What is an On Call shift in Sygnal?
An On Call shift is a special roster shift used to assign staff for on-call coverage.
It is not linked to a client, service, or billing and is tracked separately for approval, payroll, and reporting purposes and tracks the staff availability during the on-call period.
Why should I use an On Call shift instead of a normal roster shift?
On Call shifts are designed for standby or call-out availability where:
No client is assigned
No Clock In / Clock Out is required
Staff availability for normal shifts must remain unaffected
Payroll and reporting need to track On Call coverage separately
Where do I create an On Call shift?
On-call shifts are created from the Roster Creation screen by selecting Book On Call Service.
What details are required when creating an On Call shift?
When creating an On Call shift, you must:
Select the Subsidiary
Select Start Date and End Date
Assign one or more staff
Enter a description (optional)
Save as Draft or Publish, and after published, you can unpublish or delete the shift.
No other roster fields are required or available, and recurrence setting is not available.
Can an On Call shift span multiple days?
Yes. On-call shifts can span multiple days by selecting a future end date.
Duration is calculated in days, not hours:
Same start and end date → 1 day
End date is the next day → 2 days
Multi-day selections increase the day count accordingly
This value is used for payroll and reporting.
Is there a maximum duration for an On Call shift?
There is no restriction on selecting future end dates.
Can I drag and drop an On Call shift in the roster calendar?
Yes, but only if the total duration is 48 hours or less.
If the duration exceeds 48 hours:
Drag and drop is disabled
The system displays an informational message:
On Call Shifts more than 48 Hours cannot be dragged and dropped
Does assigning an On Call shift block staff availability?
No.
On-call shifts do not reduce or restrict staff availability and do not prevent staff from being rostered for normal shifts during the same period.
During roster creation, staff availability continues to display even if the staff member has an On Call shift assigned.
Can On Call Shifts be scheduled or published if a staff member is unavailable or on time off?
Yes.
On Call Shifts can be scheduled and published even if the staff member:
Has an approved time-off request, or
Has marked their availability as Unavailable for the selected dates.
The system does not block roster creation for On Call Shifts based on staff availability or leave status, allowing roster users to proceed as required.
What is the Force Acceptance option for On Call shifts?
Force Acceptance controls whether staff must manually accept the On Call shift.
When it's enabled -
The shift is automatically marked as Accepted
Staff cannot accept or reject the shift
No Clock In / Clock Out actions are available
When its Disabled -The shift appears as Review in the staff mobile app
Staff can accept or reject the shift
Rejection follows the same behaviour as standard shifts
Can an On Call shift be cancelled?
No.
Cancellation is not supported for On Call shifts, but you can delete the shift if it's not approved.
Where do On Call shifts appear in the roster calendar?
On-call shifts are visible:
Under the Resource tab
In Subsidiary View, labelled as On Call
In Resource View, labelled as On Call
Are On Call shifts shown in the Roster Approval screen?
Yes. On Call shifts appear in the Roster Approval screen and are clearly identified with the client/shift type On Call.
Can approvers open On Call shifts from the approval screen?
Yes. When opened:
The header displays Payroll Days
No cancellation option is available
Approval actions are controlled by bulk approval rules
What happens if an on-call shift is not accepted?
If the shift is not accepted and not force-accepted:
The Approval button is not shown
The shift remains Pending Approval
Once approved:
Shift status becomes Approved
Approver name and approval time are recorded
The shift is included in payroll and reporting outputs
Are On Call shifts included in payroll?
Yes. Approved On Call shifts are included in the payroll ZIP as a separate CSV as the Payroll On Call Report.
Are On Call shifts included in the Shift Scheduled and Shift Deleted reports?
Yes. During report extraction, users can choose all shift types or separately the on-call shifts to be extracted.
What are On Call Notes?
On Call Notes are notes added by staff against an On Call shift from the Sygnal Staff Mobile app.
Where are On Call Notes recorded?
On Call Notes are recorded against the specific On Call shift for which they are added.
Where can web users view On Call Notes?
Web users can view On Call Notes in:
Staff Profile → Notes → On Call Notes (When an On Call shift is opened from the roster calendar, all staff-added On Call Notes for that shift are shown under Shift Notes.)
Roster Calendar → Open On Call Shift → Shift Notes (All On Call Notes added by a staff member are visible in the Staff Profile under the On Call Notes section.)
What information is shown for an On Call Note?
Each On Call Note displays:
Staff name
Date and time
Note description
Attachments (if any)
Are On Call Notes shared across other shifts?
No. On Call Notes are linked only to the On Call shift they were created for.