Say when you can work
Two different things, kept apart on purpose: which shifts you would rather have, and when you cannot work at all. The first is a preference, the second is a constraint.
- Who this is for
- Anybody on a roster. Best done before the week is built.
Step by step
Wait for the week to open
You can rank a week while it is open for preferences. You are told when that happens and reminded before it closes, if you have left those notices on.
Rank the shifts
Mark each shift you are eligible for: want a lot, want, OK with it, prefer not, or cannot. Leaving one unmarked counts as no preference rather than as a refusal.
Spend your refusals carefully
Your workplace sets how many shifts you may mark as ones you cannot work in a single week. Everything else is a preference, which is a different thing and is not rationed.
Say when you cannot work at all
On your availability, add a recurring weekday for the afternoons you are in class, or a single date for a one-off. This one is hard: your manager cannot schedule you then.
Say how many hours you want
Set the hours you would like in a week. It is a target the schedule leans towards rather than a limit, so some weeks will land above it and some below.
What your manager sees
What you marked, beside your name, while they are filling each shift. It is not an argument you have to have in person: it is a rung on a list everybody in the workplace uses the same way.