Overview
Bulk Participant Actions let you update participant status for many employees at once on the Plan Admin Participants list. When payroll or census files don't include termination dates, or you have many contractors or other employee types to treat as inactive, you can select multiple participants and mark them as inactive (or active) in one go.
You can also do the same override for a single participant from their detail page. The system uses a status override so your choice overrides the usual "active vs inactive" logic (for example from hire/termination dates) and stays in place until you change or clear it.
Key Benefits
Update many participants at once: Select several participants on the list and apply Override as Inactive or Override as Active to all of them in one action, instead of opening each record individually.
Fix missing or wrong termination data: When termination dates aren't in payroll or past census files, you can still mark those employees as inactive so they're excluded from counts and reports when "Hide inactive employees" is on.
Control who appears as active or inactive: Use overrides when you have contractors, seasonal workers, or other employee types you want to treat as inactive (or keep visible as active) regardless of dates.
Same options for one participant: The same Override as Active, Override as Inactive, and Clear Status Override actions are available on a single participant's menu, so you can fix one record or many using the same logic.
How To
Using bulk actions (multiple participants)
1. Go to Plan Admin and open the Participants list for the plan year and client you want.
2. In the filter bar, click the More dropdown (blue dropdown next to the plan selector).
3. In the menu, click Bulk Actions.
What you'll see: Selection mode turns on. Each participant card gets a checkbox on the left, and a bulk action bar appears (e.g. at the top or bottom of the list) with options.
4. Select the participants you want to update:
By checkbox: Click the checkbox on each participant card to select or clear that participant.
By row click: Click a participant card once to toggle its selection.
By range: Hold Shift and click another participant to select all participants between the last selected one and the one you clicked.
The selection count updates as you select; you'll see how many are selected (e.g. "3 selected").
5. In the bulk action bar, choose one of:
Override as Inactive: Marks all selected participants as inactive. They will be hidden when "Hide inactive employees" is on.
Override as Active: Marks all selected participants as active. They will always show in the list even if dates would normally make them inactive.
Clear Status Override: Removes the override so status is again based on hire/termination dates and normal rules.
6. A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm the override for the number of employees you selected (e.g. "Override the status of 5 employee(s) to Inactive?").
7. Click Confirm.
What you'll see: A loading message (e.g. "Overriding as Inactive (5 employees)..."), then a success message. The list refreshes, selection mode turns off, and the participants now show the updated status (e.g. an Inactive pill where applicable).
8. To leave selection mode without applying an action, click the Cancel option in the bulk action bar (or press Escape).
Tip: If you don't see participants you just marked inactive, make sure Show inactive employees is turned on in the More menu. When it's off ("Hide inactive employees"), participants with Override as Inactive are hidden from the list.
Using the single-participant menu (one participant)
1. From the Participants list, click a participant card (when you're not in bulk selection mode) to open that participant's detail page.
2. Open the options menu for that participant (e.g. the More or "three dots" menu on the participant page).
3. You'll see status override options only when they apply:
Override as Active: Shown when the participant has no override or is overridden as Inactive. Use this to force them to show as active.
Override as Inactive: Shown when the participant has no override or is overridden as Active. Use this to force them to show as inactive.
Clear Status Override: Shown when the participant already has an override. Use this to go back to date-based status.
4. Click the option you want.
5. Read the confirmation message (it explains what the override will do), then click Confirm.
What you'll see: The page may reload; the participant's status (and the Inactive pill if applicable) will reflect the change.
Showing or hiding inactive participants
In the More menu on the Participants list, use Show inactive employees to include participants who are inactive (by dates or by override). Use Hide inactive employees to exclude them. Participants with Override as Inactive are hidden when inactive employees are hidden; participants with Override as Active stay visible.
Troubleshooting
I don't see checkboxes or the bulk action bar. Make sure you clicked More then Bulk Actions first. If you already did, try clicking Bulk Actions again to re-enter selection mode.
I marked people inactive but they're gone from the list. Turn on Show inactive employees in the More menu so overridden-inactive participants are visible.
I don't see "Override as Active" (or Inactive) on one participant. The menu only shows options that make sense (e.g. Clear Status Override only appears when there is already an override). If you expect an option and don't see it, refresh the page and open the participant again.
Bulk action said some updates failed. The success message will note how many failed. Check that you have permission to edit census for that client/plan and that the participant records are still present; you can retry by selecting the same participants and running the bulk action again.
You're all set. Using bulk actions and the single-participant overrides together, you can keep participant status accurate even when payroll or census data is missing or doesn't match how you need to treat employees.