Skip to content
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

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.

  1. Go to the People module and open the employee's profile

  2. Click the three dots in the top right corner

  3. Click "Deactivate user's account"

  4. Reassign subordinates if needed. By default, subordinates will be reassigned to this user's supervisor

  5. 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.

  1. Go to the People module and open the employee's profile

  2. Click the three dots in the top right corner

  3. Click "Reactivate user's account"

  4. Confirm and optionally send a welcome message. Note that this will be sent to their registered work email address

 

When reactivated:

  • The user can log in again

  • Profile fields become editable again

  • 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.

  1. Deactivate the user first (see above)

  2. Go to the People module and open the deactivated employee's profile

  3. Click the three dots in the top right corner

  4. Click "Delete user's account"

  5. 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:

  • A system role — to manage system settings, modules, integrations, and organisation-wide configurations

  • 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.

  1. Go to the relevant meeting

  2. Click the three dots and select "Edit details"

  3. Change the host or add the new administrator as a participant

 

🔗 Read about meetings here.