When you add employees to your busybusy account, you will select a position for each employee. Each position has specific permissions and access to features and tools. Every business has its combination of leadership roles, administrators, office managers, supervisors, foremen, payroll specialists, estimators… the list could go on for days. In the Pro version of busybusy, you can create as many positions as needed to control who can do the things you need to be done.
This article will go over everything you need to know about setting up, assigning employees, and managing positions in the app and the permissions that go with them in these sections:
How do Positions and Permissions Work in busybusy?
Positions and permissions in busybusy are set up to be managed as a hierarchy. The “top dog” is the Admin. They are the highest level of accessibility in the system. This position can see everything, change anything and control it all. Each level below the Admin position will “answer to” the position(s) above it. Here’s an example in terms of military rank:
Admin: Sergeant Major
Manager: Sergeant
Foreman: Corporal
Employee: Private
This is important to know because you can drag the positions up and down (except for the Admin) to change the hierarchy. For example, if an Employee gets to tell a Manager what to do in your company, just drag the Employee above the Manager and drop it there, and the list will be changed to reflect the new hierarchy!
We go one step further. You can choose which positions will be affected within most of the permissions. So, for example, the Track Time for permission can be set so that the position is allowed to Track Time for themselves, those lower on the list, others that have the same position, or even those with a higher position.
A use case: a Corporal is responsible for tracking time for the Sergeant because the Sergeant just doesn’t have time to track it for themselves. Therefore, the Corporal would need permission to Track Time for Self AND Higher Positions.
Good to Know: When employees are added to busybusy, they will be assigned to the lowest position in the hierarchy by default. |
How do I Access the Positions Settings
If YOUR user permissions include Manage Company Settings, and you’re on the Web, you’ll have access to view and edit the Positions settings. You can access them anytime by going to the Left Navigation Menu >> Settings >> Positions.
From an Android Device, you can access them by going to Settings >> Positions.
From an iOS device, Settings >> Company >> Positions.
What Does Each Permission Allow a User To Do?
GENERAL Section
Title - this can be edited to match the titles used within your company.
Limit Permission to Employee Groups - if set to Yes, anyone assigned this position will be restricted to having permissions specifically over only the employees who belong to the same employee group.
Use case: there are two crews, each with a foreman. Each foreman needs access to edit time for their specific crew only. |
SUPERVISION SETTINGS - options: Self, Lower Positions, Same Position & Higher Positions available. If all four are selected, the section will read Everyone.
Manage Employees for permission allows a user to add employees, edit employee profiles (name, contact info, username, password, pin code, employee id, position, GPS location requirements), archive and unarchive employees, set employee’s wage (web only), and add to employee group or edit existing group.
Track Time for allows a user to clock in, clock out, and take breaks.
Edit Time Entries for permission allows a user to create new time entries and edit existing time entries. It also allows for creating and editing Time Off.
Manage Time Off for permission lets a user add, edit, delete, and approve time off.
With Manage Photos posted by permission, users can edit and delete photos, notes, comments, and tags uploaded by other employees.
View Photos Posted by allows a position to view photos posted by other employees.
Manage Lock Dates for: lock dates are used to restrict making any changes to time cards prior to a specified date and this permission allows for setting, changing, or removing a lock date.
View Schedules for permission defines who the user can see on the schedule.
Manage Schedules for allows a user to add, edit or remove schedules.
Authorize GPS for determines whether a user can approve or mark unauthorized employee positions outside project boundaries.
Manage Per Diem for allows a user to add, edit, delete, and approve per diem for others.
Manage Progress
Track Progress - allows the user to create progress entries to track work accomplished.
Manage Progress for - lets someone view, edit, and delete progress entries.
View Activity Reports for
All Activity Reports - this setting will allow the user to view all activity reports (By Project, By Employee, By Cost Code, by Equipment, By Date); however, the data in these reports may still be restricted by combining this access with other permissions.
Mobile Employee Report Only - a user with this setting can ONLY see the By Employee Activity Report. They will be able to view the data associated with themselves and any employee that they have permission to track time for.
COMPANY MANAGEMENT
Manage Company Settings - users with this permission can access and edit the Settings in busybusy affecting the whole company. These include Company Profile data, Time Keeping settings, Daily Sign In/Out questions, Time Card Approval settings, Budgeting functions, Positions & Permissions, updating the company’s payment info or Subscription choices, among others.
