How to set up cancellation policies in rate cards

When a client cancels a shift at the last minute, your worker has often turned down other work to keep that slot free. A cancellation policy sets out how much the client pays if they cancel within a certain number of hours of the shift starting.

Cancellation policies are part of a rate card. You set them in the third and final step of creating a rate card, and they apply to the branch and site that rate card covers.

Before you begin

• Agree the policy with the client. Cancellation fees should be in your terms with the client before you charge them.
• The client needs a rate card. If they do not have one yet, you set the policy while creating it. See How to Configure Rate Cards for Your Clients.

How a policy works

Each policy has two parts:

• Before Job Start: the notice window, for example 4 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours. If the client cancels within this window, the fee applies.
• Cancellation fee percentage: the share of the shift charge the client pays, for example 50%.

You can add several policies to the same rate card to build an escalating structure. For example:

Here a client cancelling 18 hours before the shift pays 25%, and one cancelling 2 hours before pays the full charge.

Adding a policy to a new rate card

1. Open the client and select the £ icon to open the Rate Card panel.
2. Select Add new and complete Rates Overview and Add Rates. See How to Configure Rate Cards for Your Clients.
3. On the Cancellation Policy step, choose a notice window under Before Job Start.
4. Enter the Cancellation fee percentage.
5. Select Add Policy.
6. Repeat for any other notice windows.
7. Select Skip & Submit to save the rate card.

The No of Policies column on the Rate Card panel shows how many policies the rate card has.

Tip: If the client has agreed no cancellation fees, you can select Skip & Submit without adding a policy. The rate card is saved without one.

Changing a policy on an existing rate card

1. Open the client's Rate Card panel.
2. Select View on the rate card.
3. Go to the Cancellation Policy step.
4. Add, change or remove policies as needed.
5. Save the rate card.

Policies are set per branch and site, so if the client has several sites on different rate cards, update each one.

Good habits worth adopting

• Match the policy to your terms exactly. If your terms say 24 hours, do not set 12 hours on the platform.
• Use more than one window. A sliding scale feels fairer to clients than a single cliff edge, and makes them less likely to dispute a charge.
• Review policies when you review rates. It is easy to update rates and forget the cancellation terms.

If something looks wrong

A cancellation fee was not charged. Check the time the shift was cancelled against the Before Job Start windows on the rate card for that site.

The wrong percentage was charged. Check which windows are set. When several apply, the policy for the shortest notice window that the cancellation falls within is used.

The notice window you need is not in the list. Contact our Support Team to ask about adding it.

If something still does not look right, contact our Support Team with the client's name, reference number and the Rate ID.