Employee Data After Leaving Huma
How to handle employee accounts and protect important data when an employee leaves your organisation
Table of Contents
Before you deactivate or delete
When an employee leaves your organisation, it is tempting to deactivate or delete their account quickly. But before you do, there are important steps to take to make sure critical data is not lost.
⚠️ Deleting a user is permanent and cannot be undone. All data associated with the user will be lost. We strongly recommend completing the steps below, and setting up a proper offboarding process, before deleting any account.
The most important things to handle before deactivating or deleting:
| What to handle | Why it matters | Action required |
|---|---|---|
| Documents | Documents owned by the employee become uneditable and undeletable after deactivation | Transfer ownership to a new owner before deactivating, use the bulk transfer feature for multiple documents |
| Meetings | Meetings where the employee is the host can no longer be managed after deactivation | Transfer the host role to someone else before deactivating |
| Tasks | Uncompleted tasks remain uncompleted after deactivation | Complete or reassign all tasks before deactivating |
| Absence data | Absence cannot be added or edited for a deactivated user | Export the employee's absence data before deactivating if needed for reporting or payroll |
| Supervisor | Subordinates lose their supervisor after deactivation | Reassign subordinates to a new supervisor, Huma will prompt you during the deactivation process |
| Deviation cases | The employee will be automatically unassigned from any deviation cases they are handling | No action required, this happens automatically |
💡 The best way to ensure nothing is missed is to set up a structured offboarding process in Huma with tasks that cover all of the above.
🔗 Read more about offboarding in Huma.
🔗 Read more about how to transfer document ownership.
Roles and access
| Access | Role |
|---|---|
| Deactivate a user | System role: Users → User management or User role: See and edit → Users |
| Reactivate a user | System role: Users → User management or User role: See and edit → Users |
| Delete a user | System role: Users → User management |
💡 No one can deactivate or delete their own account. The last remaining system administrator in an organisation cannot be deleted.
Deactivate a user
Deactivating a user is the recommended first step when an employee leaves. It removes their access to Huma immediately while keeping all their data intact and accessible to administrators.
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Go to the People module and open the employee's profile
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Click the three dots in the top right corner
- Click "Deactivate user's account"
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Reassign subordinates if needed. By default, subordinates will be reassigned to this user's supervisor
- Click "Confirm"
💡 If the employee is currently logged in, it may take up to 15 minutes for them to be logged out automatically.
What happens when you deactivate a user
| What | What happens after deactivation |
|---|---|
| Login | The user is logged out and cannot log in again until reactivated |
| Profile | Only administrators can view the profile. All profile fields are locked and cannot be edited |
| Documents | Remain visible to those who have access, but cannot be edited or deleted unless ownership has been transferred |
| Tasks | New tasks cannot be assigned. Existing uncompleted tasks remain uncompleted |
| Meetings | Remain available, but can only be edited if the host role has been transferred |
| Absence | Cannot be added or edited |
| Equipment & competence | New equipment and competences cannot be added or assigned |
| Offboarding | Ongoing offboarding and its tasks remain accessible, but the deactivated user will not have access to their own tasks |
Reactivate a user
If a deactivated employee returns to your organisation, you can reactivate their account at any time. All their data will be restored exactly as it was.
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Go to the People module and open the employee's profile
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Click the three dots in the top right corner
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Click "Reactivate user's account"
- Confirm and optionally send a welcome message. Note that this will be sent to their registered work email address
When reactivated:
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The user can log in again
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Profile fields become editable again
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Other users regain access to the profile
Delete a user
Deleting a user is a permanent action. Before you can delete a user, their account must first be deactivated.
⚠️ This cannot be undone. All data associated with the user will be permanently deleted. Make absolutely sure you have completed all the steps in the "Before you deactivate or delete" section above, especially transferring document ownership, before proceeding.
