# Recurring Unavailability Ending Soon Notifications

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/notifications/recurring-unavailability-ending-soon-notifications

> Get alerted before a Support Worker's recurring unavailability ends, so you know when they become available again.

Scheduling add-on - This feature requires the Scheduling add-on, which is available on Astalty Premium. See How to enable Scheduling.

## Overview

The [Recurring Unavailability Ending Soon](https://app.astalty.com.au/notifications/user-availability-recurrence-end) notification alerts your team before a Support Worker's recurring unavailability comes to an end.

Recurring unavailability blocks a worker out of the roster on a repeating pattern - a standing university class, or a regular caring commitment. When that pattern ends, the worker becomes available again, and it is easy to miss. This notification tells you it is coming so you can either roster them back on or extend the unavailability if it is continuing.

Only Admins can manage these notifications. This can't be changed per user.

## Setting Up the Notification

1. Go to **Notifications** from the left-hand menu.
2. Search for the notification by name, or use **Filter** to choose the **Scheduling** category, then select [Recurring Unavailability Ending Soon](https://app.astalty.com.au/notifications/user-availability-recurrence-end).
3. Click **Create Notification**.
4. Under **Notification timeframe**, set the **Period** and choose a **Period unit** - Days, Weeks or Months. This is how far ahead of the end date the alert is sent, and a new notification starts at 1 week.
5. Under **Notification recipients**, choose who is told. You can tick **The Support Worker who owns the unavailability**, and add **User Groups** or individual **Users**. The **Support Worker** and **All Users** groups aren't offered. At least one recipient is required.
6. Under **Notification methods**, choose **Within Astalty**, **Email**, or both. At least one method is required.
7. Click **Add Notification** to save.

![The Notifications page with unavailability end typed into the Search notifications box, the Filter button and Status options beside it, and Recurring Unavailability Ending Soon listed under a Scheduling heading.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/recurring-unavailability-ending-soon-notification-list.png)

![The Create Recurring Unavailability Notification panel, showing Notification timeframe with a Period of 1 and Period unit of Weeks, Notification recipients with The Support Worker who owns the unavailability ticked above empty User Groups and Users selectors, and Notification methods with both Within Astalty and Email ticked.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/recurring-unavailability-ending-soon-create-notification-guide.png)

> **Tell the worker as well as the roster team**
>
> Ticking **The Support Worker who owns the unavailability** sends the alert to the worker themselves. That is often the fastest way to find out whether the commitment is continuing - they can extend their unavailability before you need to chase them.

You can set up more than one of these notifications, each with its own timeframe and recipients. Use **Clone** on an existing row to add a second reminder - a month ahead for the roster team, and a week ahead for the worker, for example.

## What the Notification Says

Managers and other team members get the Support Worker's name, how long until the unavailability ends, and the times, dates and reason recorded against it. **Review \[worker name]'s Availabilities** opens that worker's unavailability so you can extend it or leave it to lapse.

![An email headed Harriet Lawson's recurring unavailability is ending soon, reading Harriet Lawson's recurring unavailability ends in 1 week. Please review or extend it. above a list showing Time 00:00 - 23:59, Dates 3 Aug 2026 - 28 Sep 2026 and the Reason TAFE classes on Mondays, followed by a Review Harriet Lawson's Availabilities button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/recurring-unavailability-ending-soon-manager-email.png)

The Support Worker gets a shorter version that asks them to update the unavailability if it is continuing. It carries no button, so point workers to **Manage Availability** in the app when you introduce this notification.

![An email headed "Your recurring unavailability is ending soon", reading "Your recurring unavailability ends in 1 week. Update it in the Astalty app if you'd like it to continue." with no action button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/recurring-unavailability-ending-soon-worker-email.png)

## Things to keep in mind

- The alert is about the **recurrence ending**, not a single unavailability. A one-off unavailability does not trigger it.
- **An ongoing recurrence never triggers it.** The alert is worked out from the recurrence end date, so unavailability saved with no end date is never picked up. Only a recurrence with a defined end date is.
- **Only unavailability counts, not leave.** A request submitted with a **Type** of Leave is excluded, even when it recurs and has an end date.
- **The unavailability has to be approved.** One still awaiting a decision, or one that has been cancelled, is skipped silently - as is any belonging to a deactivated user. If an alert you expected never arrived, check the request's status first.
- The Support Worker is never sent the manager version, even when they belong to a selected group or are picked under **Users**. They hear about it only when **The Support Worker who owns the unavailability** is ticked.
- Astalty checks once a day, at about 9am Brisbane time, and alerts once, on the day the end date is exactly the set period away. The end date is read in the timezone the unavailability was saved in.
- Nothing changes on the roster automatically. The worker becomes available for rostering once the pattern ends.
- To review or extend the unavailability itself, see [Managing Availability](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/managing-availability). Workers extend their own from [Availability Requests](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/support-worker-app/schedule-and-availability/availability-requests).