Active, inactive, and deleted people
Every person's record is in one of three states. The state decides whether the person shows up in your day-to-day list and whether you can still work with them, so it is worth knowing the difference before you change one.
Active
An active person is a current member of your workforce. They appear in the directory, can be given positions, scheduled, and worked with normally. This is the state a person is in for as long as they are engaged with you, whether they are a direct employee or hired through an agency.
Inactive
An inactive person is kept on record but is no longer current, for example someone who has left or is between engagements. Their history stays intact, but they are filtered out of the day-to-day list so your current view stays clean. An inactive person can be reactivated later, which makes this the right choice for anyone who might return.
Deleted
Deleting a person is permanent and irreversible. It erases the record and all of its related data (history, addresses, next of kin, competencies, documents, and attached files) for good, with no undo. Only delete someone added in error. For anyone who might return, or whose records you may still need, inactivate them instead.
Inactivate or delete?
| Situation | Do this |
|---|---|
| Person has left but may return, or you need to keep their history | Inactivate |
| Person is between engagements | Inactivate |
| Person was added by mistake | Delete |
| Person is no longer needed and there is no reason to keep them | Delete |
The rule of thumb: inactivate to keep the history and leave the door open for a return, and delete to take someone out of use who should not have been there or is no longer needed. You change a person's state from their record. See Edit a person's details.