Activate or Deactivate Fieldworkers (Active/Inactive Status)

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Activate or Deactivate Fieldworkers (Active/Inactive Status)

Activating and deactivating fieldworkers is the simplest way to keep your roster accurate and prevent the wrong people from appearing in scheduling and dispatch workflows. When a fieldworker is set to Inactive, they are excluded from availability checks and cannot be assigned new work—while their full history (bookings, invoices, messages, reports, and audit trails) remains محفوظ within your account.

Common use cases:

  • Seasonal staff: deactivate in the off-season, reactivate later.
  • Leave/temporary absence: sick leave, holidays, training, or injury.
  • Contractors you no longer use: hide them from dispatch while keeping reporting history.
  • Roster cleanup: ensure dispatchers only see truly available fieldworkers.

On this page

What activation/deactivation controls

  • Availability & dispatch: inactive fieldworkers are removed from the Find Availability workflow and cannot be assigned new bookings/jobs.
  • Roster visibility: your roster can be filtered to show only Active fieldworkers (recommended for dispatchers).
  • History retention: historical data stays available for reporting, payroll audits, and compliance.

Permission note: Only admins (or roles with user-management permissions) can activate/deactivate users. See: Configuring User Roles, Permissions & Access Control.

Deactivate vs Block vs Delete (when to use each)

Choose the option that matches your goal:

Option Best for What it does
Deactivate (Inactive) Seasonal staff, leave, roster cleanup Excludes the fieldworker from new assignments/availability checks while keeping all history.
Block Security or immediate access restriction Prevents access and removes them from job workflows. See: Block or Unblock Fieldworkers.
Delete Remove the user/seat permanently (often for billing) Removes the user account from your user list while historical activity remains in reports/audit logs. See: Deleting Users vs Deactivating/Blocking Users.

Ways to activate or deactivate a fieldworker

OctopusPro provides three fast paths to toggle a fieldworker’s status:

  • Fieldworkers list (roster): quickest for day-to-day roster management.
  • Fieldworker profile: best when you want to review details before changing status.
  • Settings > Users: best for administrators managing all user roles in one grid.

Method 1: From the Fieldworkers list (roster)

This is the fastest option for dispatch teams.

  1. Go to Fieldworkers (from your sidebar menu).
  2. Find the fieldworker using Search or filters (you can filter by Active / Inactive).
  3. Toggle the Active switch on/off for that fieldworker.

Fieldworkers roster list showing Active toggle

Tip: If you manage large teams and need bulk changes (filters, bulk actions, mass invites/imports), use: Viewing & Managing Fieldworker Lists.

Method 2: From the Fieldworker profile

Use this method when you’re already reviewing the fieldworker’s profile (stats, details, activity, notes, etc.).

  1. Go to Fieldworkers and open the fieldworker.
  2. Select View Profile (or open their profile from the actions menu).
  3. Use the Active toggle in the profile header to activate/deactivate the user.

Fieldworker profile header showing Active toggle

Method 3: From Settings > Company Settings > Users

Use this method when administrators manage all user roles (admins, office users, fieldworkers) from a single user list.

  1. Go to Settings > Company Settings > Users.
  2. Search for the user (you can filter by role/status).
  3. Either toggle the Active switch directly, or open the Actions menu and choose Deactivate user / Activate user.

Users list showing Active column and toggle switch

Users list actions menu showing Deactivate user option

What happens after a status change

  • Jobs & quotes: inactive fieldworkers disappear from availability checks and cannot be assigned new work. Existing completed bookings remain in all reports.
  • Calendar & filters: set the fieldworker filter to Inactive or All to view their historical jobs.
  • Reports & audits: inactive users remain selectable in fieldworker dashboards and reports for KPI, payroll, and compliance review.
  • Login rights: deactivated users may still be able to sign in with read-only/limited access (for example, to download historical invoices or tax records). If you need to fully prevent access, use blocking.

Important: If an inactive fieldworker is assigned to future bookings, review those bookings and reassign them to avoid scheduling issues.

Subscription & billing impact

How inactive fieldworkers affect billing depends on your plan:

  • Start-up/Established plans (per-user billing): inactive accounts may still count toward your licensed user total. If you want to stop being billed for a user/seat, you typically need to delete the user (history remains in reports). See: Deleting Users vs Deactivating/Blocking Users.
  • Unlimited/Corporate plans: you can keep inactive profiles for reporting and compliance and reactivate them later without per-user seat concerns.
Plan type Billing logic (summary)
Start-up / Established Inactive users may still count toward your licence total; delete the user if you no longer need the seat.
Unlimited / Corporate Unlimited users; keep inactive profiles for historical KPIs without extra per-user cost.

Best practices

  • Keep dispatch views clean: train dispatchers to filter the roster to Active only.
  • Use deactivation for temporary changes: leave, seasonal pauses, or short-term contractor inactivity.
  • Use blocking for security: if access must be removed immediately, block the user.
  • Limit user-management permissions: control who can toggle statuses via RBAC.

FAQ

Will we lose history if we deactivate a fieldworker?

No. Deactivation does not remove records. Bookings, invoices, messages, and reporting history remain available.

Can a fieldworker deactivate themselves?

No. Only admins (or roles with the appropriate user-management permissions) can change Active/Inactive status.

How do I reactivate a seasonal worker?

Toggle them back to Active. They will immediately reappear in availability checks and can be assigned jobs again.

A fieldworker can’t log in—what should I check?

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