How to set shift visibility

This article is for account owners and admins, as only these user types can access the account's settings.

The "Shift visibility" setting lets you decide how much your employees can see of each other's shifts in the rota. You can choose full visibility or one of three levels of anonymisation.

Where to find the setting

The setting is only available when you are logged in to Smartplan in a browser. In your account, go to "Settings" → "Smartplan settings" → "Data and privacy". Under "Privacy settings", you will find the "Shift visibility" field.

Privacy settings with the Shift visibility dropdown

The four levels

Turned off

Employees see the whole rota — their colleagues' shifts with name, position, colour and time. This is the default setting.

Rota with full visibility — names, positions and colours visible

Anonymize names

Employees see their colleagues' shifts with position, colour and time, but not the name.

Rota with names hidden — coloured dots matching the position

Anonymize positions and names

Colleagues' shifts appear as anonymous, grey blocks. The time is still visible, but name, position and colour are hidden.

Rota with fully anonymised, grey shifts

Anonymize times, positions, and names

Colleagues' shifts are not shown individually. Each employee sees only their own shifts plus a count of the other shifts that day — for example "3 other shifts".

Rota with colleagues' shifts hidden — only own shifts and a count

What employees can always see

Whichever level you choose, employees can always see:

Their own shifts — with full detail
Available shifts — so they can still pick up cover
The number of other shifts that day — even when the individual shifts are hidden

Admins and superusers can always see all shifts with full detail, regardless of the setting.

"Shift visibility" only concerns shifts. Whether employees can see each other's absences is controlled by a separate setting — you can read about it in the article How to manage absence and privacy settings.

Who can change the setting

Any admin on the account can change "Shift visibility". You do not have to be the account owner.

How the change takes effect

The change takes effect as soon as you save. Employees see the updated rota the next time they open it — both in the browser and in the app. They do not need to do anything themselves.