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Default user roles

An explanation of the default permission roles in Sage HR.

Oliver Cook avatar
Written by Oliver Cook
Updated this week

There are multiple different roles in Sage HR that you can assign users to. This affects what certain users can do or see in Sage HR.

There are some roles already listed in Sage HR that you can amend or assign users to.

Below we run through what these default roles are and what permissions they have by default.

📎NOTE: Some of the roles listed below show for all Sage HR customers, however, some of them only become active if you have the Core HR module.

For example, if you use Sage HR Essentials or Sage HR Online Services, you can assign someone as an Announcements administrator, but some of its permissions don't become active until you have the Core HR module which includes the Announcements functionality.


Announcements administrator

By default, this role provides all functionality and configuration permissions related to announcements.

  • ✅ This role can be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: You need to have the Core HR module for this role to become active.

Users assigned to this role can:

  • Access Announcements settings

  • Publish new announcements and edit existing announcements

  • Access the Announcements feed to view published announcements - can leave comments and react to posts

By default, these permissions have no restrictions and apply to anyone in Sage HR.


Assets administrator

By default, this role provides access to assets configuration, management and reports.

  • ✅ This role can be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: You need to have the Core HR module for this role to become active.

Users assigned to this role can:

  • Access reports about assets assigned to employees.

  • View assigned assets in employee's profiles

  • Give and collect assets to and from employees

  • Access Assets settings, including access to the assets inventory and actions with assets

By default these permissions have no restrictions and apply to anyone in Sage HR.


Direct manager

This role provides additional access in relation to users who have employees that report to them directly. This is determined by the org chart.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: Someone who is made a direct manager is automatically assigned this permission role. However manually assigning a user to this role doesn't make them a direct manager. To add a direct manager, this is still done either via an employee's profile or your org chart.

Users assigned to this role can:

Core HR

  • Send tasks to other employees

  • Access employee information - This permission determines level of access to areas that store employee data, such as position, personal information or emergency contacts

  • View shared documents that have been shared with selected employees

  • View documents that have been created by selected employees

  • View the org chart

  • Access employee data reports

  • Access notes in employee profile

  • Manage onboarding and offboarding tasks for employees

  • Access the Announcements feed to view published announcements - can leave comments and react to posts.

  • View trainings added to employees

  • Add trainings to employees

  • Edit trainings added to employees

  • Remove trainings added to employees

  • Add employees to training events

  • Approve or decline trainings of other employees

Leave management

  • Access employees' time off balance

  • View employee time off details such as the dates, type of leave, details content, replacement person or attached documents. This permission covers pending, approved and declined time off requests.

By default these permissions for this role have some restrictions. They either affect anyone in Sage HR or are restricted to just employees the user assigned to this role is direct manager for.

EXAMPLE: In the screenshot below, this role can view shared documents to employees they manage, and can upload documents to anyone


Employee

This role provides limited access to Sage HR functionality.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: By default, nearly all the permissions for the 'Employee' role listed below are set to Myself, unless specified otherwise. This means the permission in relation to the user assigned to this role.

For example, View employee compensation set to Myself means a user only assigned to this role can only view their own compensation.

Users assigned to this role can:

Core HR

  • View company directory (Set to Anyone)

  • View employee compensation

  • View assets in employee profile

  • Manage onboarding and offboarding tasks for employees

  • Upload documents

  • View shared documents

  • View created documents

  • View and react to announcements (Set to Anyone)

  • Access employee information - By default they can edit the employee and personal tab in their profile, but just for themselves

  • View signable documents

  • Access to emergency contacts

  • View trainings added to employees

  • Add trainings added to employees

  • Complete trainings added to employees

  • Edit trainings added to employees

  • Add employees to training events

Leave Management

  • Add time off requests

  • Edit time off requests

  • Cancel time off request until the date they are on

  • Time off request visibility on the calendar (Set to Anyone) - View employee time off details such as the dates, type of leave, details content, replacement person or attached documents. This permission covers pending, approved and declined time off requests. Cancel time off request until the date they are on

Expenses

  • Submit expenses

📌TIP: Want employee permissions set so that employees can't see any other employee information whatsoever? Use our guide, Hide employee details from other employees.


