Back to Playbook
Act 2: Setting Up the Kingdom

8. Bringing the Team In (Employee Lifecycle)

Story

With the company structure ready, Sarah begins bringing real employees into the system so teams can start taking shape inside the platform with the correct department, designation, shift, and access role assignments from day one.

Invitations are then sent to employees so they can activate their accounts, verify their identity securely, and immediately access attendance, payroll, approvals, and self-service workflows.

Happy Path

Employee onboarding flows smoothly when identity, structure, and access information are configured correctly.

Once invitations are accepted, employees immediately become active participants in attendance, leave, payroll, and approval workflows.

  • Add employee profiles with identity and employment details
  • Assign department, designation, reporting manager, shift, and access role
  • Send onboarding invitations for self-service activation
  • Verify employee identity through OTP validation
  • Allow employees to set passwords and securely access the platform
  • Track onboarding and invitation status from the admin panel

Failure Modes

FailureWhat the user seesWhat happens next
Duplicate work email"User with this email already exists"Use a unique work email address
Duplicate employee code"Employee code already in use"Assign a unique employee code
Missing required onboarding fieldField-level validation errorsComplete all required employee details
Invalid role assignment"Role not available for this company"Assign a valid role within company scope
Department or designation not foundValidation rejects assignmentSelect valid department and designation records
Invitation email delivery failsInvite remains pendingAdmin can resend the invitation
Invitation OTP expires before verification"OTP expired"Admin can resend a fresh invitation
Employee never accepts invitationPending invite visible in onboarding dashboardAdmin may resend or revoke the invitation
Incorrect employee email entered during onboardingInvitation delivered to wrong recipientCorrect the email and resend invitation
Maximum employee seat limit reached"Upgrade plan to add more employees"Upgrade subscription or free unused seats first
Terminate employee with pending leave requestsWarning shown during separation flowReject or resolve pending leave requests before completion
Terminate employee with unprocessed payrollFinal settlement payroll requiredComplete payroll settlement before termination
Terminate employee with active company loansOutstanding balance warning shownResolve or transfer remaining liabilities first

Edge Cases

ScenarioBehaviorWhy
Employee already exists under another companyUser is linked to the new company without creating a duplicate accountSupports multi-company employment scenarios
Previously removed employee is invited againSystem sends a fresh onboarding invitationAllows controlled reactivation workflows
Bulk onboarding through CSV importImport validates rows individually and reports partial failuresImproves operational efficiency during mass onboarding
Employee rehired after separationExisting employee profile is reactivated with a new employment recordPreserves employment and payroll history
Employee terminated but historical records are neededPast attendance, payroll, and audit records remain preservedSupports compliance and reporting requirements
Invitation link opened after revocationAccess is blocked and employee is asked to contact administratorPrevents unauthorized onboarding access

ZettaHRM

A modern HRM workspace for employee management, attendance tracking, leave approvals and structured day-to-day HR operations.

© 2026 Zettabyte Technology Inc.|All rights reserved.