Enable Employee Access

The article outlines the process for enabling employee access in BambooHR, which allows employees to manage their personal information and access relevant data. This feature is crucial for streamlining HR tasks. The guide includes sections on setting access levels, adding employees, and managing employee profiles. It emphasizes the requirement for a valid email address and hire date for employees to receive access notifications. Various methods for enabling access, such as Power Edit and bulk addition, are discussed. Additionally, the article details the email notifications sent to employees upon access activation, which vary based on the authentication method used. The resource aims to enhance user experience and efficiency within the BambooHR platform.

Jul 8, 2026
Knowledge

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How do I enable employee access?

Purpose: Enabling employee access is the most beneficial thing you can do in BambooHR because it allows an employee to keep their personal information up to date and access information that pertains to them. This ability frees up HR administrators to continue to do great work on things that matter most. Read through this guide to learn more about how easy it is to enable access for your employees.

Table of Contents

Would you like to watch a video about this topic?
Set up your access levels and grant access
Welcome to BambooHR email notification

Would you like to watch a video about this topic?

Do you prefer hands-on learning? Our interactive guides will guide you through different aspects of your BambooHR experience. We have an interactive guide specifically designed to show you how to grant your employees access. You can use the link below to access this guide. All you need to do is modify the "REPLACEME" with your BambooHR subdomain, and you can get started!

https://REPLACEME.bamboohr.com/home?pendo=lS3_LaVvVRWG61V3Cs3vK5vAcD0&step=ezc4I4dK-V_XOHfNJfqIUxVvffY

Set up your access levels and grant access

Once configured, you can enable employee access for any employee with a valid work or home email address.

Please note that employees receive their Welcome to BambooHR email and login invitation as soon as you add them to an access level. Only add employees once you are fully ready to have them access their account.

The following options are available ways for you to enable employee access.

Add an employee

If you are using this form to enable access for an employee, double-check they have a hire date before saving. The employee will need a hire date to receive the Welcome to BambooHR email notification where they will be prompted to create a password and login.

Employee access can be enabled while adding an employee to BambooHR.

Locate the Self-service access section.
Select Allow Access to BambooHR and then choose the desired employee access level.
Click Save at the bottom of the page.

*Note that a valid work or home email address is a requirement to enable access.

Employee profile

Click on the action menu (three-dot icon) on an employee profile:

Locate Manage Access.
Select Employee Access.
Determine which employee access level to which you would like to add the employee.

Power Edit

You can enable employee access via Power Edit.

Select the employees you would like to enable access for.
Under Choose Fields, search for Self-service access (located under the Personal section).
Under Editing Options, select As a Group and then click Next Step.
On the next page, choose the appropriate employee access level and click Next Step.
Once you finish previewing your changes, click Save & Finish to activate access.

It is important to note that each employee must have a valid email address and a hire date for you to successfully use Power Edit while enabling employee access for your employees. If either of those is missing, the employee will not receive the notification to log in and set their password.

Access Levels

In Settings > Access Levels, employee access can be enabled by following these steps:

Click on the corresponding employee access level. In the example above, it shows the Employee US list.
Click +Add Employee.
Choose an employee from the drop-down list and then click Save to enable employee access for the employee.

Do you need to enable access for multiple employees?

If you would like to enable multiple employees with access from Access Levels in Settings, click +Add Employee and then select Add Many Employees from within the Add Employee pop-up box. You will be able to select multiple employees and enable them at the same time, similar to Power Edit.

If you are working with a long list of employees, it is helpful to filter the list down to a subset of employees. To do this, click All Employees and select from the available filters: Department, Division, Employment Status, Job Title, and Location. Once you add a filter, you will see a plus sign that allows you to add additional filters. After you filter the list, you can select the applicable employees to enable access for.

Welcome to BambooHR email notification

Once you enable access for the user, they will receive an email notification. The content of the email notification depends on if SSO has been enabled or not. Below are the three options: