Table of Contents
- How roles work
- Roles and access
- The three types of roles
- Which role should I use?
- Example: one company, three people
- Documents work differently
- Where to manage roles
- Setting up supervisors
- Organisational chart
- FAQ
How roles work
Roles decide what each person can see and do in Huma. It's worth understanding them before you add people, because they affect who can access what from day one.
The short version:
- System roles let you set up and run Huma itself
- User roles give access to other people's profiles, for example in a team or location
- Standard roles decide what everyone can see and do
💡 A person can have several roles at the same time. Their access is the sum of all their roles.
Roles and access
| What you want to do | Who can do it |
|---|---|
| Create, edit and give out roles | Users with a system role that includes the Roles permission, for example System admin |
| Set someone's supervisor | Users who can manage users, for example System admin |
| See which roles a person has | Users who can manage roles, on the People tab under Roles |
The three types of roles
1. System roles: for running Huma
System roles give access to settings that apply to the whole organisation. Examples include adding modules, setting up integrations, managing users and configuring absence. System roles always apply organisation-wide.
Example: Ola in IT has the System admin role. He can turn on modules and set up the payroll integration.
💡 At least one person must always have the System admin role. You can't remove the last one.
⚠️ A system role does not automatically give access to sensitive information on people's profiles, such as salary or emergency contacts. That requires a user role.
2. User roles: for access to other people
A user role gives access to the profiles of other people. Every user role answers three questions:
- What can they see and do? For example, see and edit absence
- Who has the role? For example, Kari
- Over whom? For example, the Oslo location, the Sales team, or everyone
Example: Kari has the user role Manager over the Oslo location. She can manage the profiles of everyone in Oslo, but not people in Bergen.
Supervisor is a special user role. It applies automatically to everyone who is set as someone's supervisor, and it gives access to their subordinates' profiles.
Example: Erik is set as supervisor for Maria and Jonas. Through the Supervisor role he can see and do what the Supervisor role allows on their profiles, but not on anyone else's.
💡 You decide what the Supervisor role allows under User roles → Supervisor.
3. Standard roles: what everyone can see
Standard roles apply to everyone automatically. There are two:
- On own profile: what everyone can see and change about themselves
- On colleagues' profiles: what everyone can see about each other
Example: If you turn on Phone number in the standard role for colleagues' profiles, everyone can see each other's phone numbers.
⚠️ Changes to standard roles affect every user in your organisation at once.
Which role should I use?
| I want to… | Use this |
|---|---|
| Let someone turn on modules, set up integrations or change company settings | System role, for example System admin |
| Let HR see and edit the profiles of all employees | User role granted over Everyone |
| Let a location manager handle the people at her location | User role granted over that location |
| Let a team leader follow up the people who report to him | Supervisor: set him as their supervisor |
| Let a payroll employee see salary information | User role with salary access, for example Payroll manager, over the right group |
| Decide what all employees can see about each other | Standard roles |
| Let someone open a specific document | Document access: share the document with them (see below) |
Example: one company, three people
Fjord AS has three people with different access:
| Person | Roles | What they can do |
|---|---|---|
| Kari, HR manager | System admin + user role Manager over Everyone | Change company settings, and manage the profiles of all employees |
| Erik, team leader in Sales | Supervisor for Maria and Jonas | Access Maria's and Jonas' profiles as the Supervisor role allows. No access to other teams |
| Maria, salesperson | Only the standard roles | See and update her own profile, and see what everyone can see about colleagues |
💡 If Kari only had System admin, she could set up Huma but not see salary information on Maria's profile. She also needs a user role for that.
Documents work differently
Access to documents doesn't follow roles. The document itself decides who can open it, through its owners and who it's shared with. Even a System admin can't open a document unless they have been given access to it.
Example: Kari is System admin, but she can't open Maria's employment contract unless the contract is shared with her, or with a group she has document access over.
💡 The system role permission "Manage all documents" lets you see all documents and who has access to them. It doesn't let you read them.
🔗 System and user roles for documents
🔗 The "Manage all documents" system role
Where to manage roles
- Go to System settings
- Navigate to Roles
- Choose a tab:
- People: see which roles each person has, and give or remove roles
- User roles: create and edit user roles, including Supervisor
- System roles: create and edit system roles
- Standard roles: decide what everyone can see and do
- API keys: roles for integrations that use API keys
🔗 User roles and access to profile fields
Setting up supervisors
You can set a supervisor directly on an employee’s profile.
- Go to the People module
- Go to the subordinate’s profile
- Scroll down to Intro
- Click Supervisor and select an employee
- Click Save
- The person is added as a subordinate of the supervisor.
💡 You can also set or change a supervisor when you add a new person in Huma, or in the organisational chart.
Organisational chart
The organisational chart shows who reports to whom. You can also change supervisors directly in the chart.
- Go to People
- Open Organizational chart
- Click a person to see where they sit in the chart, or to change their supervisor
💡 The chart updates automatically when you set or change someone's supervisor.
FAQ
Can one person have several roles?
Yes. A person can have several system roles and user roles at the same time. Their access is the sum of all of them.
I'm System admin. Why can't I see salary information on a profile?
System roles control settings for Huma, not information on people's profiles. To see salary information, you need a user role that includes it, over a group the person belongs to.
What's the difference between Supervisor and a user role like Manager?
Supervisor gives access to the people who report directly to someone. A user role like Manager gives access to everyone in a group, such as a location or team, no matter who they report to.
Why can't a manager see a document about someone in their team?
Document access doesn't follow roles. The document must be shared with the manager, or with a group they have document access over.
How do I give someone access to everyone in the company?
Grant them a user role over Everyone. For bigger companies, Huma recommends granting access over specific groups, or using Supervisor, so people only see what they need.