Availability

## Purpose and prerequisites

Tell the scheduling team when you can work. Sign in to the correct active account. Availability preferences do not remove existing shifts and are separate from formal PTO. If you cannot work an assigned shift, use the company's shift-swap or manager contact process.

## Employee: desktop web

1. Open `/dashboard/availability`.
2. Under **Weekly Recurring Schedule**, toggle each day between **Available** and **Unavailable**. Enter the start and end times for available time slots; review every day rather than assuming displayed defaults are your saved preferences.
3. Under **Scheduling Preferences**, review **Target Weekly Hours** and **Max Weekly Hours**.
4. Add relevant **Specific Dates Off**. The page describes these as days off without formal PTO; use Time Off for a PTO request.
5. Select **Save Preferences**, or **Update Request** when a previous change is pending. Employees without administrative access submit weekly availability for review; **Pending Approval** can be shown.
6. Reload to verify the request or preferences were retained and follow up on approval if required.

## Employee: mobile web

1. Open **Settings → Availability** (`/mobile/availability`).
2. Toggle each day's availability. Expand an available day to edit the start and end times.
3. Review **Dates Off** and add or remove dates as needed.
4. Select **Save**, then verify the saved or pending state after reload.

The mobile web editor has a different layout and does not expose the desktop Target/Max Weekly Hours fields in this web editor. Its success toast does not explain that non-admin weekly changes are routed into pending availability for review. If your manager has not approved a change, do not assume your live weekly availability has changed.

## Authorized administrator: review or edit

1. Open `/dashboard/availability` with authorized administrative access.
2. If shown, use the employee selector to choose the intended employee before editing.
3. Under **Pending Approvals**, verify the employee's request and use **Approve** or **Reject**.
4. Reload and verify the resulting availability or pending status before relying on it for scheduling.

The employee selector and approval controls require administrative access. Do not promise every manager this access. The visible approval card identifies the employee but does not provide a detailed comparison of old and requested time slots; confirm the requested change through an authorized view before deciding.

## Troubleshooting

- **Save appeared successful but live hours did not change:** non-admin weekly changes require approval; ask the scheduling team to check **Pending Approvals**.
- **A scheduled shift remains:** this is expected. Availability changes do not cancel existing shifts.
- **Displayed Monday–Friday 9–5 defaults:** the desktop editor uses these when no availability array is loaded. Review and explicitly set your actual preferences.
- **Dates Off mistaken for PTO:** open Time Off to request formal leave.
- **Saved message but state disappears after reload:** report it. A saved message alone does not confirm the change was retained.

## Native platform evidence

iOS and Android labels, time-slot restrictions, approval behavior, and offline persistence are unverified in this guide. These mobile web instructions must not be presented as native instructions.

## Knowledge check

1. Does changing availability remove an existing shift? **Answer: No.**
2. Is Specific Dates Off the same as requesting PTO? **Answer: No; formal leave uses Time Off.**
3. What happens to a non-admin weekly availability edit in this workflow? **Answer: It is routed into pending availability for manager/administrator review.**