Suspend, reactivate, or eliminate a position

Use Suspend when a position will stop being used temporarily, Reactivate when it should return, and Eliminate when it ends permanently. These actions are part of a Position change request and use the same approval workflow as other position fields. Enter the dates you intend and review the effect on assignments and reporting lines before submitting.

A Draft or Scheduled label tells you how far a position has progressed toward taking effect. A vacancy tells you that some or all of a job is unfilled. To stop using an approved position temporarily, choose Suspend; leaving it vacant does not suspend it.

Suspension, reactivation, elimination, and changes to scheduled actions require review through the step assigned to Position status, including all preceding steps. Other changed fields can require later review. Reasons and justification follow your organization’s Position change settings.

Before you begin

You need access to the position’s affected departments and permission to submit position requests. Every included action follows its required approval workflow. Assignment, reporting, Budget, and compensation changes retain their own access requirements.

Correcting an elimination that has already taken effect also requires Manage positions for the position’s department.

Choose the correct action

An Active position with zero FTE is still Active. Use Suspend only when participation should stop; do not use zero FTE to imitate suspension.

Plan a suspension and return together

Include both dates in one position change request when the return is ready for approval. Enter the first active day in Active again from. Review any changed FTE or other details that should begin on the return date.

For example, suspend a full-time position (1 FTE) on July 1 and bring it back half-time (0.5 FTE) on September 1:

One final approval authorizes the complete timeline. The approved return does not need a second approval when September 1 arrives. An estimated return or review date is informational; it never authorizes reactivation.

Leave the approved return date blank for an open-ended suspension. A later approved position change can reactivate or eliminate the position.

Before suspending or eliminating

Review the automatic consequences shown in the request. You do not need to end assignments first. Choose a new Reports to destination, or make affected reporting positions top level, in the same request. The required department reviews are included.

A suspension keeps each assignment and its recorded start and end dates. Its status is Paused while the position is suspended. It contributes no assigned FTE or staffing coverage during that period. When the position returns to Active, the same assignment counts toward staffing again if its end date has not passed.

An assignment can start during the pause and begin counting toward staffing on the return date. You do not need to add it again.

An explicit assignment end or transfer still applies. An assignment that ends during the pause does not resume. A temporary assignment elsewhere can cover the pause; check that it ends before the original assignment resumes if your organization limits overlapping assignments.

Employee status and pay records remain. Review any continuing pay obligation and the employee’s next placement. Employee placement needs review can appear in Issues when an active, available employee has no participating assignment during the pause. Another assignment on an Active position can cover that period.

An approved return covers the return date onward. You can review or accept an intentional gap using the usual Issues actions; this follow-up does not keep the position approval pending.

Your subscription must have room for the position on its planned return date. Capacity already committed to an approved future return is not available for another overlapping position. Suspension does not automatically reduce purchased subscription quantity.

Eliminate on an approved date

The elimination date is the first permanently ended date. A position eliminated July 1 remains operating through June 30, even if the request was approved earlier.

Elimination closes assignments that cross its effective date and cancels assignments that should not begin after that date. The records remain in history. Elimination can follow a suspension.

If a future elimination is no longer wanted, choose Cancel scheduled elimination from the position actions. The request selects that elimination entry. Explain why the plan changed, review the proposed assignment and reporting restorations, and submit it for fresh approval.

Use Change scheduled elimination to revise its date instead. The same position number and history continue; cancellation does not create a new position. Canceling an elimination can require subscription capacity that has since been committed elsewhere.

If an elimination that already took effect was recorded incorrectly, choose Correct erroneous elimination, or use Remove status entries when the entry should never have applied. Explain the error and review the affected dates and proposed restorations. If the elimination was valid and new work is now needed, use Copy as new position.

That creates a separate draft with a new position number and its own approval process; it does not restore old assignments or copy financial setup.

Correct or remove an approved status entry

Choose the correction or cancellation action from the position actions. Correct suspension, Correct reactivation, and Remove status entries let you select exact approved entries and submit the revised timeline for approval. Dates may be in the past, present, or future, within the position’s recorded history.

Review how the amendment affects a paired return, assignments, reporting relationships, and capacity. If the elimination request has not yet been applied, cancel the request rather than removing an approved entry.

Correcting a suspension changes the dates when existing assignments count toward staffing. Elimination and reporting changes retain a link to their cause; a correction can restore the assignments and reporting lines shown in the request only if they have not since been changed.

If someone has since changed an affected assignment or reporting relationship, review that change before correcting the entry. Cancellation does not undo an independent transfer or pay decision. The restored staffing, reporting relationships, required position information, and subscription capacity must still be valid.

Earlier values and approval evidence remain in history. The requested effective date stays the same if approval finishes after that date. A backdated approval recalculates the affected periods; the approval itself is recorded when it actually happens. If approved position information changes during review, reviewers may need to check it again.

Check the result

The request shows Position status with the approved and requested status on each Effective date. For example, canceling a scheduled reactivation shows Active as the approved status and Suspended as the requested status on that date. If you cancel both a suspension and its reactivation, the position stays Active on both dates. The explanation beneath each requested status identifies the cancellation or correction.

Review the request’s complete timeline and outcome. Compare the day before each change with its effective date, including position status, approved FTE, active FTE, assignments, and reporting relationships. Check financial results after updating finishes, and use Activity history to review the decision history.

Optional practice: try stopping and restarting a position

For exercises that change records, use a separate practice organization and complete the preparation below.

Practice steps and checks

Use a separate practice position so you can keep the original walkthrough for comparison.

1. Open the position and review its assignments and the positions that report to it.
2. Keep the employee assigned so you can verify that participation pauses without changing assignment dates. Identify the destination for any reporting positions.
3. Choose Suspend, enter the date it should stop being used, and review the proposed changes.
4. Complete the required request and approvals.
5. Compare the day before suspension with the suspension date.

The position keeps its history, but its active FTE is zero while suspended. Use Reactivate when it should return. The same assignment resumes if it has not ended.

For a permanent end, use Eliminate and review its confirmation carefully. Assignment cleanup and the reporting changes selected in the request apply together. Employee transfers require a separate destination assignment.