Overview
The Employees module in Odoo 19 is the foundation for all HR functionality. It manages employee profiles with personal and work information, department hierarchy, job positions, skills tracking, and organizational structure. The hr.employee model stores private employee data while hr.employee.public provides a limited public view.
Prerequisites
- Odoo 19 with the Employees (HR) module installed
- HR Officer or Administrator access
Step 1: Configure Departments
Navigate to Employees > Departments. Create your organizational structure:
- Department Name — e.g., "Sales", "Engineering", "Human Resources"
- Parent Department — Set hierarchy (e.g., Engineering under Operations)
- Manager — The department head who approves leaves, expenses, etc.
- Company — For multi-company environments
The department hierarchy drives approval chains across HR modules (leave requests, expenses, timesheets).
Step 2: Create Job Positions
Navigate to Employees > Configuration > Job Positions:
- Job Position — Role title (e.g., "Software Developer", "Sales Manager")
- Department — Assign to a department
- Expected New Employees — Number of openings for recruitment
- Description — Job responsibilities and requirements
Step 3: Create Employee Records
Navigate to Employees > Employees and click New. Fill in the employee profile:
Work Information Tab
- Department — Assign to a department
- Job Position — Select the role
- Job Title — Specific title (can differ from position)
- Manager — Direct manager for approval workflows
- Coach — Mentor or secondary supervisor
- Work Location — Office, remote, or specific site
- Working Hours — Resource calendar for scheduling
- Work Email and Work Phone
Private Information Tab
Contains personal data with restricted access:
- Home address, personal email, phone
- Emergency contact information
- Bank account for payroll (via bank account allocation wizard)
- Identification numbers (SSN, passport)
- Marital status, dependents
HR Settings Tab
- Related User — Link to an Odoo user account for system access
- Badge ID — For attendance kiosk identification
- PIN Code — For kiosk authentication
- Tags — Categorize employees (e.g., "Remote", "Part-Time", "Contractor")
Step 4: Configure Work Locations
Navigate to Employees > Configuration > Work Locations:
- Create locations like "Main Office", "Remote", "Branch Office - Chicago"
- Assign work locations to employees for scheduling and reporting
- Work locations integrate with the Homeworking module for flexible work arrangements
Step 5: Set Up Organizational Chart
The organizational chart (hr_org_chart) is generated automatically from the manager hierarchy:
- Each employee's Manager field defines their reporting line
- View the org chart from any employee record via the Org Chart smart button
- The chart shows the complete reporting structure from top to bottom
Step 6: Configure Employee Tags
Navigate to Employees > Configuration > Tags. Create tags for categorizing employees:
- Employment type: Full-Time, Part-Time, Contractor, Intern
- Location: On-Site, Remote, Hybrid
- Skills: Python, JavaScript, Project Management
- Custom categories relevant to your organization
Step 7: Departure Reasons
Configure reasons for employee departures under Employees > Configuration > Departure Reasons:
- Resignation, Termination, Retirement, Contract End
- These reasons are selected when archiving an employee record
- Used for turnover analysis and exit reporting
Best Practices
- Keep the manager hierarchy accurate — it drives approval workflows across all HR modules
- Complete the private information tab for payroll and compliance purposes
- Link employees to Odoo user accounts for seamless system access
- Use tags consistently for reliable filtering and reporting
- Review and update department structures annually