This article was last updated on May 6, 2024.
If you have been assigned the Manager system role, then your access to Sling's features and settings is a bit different from an Admin or an Employee. This article will provide an overview to help you get acquainted with Sling.
Scheduling
Managers can create, edit, and delete shifts, or approve shift exchanges and time off requests (as well as enter time off for employees or themselves directly to the shift calendar) only for the locations assigned in their own profiles. So it is important that admins assign locations to your profile as they are adding your details to the account. If a location is missing from your Work tab, then that means you will not have access to the employees who you are responsible for scheduling in Sling.
Employees
Managers are able to edit any employee details in order to add employees to their location (once a location has been added to your own profile), and view schedules for all locations. Premium and Business subscribers can restrict managers from viewing schedules for other locations. Managers will also not be able to see any labor cost details unless an admin on your account grants permission for that through the Settings > Labor cost page.
The example below is taken from an admin account for illustration purposes; managers do not have access to see the settings details for labor cost for the company's account.
Settings Access
While managers are able to make changes to the employees who are assigned to their location, they will not be able to adjust settings for the account that would affect all users. However, they still have access to view the settings that have been configured by an admin on the account, so that they can understand how the features have been set up.
The first two tabs of the Settings menu are customizable per user. You will need to adjust your Preferences and Notifications settings so that Sling looks and works the way that you need it to. The full range of settings options are only available through the web version of Sling at this time. The web version of Sling is designed primarily with admins and managers in mind, while the mobile app has been designed primarily for use by employees.
When a manager looks under the Company settings, Schedule, Time clock, and Time off tab, they will be able to see how those settings have been adjusted by the admin(s) on the account so that they can understand if there is something an employee or they are not able to do. This way, they can contact an admin if a particular setting needs to be adjusted.
Notifications
The notifications that a manager receives will depend on the Location that an employee is assigned to. There are a couple of scenarios to keep in mind:
If an employee is not assigned to a specific manager, then all managers who are also assigned to the same location as the employee will receive Dashboard notifications and alerts for that employee's requests. Admins have the option to enable or disable these notifications.
If an employee is assigned to a specific manager, then only that manager will receive notifications concerning time off requests and shift exchanges, for example. Admins who have enabled the Employee Activity Notifications setting will also receive these notifications when an employee has been assigned a specific manager.
You can check whether an employee has been assigned a manager by clicking their name anywhere in Sling, and then selecting the Work tab of their Profile:
Manager approval for manager time off
As a manager, you'll notice that you do not have the same option to request time off as an employee has. This is because you have the access to simply enter time off events to the schedule, including for yourself.
When you input a time off entry for yourself, as long as you are assigned a manager in your own profile (under the Work tab), then after the time off entry is submitted, it will trigger a notification for the person who has been assigned to approve your time off submissions.
Updating system role to admin
If you are promoted to a higher position within your company, or in the case when an admin for the account is no longer with your organization, you may need for your system role to be updated so that you can gain access to higher-level functions within your company's Sling account.
If an admin who is active on the account is not available to adjust your system role to be admin, then you will need to contact Sling Support so that we are able to verify your position with the company and work on getting this updated for you. We will need documentation or a link to your company's webpage--any form of proof that will verify your role within the company so that we can proceed with making this adjustment for you.
Helpful links
More details about the different system roles in Sling
How to block time off requests for individual dates
An overview of creating shifts
Learn about timesheet approval and editing timesheets
How to mark a shift as a no-show or sick call-out
Assigning managers to employees
Using filters to get work done faster