Created on 11 Apr 2026

Overlapping shifts

When managing volunteers, it's common for some shifts to run at the same time across different teams. By default, the system prevents a volunteer from being assigned to two shifts that overlap in time. This protects against accidentally double-booking someone. However, certain roles — like on-call supervisors or designated drivers — genuinely need to be available across multiple teams at the same time. The Allow overlapping assignments setting lets you handle both scenarios.

This article covers: double-booking volunteers, shift time conflicts, clashing shifts, scheduling the same person twice, concurrent assignments, and on-call or standby shift setup.

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How overlap protection works

When a volunteer is assigned to a shift (whether by an organiser, through the public roster, or via Telegram), the system checks whether that volunteer already has an active assignment during the same time window. If there is an overlap, the assignment is blocked and an error message is shown.

This check applies across all teams in the event. For example, if a volunteer is already assigned to a Bar shift from 10:00–12:00, they cannot also be assigned to a Security shift from 11:00–13:00 because the two shifts overlap by one hour.

Cancelled assignments are ignored — only confirmed, pending, or completed assignments count.

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Allowing overlapping assignments on a shift

Some shifts represent roles where a volunteer should be available alongside their regular duties. Common examples include:

• On-call or standby — A volunteer is on-call for emergencies while also working a regular shift
• Designated driver — A volunteer who drives between sites while still assigned elsewhere
• Supervisor or rover — A team lead who oversees multiple areas at the same time
• First aid — A first-aider who is available across the event while working another role

For these cases, you can mark a shift as allowing overlaps:

1. Navigate to Volunteers → Shifts
2. Click Edit on the shift (or create a new one)
3. Under Assignment options, turn on Allow overlapping assignments
4. Click Save

When this setting is enabled on a shift, it affects overlap checking in two ways:

• Assigning to this shift — The overlap check is skipped entirely. Volunteers can be assigned even if they already have another shift at the same time.
• Assigning to other shifts — When a volunteer is being assigned to a different (regular) shift, any existing assignments to "allow overlap" shifts are ignored. Only clashes with other regular shifts will block the assignment.

In practice, this means an overlap-allowed shift never blocks or is blocked by other assignments. A volunteer can hold an on-call shift and a regular shift at the same time without either direction being rejected.

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Who is exempt from overlap checks

In addition to the per-shift setting, volunteers in leadership positions are automatically exempt from overlap protection:

• Team leads and Supervisors can be assigned to overlapping shifts without restriction

This reflects the reality that team leads and supervisors often need to cover multiple areas or be present across shifts.

Regular Crew members and Participants are subject to the overlap check unless the shift itself allows overlaps.

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Where overlap protection applies

The overlap check runs in every assignment pathway:

Method	Protected
Assigning from the admin shifts page	Yes
Assigning from a volunteer's profile	Yes
Volunteer self-assigning via the public roster	Yes
Volunteer accepting a shift offer via email link	Yes
Volunteer accepting a shift offer via Telegram	Yes

In all cases, if an overlap is detected and neither the shift nor the volunteer's position level exempts them, the assignment is blocked with the message: "You already have a shift assignment that overlaps with this time slot."

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Use cases

Standard event with no overlaps needed

If every volunteer should only work one shift at a time, you don't need to change anything. Overlap protection is on by default for all shifts.

Event with on-call volunteers

Create your on-call shifts (e.g., "On-call first aid 08:00–18:00") and enable Allow overlapping assignments on each one. Volunteers assigned to on-call can then also be assigned to their regular team shifts during the same period.

Event with roving supervisors

If supervisors float between teams, create a supervisor shift spanning the full period and enable Allow overlapping assignments. Alternatively, since team leads and supervisors are automatically exempt, you can simply assign them to multiple regular shifts without needing to change any settings.

Preventing double-booking during self-sign-up

When volunteers browse the public roster and sign themselves up for shifts, the system automatically prevents them from picking a shift that clashes with one they've already signed up for. No extra configuration is needed — this works out of the box.

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Tips

• Use "allow overlap" sparingly — Only enable it on shifts where double-booking is intentional, such as on-call or standby roles
• Review assignments regularly — Even with overlap protection, check the roster to ensure coverage looks sensible
• Combine with shift limits — Use the "shifts per person" setting alongside overlap protection to control how many shifts a volunteer can take on overall
• Check the roster view — The roster makes it easy to visually spot where a volunteer appears in multiple time slots