Permission levels determine what each staff member is able to view and edit in Workforce.

What's covered in this guide?

Permission Levels

The default permission levels are Admin, Payroll Officer, General Manager, Team Manager and Employee. You’ll find them on a staff profile under Personal > Personal Details > Permission levels. You can give someone more than one.

Admin

Admins can access everything in Workforce.com, change organisation settings and give other people permissions.

Admins can also see Workforce.com as another person by clicking their profile picture (top right) and choosing See Workforce.com as. This is useful for checking what someone can see after you change their permissions. The Admin permission level can’t be customised.

Manager

Team Managers manage rotas, timesheets and leave for the teams they manage. They can’t change organisation settings or give other people permissions, and by default they can’t export timesheets or edit wages.

📝 Important to note: Team Managers only see staff in the teams they’re a manager of. Being a member of a team isn’t enough. If a manager can’t see someone’s shifts, timesheets or leave, check they manage that person’s team.

To make someone a Team Manager:

Go to their profile > Personal Details > Permission levels and tick Team Manager.
Click Update Employee Details.
Go to the Teams tab.
Choose the team(s) under Manager of.
Click Update Teams.

General Manager

General Managers can manage rotas, timesheets, wages and locations across the whole organisation. They can also lock rotas and export timesheets.

They can’t give people permissions, change organisation settings, see sensitive employee data, or use See Workforce.com as.

The General Manager permission level is turned off by default. To turn it on, an admin goes to Settings > Permissions, clicks Show Advanced Settings..., then Customise access & roles here, opens General Manager and ticks Role can be applied to staff.

📝 Note: Someone can be a General Manager and a Team Manager at the same time. General Manager on its own doesn’t let you choose teams under Manager of.

Payroll Officer

Payroll Officers set up staff and export timesheets to payroll. They can approve timesheets and leave, edit wages and see sensitive employee data. By default, they can’t edit the rota, change organisation settings or give people permissions.

Employee

The Employee permission level lets someone be rostered, record their hours with the time clock and request leave. Anyone who works shifts needs it, including admins and managers who are rostered themselves.

The teams an employee works in decide where they can be rostered, and which managers can manage them.

To add an employee to a team:

Go to their profile > Personal Details > Permission levels and tick Employee.
Click Update Employee Details.
Go to the Teams tab.
Choose the team(s) under Add a team.
Click Update Teams.

Compare permission levels

	Admin	General Manager	Payroll Officer	Team Manager	Employee
Have their own timesheets and be rostered*	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅
Change organisation settings	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Give people permissions	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Edit the rota	✅	✅	❌	✅ (their teams)	❌
Approve leave	✅	✅	✅	✅ (their teams)	❌
Approve timesheets	✅	✅	✅	✅ (their teams)	❌
Export timesheets	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Edit wages	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
See sensitive employee data	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Add locations	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
See Workforce.com as someone else	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

*To be rostered or have timesheets, someone also needs the Employee permission level.

Customise default permission levels

You can change what each permission level can do in Settings > Permissions. For example, you can choose whether people can:

see costs
approve leave
edit or approve timesheets
see the full rota or leave calendar for a team or location
request leave

You can also choose who sees which rotas. For example, you can let employees see rotas for other teams, or let managers see rotas for several teams.

Advanced permissions customisation

You can create and edit permission levels. To see how, refer to the Customise Roles & Permission Levels (Advanced Permissions) guide.

Give someone account access

New staff get access to Workforce.com from an invitation email. If you see Invite to Workforce.com under their email on their profile, they haven’t been invited yet. Click it to send the invitation.

Remove someone's access

To remove someone’s access, either:

deactivate their profile (see the Deactivate a Staff Profile guide), or
click Unlink & change email under the email on their profile. They can’t log in again until they accept a new invitation.

Best practices for managing security and privacy

Think about who needs to see employment records, and give each person the right permission level.
After changing someone’s permissions, use See Workforce.com as to check what they can see and do.
Every time permissions are added or removed, it’s recorded on the employee’s profile, with who made the change and when.
Review permissions regularly, so they still match people’s jobs.
Let staff and managers know when you change their permissions.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

Why can’t a manager see one of their staff?

Team Managers only see staff in the teams they manage. On the manager’s profile, go to the Teams tab and check the person’s team is under Manager of. Being a member of the same team isn’t enough.

Can a manager change permission levels?

No. Only admins can give people permission levels.

Why can’t a Payroll Officer edit the rota?

Payroll Officers can’t edit the rota by default. Give them the Team Manager permission level as well, or change what Payroll Officers can do in Settings > Permissions.

I can’t see the General Manager permission level. Why?

It’s turned off by default. An admin can turn it on (see General Manager above).

Does an admin need the Employee permission level?

Only if they’re rostered or record their own hours. Admins, General Managers, Payroll Officers and Team Managers who work shifts need Employee as well.

Send an Employee Onboarding Invitation

Customise Roles & Permission Levels (Advanced Permissions)

Assign Permissions to Staff