Employee Availability Form

An employee availability form records the days and hours an employee can work, so you can build a schedule that fits both the business and the people in it. This free availability form fits on one page: a day-by-day grid of earliest start and latest finish times, the hours a week the employee wants, and space for school, a second job or other commitments. The employee fills it in and signs, you sign it off, and the schedule gets built from facts instead of guesses.

What you get

A three-page PDF and a Word file you can edit, sized for US Letter paper:

• Page 1: the blank employee availability form, ready to print.
• Page 2: the same form filled in for a fictional bakery cafe.
• Page 3: notes on using the form, on hour limits for workers under 18, and on scheduling laws, with links to the sources.

The Word file has the form and the notes, so you can add your company name or change the day grid to match your opening hours.

What a good availability form includes

• When it takes effect, and an end date if the availability is temporary, such as a school term.
• A grid for every day of the week, with the earliest start, the latest finish and a box for days the person can’t work at all.
• Hours a week: preferred, fewest and most. These matter as much as the days.
• The type of work wanted: full-time, part-time, seasonal or fill-in shifts.
• Other commitments that affect scheduling, such as class times or another job’s shifts, without asking for reasons.
• Signatures and dates from the employee and the manager, plus a line to show it was entered in the schedule.

How to collect employee availability

1. Ask every new hire for a form before their first schedule, and every current employee when their availability changes.
2. Set a deadline, for example two weeks before you build the next schedule, so changes can be included.
3. Read the form against the hours you need covered. If there’s a gap, talk about it now, not when the schedule is posted.
4. Check the age box. For anyone under 18, check the hour limits that apply (see below).
5. Sign it, enter it in your schedule or scheduling app, and give the employee a copy.
6. Keep only the latest form for each person, and build the employee schedule from it.

Completed example

The example is from a fictional bakery cafe. A part-time counter associate who is a full-time student fills in her availability for the fall semester, from Monday, August 31 to Friday, December 18. On class days she can work mornings before an 11:00 a.m. class or afternoons after a morning class. She can work all day Friday and Saturday, and not at all on Sunday. She would like 20 hours a week, with 15 as the fewest and 24 as the most, and she offers extra hours over Thanksgiving week. The store manager signs it the next day and enters it in the schedule.

Availability forms and teen workers

If you hire workers under 18, the availability form is a good place to catch hour limits before they become a problem. Under federal rules, 14 and 15 year olds may work no more than 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, 18 hours in a school week and 40 hours in a non-school week. They may work only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., or until 9 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day (DOL Fact Sheet #43). Federal rules don’t limit hours for 16 and 17 year olds, but many states do, and when both apply you follow the stricter rule. A teen’s availability can be wider than the law allows, so check the schedule against the limits, not just the form.

Predictable scheduling and fair workweek laws

A few states and cities have predictable scheduling (or “fair workweek”) laws for large employers in some industries. For example, Oregon’s law covers retail, hospitality and food service employers with at least 500 employees worldwide. They must post schedules 14 days ahead, and employees may identify limits on their availability (Oregon BOLI). Seattle’s Secure Scheduling Ordinance covers large retail and food service employers in a similar way (Seattle Office of Labor Standards). Most independent small businesses fall below these thresholds, but check the rules for your state and city.

Religious practices and other requests

An employee may be unavailable for a religious practice, such as a day of worship. If you have 15 or more employees, Title VII requires you to reasonably accommodate religious beliefs and practices unless it would cause undue hardship. The EEOC lists flexible scheduling and voluntary shift swaps as common accommodations (EEOC). The form doesn’t ask employees why they’re unavailable, and you don’t need to know. If someone asks for a change for a religious, medical or family reason, talk it through and get advice before you say no.

Availability, time off and attendance

Availability is the standing pattern of when someone can work. A one-off day away is a different thing: use a time off request form for that. If someone often misses shifts they said they could work, your attendance policy is the place to set expectations.

Not sure which scheduling rules apply where you are? hrsupport.io answers HR questions for your state, with the law behind every answer.