HS: Voluntary Standby List

Overview

The Voluntary Standby List (VSL) in HotSchedules is a feature that supports employers in managing employee opt-in preferences related to voluntary standby arrangements. Team members can indicate their willingness to be placed on the standby list, and managers can view and filter these preferences when planning schedules. This article explains how team members and managers can use the VSL functionality across web and mobile applications.

Voluntary standby list requirements may vary by jurisdiction, employer policy, employee classification, and scheduling practices. Customers are responsible for determining applicable participation, notice, consent, recordkeeping, and compensation requirements.

Note: This functionality can be configured regardless of whether a specific jurisdiction is listed in the compliance coverage section below.

Compliance Coverage by Jurisdiction

The table below lists jurisdictions where voluntary standby list requirements may apply and provides an overview of key considerations.

Oregon Voluntary Standby List Considerations

For employers covered by Oregon’s predictive work scheduling requirements, participation must be voluntary. Employees must request or agree in writing to participate and should not be required or pressured to join.

Covered employers should confirm whether employees must receive written information explaining:

• Employee notice and voluntary participation
• Submitting requests to be added to or removed from the list
• Communicating and accepting available hours
• Declining additional hours or removal from the list without retaliation
• How accepting additional hours may affect eligibility for schedule-change compensation

Participation in the VSL indicates an employee’s willingness to be contacted about additional hours but does not constitute advance acceptance of a specific shift or work opportunity.

The HotSchedules VSL feature can support the administration of employee participation preferences but does not replace any required notices, agreements, recordkeeping, or other compliance processes. Selecting the setting in HotSchedules may not, by itself, satisfy all applicable written consent or notice requirements.

Manager Walkthrough

Managers with the appropriate permissions can view and update voluntary standby status for individual employees or multiple employees. 

To edit the VSL status of an employee:

• Navigate to the Staff tab
• Select the employee's name
• On the Details page, locate the Voluntary Standby List option under Settings
• Check or uncheck this option
• Changes will be saved automatically

Alternatively, select multiple employees from the Staff list and use the More menu to update their Voluntary Standby List status in bulk, as shown below.

Once an employee is opted in:

• An employee attribute with the letter “V” appears under their name on the Scheduling tab
• Managers can filter employees by this attribute to view standby list participation when building schedules
• If a manager updates an employee's VSL status, the employee receives a HotSchedules message notifying them of the change.

If the employee VSL setting is enabled, employees can opt out by clearing the VSL setting in HotSchedules. Managers with the appropriate permissions can also update the employee's status at their request.

Note: Managers should only add or remove an employee at the employee’s direction and in accordance with applicable company policies and jurisdictional requirements.

Employee Walkthrough

If configured for the location, team members can opt into or out of the Voluntary Standby List from both web and mobile applications.

Note: The employee VSL setting is not enabled by default. To enable this feature for employees, contact Customer Support.

• Navigate to Settings > Personal
• In the left menu, locate Voluntary Standby List
• Check or uncheck the box to opt in or opt out of the list

When selected, the employee is opted in, and managers will receive a message notification when changes are made.

In the mobile apps, opt-in/opt-out functionality is available, but steps may vary slightly by app version. Look for the Voluntary Standby setting under your profile or personal preferences.