Roles and permissions explained

Roles in Shiftdesk

Shiftdesk works with five roles. They control what a person can see and change – and whether they can use the web backend or only the mobile app. You set the role when creating a person under Employees → Add employee and can adjust it at any time in the employee profile under Team & permissions.

Web or app only?

Administrator, Manager, and Planner can log in to the web backend (shiftdesk.app) and the mobile app.
Team leads and Employees use only the mobile app – they have no access to the web backend and are directed to a corresponding notice when attempting to log in via the web.

For everything the app can do, see The Shiftdesk smartphone app at a glance.

The five roles

Administrator: Full access to web and app. Manages employees, settings, reports, and revenue; plans and approves everything.
Manager: Web + app. Manages employees, working hours, and absences; plans schedules and approves – without reports, revenue, and settings.
Planner: Web + app. Plans schedules, maintains availability, and approves times and absences – without employee management and settings.
Team lead: App only. Sees the team schedule and plans shifts as a draft, uses their own hours/absences/availability and the chat. Approves nothing and does not publish shifts.
Employee: App only. Sees their own schedule, tracks times, requests absences, and chats. No access to other people's data.

What can each role do?

Capability	Administrator	Manager	Planner	Team lead	Employee
Web backend	Yes	Yes	Yes	App only	App only
Mobile App	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plan the schedule	Yes	Yes	Yes	Draft only	No
Approve times/absences	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Create announcements	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Manage employees	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Settings, reports, revenue	Yes	No	No	No	No

Good to know

Team leads and Employees need the app – web login is blocked for them.
Team leads may plan, but not publish: their shifts remain drafts until a Planner, Manager, or Administrator finalizes them.
Choose the highest suitable role per person – holding multiple roles at the same time is not supported.
Security-relevant actions such as a role change are logged in the audit log under Settings → Security.

Next: Organizational structure.

Setup checklist for admins

Organizational structure: location, department, team

Creating and inviting employees

In Shiftdesk, you manage your team centrally under **Employees**. From there, you add new people, invite them by email, and give them access to the Mobile App.

Getting started with Shiftdesk

Shiftdesk helps you plan shifts, track working hours, and manage absences. This article gives you a concise overview of the best order in which to get started.

Setup checklist for admins

This checklist helps you set up Shiftdesk in a structured way and without dead ends. It's best to work through the steps in order — many build on each other.

Organizational structure: location, department, team

Shiftdesk uses a three-level hierarchy: **Location → Department → Team**. This structure is the foundation for scheduling, permissions, and analyses.

Still have questions?

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