Back to All Guides
Configuration Guide

Organization Settings Complete Guide

Configure scheduling rules, role-based staffing, shift trade policies, email notifications, and security settings for your organization. HEAD_MANAGER role required.

8 min read
HEAD_MANAGER Only
Configuration

Accessing Settings

How to access and who can modify settings

Access Requirements

  • • Settings page located in left sidebar navigation
  • • Navigate to: /{orgId}/settings
  • • CRITICAL: ONLY HEAD_MANAGER can access this page
  • • MANAGER and EMPLOYEE are completely blocked from settings
  • If non-HEAD_MANAGER tries to access:
  • - Shows "Access Denied" error message
  • - Message: "Only Head Managers can access organization settings"
  • - "Return to Dashboard" button shown
  • - Cannot access ANY settings (including MFA)
  • • Page title: "Organization Settings"
  • • All sections (Scheduling, Email Notifications, MFA) are HEAD_MANAGER only

Scheduling Settings

Configure core scheduling and staffing rules (HEAD_MANAGER only)

Use Roles

  • • Checkbox setting to enable job roles
  • • Label: "Use Roles"
  • • Description: "Organize employees by job title (e.g., Server, Chef, Cashier)"
  • When enabled: Employees can be assigned job roles like Server, Chef, Cashier, etc.
  • • Required for Role-Based Staffing to work
  • When turned ON: Automatically changes Shift Trade Approval to "Smart Approval (CONDITIONAL)" if set to Auto-Approve
  • • Default: Checked (enabled)

Enable Role-Based Staffing

  • • Checkbox setting for location staffing requirements
  • • Label: "Enable Role-Based Staffing"
  • • Description: "Require specific roles for each location"
  • • Requires "Use Roles" to be enabled first
  • If "Use Roles" is OFF, shows: "(Enable 'Use Roles' first)" and checkbox is disabled
  • When enabled: Unlocks "Manage Staffing Rules" link to configure requirements
  • When turned ON: Automatically changes Shift Trade Approval to "Smart Approval (CONDITIONAL)" if set to Auto-Approve
  • • Default: Checked (enabled)
  • •
  • How to Manage Staffing Rules:
  • 1. Click "Manage Staffing Rules" link in settings (appears when enabled)
  • 2. Navigate to: /{orgId}/settings/staffing-rules
  • 3. Page title: "Staffing Requirements by Role"
  • 4. Description: "Set how many staff from each role are required at each location"
  • •
  • Creating Roles:
  • - Section header: "Manage Roles"
  • - Shows current roles as blue badges (e.g., "Server", "Chef", "Lifeguard")
  • - Each role badge has × button to delete
  • - Deleting role removes ALL staffing requirements for that role
  • - Confirmation prompt: "Are you sure you want to delete this role? This will remove all staffing requirements for this role."
  • - Add New Role section with 3 fields:
  • * Role Name (required) - e.g., "Lifeguard", "Server", "Cook"
  • * Description (optional) - describe responsibilities
  • * "Add Role" button (green)
  • - Press Enter in role name field to quickly create
  • - Success alert: "Role created successfully!"
  • •
  • Setting Staffing Requirements Per Location:
  • - 2-column grid layout (1 column on mobile)
  • - Each location shown as a card with:
  • * Location name (header)
  • * Address (if set)
  • * "Required Staff by Role:" label
  • * List of ALL roles with +/- controls
  • - For each role:
  • * Role name on left
  • * Current required count in center (0 if not set)
  • * Minus (-) button to decrease count
  • * Plus (+) button to increase count
  • * Minimum value: 0 (removes requirement)
  • * No maximum limit
  • - Bottom of card shows: "Total Required: X staff members"
  • - If no requirements set: "No requirements set. Click + to add role staffing requirements."
  • •
  • Example Staffing Requirements:
  • Restaurant - Downtown location:
  • • - Server: 3 required
  • • - Chef: 1 required
  • • - Dishwasher: 2 required
  • • - Total Required: 6 staff members
  • Restaurant - Uptown location:
  • • - Server: 5 required
  • • - Chef: 2 required
  • • - Host: 1 required
  • • - Total Required: 8 staff members
  • •
  • Saving Changes:
  • - "Save Changes" button in top-right corner
  • - Shows "Saving..." when processing
  • - Saves ALL locations staffing requirements at once
  • - Success alert: "Staffing rules saved successfully!"
  • - Error alert if save fails with specific error message
  • •
  • How Staffing Rules Are Used:
  • - During shift creation: System enforces minimum required staff per role
  • - Shift trade approval: CONDITIONAL mode checks if replacement has correct role
  • - Schedule validation: Warns if location is understaffed based on requirements
  • - AI Copilot: Uses requirements to suggest optimal staffing levels
  • - Reports: Shows staffing compliance (actual vs required)
  • •
  • Edge Cases:
  • - If no roles exist: Shows "Create Your First Role" form instead of grid
  • - If no locations exist: Shows "No locations found. Create locations first before setting staffing requirements."
  • - Link to "Go to Locations →" to create locations
  • - Setting requirement to 0 removes it (same as not set)
  • - Deleting a role deletes all its requirements across all locations
  • •
  • Navigation:
  • - "← Back to Settings" link at top to return to main settings page
  • - Page is separate from main settings (not inline)
  • - Breadcrumb: Settings → Staffing Requirements by Role