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Deactivate the user first (see above)
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Go to the People module and open the deactivated employee's profile
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Click the three dots in the top right corner
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Click "Delete user's account"
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Type the employee's name to confirm and click "Delete"
What happens when you delete a user
⚠️ Remember: always archive documents and on- and offboardings instead of deleting them, archiving keeps the data, deleting removes it permanently. This also regards documents.
| Data | What happens when deleted |
|---|---|
| Absences | Permanently deleted |
| Documents uploaded by the user | Permanently deleted |
| Competences | Permanently deleted, including documentation and change history |
| Tasks | Permanently deleted |
| Meetings where the user is host | Permanently deleted |
| Onboarding and offboarding processes | Permanently deleted, including completed ones |
| News articles written by the user | Remain, but will have no author |
| Documents that concern the user | Remain, but will no longer concern anyone |
| Deviation cases | The user is unassigned as case handler, but cases remain |
When a system administrator is leaving
There is no automatic transfer of system administrator access in Huma. If a system administrator is leaving, the following steps must be completed before their account is deactivated.
Assign the correct roles to the new administrator
The new system administrator needs two things:
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A system role — to manage system settings, modules, integrations, and organisation-wide configurations
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A user role — to manage teams, locations, and employee profile data
🔗 Read more about roles in Huma.
Transfer document ownership
If the departing administrator owns documents that contain critical information, ownership must be transferred to the new administrator. Without this, the documents will become uneditable. Use the bulk transfer feature to do this efficiently.
🔗 Read about transferring ownership here.
Transfer meetings
If the departing administrator is the host of important meetings, they must add the new administrator as a participant or assign them as the new host before leaving.
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Go to the relevant meeting
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Click the three dots and select "Edit details"
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Change the host or add the new administrator as a participant
When a system administrator is temporarily away
If you are a system administrator going on parental leave, a longer holiday, or an extended absence, there are a few things to prepare before you leave to ensure your colleagues can manage Huma without disruption.
Assign a temporary administrator
Make sure at least one other person has the necessary roles to manage Huma while you are away:
- A system role — to manage system settings, modules, integrations and organisation-wide configurations
- A user role — to manage teams, locations and employee profile data
💡 You do not need to remove your own roles, just simply grant the same access to the person covering for you. When you return, their temporary access can be removed.
Share access to documents
If you own documents that others may need to edit or manage while you are away, extend access to include your cover. You do not need to transfer ownership, extending access is enough for a temporary absence.
🔗 Read more about extending document access.
Hand over meetings
If you are the host of recurring meetings that need to continue while you are away, add your cover as a participant or transfer the host role temporarily.
Make sure tasks are reassigned
If you have tasks assigned to you that are due during your absence, reassign them to the relevant person before you leave.
💡 Remember to reverse any temporary access changes when you return.
FAQ
How can I check if a departing employee has subordinates that need to be reassigned?
Before deactivating an employee, check whether they are set as supervisor for any active employees. You can do this in two ways:
- On the employee's profile — go to the "About" tab and scroll to "Subordinates". Any employees listed here will need a new supervisor assigned before or after deactivation.
- Via a People export — export all active employees and include the "Supervisor" field. Filter the export to find employees whose supervisor email matches the departing employee.
💡 After deactivation, the supervisor field on subordinates' profiles will show as unassigned. We recommend reassigning subordinates as part of your offboarding process.
Can I still access a deactivated employee's data?
Yes. Deactivating a user does not delete any data. Administrators can still view the employee's profile, documents, absence history, competences and other records. The profile is simply locked for editing.
Will a deactivated employee still appear in reports and exports?
Yes. Deactivated users can be included in People exports by selecting "Inactive" or "Both" under account status. Their historical data — such as absence and salary — remains available for reporting purposes.
What is the difference between deactivating and deleting a user?
Deactivating removes the employee's access to Huma while keeping all their data intact. Deleting is permanent — all data is removed and cannot be recovered. We strongly recommend deactivating rather than deleting in most cases.