Deactivating and Deleting Employees

Learn the difference between dismissing and deleting an employee in Shifton, and how to find and manage employees in the employee list.

What Is This?

When an employee leaves your company, Shifton gives you two distinct options: Dismiss and Delete. These are not the same action and have very different consequences for your historical records.

Dismiss

mdash; the standard offboarding action. The employee loses access, their status changes to Dismissed, and all historical data is preserved.

Delete

mdash; permanent removal of the employee and all their data from the system. This cannot be undone.

In most cases, you should use Dismiss rather than Delete.

Prerequisites

You have Administrator access to Shifton
The employee has been previously added to the system

Dismiss vs Delete: Key Differences

	Dismiss	Delete
Historical data	Preserved	Permanently removed
Past shifts in reports	Remain visible	Disappear from all reports
System access	Blocked immediately	Blocked immediately
Can be restored	Yes	No
When to use	Employee is leaving the company	Employee was added by mistake and never worked

Step-by-Step: Dismiss an Employee

Use this when an employee is leaving the company and you want to keep their work history.

Step 1: Open the Employee’s Profile

Navigate to the Employees page and click the Edit (pencil icon) in the employee’s row to open their profile.

Step 2: Find the Dismiss Option

In the employee’s profile panel, locate the Dismiss button. It is typically found at the bottom of the profile or in the Actions menu.

Step 3: Enter the Dismissal Date

The system will ask you to specify a dismissal date. Enter the employee’s last working day.

Step 4: Confirm

Click the confirmation button. The employee’s access is blocked immediately. Their status in the employee list changes to Dismissed.

What happens after dismissal:
– The employee cannot log in to Shifton
– All past shifts and salary records remain in reports, including the dismissal date in the Company Employees report
– Future scheduled shifts for this employee are automatically removed from the schedule
– The employee is excluded from billing at the next billing cycle

Restoring a dismissed employee:
To restore a dismissed employee, filter the employee list to show dismissed employees, open their profile, and use the restore option.

Step-by-Step: Delete an Employee

Warning: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. All data including shift history and salary records will be permanently removed.

Use this only when an employee was added by mistake or never actually worked at the company.

Step 1: Open the Employees Page

Navigate to the Employees page.

Step 2: Click the Trash Icon

Go to the Employees page. Each employee row shows TWO ICONS: a pencil (Edit) and a trash (Delete). Click the trash icon to delete the employee.

Step 3: Confirm Deletion

Confirm the deletion when prompted. Once confirmed, all data is permanently removed.

What happens after deletion:
– All historical shifts for this employee are removed from reports
– The deletion cannot be reversed

Finding Employees in the List

Search

Use the Search field at the top of the employee list to find a specific employee by name. The list filters in real time.

Filter by Project

Filter Option	Description
All	Shows all employees across all projects
Without a project	Shows only employees not assigned to any project
Specific project name	Shows only employees assigned to that project

Pagination

Control how many employees are shown per page (25 / 50 / 100) using the pagination setting at the bottom of the list.

Access Permissions

Role	Can Dismiss Employees?	Can Delete Employees?
Administrator	Yes	Yes
Manager	No	No
Employee	No	No

FAQ

Q: What is the difference between Dismiss and Delete?
A: Dismiss deactivates the employee while keeping all their historical data intact — past shifts, salary records, and reports remain accessible. Delete permanently removes everything. In almost all cases, use Dismiss.

Q: Can I restore a dismissed employee?
A: Yes. Find them in the employee list (filter to show dismissed employees) and restore them through their profile.

Q: Does a dismissed employee still count toward billing?
A: No. After dismissal, the employee is excluded from billing calculations at the next billing cycle.

Q: What happens to future shifts of a dismissed employee?
A: Future shifts are automatically removed from the schedule when an employee is dismissed.

Q: Can I undo a deletion?
A: No. Deletion is permanent. You would need to re-add the employee manually, and historical data cannot be recovered.

Q: What is better — Dismiss or Delete?
A: Use Dismiss in the vast majority of cases. It is the safe option that preserves history and allows restoration. Use Delete only for accounts created by mistake that have no shift history.

Possible Issues and Solutions

Issue	Cause	Solution
Cannot find an employee in the list	Search term does not match, or project filter is hiding them	Clear the search field, set the project filter to All, and try again
Dismissed employee does not appear in the list	The list filter is not showing dismissed employees	Adjust the employee list filter to include dismissed employees
The Delete button is not visible	You do not have Administrator access	Ask an Administrator to perform the deletion
Accidentally deleted the wrong employee	Deletion was confirmed in error	Re-add the employee manually. Historical data is not recoverable
Dismissed employee still appears in future schedule	Schedule was not updated after dismissal	Refresh the schedule; future shifts should have been automatically removed