WHAT IT IS
A group user can now have a staff type, just like staff and managers. With a staff type, the group user receives the workflow actions of that role at every worksite they can access.
Before this change, group users had no staff type. They could open workflow actions to supervise them, but no action was ever assigned to them.
Every group user now needs one of these two settings:
Setting | Who it is for | What they get |
Staff type | A person who does real work at the worksites, for example a regional Quality Manager | The workflow actions of their staff type, at each worksite they can access |
HQ User + Job Title | Head office (HQ) staff who only supervise | No workflow actions by role. They keep a free-text job title, as before |
WHO CAN SET IT
The staff type is set by someone else, never by the group user themselves.
Who | Where |
A group user with Permission to manage other group users | Group Users menu → Add New Group User, or View Profile → Edit User |
The Altra team | Admin › Group users |
Anyone who can change user types | Change user type, when a manager or staff member becomes a group user |
A group user cannot change their own staff type. On My Profile they can see it, but the field is greyed out.
HOW TO SET A STAFF TYPE
You pick one staff type per language of the group. A French worksite uses French staff types (for example Infirmière), an English worksite uses English ones (for example Nurse).
Open the Group Users menu.
Click Add New Group User. To change an existing user, click View Profile, then Edit User.
Under Allowed Worksites, tick the worksites this user can access.
In the Staff Type box, choose one option:
Staff type — leave HQ User unticked. Pick a staff type in each language row. Under each row, applies to: lists the worksites of that language.
HQ User — tick HQ User. The language rows disappear. Enter the Job Title (required).
Save the form.
Good to know:
One row is required. It is marked with a red *. It is always the first row: the group's main language (English when one of its worksites uses English).
Other rows are optional, but read the warning. An empty row shows: No staff type for French: this user will not be assigned to workflow actions at … (with the worksite names).
Altra fills the rows for you. When you pick a type, the other empty rows that offer the same type get it too.
Rows follow Allowed Worksites. A language row shows only while one of its worksites is ticked. If you untick all its worksites, that language's staff type is removed when you save.
The form saves exactly what it shows. Save as HQ User: the staff types are removed. Save without HQ User: the job title is removed.
WHEN THE USER TYPE CHANGES
Manager or staff member → group user — the Change user type form asks for HQ User or a staff type, like the group user form. It pre-fills the person's current staff type.
Group user → manager or staff member — the HQ flag, the job title and the group staff types are removed. The staff form pre-fills the staff type for the language of the worksite you pick.
WHAT CHANGES IN WORKFLOWS
A group user with a staff type is treated like a staff member of that type, at each worksite they can access.
When does a group user get an action?
When a workflow starts, the group user is assigned to an action only if all of these are true:
They are not an HQ User.
The worksite belongs to their group and is ticked in their Allowed Worksites.
The worksite has Family and workflows turned on.
They have a staff type for the language of that worksite.
The action asks for that staff type, as assignee or as responsible.
Then they get the action like staff do: it is in Assigned to me, it counts in their to-do badge, and they get the email (if their notifications are on, see below).
Other rules
"Any staff/manager" actions — an action with no staff type is never assigned to group users. They only get actions of their own staff type.
Workflows already running — when a group user gets a staff type, nothing is added to workflows that started before. No email, no badge. But they can see and complete the matching actions, like a new staff member.
Actions at other worksites — they can open and complete an action at worksite B, even while worksite A is selected (from Assigned to me or from the email).
Workflow builder — a staff type held only by group users is in the staff type lists, and it does not raise the "nobody holds this role" warning. The Reassign pickers offer the group user too.
Losing a role — when you remove their staff type, untick a worksite or tick HQ User, they are removed from the actions they got through that role.
Notifications are off for new group users
A new group user starts with every workflow email and push notification off. To receive them, the group user opens My Profile while a worksite with workflows is selected, and turns on the notifications they want (for example Notify me when there is a new action assigned to me). Existing group users keep their settings.
Manager › Managers list
A group user with a staff type also appears on Manager › Managers of each worksite they can access, with a grey Group tag. This row is read-only: managers cannot edit or delete it there. HQ Users, and group users with no staff type for that worksite's language, are not listed.
WHAT THE GROUP USER SEES
My Profile (web) — a greyed-out Staff Type field. It shows each type with its language, for example Nurse (EN), Infirmière (FR), or HQ User. The group user cannot change it. They can still change their phone number.
Mobile app — where the app shows a staff type, it is the one for the language of the selected worksite.
Group Users list and profile (for users who manage group users) — a warning badge when a language has no staff type.
Yellow — some languages have no staff type. The user gets no actions at those worksites.
Red — no staff type at all. The user gets no workflow actions anywhere.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What happens to group users created before this change? They have no staff type and are not HQ Users. So they get no workflow actions, and the Group Users list shows a red warning. Nothing changes until you edit them. The next time you save their account, you must pick a staff type or tick HQ User.
A group user did not get an action. Why? Check the 5 points in When does a group user get an action? above. The most common reasons:
They are an HQ User.
The worksite is not ticked in their Allowed Worksites.
They have no staff type for that worksite's language (look for the yellow warning).
The action has no staff type ("any staff/manager").
The workflow started before they got the staff type. They can still see and complete the action, but it was not assigned to them.
A group user gets actions but no emails. Why? New group users start with workflow emails and push notifications off. Ask them to turn them on in My Profile.
A group user is missing from Manager › Managers. Why? Only group users with a staff type for that worksite's language are listed. HQ Users and group users without access to the worksite are not listed.
Why can I not delete a staff type? A staff type that a staff member, a manager or a group user holds cannot be deleted. In Admin › Staff types, its Delete button is hidden.
A worksite changed its language. What do I check? The group users may have no staff type for the new language. When the Altra team saves the worksite, Altra shows a warning with the number of group users affected. Edit those users and fill the new language row.
RELATED ARTICLES
Workflows: an introduction
Creating a Workflow
Starting, Completing and Closing Workflows
Group Workflows: for Group Admins
Group Workflows: for Worksite Managers