The Administrator (Admin) has full control over the WorkRoster workspace — managing staff, projects, reports, and system settings.
This section is for: Administrators and Workspace Owners only
⚠️ If you are a Manager or Employee, most of this section does not apply to you. Managers can manage projects and approve submissions. Employees see only their own data.
What Admins Can Do
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ADMIN CAPABILITIES │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ PEOPLE PROJECTS REPORTS │
│ ───────── ────────── ──────── │
│ Add staff Create new Hours summary │
│ Edit staff Edit details Payroll summary │
│ Activate / Set active / Project hours │
│ Deactivate inactive Export CSV / PDF │
│ Adjust leave View all hours │
│ entitlements per project SETTINGS │
│ ────────── │
│ TEAM MEMBERS Workspace name │
│ ───────────── Billing & plan │
│ Invite via link Member roles │
│ Change roles Profile settings │
│ Remove members │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Part 1 — Managing Employees
Viewing the Employee Directory
- Click Employees in the left-hand sidebar
- You will see a table of all staff in your workspace
┌──────────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────────────────────────┐
│ Employee │ Role │ Status │ Actions │
├──────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
│ Sarah Johnson │ EMPLOYEE │ Active │ Edit ✏️ Deactivate ⛔ │
│ James Patel │ MANAGER │ Active │ Edit ✏️ Deactivate ⛔ │
│ Tom Wilson │ EMPLOYEE │ Inactive │ Edit ✏️ Activate ✅ │
└──────────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────────────────────────┘
You can search by name or email, and filter by role or status using the controls at the top.
Adding a New Employee
💡 Two ways to add staff: You can create an employee account directly, or invite them to join using a link (recommended — see Settings → Members).
To create an account directly:
- Go to Employees in the sidebar
- Click + Add Employee
- Fill in the form:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Add New Employee │
│─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│ │
│ Full Name │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ e.g. Maria Garcia │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Email Address │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ e.g. maria@yourcompany.com │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Role │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Employee ▼ │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ Options: Employee / Manager / Admin │
│ │
│ Hourly Rate (optional) │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ £ 18.50 │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ Annual Leave Entitlement (days) │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 20 │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Create Employee │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Click Create Employee
What happens automatically after creating:
- A leave balance of 20 days is set up for the current year (you can change this)
- The account starts as Inactive — you must activate it before the employee can sign in
- The employee will receive an email to set their password
Activating a New Account
New accounts are set to Inactive by default. The employee cannot sign in until you activate them.
- Find the employee in the directory
- Their status shows Inactive with a red badge
- Click the Activate (✅) button on the right
- The account is now active — the employee can sign in immediately
💡 Tip: Tell the new employee once you have activated their account so they know they can log in.
Editing an Employee's Details
- Find the employee in the directory
- Click the Edit (✏️) pencil icon on the right
- Update any of their details:
- Name, email address
- Role (Employee / Manager / Admin)
- Hourly rate and overtime rate
- Annual leave entitlement
- Job title (designation)
- Click Save Changes
Deactivating an Account
If an employee leaves the company or needs to be temporarily blocked:
- Find the employee in the directory
- Click the Deactivate (⛔) button
- Confirm in the dialogue
What deactivation does:
- The employee can no longer sign in
- Any active sessions are ended immediately
- They cannot submit new timesheets or leave requests
What it does NOT do:
- It does NOT delete their historical data
- All past timesheets, leave records, and approvals remain intact for your records and payroll history
✅ Data is always safe. You can reactivate an account at any time and all historical data will still be there.
Adjusting Leave Entitlements
If an employee's annual leave allowance is different from the default 20 days:
- Find the employee and click Edit (✏️)
- Update the Annual Leave Entitlement field
- Click Save Changes
The employee's remaining balance updates immediately.
Part 2 — Managing Projects
Projects represent client jobs or work categories. Employees select a project when logging their hours, so keeping this list accurate and current is important.
