sequence of manual steps, each one waiting on the last.

A vacancy appears
A call-off, a no-show, or a shift that was never covered in the first place.
08:40
Someone checks the roster
Who is on, who is off, who is already at hours — usually in a spreadsheet or a printout.
Manual
Eligibility gets worked out by hand
Qualifications, rest rules, overtime limits and agreement order, against memory and a list.
Risk
Calls and texts go out one at a time
Down the list, individually, hoping the right person picks up early rather than late.
Slow
Voicemails are left
Half the list does not answer. Nobody knows yet who will and who will not.
Waiting
Replies arrive out of order
Someone says yes an hour after someone else did, and now there is a decision to defend.
Disputed
The shift might be awarded
Often to whoever answered, rather than whoever the agreement says should have had it.
Late
How it works

From open shift to confirmed coverage

One continuous automated workflow. The rules are yours; the calling, chasing and record-keeping stop being anyone’s job.

1
Open shift identified
A shift enters the workflow directly, or follows an absence reported through Frekyl.
Forklift Operator
Dock 4 · 14:00–22:00
Open
2
Eligible pool built
Frekyl applies the eligibility criteria your organization configured — before a single message goes out.
Roster84
Eligible12
3
Outreach begins
Eligible employees receive the offer by SMS, automated IVR, or both, in the order your rules specify.
Shift available: today 14:00–22:00, Dock 4. Reply YES to accept.
Sent to 12 · SMS and IVR
4
Responses captured
Employees reply through the same channel. Every response lands against the callout automatically.
M. Alvarez09:14YES
J. Tran09:16YES
A. Kowalski09:18NO
5
Award rules applied
Frekyl follows the award method you configured — automatically, or routed to a manager for approval.
Award method · seniority
M. Alvarez11 years
J. Tran6 years
6
Coverage confirmed
The selected employee is confirmed and the appropriate managers are notified.
Shift covered
Confirmed 09:19 · 7 min total
Filled
Eligibility

Reach the people who can actually take the shift

Your organization defines who is eligible. Frekyl applies those rules consistently when building the outreach pool, so an offer never reaches someone who could not have taken the shift.

Site
Department
Role
Qualification
Employee group
Seniority
Hours worked
Overtime rules
Agreement terms
Building the pool
Roster84
Right site & department46
Qualified for the role28
Rest & overtime rules pass17
Eligible — offer sent12
Illustrative. Criteria and thresholds are configured per site and department.
Your rules

Fill the shift according to the way your operation works

Several people accept. The award method you configured decides which one gets it — consistently, every time.

Three accept
M. Alvarez11y · 32h
J. Tran6y · 38h
P. Santos2y · 24h
A frontline manufacturing employee reads a shift offer text on his phone on the plant floor
Award method decides
First responseM. Alvarez
SeniorityM. Alvarez
Fewest hoursP. Santos
Manager approvalRouted for review
Where configured, Frekyl awards automatically the moment the window closes — or routes the responses to a manager for approval.
Two ways to reach them

Reach employees without another workforce app

Offers go out by text or automated call. Nothing to install, no login to remember — which is what makes a deskless workforce actually respond.

By text
SMS offer
The offer arrives as a normal text. One word accepts it, and the reply is captured against the callout automatically.
Shift available: today 14:00–22:00, Dock 4. Reply YES to accept.
YES
You have the shift. Report to Dock 4 at 13:45.
By phone
Automated call
For anyone without a smartphone, or on a site where phones stay in a locker. The same offer, answered on the keypad.
1
2
3
4
5
6
IVR prompt
“Press 1 to accept this shift, or 2 to decline.”
Callout order · configured
1Seniority tier AOn shift, qualified
2Seniority tier BSame department
3Overtime equalizationFewest hours first
4Wider site poolIf still unfilled
Every offer and response timestamped
Rules-based callouts

Automate the callout order your operation already follows

Seniority, classifications, eligibility groups, overtime equalization, site and department — Frekyl runs the procedure the same way every time, and keeps a timestamped record of it.

Your organization defines the rules. Frekyl executes the communication workflow.
Connected workflow

The call-off can become the coverage workflow

Shift Filling works entirely on its own. Connected with Absence Reporting, a reported absence can open the callout without anyone starting it.

