External staff are people who are not part of your core team but can be called on when needed.

This includes:

• Agency staff
• Temporary workers
• Contractors

They are not scheduled by default, but are available when extra support is required.

Before you start

The External Staff feature must be enabled.

👉 Cirrus must enable the External Workers module for your environment.

If you do not see:

• External staff settings
• Hiring availabilities

Contact Cirrus support.

Why use external staff

External staff give you flexibility.

Use them to:

• Cover peak demand
• Handle unexpected gaps
• Support busy periods
• Backfill absence

They are not part of your core schedule, but they are key when demand increases.

How external staff work

External staff behave differently to standard employees.

When an employee is marked as external:

• They are not automatically included in shift templates
• They are not part of your base schedule
• They can still be scheduled manually when needed

This keeps your core schedule clean while giving you extra capacity when required.

Set an employee as external

Follow these steps:

1. Go to Account management
2. Select the employee
3. Set Type to External
4. Save

The employee is now marked as external staff.

Hiring availabilities

External staff manage their own availability.

They enter when they are able to work using their own account.

View hiring availabilities

As an admin, you can see all availability in one place.

Go to Hiring availabilities

1. View the list
2. You will see:

• Employee
• Date
• Available times
• Message if added
• Status

This gives you a clear view of who is available and when.

Using external staff in scheduling

When your schedule is understaffed:

• The system highlights available external staff
• It checks they have the correct skills
• You can then add them to the schedule manually

This helps you react quickly without guessing who is available.

Add external staff to the schedule

When needed:

1. Open the Schedule
2. Identify the gap
3. Select the external employee
4. Assign shifts using paint mode

They are now part of the schedule for that period.

Important to know

• External staff are not scheduled automatically
• Availability is controlled by the employee
• You must assign them manually
• Skills still apply

Common mistakes

1. Not enabling the External Workers module. The feature will not be available.
2. Forgetting to check hiring availabilities. You may miss available support.
3. Treating external staff like core employees. They are not part of your base schedule.
4. Not assigning correct skills. They will not appear as suitable for gaps.

Best practice

• Enable the module before setup
• Use external staff to fill gaps, not build your base schedule
• Check hiring availabilities daily
• Keep their skills accurate
• Add them only when needed