Future, active, inactive, and deleted people
The stage of a person's record decides whether they appear in day-to-day workforce views and what HR can do next. It is worth knowing the difference before you make a change.
Future starter
A future starter has been added for onboarding but has not yet joined the active workforce. Authorised HR users find them under People → Journeys → Future starters. They are hidden from the ordinary Directory, workforce insights and operational planning until HR activates them.
If the person will not start, withdraw them instead of activating or deleting them. Withdrawal closes preboarding access and retains the process history. See Add and follow a future starter.
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An inactive person is kept on record but is no longer current, for example someone who has left or is between engagements.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 is preparing to join and has not reached their first working day | Keep as future starter |
| Future starter will not join | Withdraw |
| 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.