Sense HR includes four default access roles:

This article shows the permissions and behaviour of these roles in an out-of-the-box Sense HR organisation, before any Access Role Management customisation or additional screens, workflows, or custom actions have been added.

Use this reference:

New users are assigned the Standard users role by default.

Because of this, administrators using ARM should make sure the permissions for Standard users remain suitable as a safe starting point for any newly added user.

Some role changes also happen automatically based on reporting lines:

Access roles provide the baseline for what users can see and do in Sense HR, but not every permission or behaviour is controlled through ARM.

The following are configured separately:

Each row in the tables below is a screen or permission in Sense HR, and each column is an action the role can perform on it.

Every value shown is the out-of-the-box default. On Professional, Elite, and Enterprise plans these can be changed using ARM, so your live settings may differ.

Standard users can access their own profile. They have no People access to other employee profiles.

No field-level permissions are set by default for the Standard users role.

Standard users have no People permissions tab and no access to other employee profiles through the People module.

View calendar is On by default. The two settings below control whose events a user sees, and what detail is shown.

Managers have the same default Own profile, Features, and Custom actions settings as Standard users.

Their additional access is determined by their People permissions which covers their direct-reporting team.

The same as Standard users — see Own profile above.

Managers have one default People group, Their Team, which covers their direct reports. The table below shows the profile permissions managers have for people in this group.

Contact details and Personal details carry field-level restrictions in the default Their Team group. Managers can open these screens, but only see the fields shown below.

Edit is Off for all of these fields by default, including the fields that are visible.

The default Managers role has View access to the Documents screen for people in Their Team. This does not automatically give access to every personal document stored against those profiles — access to each personal document is also set when that document is added.

Managers have access to the To do screen for their team. What they can do with an individual To Do also depends on the type of task, who it is assigned to, and any underlying workflow, document, or event rule.

For example, when someone in their team books an event covered by an Event manager rule that has Request approval enabled, the manager receives an approval To Do. Where the rule does not require approval, no approval To Do is created.

The same as Standard users — see Features above.

The same as Standard users — both custom actions are Off by default. See Custom actions above.

Manager with Indirect reports has the same default Own profile, Features, and Custom actions settings as Standard users and Managers. The only default difference is the People scope.

This role is always assigned manually — no one is moved into it automatically.

The same as Standard users and Managers — see Own profile above.

The default People group is Their team including indirect reportee. It applies the manager’s People permissions to their direct and indirect reports, all the way down the reporting hierarchy.

The screen-level and field-level permissions are identical to Managers > Their Team, including the Contact details and Personal details field restrictions. The difference between the two roles is therefore who the permissions apply to, not what the permissions are. See People — Their team above

The same as Standard Users and Managers — see Features above.

The same as Standard users and Managers — both custom actions are Off by default. See Custom actions above.

Administrators have full access throughout Sense HR.

This includes:

The Administrators role is fixed and cannot be edited, copied, or deleted.

Because it always provides full access, there is no configurable default permission set to restore.

Some behaviour follows the user’s access role but is not represented by a permissions toggle in ARM.

The dashboard a user sees is determined automatically by their access role type, rather than the individual access role name.

On Professional, Elite, and Enterprise plans, use this article as a reference when comparing a customised default role with its original configuration.

Go to:

HR Dashboard > Settings > Access roles > [Select role] > Permissions

Depending on the role, check:

A: The reason you can’t view or change access role permissions on a Team plan is that Access Role Management (ARM) is not included. The four default access roles still apply, and administrators can assign them to users, but their underlying permissions cannot be customised.

A: Yes. Administrators can change someone’s access role on a Team plan by going to HR Dashboard > People > [Select profile] > More actions (…) > Assign access role, even though ARM itself is not available.

A: The reason this article may show permissions for features your organisation doesn’t have is that access role permissions and plan availability are separate. A permission has no effect while the corresponding feature is unavailable. If your organisation later upgrades to a plan that includes the feature, the existing permission setting will take effect.

A: The reason your access role permissions may differ from the defaults shown here is that your organisation may have customised them using ARM. On Elite and Enterprise plans, you may also see additional screens, report types, or custom actions added through Screen Designer or Automate.

A: The access role assigned to a new user by default is Standard users. If your organisation uses ARM, make sure the permissions configured for Standard users provide a safe baseline for any newly added user.

A: The reason someone may automatically change from Standard users to Managers is that they have been assigned as a Line Manager for another employee. If they are later removed as Line Manager for their last or only direct report, they automatically move back to Standard users.

🖊️ Note: Automatic role changes only apply between Standard users ↔ Managers.

A: The default difference between Managers and Manager with Indirect reports is their people scope. Managers have access to their direct reports, while Manager with Indirect reports extends that access to direct and indirect reports in the downward reporting hierarchy. Their default screen and field-level permissions for those people are otherwise the same.

🖊️ Note: On plans with ARM, People groups can be customised, so the people a manager-type role can access may differ from these defaults.

A: The reason a manager can see the Documents screen but not every personal document is that screen access and document-level access work together. The default Managers role has View access to the Documents screen for their team, but access to individual personal documents is also determined by the permissions set when each document is added.

A: The reason a manager may see a screen but not every field is that some screens have additional field-level permissions. For example, the default manager permissions allow access to the Contact details and Personal details screens for their team, while specific fields within those screens remain hidden.

A: The reason someone can see a Company Calendar event but not open that person’s profile is that Company Calendar visibility and profile access are separate permissions. Calendar visibility does not grant access to another employee’s profile.

A: The reason a manager may be able to approve some event requests but not others is that event approval is also controlled by the applicable rule in Settings > Calendar & Planner > Event manager. Where Request approval is enabled, an approval To Do is generated for the manager.

A: The reason a user may not see a screen even though their access role has View permission is that, on Elite and Enterprise plans using Screen Designer, the screen must also be included in that person’s profile template. If it is not included, the screen will not appear.

A: The dashboard a user sees is determined automatically by their access role type, rather than the individual role name. Standard roles use the Employee Dashboard, Advanced roles use the Manager Dashboard, and Admin roles use the Administrator Dashboard. This also applies to custom roles of those types.

A: No. A manager’s access to another person’s profile does not allow them to change that person’s profile photo. Users can change their own profile photo, while administrators can also change profile photos for other users.

A: No. An access role does not activate Sense Mobile access. Mobile access requires a verification code sent by an administrator or another user with the relevant permission. The functionality available after login also depends on the organisation’s setup and the user’s permissions.

A: No. Add own sickness does not control the Dashboard sickness widget. Add own sickness allows a user to record sickness directly in their own Planner. The Dashboard sickness widget is enabled separately under Settings > Calendar & Planner > General.