Enhancement: Automatic Time Zone Assignment

[sarahwicks]

User Story

As a volunteer, I need my time zone to match the time zone of the office where I will serve my shift so that I claim the right hours in the app.

Background:

A volunteer accidentally selected the wrong time zone in her profile, so today she thought she was claiming 10-12 but it showed up in the app as 9-11. We should avoid human error by having a rule: site time zone = volunteer time zone. If we have any sites on a time zone border, we need the app to translate the requested hours to the user's time zone.

Acceptance Criteria:

• The user's time zone is assigned automatically based on the site(s) he/she volunteers at.
  OR
• The app displays the available shifts to the user in his/her preferred time zone and translates any shifts claimed to the site's time zone.

[benjaminwood]

As the app functions today, offices do not have the concept of timezone, instead, the time of a need is based on the local time of the user that created it. It does however translate between time zones.

So, for example:

Given:

1. I'm a volunteer coordinator or social worker at an office in Idaho.
2. My own time zone is set to MT
3. I create a need for 10am, the app uses my time zone (MT)

Then:

1. A volunteer across the time zone border has configured their timezone for PT.
2. They receive a notification for the need, it shows 9am.

While adding time zones to offices is possible, it'd be real tricky. It could also be confusing from a users perspective because the times displayed in the app could vary depending on what timezone the office is in. Whereas the current implementation will always display time based on the current users defined timezone.

Also, given that a user can belong to more than one office, we wouldn't know which office to select their default time zone from.

[sarahwicks]

This makes sense, @benjaminwood. We'll discuss at grooming tomorrow and see if we want to close this ticket.

[benjaminwood]

Just noting that we prioritized this issue today, without reading the discussion thread. I think the questions/concerns I shared back in 2019 still stand. Let's discuss with @SarahOMD before moving this forward.