Require Base Pay

  • • Checkbox setting for employee hourly rates
  • • Label: "Require Base Pay"
  • • Description: "Require all employees to have a base hourly rate"
  • When enabled: All employees must have hourly rate set
  • • Used for payroll and cost calculations
  • • Independent setting (no dependencies)
  • • Default: Unchecked (disabled)

Require Schedule Publish Approval

  • • Checkbox setting for draft vs immediate publishing
  • • Label: "Require Schedule Publish Approval"
  • • Description: "Manually review and publish shifts. When enabled, new shifts start as DRAFT and must be published. When disabled, shifts are immediately published."
  • When ENABLED (default):
  • - All new shifts created as DRAFT status
  • - Shifts not visible to employees until published
  • - Manager must manually publish shifts
  • - "Publish Schedule" button shows in manager dashboard
  • - Gives manager review time before employees see schedule
  • When DISABLED:
  • - New shifts immediately published
  • - Employees see shifts right away
  • - No manual publish step needed
  • • Default: Checked (enabled) - recommended for most organizations

Shift Trade Approval Policy

  • • Dropdown select with 3 options
  • • Label: "Shift Trade Approval Policy"
  • OPTION 1: 🟢 Auto-Approve All Trades (Hands-off)
  • - Value: "AUTO_APPROVE"
  • - Description: "Employees can freely trade shifts without manager approval. Best for homogeneous teams where everyone has the same skills."
  • - No manager review needed
  • - Instant approval for all drop/pickup requests
  • OPTION 2: 🟡 Smart Approval (Auto-approve if qualified) - Recommended
  • - Value: "CONDITIONAL"
  • - Shows " - Recommended" label if "Use Roles" is enabled
  • - Description: "Trades auto-approve if employee is qualified (same role, location access, no schedule conflicts, within hours limit). Issues require your review."
  • - Checks performed:
  • * Same role match (if roles enabled)
  • * Location access permissions
  • * No schedule conflicts
  • * Within hours limit
  • - Auto-approves if all checks pass
  • - Sends to manager review if any check fails
  • OPTION 3: 🔴 Manager Approval Required (Full control)
  • - Value: "MANAGER_APPROVAL"
  • - Description: "You review every trade request before it's approved. Best for specialized roles or when you want strict control over all schedule changes."
  • - Every single trade requires manual manager approval
  • - Nothing auto-approved
  • Smart alerts shown:
  • - Blue tip if using roles but not using CONDITIONAL: "💡 Tip: Since you're using roles, we recommend 'Smart Approval' to prevent unqualified employees from picking up shifts."
  • - Yellow warning if CONDITIONAL active but roles OFF: "ℹ️ Note: Smart Approval is active but role validation is disabled. Only schedule conflicts, hours limits, and location access will be checked."
  • Auto-switches to CONDITIONAL when:
  • - "Use Roles" turned ON (if currently AUTO_APPROVE)
  • - "Enable Role-Based Staffing" turned ON (if currently AUTO_APPROVE)
  • • Default: AUTO_APPROVE

Email Notifications

Configure which email notifications your organization receives

Email Notification Settings

  • • Section header: "Email Notifications" with envelope icon
  • • Description: "Choose which email notifications your organization receives. These settings apply to all managers and employees."
  • • All settings are checkboxes (enabled/disabled)
  • • Organized into 5 categories
  • • Changes affect entire organization (all users)
  • • Save button at bottom saves all changes at once