Employee administrator

This role provides full access to Sage HR functionality.

This user has access to see and do everything in Sage HR.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ❌ Permissions for this role can't be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

  • Only users assigned to this role can assign or unassign other users to this role

📎NOTE: If you give an employee user Admin access from within their profile, they are automatically assigned the role of Employee administrator. If you manually assign a user the role of Employee administrator, this doesn't make them a full admin. To make them a full admin you must change their access level within their profile.

📌TIP: If you want a role similar to Employee administrator that you can edit permissions for, you can duplicate the role, and then make changes to that duplicate.


eSignature administrator

This role provides access to all functionalities related to signable documents.

  • ✅ This role can be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: You need to have the Core HR module for this role to become active.

Users assigned to this role can:

  • Create, send and track signable documents

  • View signable documents and signatories of those documents.

  • Delete signable documents for selected employees

By default these permissions aren't restricted.

EXAMPLE: In the screenshot below, it shows that those role can create signable documents for anyone in Sage HR.


Settings administrator

This role provides access to just the company settings management functionality in Sage HR.

This role can't be modified or deleted. Only users assigned to this role can assign or unassign other users to and from this role.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ❌ Permissions for this role can't be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

  • Only users assigned to this role can assign or unassign other users to this role

📌TIP: If you want a role similar to Settings administrator that you can edit permissions for, you can duplicate the role, and then make changes to that duplicate.


Subscriptions administrator

This role provides access to the company account and subscription management functionality in Sage HR. A user assigned to this role can only access the General and Billing tab in the Settings menu.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ❌ Permissions for this role can't be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

  • Only users assigned to this role can assign or unassign other users to this role


Team manager

This role provides additional access to a user in relation to employees in a team.

  • ❌ This role can't be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: You need to have the Core HR module for this role to become active.

Someone who is made a team manager is automatically assigned this permission role. However, manually assigning a user to this role doesn't make them a team manager. Your team settings are where you assign someone as a team manager.

Users assigned to this role can:

Core HR

  • Send tasks to other employees

  • Access employee information - This permission determines level of access to areas that store employee data, such as position, personal information or emergency contacts

  • View shared documents that have been shared with selected employees

  • View documents that have been created by selected employees

  • View employees in the company directory

  • View the org chart

  • Access employee data reports

  • Access onboarding tasks report

  • Access assets reports

  • Access notes in employee profile

  • Manage onboarding and offboarding tasks for employees

  • Access the Announcements feed to view published announcements - can leave comments and react to posts.

  • View trainings added to employees

  • Add trainings to employees

  • Edit trainings added to employees

  • Remove trainings added to employees

  • Add employees to training events

  • View custom fields to other employees

Leave management

  • Access employees' time off balance

  • Access time off status report

  • Access time off report

  • Access employee time off report

  • Access bradford factor report

  • Access birthdays and anniversaries report

  • Access long-term leave report

  • Access unused days report

  • Add and edit time off requests

  • View employee time off details such as the dates, type of leave, details content, replacement person or attached documents. This permission covers pending, approved and declined time off requests.

By default nearly all of these permissions for this role are restricted to just affect any employee in the team the user assigned to this role is a team manager for.


Trainings administrator

This role provides access to all function trainings related.

  • ✅ This role can be deleted

  • ✅ Permissions for this role can be edited

  • ✅ This role can be duplicated

📎NOTE: You need to have the Core HR module for this role to become active.

Users assigned to this role can:

  • Access training reports

  • View trainings added to employees

  • Add trainings to employees

  • View and complete trainings added to employees

  • Edit trainings added to employees

  • Remove trainings added to employees

  • Add employees to training events

  • Access settings to configure trainings and training events.

  • Approve and decline trainings of other employees.

By default all of these permissions for this role aren't restricted and apply to anyone in Sage HR.


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