Help
How can we help?
For locums
- How do I record a day of work?
- On Schedule, press Add work. Type the day in one line, such as “Clinic A Tue 9-5 $100”, and press Fill in: the form below is filled for you to check and save. A weekday on its own means the most recent one; write “next Fri” for a day ahead. You can also fill in the form by hand.
- Can I bring in the spreadsheet I already keep?
- Yes. Under Add work, open “Repeat work or import a spreadsheet”. Drop in an .xlsx workbook or paste rows copied from Google Sheets. Rows you have already imported are skipped, and rows without a rate are left out and listed.
- How are unpaid breaks handled?
- Your start and finish times stay as you worked them. Enter the unpaid break in minutes and the billable hours are worked out from the two. If a site pays a set number of hours, use the billable hours override under “Tax, overnight work & other details”.
- What do planned, confirmed and completed mean?
- Planned and confirmed work counts toward the month’s expected income. Only completed work can be invoiced, and work can only be marked completed once its date has arrived. Cancelled work is left out of every total.
- Why can’t I edit or delete a work entry?
- Once work is on an invoice it is locked, so the invoice and the record behind it cannot disagree. Cancel the draft invoice to release it. Work on an issued invoice stays locked.
- How do I invoice a clinic?
- Mark the work completed, then open Invoices and prepare an invoice. There is one invoice per client and site. Before you can issue one, add your business details, bank details and the client’s billing details.
- How is GST worked out?
- GST applies only if your business settings say you are registered, and only to work on or after your registration date. If the rate you entered already includes GST, tick “Entered rate includes GST” and it is backed out instead of added. The ledger’s GST figure is a forecast, not a BAS calculation.
- Can I invoice Specsavers stores?
- Yes. Choose the Specsavers format on the client and enter the store, its address and your LUID. The invoice is laid out the way their Basware capture requires and is sent as one PDF per invoice. Specsavers requires locums to bill through a company or a trust with a corporate trustee.
- Where do I see what I’m owed?
- Invoices shows what is awaiting payment and what is overdue. Schedule also tells you when an invoice is past its due date, and how this month compares with your usual month.
- How do I find shifts that suit me?
- Open Shifts and type what you want, such as “Fridays in November within 50 km over $120”. Each part becomes a filter you can remove. Shifts are for your profession only and are ordered by how well they fit, with days you are free first.
- Can I be emailed when a matching shift is posted?
- Yes. After searching, press “Email me new matches” to save the search. You are also emailed about shifts near you once you set a home base or a preferred location on your profile. Every one of these emails has an unsubscribe link.
- What happens when I apply for a shift?
- The clinic sees your application and either approves or declines it. You are only booked when the clinic approves. When you apply from the shift’s page you can propose a different hourly rate and choose which offered extras you would use.
- Why does my registration need to be checked?
- A clinic can only book you once we have checked your registration on the public Ahpra register and your insurance against your certificate, and the insurance must cover every date being booked. Add your registration number and upload your certificate of currency on your Profile. We usually check within two business days, email you when you can be booked, and then delete our copy of the certificate.
- Who can see when I’m free?
- Nobody, unless you turn sharing on under Availability. When it is on, clinics see only which days are free, busy or partly busy. They never see where you work, for whom, or at what rate.
- How do I cancel a booking or withdraw an application?
- Open Applications. A pending application can be withdrawn. Cancelling a booking reopens the shift so the clinic can find other cover, and the clinic is emailed. Please give as much notice as you can.
For clinics
- How do I post a shift?
- Open Shifts. For one day, press Post shift. For several days or a repeating pattern, press Post a series and describe what you need in a sentence, such as “Optometrist Mon, Wed and Fri in November, 9 to 5, $110 an hour, accommodation provided”. The form is filled in for you to check before anything is posted.
- Can I plan cover before advertising it?
- Yes. A series can be pencilled in first. Pencilled-in shifts are not shown to locums until you publish them, and you can set a date to be reminded to advertise.
- How do I see the gaps staff leave will create?
- Add the leave on the Roster page. The days it leaves uncovered are worked out from the days that person normally works, and you can post them as one block.
- How do I book a locum who applied?
- Open Shifts and approve the application. A locum can only be booked once their registration and insurance have been checked, the insurance covers the date, and they have no other work at that time. If an approval is refused you are told why.
- Does CoverShift rate or rank locums?
- No. There are no ratings, reviews or scores, and nothing about a locum’s past bookings decides who is shown or offered work. When a shift has two or more applicants they are shown side by side in the order they applied, with credential facts: registration checked, and insurance verified until a date.
- How do I cancel a shift?
- Open Shifts and cancel it. If a locum was booked they are emailed straight away, and any pending applicants are told the shift is no longer available.
- What is re-confirmation?
- Bookings made three weeks or more ahead are checked again 30 and 7 days before the shift. The clinic and the locum each confirm for themselves, so both know the cover still stands.
Accounts, fees and privacy
- What does CoverShift cost?
- Nothing during launch, for clinics and locums. After launch, clinics are planned to pay a flat fee for each shift that is filled, with at least 30 days’ notice first. Each clinic also has a monthly maximum: for general practice $99 a filled shift and never more than $495 a month, for dental $49 and $249, and for other clinics $29 and $49. See the Pricing page for the planned fees. Take me there →
- Does CoverShift pay the locum?
- No. CoverShift does not handle money. The locum invoices the clinic, and the clinic pays the locum directly.
- How do I download or delete my information?
- Use “Your data”: on your Profile page as a locum, or on Clinic details as a clinic. An account with upcoming bookings cannot be deleted until they are finished or cancelled.
- How do I reach a person?
- Email us from the Contact page. Tell us the email address on your account, and the clinic and date if it is about a shift. Take me there →
Still stuck? Contact CoverShift.