How to Put Employees On Hold and When to Use It

Overview

Use On Hold when you need to pause payroll processing for an employee temporarily. The employee remains in your People list and can be selected again when they are ready to return to payroll processing.

When to Put an Employee On Hold

You may need to put an employee on hold when:

1. The employee is temporarily not receiving pay

For example, the employee is taking an agreed period of unpaid leave.

2. You are waiting for payroll information

Place the employee on hold while you confirm missing or incomplete pay details.

3. The employee’s payroll status is being reviewed

Use On Hold when you need to investigate their details before including them in payroll.

4. The employee will not be included in upcoming pay runs temporarily

This may apply to employees who are still employed but should not currently be processed.

5. A temporary payroll pause has been agreed

The employee can remain on hold until payroll processing should resume.
Do not use On Hold to record that an employee has permanently left the organisation. Follow your normal leaver process instead.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Confirm that the employee should be paused temporarily.
• Check whether any outstanding pay or deductions need to be processed.
• Make sure you have permission to update employee records.

Step-by-step Instructions

1. From the Home page, select People.

2. Select On Hold.
3. In the window that appears, search for the employees you want to put on hold.
4. Select one or more employees.

5. Review your selection.
6. Select Confirm.
7. The selected employees are now on hold.

Tips

• Review the selected employees before confirming the change.
• Keep a record of why each employee was placed on hold.
• Review employees on hold regularly so they can return to payroll processing at the correct time.

Common Issues

I cannot find an employee
Check the spelling of the employee’s name and confirm that you are viewing the correct organisation.
I cannot see the On Hold button
Check that you have permission to update employee records.
I selected the wrong employee
Review the employee’s status and remove them from hold using the appropriate option in FreePayroll.

Updated on: 31/08/2026