Holiday shift sign-up sheet

Set coverage before anyone picks

Start with the minimum each shift needs, not the number you'd like. A store that is closed on Christmas Day needs no Christmas line at all. A care home or a help desk may need two people on every shift. Write one line per shift with its number. The dates in the starter list ("Dec 24", "Jan 1") are fixed holidays, so the same list works next year.

If the week between the holidays also needs cover, add those days as their own lines, such as "Dec 28 7am-3pm: Day shift x3". That stretch is where people ask for vacation, and it is easier to see the gaps when it is on the same sheet.

Write the fairness rule down

Most arguments about holiday shifts are about the rule, not the shifts. Put yours in the first line of the description, before anyone signs up. Common ones:

• Everyone takes at least one. Set the sheet's sign-ups per person to one or two, so nobody holds every shift and nobody else has to.
• Last year's Christmas crew picks first. Share the link with them a day before the rest of the team, then with everyone.
• Premium pay is first come, first served. If holiday shifts pay more, some people want them. Say so, and a cap per person stops one person taking all of them.

Dibs is first come, first served. It does not rank preferences or run a seniority bid. If your policy or contract sets the order, use the sheet to collect choices with a question such as "Which holiday do you most want off?", then place people yourself. You can add, move or remove anyone by hand from the dashboard.

See who hasn't picked

Paste your team list into the roster, with one name and email per line, and the dashboard shows who hasn't signed up. A week before the deadline, send those people a nudge. The free plan covers a list of up to 50, and Dibs Plus up to 500. The list itself is only visible to you and your co-organizers, never on the sheet.

On a team, show full names on the sheet, so everyone can see who is working and arrange swaps. If that is too public for your workplace, show first name and initial instead.

Swaps and sick days

Plans change in December. Each person's confirmation has a private link to move to another open shift or cancel. If a shift is full, they can join its waitlist, and when someone cancels, the first person waiting gets the place and an email. You see every change on the dashboard.

Reminders go out on their own, two days before each shift and on the morning of. For a 7am shift, the "morning of" reminder comes at 7pm the evening before instead, so nobody gets it after they should have left.

Holiday pay

Say what the shifts pay on the sheet. The Department of Labor is clear that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require pay for time not worked, such as holidays, and premium pay for working on one is up to the employer, a contract or state law. People pick differently when they know, and they stop asking you in the hallway.

Not the party

This sheet is for covering the work. For the end-of-year lunch, the dishes and the cleanup, use the office holiday party sign-up sheet. For volunteer shifts at a food bank or shelter over the holidays, the food bank volunteer schedule has longer shifts and room for groups.

A 2026 timeline

• Monday, November 16: share the sheet with the fairness rule and the pay in the description.
• Monday, November 23: before Thanksgiving, nudge anyone on the roster who hasn't picked.
• Tuesday, December 1: close sign-ups and fill any empty shifts yourself.
• Friday, December 4: message everyone that the schedule is final. To stop new names landing on a shift, lock it: people already on it can still cancel, and you can still move people by hand.
• Tuesday, December 22: Dibs sends the two-day reminder for Christmas Eve shifts on its own.
• Tuesday, December 29: the same for New Year's Eve.

A ready list

The starter list above covers Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, December 26, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, with day and evening shifts. Paste it into Dibs, change the times and numbers to fit your schedule, and share the link in Slack, Teams or email. Staff pick a shift with their name and email, no account and no ads.