Shift Worker Experience

April 16, 2026

With Shift, workers can easily manage their work shifts with a text-based, mobile-first experience within their Worker Portal. No apps or logins are required!

Benefits:

• Boosts worker satisfaction by providing predictable schedules and easy time tracking
• Improved transparency and morale with an intuitive, user-friendly platform
• By streamlining your processes, you reduce shift complexity, saving your workers valuable time

Accessing the Worker Portal

Workers will access their Worker Portal via email invitation. Clicking the Access my portal button will bring them to their mobile web browser. They may be prompted to create a password for future logins based on the setup of your account. They can use the original email invitation link to re-access the portal and then log in with their email, or they can bookmark the URL to their mobile web browser for even easier access.

Fountain recommends you coach your workers to bookmark this URL, creating fewer clicks when they need to clock in for a shift. It is important to reinforce that Shift and their Worker Portal are not apps that they will download from their phone's app store.

Worker Screens & Actions

Once workers log in to their Worker Portal, they will click Schedule in the bottom toolbar. Here they’ll see the current week’s date in the top left corner, a link to access requests, and three tiles of information:

• Shifts scheduled: The total number of shifts assigned to the worker for the current weekly pay period.

• Hours scheduled: The total number of hours scheduled for the worker for the current weekly pay period.

• Predicted Earnings: The total dollar amount of predicted earnings for the current weekly pay period.

• Predicted Earnings are calculated based on the worker's scheduled hours multiplied by the pay rate for the current pay period.

  • Workers can hover over the Predicated earnings tile to read an explanation of predicated earnings. "These are your predicated, pre-tax earnings based on your scheduled shifts. Your actual earnings will vary based on taxes and actual hours worked."

Next, they will see their upcoming shift. The upcoming shift includes:

• The shift's scheduled start time and scheduled end time.

• Calendar icon with the day of the week the shift will take place on.

• If the shift is tomorrow, it will say Tomorrow rather than a day of the week.

  • If the next shift is the following week, it will say Next in front of the weekday. For example, if the shift is the following Monday, it will say Next Monday.
  • If the shift is more than two weeks away, it will contain the shift day and date. For example, Tuesday, Sept 22nd.

• Shift address

  • The worker can click on the shift address, which will open up in their mobile phone's map app.

• Job title name

• Clock in button

  • The button will become active and turn purple at a certain number of minutes before the start time, which is configured in Shift Settings.

  • If the worker clocks in late or early, they may receive an attendance violation based on your company’s preconfigured attendance policy in Shift Settings.

• Details of the shift

  • The worker can click on the Shift details button to see both paid and unpaid breaks included in the shift and any shift location notes.

  • If the shift is overnight, there will be a moon icon to the right of the date.

Next, they can update their shift preferences, which you’ll learn about later in this article.

Finally, they will see shifts in the next 7 days. This section includes:

• Shift date, including the day of the week and the date
• Shift start and end time
• Job title at the Location
• List of paid and unpaid breaks

The worker can also click View schedule to see their full schedule of shifts beyond the next 7 days.

Watch the video below for a worker overview of viewing shifts in the Worker Portal:

Shift - View Schedule - YouTube

Tap to unmute

Shift - View Schedule Fountain Learning

Note:

The above video speaks to claiming shifts, which will be covered later in this article.

Taking Breaks

If the worker has a break in their scheduled shift, they can start the break by clicking the Take Break button. Once the button is clicked, a timer appears that will count down until the scheduled break end time based on the scheduled break duration. The break start time will be captured as the actual break start time in the corresponding timesheet.

When the worker is ready to end the break, they simply need to click the End Break button. The break end time will be captured as the actual break end time in the corresponding timesheet.

If there is only one break for the shift, the worker will see "No more breaks" in the Worker Portal.

If there are additional breaks in this scheduled shift, they will see "Break starts in X minutes" under the clock-out button. They will also see the option to Take break to the right of the clock-out button.

