Assign a User to Multiple Access Levels

The article provides guidance on assigning users to multiple access levels within a system. It emphasizes the importance of managing access to employee information, allowing users to have different levels of visibility and editing capabilities based on their roles. Users can assign access levels by navigating to the employee profile or through the Settings menu. The document outlines the process for both individual and multiple user assignments, including constraints such as the inability to combine Full Admin access with other levels. It also clarifies how conflicts in access levels are resolved, ensuring that the most permissive access applies where overlaps occur. Additional resources are provided for further assistance in understanding the access level system.

  • Jul 8, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Assign a User to Multiple Access Levels
Article Text
This feature is included in the Core, Pro, and Elite packages.

How do I assign a user to multiple access levels?

Purpose: We understand that access to employee information might not be as straightforward as you would like it to be. Sometimes, a user will need a manager access level to view specific information of all of their direct reports and a custom access level to update training for all employees. Don't worry. We have you covered with our multiple access levels. This guide will help you understand how to give a user access to more than one access level, so you can be sure they only see the information they need for each employee.

Expand AllCollapse All

Table of Contents

Employee profile

To assign a user to more than one access level, navigate to their employee profile and click on the three-dot icon in the top right corner. Hover your cursor over Manage Access and select Payroll,* Manager, and Custom Access Levels.

Within the dropdown menu, mark the access levels you would like to assign to the user. Please keep in mind employee access is built into the custom and manager access levels under the See about Themselves section in the access level settings.

A highlighted note about multiple access levels will appear after you make your selections. You can click More Info to review details about multiple access levels. Once you confirm your selections, click Update Access, and the user will immediately have the appropriate access based on each access level. 

*Payroll access levels will only appear as an option if you have BambooHR Payroll. If you do not have Payroll, the system will show Manager and Custom Access instead of Payroll, Manager, and Custom Access.

Please note that there are a few constraints regarding multiple access levels:

  • A user cannot be in the Full Admin access level with any other level simultaneously.
  • A user cannot be in more than one assigned employee access level.
    • However, it is possible for a user to belong to more than one employee access level simultaneously. If a user belongs to multiple custom access levels and each one has a different employee access level chosen under the See About Themselves setting, the criteria for each employee access level will apply. 
Assign a user to multiple access levels through Settings

To assign a user to more than one access level simultaneously, navigate to Access Levels in Settings. If the user cannot access BambooHR, click + Add Employee to assign an access level to the user. If the user already has access, but you need to edit or change their access, hover your cursor over their name in the list and click on the manage option (lock icon) and select Payroll, Manager, and Custom Access.

Within the dropdown menu, mark the access levels you would like to assign to the user. Click Update Access, and the user will immediately have the appropriate access based on each access level.

Assign multiple users to multiple access levels

To assign multiple users to an additional access level, navigate to Access Levels in Settings. Select the access level you would like to add the users to and click +Add Employee. 

In the pop-up box, click Add Many Employees. Under "Advanced Options," select Combine [Current Access Level(s)] with the access of [Access Level Name]. Then, select the employees you would like to add to the additional access level. 

Need additional help understanding how multiple access levels work?

Don't worry. It is nowhere near this complicated. However, there are a few rules for when settings between multiple access levels come into conflict with each other:

  • No Access to a specific field is trumped by View Only access.
  • View Only access is trumped by View and Edit access.
  • No Access to Management Abilities is trumped by Access to Management Abilities.

When do these rules come into play?

The rules for which access takes precedence only come into play when there is a conflict in granting a type of access that overlaps with a localized area of the specific conflict (this takes into account who you can view and which fields you can view with their respective settings).

For example, if Bob belongs to two levels as they follow:

  • Level 1: Access to view all information on the Job tab for all employees.
  • Level 2: Access to view and edit the Compensation table data only for his direct reports on the Job tab.

These two custom access levels conflict because one allows for View Only access when the other allows for some editing capabilities. In this scenario, View Only access remains for all the fields on the Job Tab except for the Compensation table fields (where the conflict occurs). For those fields only, the higher access setting would apply while Bob would have editing rights to the Compensation table data. However, he would have that ability restricted to the employees who report directly to him. For all others, he would still be restricted to View Only access for the Compensation table data.

URL Name
587874