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Hotel · front desk

Last-minute sick cover: finding a replacement with AI

Kate can't make tomorrow's night shift. The hotel manager asks the assistant who can cover. imRoster checks everyone against the team's rules and sorts them into three groups: clear to cover, can cover with a warning, and can't cover. The manager picks; the assistant applies the time off and the new assignment on a single approval card.

Describe your own team
imRoster assistantHotel front desk · 8 receptionists
  1. Manager

    Kate's off sick tomorrow, she can't do the night shift. Who can cover?

  2. imRoster assistant

    I checked the team against the rules for tomorrow's Night shift (23:00–07:00):

    • Clear to cover: Emily, Josh
    • Can cover with a warning: Ryan. It would be his third night this week, which bends the “at most 2 nights a week” preference.
    • Can't cover: Sophie. She's on 07:00–15:00 tomorrow, so she wouldn't get her 11 hours' rest.

    Who should I put on?

  3. Manager

    Emily.

  4. imRoster assistant

    Here it is on one card:

    Proposed changeApproved

    Tomorrow: Emily covers for Kate

    • Kate: day off, Night shift removed
    • Emily: Night 23:00–07:00
    • Nothing else on the rota changes
  5. imRoster assistant

    Applied. Emily is on tomorrow's night shift and Kate shows as off.

  6. Manager

    Wouldn't it be better to redo the whole week?

  7. imRoster assistant

    This period is published and already under way, so I can't run a fresh fill on it; I can change shifts one at a time. Is there another shift you'd like to change?

An illustrative conversation: names and numbers are examples, and replies are shortened. The rules and steps are the ones the imRoster assistant actually follows.

Behind the chat

What the manager said, and what imRoster did with it

What the manager said, and what imRoster did with it
The manager saidWhat imRoster does
“Kate's off sick tomorrow”Kate gets a full day off tomorrow, which removes her shift that day.
“Who can cover?”The assistant checks everyone on the team against the rules for that shift and sorts them: clear to cover, can cover by bending a preference, and can't cover because a hard rule would break. It never assigns anyone on its own.
“Emily”The time off and the new assignment go through on one approval card. An assignment that breaks a hard rule isn't written unless you explicitly say “do it anyway”.
“Redo the whole week”A published period that has started can't be refilled in bulk; changes go shift by shift. A draft period that hasn't started can be refilled, and hand-made assignments are kept.

FAQ

Questions about this example

Does the AI automatically assign someone when a person calls in sick?

No. The assistant ranks the candidates against your rules and you decide who covers. The time off and the new assignment are then applied together on one approval card.

Does the whole rota get recalculated?

Not in a published period that has started: only the shift you change moves, everything else stays as it was. A draft period that hasn't started can be refilled from scratch, and your manual assignments are kept.

What if I need to break a hard rule?

Say you want someone who wouldn't get their full rest: the assistant first tells you which rule would break. If you explicitly ask, it can still write the assignment.

More examples

Other teams, other rules

Guides

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