IRIS Auto-Approve — What Staff Should Expect
Some organisations enable IRIS Auto-Approve — a paid add-on that can approve open shift claims, accepted shift swaps, and swap with open shift claims (you take an open shift and release one of yours) automatically when they pass strict eligibility checks. Leave requests are never auto-approved.
Your roster builder or admin configures whether this is on for your organisation.
When your open shift claim may auto-approve
After you click Claim on an open shift:
| Outcome | What you see |
|---|---|
| Confirming | The modal says IRIS confirms at a time, with a countdown and Undo. The default wait is 30 minutes. The shift is held for you and is not yours yet. An in-app notification says Claim received and the same time. There is no email for the wait |
| Immediate | The shift is assigned straight away when the wait is 0, or when the shift starts before the wait would end. You may be notified immediately, or it may appear as a DRAFT shift until the roster is published (org setting). There is no Undo on this path |
| Still pending | The modal says Your request is pending admin approval. There is no countdown. Common when there are eligibility conflicts, leave on that date, the shift is outside the time window, or you are on the exclusions list |
Strict-clean means IRIS only auto-approves when there are no compliance warnings — rest, hours, craft, scope, overlap, or leave issues all send the claim to manual review. Those claims do not hold the slot.
How to undo while IRIS is confirming
Undo is only available until the confirm-by time, and only while the request is still pending. After IRIS confirms, the shift is assigned and Undo is gone.
- On the claim modal, click Undo. The message is Withdrawn. The shift is open again.
- Or open The Living Roster, find the amber pill on your row (it is there even when My Opportunities is off; reload once if you just claimed), and click it. The tooltip says IRIS confirming at the same time. Undo is in that modal.
- Or open My Shifts, click the pending request, and click Undo. The line reads IRIS confirms at the time and how long is left.
- Or open Shift Deck → your requests. The line says you can withdraw until that time. The button is Cancel Request.
The slot stays taken while the countdown runs. Someone else sees Reserved — someone is confirming and cannot claim that slot. Spare slots on the same shift stay open. When you undo, the slot is free again.
If Undo says the request has already been processed, IRIS has already confirmed it or a roster builder has already decided it. Ask them to remove the assignment if it was a mistake.
When there is no countdown
- You are on an exclusions list, or a check failed: the claim waits for a roster builder. Use Withdraw Request or Cancel Request. The slot is not reserved.
- Direct swaps complete as soon as the other person accepts, with no wait.
- An open swap pickup (Take This Shift) uses the same wait when swap auto-approve is on. Undo works the same way until IRIS confirms. A second person cannot take it during the wait.
When your swap may auto-complete
Direct swap: after the other person clicks Accept. You do not confirm a second time. If strict-clean checks pass and your org has swap auto-approve on, the swap may complete without waiting in Shift Deck → Approvals. If anything fails, a roster builder approves manually.
Open swap: when you click Take This Shift. The person who posted the shift does not have to choose you. If the checks pass, IRIS holds it for the confirmation wait and you can Undo until then. If they fail, your offer stays with a roster builder and the shift stays open for someone else who does pass.
Swap minimum notice (when you first request a swap) is separate from when IRIS may auto-approve an already-accepted swap.
When swap with open shift may auto-complete
If you claim an open shift and choose one of your own shifts to release:
- If your org has Auto-approve swap with open shift on and checks pass, IRIS holds the claimed slot for the confirmation wait. Your released shift stays yours until IRIS confirms. You can Undo until then. When IRIS confirms, you are assigned as CONFIRMED, your released shift is cancelled, and it is posted as a new open shift
- If that setting is off, or any check fails, a manager reviews the claim as usual
Why your request might stay manual
Common reasons IRIS does not auto-approve:
- You have leave (pending or approved) on that date
- A rest, hours, or overlap issue would appear on the Live Eligibility card
- You don't hold a required craft group or scope
- The shift is too soon or too far ahead for your org's auto-approve window
- Your stream, craft group, employment type, or your name is on an exclusions list (some exclusions only apply for a date window)
- Swap with open shift (releasing one of your shifts to take the open one) auto-completes only if your org has that setting on — it is always a live roster change (CONFIRMED). Otherwise a manager reviews it.
- Another person claimed the same single-slot shift first (queue order)
None of these mean your request was rejected — it just needs a human review.
IRIS Auto-Approved badge
When IRIS auto-approves, assignments may show an IRIS badge on My Shifts and the Living Roster after publish. Managers can still see the full audit trail.
What to ask IRIS
You can ask IRIS in chat:
- "How do I undo an open shift claim IRIS is confirming?"
- "Why is my open shift claim still pending?"
- "How do open shifts work?"
- "How do shift swaps get approved?"
IRIS will walk you through the steps for your role. It cannot change approval settings — contact your roster builder or admin if you think auto-approve should be enabled.
Related guides
For roster builders: Swap Auto-Approval Rules. For admins: IRIS Auto-Approve setup.