With permission to Manage Projects, a user can add, edit, and archive projects, subprojects, and project groups.
Manage Cost Codes permission allows users to add, edit, and archive cost codes and cost code groups. Feel free to browse our article Create & Use Cost Codes.
Manage Equipment allows users to add, edit, and remove equipment.
View Expenses - users with this permission can view expenses across busybusy. This permission affects many things such as budgets, viewing employee profile information, and certain payroll reports. Viewing expenses can be a sensitive area for many companies so we made sure to give you the ability to control who can see these details.
The Budgets permission, if turned on, can be set to either allow a position to Manage project budgets, or simply to View Only.
With the permission to Manage budgets a user can view, add, edit, and remove budgets in busybusy.
If it's set to View Only they can see the details and progress on a budget without being able to adjust it in any way.
Manage Employee Groups - employees can be grouped for a variety of reasons. With this permission, a user can create employee groups and add and remove employees from them.
Receive Field Report Prompts - this is a setting that allows all users in the position group to receive a prompt to fill out a Field Report when applicable.
Manage Company Bulletin lets a user add, edit, and delete their own posts from the company bulletin messages.
SAFETY
Incident Reports determines a user's access to incident reports. This is such an important permission that it has its own article and video HERE!
Create Incident Reports - allows a position to file incident reports for themselves and others.
Manage Incident Reports - allows a position to view, edit, delete, and review all incident reports.
The Inspections permission determines a user's access to safety inspections. This setting is so important it has it's own article with videos HERE.
Perform Safety Inspections - lets a position create inspections for themselves and perform inspections assigned to them.
Manage Safety Inspections - allows a position to view, assign, delete, and manage inspections and checklists.
OTHER
The Clock-In Restriction, if turned on, limits that position's ability to clock in. It's such a great feature it has it's own article HERE!
Require Equipment (Clock Only) makes it so that position has to select a piece of equipment or explicitly opt out of selection when they clock in. Their supervisors are still able to assign them non-equipment time.
Request Time Off lets the admin set whether or not that position can request time off.
Require Photo Verification determines whether employees need to take a photo before they can clock in. You can learn more about it HERE.
If the Job Costing Prompt is turned on it will prompt employees to assign their time for the day when they clock out.
What are the Default Positions in Free and Pro?
Below are the default positions and permission combinations that are set for the Free version of busybusy and are also the starting points for Pro clients. Pro accounts can fully customize each position and associated permissions.
Admin (Owner) Position
This position is assigned to the individual that originated the busybusy account. There is only ONE Admin (Owner) position available in the account at a time.
Has access to all system functions and has no limitations.
Is the only position that can cancel the busybusy subscription.
Note: When viewing these position titles in the Positions section of Settings, the Owner designation will not be visible. To see who retains this position, go to Management Lists >> Employees >> then sort by position. If you have permission to Manage Company you can also go to Settings >> Company Profile. Here the Admin (Owner) is listed under Primary Account Holder.
Admin Position
Has access to all system functions and has no limitations.
A company can have multiple people assigned to the Admin position.
Manager Position has the default ability to:
Track Time for: - self & lower positions
Edit Time Entries for: - self & lower positions
Manage Photos for: - self & lower positions
Manage Projects
Manage Cost Codes
Manage Budgets
View Expenses
View/Manage Schedules for: self & lower positions
View All Activity Reports
Supervisor Position has the default ability to:
Track Time for: - self & lower positions
Manage Photos for: - self & lower positions
View/Manage Schedules - self & lower positions
View Employee Activity Reports for: - self
Employee Position has the default ability to:
Track Time for: - self
Manage Photos for: - self
View Employee Activity Reports for: - self
How Do I Add New Positions from the Web?
Adding positions is super easy (as long as you have permission to do it and are on the Pro version of busybusy!). Go to the Left Navigation Menu >> Settings >> Positions. From this screen, select the blue button Create Position. A window will pop up and walk you through each permission and setting that was described above, including who will be affected.
As a default, ALL new positions are added to the bottom of the hierarchy. So don’t forget to drag and drop the position to where it belongs amongst your other positions. You can do this by clicking on the two vertical lines next to the position title and dragging it up or down.
How Do I Edit Existing Positions?
If you’ve got permission to edit a Position, it’s as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!
Go to the Left Navigation Menu >> Settings >> Positions.
Select the position you need to edit
You can edit all settings and permission by clicking into the appropriate box, making your changes, and clicking the blue Update button.
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