Shift Management Notifications

  • Category header: "Shift Management"
  • • 2-column grid layout on desktop
  • 1. New Shift Assignments (emailNotifyShiftAssigned)
  • - Label: "New Shift Assignments"
  • - Description: "Employee assigned to new shift"
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 2. Shift Changes (emailNotifyShiftChanged)
  • - Label: "Shift Changes"
  • - Description: "Shift time/location modified"
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 3. Schedule Published (emailNotifySchedulePublish)
  • - Label: "Schedule Published"
  • - Description: "New schedule published to employees"
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 4. Recurring Shifts Created (emailNotifyRecurringShifts)
  • - Label: "Recurring Shifts Created"
  • - Description: "Recurring shift pattern generated"
  • - Default: Enabled

Time-Off (PTO) Notifications

  • Category header: "Time-Off Requests"
  • 1. PTO Request Submitted (emailNotifyPTORequest)
  • - Notifies managers when employee submits request
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 2. PTO Approved (emailNotifyPTOApproved)
  • - Notifies employee when request approved
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 3. PTO Denied (emailNotifyPTODenied)
  • - Notifies employee when request denied
  • - Default: Enabled

Shift Trade Notifications

  • Category header: "Shift Trades"
  • 1. Shift Dropped (emailNotifyShiftDropped)
  • - Notifies managers when employee drops shift
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 2. Shift Available to Pick Up (emailNotifyShiftAvailable)
  • - Notifies eligible employees of available shift
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 3. Shift Picked Up (emailNotifyShiftPickedUp)
  • - Notifies manager when shift picked up
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 4. Trade Request Approved (emailNotifyShiftTradeApproved)
  • - Notifies employees when trade approved
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 5. Trade Request Denied (emailNotifyShiftTradeDenied)
  • - Notifies employees when trade denied
  • - Default: Enabled

Clock-In Notifications

  • Category header: "Clock-In Alerts"
  • 1. Late Clock-In (emailNotifyLateClockIn)
  • - Notifies manager if employee clocks in late
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 2. Early Clock-In (emailNotifyEarlyClockIn)
  • - Notifies manager if employee clocks in early
  • - Default: Disabled
  • - Usually kept OFF to avoid spam

Other Notifications

  • 1. Announcements (emailNotifyAnnouncements)
  • - Sends email when new announcement posted
  • - Default: Enabled
  • 2. Daily Digest (emailNotifyDigest)
  • - Daily summary email of all activity
  • - Default: Disabled
  • - Can be enabled for daily overview

Security Settings (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication settings - HEAD_MANAGER only

MFA Settings - HEAD_MANAGER Only

  • • Section header: "Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)"
  • • CRITICAL: Only accessible by HEAD_MANAGER role
  • • MANAGER and EMPLOYEE cannot access MFA settings
  • Shows current MFA status:
  • - "● Enabled" (green badge) if user has MFA active
  • - "Disabled" if user does not have MFA
  • Status message:
  • - If enabled: "Your account is protected with 2FA. You need your phone to log in."
  • - If disabled: "Add an extra layer of security. You will need a code from your phone every time you log in."
  • ENABLE MFA button:
  • - Opens MFA setup modal
  • - Shows QR code to scan with authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.)
  • - Requires entering verification code to confirm
  • - Saves backup codes for account recovery
  • DISABLE MFA button (if enabled):
  • - Opens confirmation modal
  • - Requires current password
  • - Requires current 2FA code from authenticator app
  • - Both password AND code required to disable MFA
  • - Success alert: "Two-Factor Authentication disabled successfully"
  • - Error shown if password or code incorrect
  • • MFA is optional for HEAD_MANAGER role

Saving Changes

How to save and apply settings

Save Settings

  • • "Save Settings" button at bottom of page (HEAD_MANAGER only)
  • • Button text: "Save Settings"
  • • Shows "Saving..." when processing
  • • Saves ALL settings at once (not individual)
  • • Success alert: "Settings saved successfully!"
  • • Error alert: "Failed to save settings" if API error
  • • Changes take effect immediately after save
  • • All organization users affected by changes
  • • No confirmation required - changes apply on save
  • • MFA settings save individually (not part of main save button)

Ready to Configure Your Organization?

Access settings from your HEAD_MANAGER dashboard to customize XShift AI for your business.

Go to SettingsView All Guides
Configure Scheduling Rules & Customize Workforce Settings | XShift AI