How to Get There
Click Projects in the left-hand sidebar.
The Projects List
┌──────────────────────┬──────────────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬────────────┐
│ Project / Client │ Description │ Hours │ Status │ Actions │
├──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────────┤
│ Acme Office Fit-Out │ Level 3 rewire... │ 124.5h │ Active │ Edit / Off │
│ City Council Sub. │ Substation upgrade │ 89.0h │ Active │ Edit / Off │
│ Old Brewery Job │ Completed 2025 │ 210.0h │ Inactive │ Edit / On │
└──────────────────────┴──────────────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────────────┘
Adding a New Project
- Click + Add Project
- Fill in:
- Project Name — a short, recognisable name (e.g. "Acme Office Level 3")
- Client Name — the company or individual this work is for
- Description — optional but useful for context
- Status — set to Active so employees can see it in their dropdown
- Click Create Project
Setting a Project as Inactive
When a project is finished, set it to Inactive:
- It will no longer appear in the timesheet dropdown (staff cannot bill new hours to it)
- All historical hours are preserved and still visible in reports
- Find the project in the list
- Click the toggle or Deactivate button
- The project status changes to Inactive
💡 Tip: Do not delete old projects — keep them Inactive. Their historical data is needed for payroll reports and audits.
Part 3 — Reports
The Reports section lets you view and export timesheet data for payroll, audits, and project tracking.
How to Get There
Click Reports in the left-hand sidebar.
The Three Report Types
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ REPORTS │
├──────────────────┬──────────────────┬───────────────────┤
│ HOURS SUMMARY │ PAYROLL SUMMARY │ PROJECT HOURS │
│ │ │ │
│ Hours worked │ Gross pay calc │ Total hours per │
│ per employee │ per employee │ project / client │
│ per time period │ based on rate │ │
│ │ and hours │ Useful for │
│ Great for │ │ client billing │
│ attendance │ Great for │ and job costing │
│ tracking │ payroll runs │ │
└──────────────────┴──────────────────┴───────────────────┘
See the full Reports guide for detailed instructions.
Part 4 — System Settings
Access the Settings section by clicking Settings at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.
What You Can Change in Settings
| Settings Page | What You Can Do |
|---|---|
| Profile | Update your own name, email, and password |
| Workspace | Change your workspace name and logo |
| Members | Invite new team members, change roles, remove members |
| Billing | View your plan, upgrade, and manage payment details |
| Referrals | Share your referral link to earn account credits |
See the full Settings guide for details.
Checklist — Setting Up a New Workspace
If you are setting up WorkRoster for the first time, follow this checklist:
□ Step 1: Sign in and complete the onboarding wizard
□ Step 2: Update your workspace name in Settings → Workspace
□ Step 3: Add your company logo (optional)
□ Step 4: Add all active projects in the Projects section
□ Step 5: Add all employees (or invite them via link)
□ Step 6: Activate each employee account
□ Step 7: Confirm employees can log in and see their dashboard
□ Step 8: Submit a test timesheet to confirm the approval flow works
□ Step 9: Check the Reports section to confirm data is flowing through
□ Done! WorkRoster is live for your team
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I added an employee but they say they cannot log in. Check that you have activated their account. Go to Employees, find them — if their status shows Inactive, click the Activate button.
Q: An employee left the company. Should I delete their account? No — Deactivate the account instead. Deleting would remove historical records. Deactivating blocks access while keeping all their data for payroll history.
Q: Can two people have the same role as Admin? Yes — you can have multiple Admins in a workspace. All Admins have the same level of access.
Q: I made a project inactive but staff say they cannot find it. That is correct behaviour — Inactive projects do not appear in the timesheet dropdown. If the project is still ongoing, set it back to Active.
Q: Can I change someone's role from Employee to Manager? Yes — go to Employees, click Edit on their record, change the Role dropdown, and save. The change takes effect immediately.
Next: Calendar View →