Employee Availability Form: Free Template and How to Use It
30 October 2026 · The Rosterly team · 4 min read
An employee availability form records when each person can and can't work, so you can build a roster that fits before you publish it. A good form asks for regular weekly availability, fixed commitments, preferred and maximum hours, and the date it starts, and gets updated every term or season. Use the free template below, then keep availability next to the roster, not in a drawer.
Rosters fall apart when they're built on guesses. Someone has university on Tuesdays, someone else can't work after 3pm in school term, and a third person wants more hours but nobody asked. A simple form, collected properly, fixes most of that before the first shift is drawn.
What an availability form should ask
Keep it to one page:
1.
Name and start date. When this availability takes effect.
2.
Regular weekly availability. For each day: available all day, available between set times, or not available.
3.
Fixed commitments. Study, school runs, a second job, regular appointments.
4.
Preferred hours per week. And the maximum they'd accept.
5.
Shift preferences. Openings, closings, weekends. Preferences, not promises.
6.
Skills or certificates. Anything new since last time, such as a first aid course or alcohol service certificate.
7.
Upcoming leave already known. So it can be requested properly.
8.
How long this lasts. For example, "until the end of semester".
The free template
Copy this into an email, a document or a printed sheet:
Employee availability form
Name:
Availability starts from (date):
This availability applies until (date or "further notice"):
Weekly availability (write "All day", a time range such as "7am to 3pm", or "Not available")
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
Fixed commitments (study, school runs, other work, appointments):
Preferred hours per week:
Maximum hours per week I'm happy to work:
Shift preferences (optional; we'll try, but can't always guarantee):
[ ] Openings [ ] Closings [ ] Weekends [ ] Weekdays only
New skills or certificates since my last form:
Leave I already know about (please also request it in the usual way):
I'll tell my manager as soon as my availability changes.
Signed: Date:
Replace the words in [square brackets] for your business.
How often to update it
•
Every term or semester for students and parents of school-age children.
•
Every season in businesses with summer and winter rosters.
•
Whenever something changes, such as a new job, a new course or a change in caring duties.
Put a date on each form. Without one, you can't tell whether "not available Thursdays" is from last month or two years ago.
Using availability when you build the roster
Availability is an input, not a promise either way. When building the week:
•
Respect "not available". Treat it as a hard limit unless the person offers otherwise.
•
Use "available" sensibly. Being free on Saturday doesn't mean someone wants every Saturday. Spread the unpopular shifts.
•
Watch total hours. Stay close to preferred hours and under the maximum.
•
Mind rest. In the UK, adult workers are entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days, so "available from 6am" after a midnight close still may not work.
•
Talk before big changes. In Australia, many awards require employers to consult staff before changing their regular roster or ordinary hours.
In Rosterly, staff mark themselves unavailable and request leave in the app, and both are checked before anyone is assigned. 14-day free trial, no card needed.
Sometimes everyone wants the same shifts, or nobody can do the one you need. A few rules keep it fair:
•
Cover the essentials first. Fill shifts that need a specific skill, such as opening or alcohol service, before anything else.
•
Rotate the unpopular slots. If three people are only free on weekends, share the Sunday closes between them rather than giving them to whoever asked last.
•
Ask, don't assume. If you need someone outside their stated availability, ask them directly and accept a no.
•
Revisit restrictive availability. If someone's availability no longer matches the role, talk about it early rather than rostering around it forever.
•
Write it down. Record any agreed exception so it doesn't become a dispute later.
Paper form vs app
A form is a good start, especially for new starters. Once you have more than a handful of staff, availability on paper gets out of date fast. In Rosterly:
•
Requests from staff: staff request leave or unavailability for specific times in the app, and a manager approves each request.
•
Checked automatically: approved leave and unavailability are checked before anyone is assigned, and auto-fill skips anyone who's away.
•
Skills on the profile: skills are tagged on each person, so a new certificate is one change, not a new form.
Rosterly doesn't store weekly availability patterns or shift preferences, so keep the form for those. If staff keep missing shifts they said they could work, pair this with a clear no-call no-show policy. For retail teams juggling students, see staff rota software for retail stores, and our free staff roster template if you're building the roster in a spreadsheet.