When you post or edit a shift, you'll be able to see the shift booking fee and total expected pay right away. You are only charged the shift booking fee if there's a successful booking.
A relief shift is booked only after the following actions take place:
The relief professional applies to the shift you posted.
You review and approve the shift application. You can always chat with shift applicants for free, regardless of which subscription plan you have.
The relief professional then confirms the shift. The shift is now booked and will appear under the "bookings" page for both you and the worker. The shift booking fee is charged to your account.
Note: You are responsible for arranging payment to the relief professional directly.
Check your notifications for shift views and applications
1. After you post a shift, you'll be notified by email about shift views and applications. You can click the email to be taken to your notification page (or click on your profile image/initials in the top right corner to open the hamburger menu, then click Notifications).
2. You can filter by shift notifications specifically, or by unread notifications using the Category and Status filters on the notifications flyout menu.
3. You can also find your applications by navigating to your Shifts page from the top menu bar, or by clicking the shift applications banner that appears whenever you have new shift applications.
View shift applicants
4. Find the shift you want to view applicants for, hover over the shift card and then click "Applicants". The applicants button and tag "Has applicants" will only appear on shifts with active applications. Clicking either will bring you to the connections page on your account.
5. The fastest way to see all applications (for shifts or jobs) is to go to your Connections page directly from the top menu bar.
6. Click Shifts beside the Connections label to narrow your connections only shift activity. If you have multiple shifts or locations posted, you can use the filters to narrow down your connection search.
Approve or reject shift applicants
7. Scroll down your Connections > Shifts page to the applications section.
8. You can view and approve/reject the shift application in two ways:
Hover over the applicant's profile, then click on the Review button that appears
Click on the applicant's profile, then click on the Shifts button in the Applied to banner at the bottom. This will show you which shift(s) need approval.
Review and reply to the application message
9. A candidate can attach a message and document with their application, which will be shown directly below the shift details. Click the Reply button to respond directly to this message. Even if a candidate didn't include a message in the shift application, you can message any shift applicants for free!
Review shift costs and booking fees
10. After you select the shift, you'll see a breakdown of costs associated with this shift. Remember, the shift booking fee is charged to the card on your Hound account when you successfully book a relief professional. The expected worker pay is paid by you to the relief professional directly off Hound. If you negotiate on payment, we recommend updating your shift posting to reflect the agreed upon amount.
Expected Worker Pay: this is calculated by the pay/hour x total shift hours you list in the shift posting, and is the amount that employers are responsible for paying to the worker directly. For example, a shift pay of $100/hour x 9 hours (8:30am - 5:30pm) = $900 total worker pay.
Shift Booking Fee: this is $15/hour booked for DVMs, and $3/hour for non-DVMs. This is the only fee you are paying to Hound, which is charged when a worker confirms and books the shift. For example, if the shift booking fee is $15/hour for DVM shifts x 9 hours (8:30am - 5:30pm) = $135 shift booking fee.
Total Expected Cost: this is simply the expected worker pay + shift booking fee, and is meant as a guideline only. Employers will not be charged this amount at any time. For example, $900 total worker pay + $135 shift booking fee = $1,035 total expected cost.
11. Select all or choose which shifts you want them to cover and click approve or reject. The applicant will be notified if you approve the shift; they will not be notified if you reject the shift.
Your shift is booked when the applicant confirms
12. After approving the shift, this candidate will move to pending section of your shift bookings page. They will need to also confirm the shift before it's considered a booking.
13. Once the relief professional confirms the pending shift you approved, it'll move to booked and will be considered a booked shift. At this time, your card on file will be charged and the shift will move to the booked section of your shift bookings page.
14. By now, you should have already been messaging with the candidate to negotiate terms, pay and exchange information.
15. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to use our chat feature by clicking on your profile image or initials in the top right corner, then clicking on Support > Chat with us.
Now you know how to manage your relief shifts and connect with applicant. Remember, you can post unlimited free relief shifts, only paying the booking fee when you book someone.