Absence Reporting
Employee reports the absence
By text or automated call. Managers are notified by your routing rules.
Explore Absence Reporting→
The handoff
Coverage need is identified
The vacancy created by that absence enters the shift-filling workflow.
Shift Filling
Eligible employees are contacted
The pool is built, offers go out, and the award follows your configured rules.
Neither product requires the other. Run Shift Filling alone if open shifts are your problem, or connect both if you want the chain to close itself.
Coverage IQ

Know when an open shift is becoming a coverage risk

Set the minimum staffing each line, cell or department needs. Coverage IQ alerts the right people as projected coverage approaches or reaches those levels — so an open shift gets attention while there is still time to fill it.

Part of the platformThresholds you define
Dock 4 · Shift B-2
Projected coverage
At threshold
9 / 12minimum 10
CurrentThreshold
Alert sent to 3 supervisors09:06
Callout opened09:12
Agency Connect

When the internal roster isn’t enough, keep the workflow moving

Explore Agency Connect→
1
Internal first
The eligible pool is offered the shift before anything leaves the building.
2
Escalate on your terms
If it goes unfilled, the request escalates according to the procedure you configured.
3
Preferred agencies first
Requests go out in your priority order, not whoever answers the phone first.
4
One workflow throughout
No switching to phone and email halfway through. The whole callout stays in one record.
Visibility

Know what happened on every callout

Who was eligible, who was contacted, in what order, who replied and what they said — all timestamped.

Callout #SF-2214 · Forklift Operator, Dock 4
12 contactedFilled in 7 min
Open shift created09:06
Eligibility applied — 12 of 84 qualify09:11
Offers sent by SMS and IVR09:12
M. Alvarez accepted09:14
J. Tran accepted09:16
Award applied — seniority09:18
Confirmation sent, managers notified09:19
Where it fits

Built for operations where the shift has to run

Integrations

Works alongside your workforce systems

Frekyl runs standalone. Where integrated, workforce and absence data can flow between Frekyl and existing HR and workforce systems.

Explore integrations→
Workday, UKG, SAP, Dayforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle, Zenefits and BambooHR connecting into Frekyl, with ADP, Paychex, Paylocity, Gusto, Snowflake and Google BigQuery connecting from the other side
Questions

Shift Filling FAQs

Can Shift Filling be used without Absence Reporting?
Yes. Shift Filling can operate as a standalone Frekyl product. It can also connect with Absence Reporting so a reported call-off can move directly into a coverage workflow.
How does Frekyl decide who is eligible for an open shift?
Frekyl applies the eligibility rules configured by your organization. These can include factors such as site, department, role, qualifications, seniority, hours worked, overtime considerations, employee groups, and union or collective-agreement requirements.
Does Frekyl automatically award the shift?
It can, depending on how your workflow is configured. Customers can use award methods such as first response, seniority, fewest hours, or manager approval.
How are employees notified about open shifts?
Eligible employees can receive shift offers through SMS and/or automated IVR, so they do not need another workforce app or login.
Can Shift Filling support union or collective-agreement callout rules?
Yes. Customers can configure workflows around their own seniority, classification, eligibility, overtime, and callout procedures. Frekyl executes the configured communication workflow; the organization defines the rules.
What happens if no internal employee accepts the shift?
If Agency Connect is configured, an unfilled shift can escalate according to the customer’s process, including outreach to preferred staffing agencies.
Can managers approve a shift before it is awarded?
Yes, where configured. Shift Filling can support workflows that automatically award the shift or route responses for manager approval.
Does Frekyl keep a record of the callout process?
Frekyl maintains timestamped records of the shift-filling workflow, including outreach, responses, and the final award outcome.
Can employees respond from their regular phone?
Yes. Shift offers can be sent through SMS or automated IVR, so employees can respond using the phone they already use.
How does Coverage IQ work with Shift Filling?
Coverage IQ can alert managers when pre-defined staffing thresholds are reached, giving visibility into areas where coverage is becoming a concern while Shift Filling handles the outreach workflow.
Shift Filling

Stop chasing the roster. Start filling the shift.

See how Frekyl can automate eligibility, outreach, responses and award logic around open-shift coverage.

What we’ll walk through
Your eligibility criteria and callout order
A live callout from offer to award
The record it leaves behind