Using self scheduling

You can use self scheduling to select the shifts that you prefer to work. You can add shifts to your schedule when a self scheduling process is open. The shifts that you can select are controlled by the available shifts offered for self scheduling, your job and skill qualifications, the default shifts that have been defined for you, and the scheduling rules set up by your organization.

Shifts are added to your schedule after you submit your list of selected shifts. When a self scheduling process closes, you are expected to work your selected shifts, and you can no longer update your schedule by adding or removing shifts. After the leader reviews and balances the schedule, the shifts are published and displayed on the My Schedule tab in the Self-Service Portal.

Workmail messages are sent to inform you when self scheduling processes open and close. These messages include the date and time of self scheduling windows and other details provided by your system administrator.

As of the 2026.04 release, self scheduling links delivered through WFM messages, including notification center, workmail, workspace widgets, and external or forwarded email, open the Self Service Portal (SSP) self scheduling page. Self-scheduling links from messages no longer route to ETM, and ETM self scheduling is now accessible only within the ETM portal. If SSP in unavailable, users are redirected to the Admin Portal self-scheduling page. If neither portal is accessible, an error message is displayed to ensure consistent and predictable behavior. The SSP self-scheduling view does not currently support URL parameters, which means links open the general self-scheduling page instead of a specific process. Support for URL parameters is planned for a future release.

The Self-Scheduling process prioritizes assigning shifts that require specific skills to employees who have those skills when multiple shifts are available. This ensures skilled employees take the appropriate shifts first, leaving other shifts open for employees with fewer qualifications.

This prevents mismatches caused by random assignment, reduces unfilled skilled shifts, and improves fairness and efficiency in scheduling.