# How to ask employees to accept shifts

**For:** Admin
**You'll need:** Owner or Admin role.

You can ask employees to **accept or decline** each shift you publish — a lightweight confirmation that they've seen the shift and will be there. It's off by default; turn it on for the whole company.

## Open the company settings

1. Open the account dropdown (top-right) and click **'Settings'**.
2. In the right column, find the **'Attendance'** section.

## Turn on shift acceptance

- **'Require shift acceptance'** — when on, every employee assigned to a published shift is asked to accept or decline it. Their answer (**'Pending'**, **'Accepted'**, or **'Declined'**) shows next to their name on the shift.
- **'Require decline reason'** — when on, an employee must give a short reason before they can decline. Leave it off to make the reason optional.

Click **'Save'**.

```{note}
Acceptance is a **pre-shift** confirmation. An employee can change their answer until the shift starts or until their hours are approved — after that it's locked. Publishing a shift asks the assignees for the first time; if you later change a shift's time, location, or position, their answer resets to **'Pending'** and they're asked again.
```

## What employees see

On a published, upcoming shift, the assignee gets a **'Your response'** box with **'Accept'** and **'Decline'** buttons. For a repeating shift they can apply the answer to this occurrence, this and following, or all of them. See {doc}`/for-shift-workers/accept-or-decline-a-shift`.

When someone declines, the company's managers are notified — with the reason if one was given — so you can arrange cover. The rest of the team doesn't see it.

```{tip}
General-event RSVPs (Going / Maybe) don't need this setting — they're always available on a general event. **'Require shift acceptance'** only controls normal shifts.
```

## Verify it worked

Open a published upcoming shift. Each assigned person now shows an acceptance badge, and anyone opening their own assignment sees the **'Your response'** box. Turn the setting off and those disappear.

## Related

- {doc}`/for-shift-workers/accept-or-decline-a-shift`
- {doc}`/plan-schedules/publish-horizon/index`
- {doc}`time-approval`