Workers can take their break before or after their scheduled break time. However, this may result in an attendance violation based on the attendance policy that was configured by account administrators. These attendance violations will need to be reviewed by a Fountain user. Learn more about attendance violations in this article. Similar to clocking in and out, the break buttons will be disabled for a certain number of minutes before and after the break ends. This is also configured in Shift Settings.

In the event that a worker clicks Take Break earlier or later than the allotted scheduled break time, they see the Early/Late Break pop-up, where they may be required to input a note explaining why they are not taking their break at the scheduled time. Whether a note is required is also configured in Shift Settings.

Clocking Out

When a worker is ready to clock out for the day, they will simply click the purple Clock out button. After clocking out, they will see a Shift Completed message, and the worker's clock-out time is logged in the clocked out column of the Timesheets table.

In the event that the worker has not clocked out 6 hours after their shift's scheduled end time, Shift will automatically clock them out, but there will be missing data in the clock out column for that worker's timesheet so that their manager can input the correct clock out time.

Setting Shift Preferences

Workers can enter their shift preferences in their Worker Portal, which can then be used by Fountain users in the Schedule page. These preferences will directly tie into whether the worker is recommended for a shift based on their preferences.

To set preferences, the worker will click the Update preferred shift times bar. Here they’ll have two tabs:

• Availability: Workers will enter their preferred days of the week and times, as well as select their timezone. They can also add an exception by clicking +exception.

• Exceptions can be used if the worker's availability differs from the default availability for one to two weeks. For example, the worker has finals week next week, and can only work from 6 pm to 10 pm instead of their usual 12 pm to 10 pm.

• Preferences: Workers will enter preferences around hours they would like to work, how far they are willing to travel, if they are willing to work overtime, want to be contacted when shifts are cancelled, and also answer how they get to work, such as via car or bike.

• This information will also be made available to the manager on the Schedule page when determining recommended workers for shift assignment.

Watch the video below for a worker overview of setting shift preferences in the Worker Portal:

Shift - Availability and Preferences - YouTube

Tap to unmute

Shift - Availability and Preferences Fountain Learning

Requests

The Requests section of the Worker Portal is where workers will request time off, drop shifts they can no longer work, or pick up (claim) shifts to add to their schedule.

Depending on how your location is configured, a request may be automatically approved immediately upon submission, or it may be sent to a manager for manual review. All pending, approved, and denied requests are visible on the Requests screen in the appropriate tab.

Time Off

To request time off, workers will click Requests in the top right corner of the Schedule Worker Portal page and then Time off request at the top. They can select to request the entire day off or only a portion of the day. They’ll enter the dates, times(if not requesting a full day), and a note on why they need the time off.

Managers will review these requests in Fountain and approve or deny the request. Learn more in this article.

Time Off Requests May Be Disabled

If the Time Off section is not visible in the Worker Portal, the location administrator has disabled time off requests for that location.

Claim Shift

To review available shifts and claim them, the worker will click View schedule on the Worker Portal Schedule page in the Shifts in the next 7 days section. At the bottom, there is an Open shifts tab which can be clicked to view any shifts that are currently claimable. They will click the shift they want to pick up and then Claim Shift.

Depending on the location's configuration, the request may be automatically approved. If the claim is auto-approved, the worker sees a confirmation message and the shift is immediately added to their schedule. If the request does not match an auto-approval rule, it is sent to a manager for review. Learn more about managing these requests in this article.

Drop Shift

To drop a shift they can no longer work, the worker will click View schedule on the Worker Portal Schedule page in the Shifts in the next 7 days section. They will find the shift they need to drop and click it to select it. Then they will click Drop Shift.

Depending on the location's configuration, the request may be automatically approved. If approved automatically, the worker will see a success message confirming the shift has been dropped. If the request does not match an automation rule, it is sent to a manager for review. Learn more about managing these requests in this article.

Drop Shift May Be Disabled

If the Drop Shift option is not visible in the Worker Portal, the location administrator has disabled drop shift requests for that location.

Watch the video below for a worker overview of submitting requests in the Worker Portal:

Shift - Requests - YouTube

Tap to unmute

Shift - Requests Fountain Learning

Fountain Learning2.24K subscribers