On-call shift swap request template (and the rules that keep swaps fair)

A shift swap goes wrong when it lives in a chat thread nobody can find. Copy the request below, send it in your team channel, and write down the answer in one place. The rules underneath keep a swap from quietly costing one person more than the other.

Works with any rota: a spreadsheet, a shared calendar or a planner such as Turnkeep. If you also need the rota itself, see the rotation schedule templates; for the end of a shift, use the handover template.

Copy-and-fill swap request

ON-CALL SWAP REQUEST
Rota: [primary / secondary / support desk]
Requested by: [name]        Asked to cover: [name]
Shift to hand over: [first day] to [last day], [team time zone]
Why (optional): [leave, travel, appointment]
Payback: [none / I take your shift on DATE / I take the next weekend]

Counts as: [weekdays N, weekend days N, holidays N]
Agreed by both people: [yes, date]
Calendar and rota updated: [yes, who did it]
Handover to the new person arranged: [yes / date]

Reply templates

• Accept: "Yes, I will cover [dates]. Please move the calendar entry and tell me about anything open before then. Payback as above."
• Decline: "I cannot cover [dates] because [reason]. I could take [other dates] instead."
• Counter-offer: "I can cover the weekdays but not the weekend. Can someone else take [Saturday and Sunday]?"

Five rules for fair swaps

1. Swap like for like, or write down the difference. A weekday for a weekday is even. A weekend or holiday shift is worth more, so if it is handed over for a plain weekday, the person who covered is owed the gap. Weighting weekends and holidays is covered in how to make an on-call rota fair.
2. Both people agree in writing. One message from each side is enough. A swap one person remembers is a favour, not a record.
3. Change the source of truth the same day. If the calendar still shows the old name, the pager or the escalation policy will page the wrong person. Update the rota, the calendar and any "who is on now" link together.
4. Name the payback, or say there is none. "I owe you one" without a date is how people end up with the same Christmas three years running. Pick a date or a type of shift, and put it in the request.
5. Tell the lead if a swap leaves someone with back-to-back weeks. Rest matters as much as fairness; Google's SRE book recommends that no more than 25% of an engineer's time is spent on call (Being On-Call).

Worked example

Ana is on call Monday 5 October to Sunday 11 October, which includes a weekend. With weekday 1, weekend 2 and holiday 3 points, that week is 5 + 4 = 9 points. Ben covers the whole week and Ana takes Ben's next plain weekday-only block of five days (5 points). Ben is now owed 4 points. A rota that remembers swaps will give Ana a little more next time; a spreadsheet only does so if someone keeps the difference somewhere. Record it in the request line "Payback" and in your rota notes.

How Turnkeep handles swaps

In Turnkeep a swap moves the shift to the person who covered, so its points count as theirs from then on, and the swap list keeps who covered whom, on which date. The next generated plan evens the difference out without anyone remembering it. It does not send the request or ask the other person to accept it yet: use the text above for that. The generator is free to use; the Turnkeep app is free for up to four people and the paid plan is a flat $6 per month per team.