This article is for admins who want to assign managers and view their company’s Org chart.
You can assign managers with any Gusto plan. Set up managers and direct reports in the Work section of employee and manager profiles in Gusto.
If you have a Plus or Premium plan, you can turn on the Org chart (also known as the Coworker directory). The Org chart shows who manages each person in your company. Your team can use it to find their coworkers and managers. Upgrade your plan in Gusto at any time.
We automatically assign the People Manager role to anyone with direct reports.
The Org chart shows People Managers and their direct reports.
The People Manager role works like a custom role. You can edit the role name, the people assigned to the role, and the scope at any time. You can also delete the role.
By default, People Managers can:
View both their direct and indirect reports in the Org Chart
Direct: People who report to them
Indirect: Team members further down the reporting chain.
People Managers can approve or deny their direct and indirect teams' Expenses, but can only manage other Gusto features (like Time off) for direct reports based on the individual permissions they've been granted.
Only access the information about their direct reports that their individual permissions allow, like:
Admins can assign a manager to US employees, US individual contractors, and non-US individual contractors in their Gusto profile.
To be assigned as a manager, you need to set them up in Gusto as either an employee or an unpaid team member (even if they’re already an admin or external collaborator).
You can create additional custom roles and customize permissions and access for other managers or team members beyond the People Manager role.
To add a manager to a team member’s profile:
Go to People.
Click the name of the person who needs a manager.
Under Information, make sure you’re on the Work tab.
Under Role, next to Manager, click Edit.
Search for a manager (you’ll see a list of existing managers).
For US contractors, you can only assign a manager to individual contractors (not business contractors).
You can only assign individuals who have an employee or unpaid team member account in Gusto as managers.
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. See the Add direct reports for a manager section in the article.
Click Save.
Tell your managers about the access they have so they know what they can do in Gusto. Your managers can only see or change what you allow them to.
If you turn on the Org chart, US employees, US individual contractors, and non-US individual contractors with managers will appear in it.
Keep in mind:
US employees’ PTO (Paid Time Off) requests will now go directly to their manager.
Contractors (both US and non-US) cannot submit PTO requests.
Managers can approve time tracking hours. Currently, they cannot manage contractor hours (US or non-US).
To assign someone as a manager, you need to set them up in Gusto as either an employee or an unpaid team member (even if they’re already an admin or external collaborator).
To add direct reports for a manager in Gusto:
Go to People.
Click the name of the person you want to make a manager.
Under Information, make sure you’re on the Work tab.
Under Role, next to Direct reports, click Edit.
Search for the name of the direct report you want to add, or select as many as you want.
To remove a direct report, click the X next to their name.
Click Save.
You may need to click out of the direct reports box before you can save.
Tell your managers about the access they have so they know what they can do in Gusto. Your managers can only see or change what you’ve allowed them to.
If you turn on the Org chart, US employees, US individual contractors, and non-US individual contractors with managers will appear in it.
Keep in mind:
US employees’ PTO (Paid Time Off) requests will now go directly to their manager.
Contractors (both US and non-US) cannot submit PTO requests.
Managers can approve time tracking hours. Currently, they cannot manage contractor hours (US or non-US).
You can customize what managers can see and do in Gusto. Learn how to manage and customize people’s permissions in this article.
If someone no longer manages a team member, you can remove that person as their direct report. To fully remove someone’s manager access, remove direct reports from their profile.
You can do this in two ways:
From the manager’s profile
From each team member’s profile (just remove their manager)
To remove direct reports from a manager’s profile:
Go to People.
Find the manager and click their name.
Under Information, make sure you’re on the Work tab.
Under Role, next to Direct reports, click Edit.
Click the X next to any name you want to remove (one or many).
Click Save.
After you dismiss a team member in Gusto, their manager cannot:
See their info
Approve their time off or hours
Admins should do one of the following:
Wait to dismiss the team member until after the manager approves their final hours, or;
Approve the team member’s final hours before running their last paycheck
If you have a Plus or Premium plan, you can turn on the Org chart (also known as the Coworker directory). The Org chart shows who manages each person in your company. Your team can use it to find their coworkers and managers.
What to know:
The directory updates automatically when you change employee or manager info. You cannot edit it directly.
US-based employees and individual contractors, and non-US individual contractors will appear in it (not business contractors).
To turn on the Org chart in Gusto:
In the left menu, click your company name.
Under Settings, click Customization.
Next to Coworker directory, click Edit.
Switch to Enabled.
Click Save.
To view your Org chart, first turn it on and assign managers with direct reports.
Go to People.
Next to Add person, click Org chart.
In the Org chart, you can:
See team members’ names and job titles.
View reporting lines if managers are assigned.
Use tools like zoom to fit, collapse all, or expand all.
On the top right, click View other team members to see team members without managers.
To export the Org chart in Gusto:
Go to People.
Next to Add person, click Org chart.
On the top right, click Export.
The file will download as a PNG image, usually to your Downloads folder.
To turn off the Org chart:
In the left menu, click your company name.
Under Settings, click Customization.
Next to Coworker directory, click Edit.
Switch to Disabled.
Click Save.
Q: Can I assign more than one manager to a person?
A: No. For now, you can only assign one manager per person.