Crew Availability

The Availability system in NexusRMS lets each crew member define when they are free, unavailable, or prefer to work. These availability windows feed directly into the scheduling engine, preventing double-bookings and helping managers find the right people for the right shifts.

Availability types

Every availability entry is assigned one of four types. Each type is colour-coded on the calendar and affects how the scheduling engine treats that crew member during the covered period:

• Available (green) — The crew member is free and can be scheduled for projects during this window. This is the default assumption when no availability entry exists, but explicitly marking available periods is useful for crew who only work certain days or shifts.
• Unavailable (red) — The crew member cannot work during this window. Common reasons include holiday, sick leave, and personal commitments. Unavailable blocks prevent the scheduler from assigning the crew member to any project that overlaps with the blocked period.
• Preferred (green with priority boost) — The crew member prefers to work during this window. Preferred periods behave like available periods but receive a higher priority weighting when the auto-scheduling engine ranks candidates for a shift.
• Tentative (yellow) — The crew member may be available but has not confirmed. Tentative windows are treated as lower priority during scheduling. Managers can still assign crew during tentative periods, but the system flags these assignments for confirmation.

Setting availability

There are two ways to create availability entries:

• From the crew detail page — Navigate to Crew > Crew List, open a crew member, and click the Availability tab. Click the Add Availability button to open the creation form.
• From the Scheduler — Navigate to Crew > Scheduler, click on an empty slot in the timeline for the crew member, and choose Set Availability from the context menu. The start and end times pre-fill based on where you clicked.

Availability window fields

Each availability entry includes the following fields:

• Start Date & Time — When the availability window begins. Required for all entries.
• End Date & Time — When the availability window ends. Must be after the start date and time.
• All Day — Toggle that marks the entire day (or days) without requiring specific start and end times. When enabled, the time component is ignored and the window spans from midnight to midnight.
• Type — One of the four availability types described above: Available, Unavailable, Preferred, or Tentative.
• Reason — A short explanation for the entry (e.g., “Annual leave”, “Doctor appointment”, “University lectures”). Optional but recommended for unavailable and tentative entries.
• Notes — Additional context visible to managers reviewing the schedule. Use this for details that do not fit in the reason field.

Recurring availability

For crew members with predictable schedules, NexusRMS supports recurring availability patterns using the RRULE format from the iCalendar standard. Enable the Recurring toggle when creating an availability entry to reveal the recurrence configuration.

How recurrence works

When you save a recurring availability entry, the system stores the RRULE string and generates individual child instances for each occurrence within the configured look-ahead window. Each child instance is a standalone record linked to its parent pattern.

Common RRULE examples

• Weekdays only — FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=MO,TU,WE,TH,FR — Generates an entry for every Monday through Friday.
• Every Monday and Wednesday — FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=MO,WE — Generates entries on Mondays and Wednesdays only.
• First of every month — FREQ=MONTHLY;BYMONTHDAY=1 — Generates an entry on the first day of each month.
• Every two weeks — FREQ=WEEKLY;INTERVAL=2 — Generates entries fortnightly from the start date.

Editing individual instances

You can edit or delete a single instance of a recurring pattern without breaking the parent rule. For example, if a crew member is normally available every weekday but takes a Wednesday off, you can change that specific Wednesday instance to Unavailable. The remaining weekday instances continue as normal.

Calendar view

The Availability tab displays a FullCalendar integration showing all availability entries for the selected crew member. Entries are colour-coded by type: green for Available and Preferred, red for Unavailable, and yellow for Tentative. Click any entry to edit it, or click and drag on an empty area to create a new entry for that date range.

Use the calendar controls to switch between month, week, and day views. The today button returns the view to the current date.

How availability affects scheduling

The scheduling engine reads availability entries when managers assign crew to projects or when the auto-scheduler ranks candidates:

• Unavailable blocks — If a crew member has an unavailable entry that overlaps with a project’s dates, the system prevents assignment and displays a conflict warning. The crew member does not appear in the auto-scheduler’s candidate list for that period.
• Preferred windows — Crew members with preferred availability during a project’s dates receive a priority boost in auto-scheduling results. They appear higher in the candidate ranking.
• Tentative windows — Crew members with tentative availability appear in results but at a lower priority. Assignments during tentative windows generate a confirmation prompt reminding the manager that the crew member has not confirmed their availability.
• No entry — If a crew member has no availability entry for a given period, they are assumed to be available at standard priority.

Tips

• Encourage crew to maintain their own availability — Crew members can update their own availability from the mobile app or web interface, reducing the administrative burden on managers.
• Use recurring patterns for part-time staff — Set up weekly recurring patterns for crew who work fixed days. This eliminates the need to manually update availability each week.
• Add reasons for unavailable entries — A short reason helps managers understand the context without needing to contact the crew member directly.
• Review tentative entries weekly — Tentative availability should be confirmed or removed promptly to keep the schedule accurate.

Next steps

Continue to the next article to learn about the Crew Scheduler, where you will view all crew assignments on a unified timeline, use drag-and-drop to reassign shifts, and manage pending freelancer booking requests.