Manage your manager's permissions (for admins)

Manager permissions are available on the Plus or Premium plan—admins can upgrade their plan at any time. Legacy plan options have varied availability of this feature.

A manager's permissions determine what they're able to see (and not see) in teammates' profiles—here are a few important reminders:

To be assigned as a manager, a user must have a Gusto employee account (even if they're already an admin).
For now, manager permissions are set at the global level and apply for all managers at your company.
- If you want to set up specific permissions by user, you can explore setting them up with specific role permissions.

Use the dropdowns below to learn more, or use CMD + F (or CTRL + F) to search for keywords throughout the article.

Types of permissions you can assign to managers

Managers can be given varying levels of permission for the below information:

Basic teammate information
Pay and work
Time & Attendance
Expenses

The type of information included in each of these categories, and the information managers will not see, can be found below:

Basic information	Pay and work	Time & Attendance	Expenses	Managers will never see
Preferred name Contact email Phone number* Profile photo* Emergency contact* Birthday (M/D) Join date Job title* Reporting structure Department Preferred pronoun of direct reports (people who report to the manager)	Work address Employee type* Current compensation* Compensation history Additional earnings*	Manage time off requests. Approve time off Edit time off Decline time off Manage your team's time tracking hours. Reminder: Admins still must create projects for time tracking (managers will not be able to) Manage your team's schedule.	This controls managers’ access to their teams’ expense reports. Managers cannot edit expense categories*.	Legal name Birth year SSN Payment methods Home address Benefits Tax elections Garnishments Documents

*Information marked with an asterisk can be edited if managers have 'Editable and viewable' permissions.

Permission types

Permission type	Description
Hidden	Choose “Hidden” to hide all information from your managers. If the Coworker Directory feature is turned on, basic employee information (e.g., birthday, title, and join date) will show for the whole company.
View	Choose “View” to allow managers to view information about their direct reports (people who report to the manager) and extended team. If the Coworker Directory feature is turned on, managers have visibility into both their team and all other employees' basic information (e.g., birthday, title, and join date) at the company. Managers with 'view only' access to time off can only see requests after they've been paid. If a request is still waiting for approval or has not been paid yet, the manager cannot see it.
View and edit	Choose “View and edit” to allow managers to edit information about their direct reports (people who report to the manager) and extended team. We’ll notify you when a manager makes changes. If the Coworker Directory feature is turned on, managers can view and edit their team's information and view-only all other employees' basic information (e.g., birthday, title, and join date) at the company. Fields that can be edited by managers are marked by asterisks in the “Information types” table above.
Approve and record time off	Choose "Approve and record time off" to allow managers to access their team’s time off, including time off balances, accrual rates, and time off requests. If the Coworker Directory feature is turned on, managers have visibility into both their team and all other employees' basic information (e.g., birthday, title, and join date) at the company. Managers with 'view only' access to time off can only see requests after they've been paid. If a request is still waiting for approval or hasn't been paid yet, the manager can't see it.

Add or assign a manager to your team members

Use the dropdowns below to add or assign a manager to your team.

Step 1: Add the person as an employee in Gusto

To be assigned as a manager, the user must be added as an employee in Gusto (even if they're already an admin).

Step 2: Assign a manager to your team members

You can assign managers to US employees, US individual contractors (but not business contractors), and non-US contractors. A few reminders:

Once a manager is assigned, admins no longer get notified about time off requests, but they can still manage them from the Time tools section of their account.
A team member can only be assigned one manager, and only that manager will get notifications about their direct report.

Based on how you'd like to assign managers, use the most applicable instructions below.

Assign a manager to a team member

Sign in to Gusto.
Click the People section.
Click the name of the team member who needs a manager assigned.
From the Work tab, find the “Role” section.
- For US contractors, go to the Work tab under the “Information” header.
Next to "Manager" click Edit.
Search for a manager (will include a list of pre-existing managers).
- For domestic contractors, only individual contractors can be assigned a manager (but not business contractors).
- Managers can only be individuals who also have employee profiles in Gusto.
- If you do not see the name you're looking for, you may need to set up the individual as a manager first by assigning them their first direct report—instructions below.
Click Save.

Assign direct reports to a team member

Sign in to Gusto.
Click the People section.
Click the name of the to-be manager.
From the Work tab, find the "Role" section.
Next to "Direct reports" click Edit.
Search the name of the direct report you'd like to add, or select as many as you'd like.
- To remove a direct report, click the X next to their name.
Click Save.
- You may need to click out the direct reports box before you can save.

Your employees, domestic contractors, and international contractors will now be associated with their manager in the coworker directory (if enabled). Keep in mind:

Employees paid time off requests will now go directly to their manager—PTO does not apply for domestic and international contractors.
Managers cannot approve contractor's hours at this time (domestic or international).

Step 3: Let your managers know what permissions they do, and do not have

The information that your managers can view or edit is based on the specific permissions that have been set up—let them know what access you've given them so they understand what capabilities they'll have when view their direct reports' information in Gusto.

Edit manager permissions

Before updating your manager's permissions, make sure you've familiarized yourself with the types of permissions you can assign to managers so you fully understand what access you're giving to certain information.

Sign in to Gusto.
Click the Settings section from your admin profile.
Click the Permissions tab.
- If you do not see this option, you may not have the required permissions to edit these settings. Reach out to your primary administrator.
Toggle to the Role tab.
Click People managers.
Click Edit to select a permission level a for each information type (get more granular information about each permission type in the first dropdown):
- Team members
  - Basic employee information
    - This controls managers’ access to their teams’ basic information such as profile picture, email, birthday (M/D), phone number, emergency contact, and reporting details.
  - Pay and work
    - This controls access to team members’ compensation and work history.
  - Documents
    - This controls access to team members’ documents, including I-9s and other onboarding documents.
- Time & Attendance off
  - Team time off
    - This controls managers’ access to their teams’ time off, including time off balances, accrual rates, and time off requests. Managers cannot edit time off policies.
  - Time tracking
    - This controls access to viewing and approving team members’ timesheets.
  - Time Scheduling
    - This controls access to team members’ schedules.
- Expenses
  - This controls access to team members’ expenses. Managers cannot edit expense categories.
Click Save.

Remove direct reports—this removes manager permissions

If a manager is no longer managing one of their direct reports, remove the direct report from the manager's profile. You can also unassign a manager in each of their individual contributors' profiles.

If you want to make sure a person has no managerial capacity, you'll need to remove all of their direct reports from their profile.

Sign in to Gusto.
Go to the People section.
Find the current manager and click their name to view their profile.
From the "Work" tab, find the "Role" header.
Next to "Direct reports" click Edit.
To remove one or more direct reports, click the X next to their name.
Click Save.

Manager permissions for dismissed team members

Once a team member has been dismissed in Gusto, their previously assigned manager can no longer see the individual's information or approve their time off.

Admins should either:

Wait to dismiss a team member until after their manager has approved any final hours or;
Personally review and approve time for the dismissed individual before issuing their final paycheck.