Deel now tracks two separate statuses for every worker: Person status and Lifecycle status.
This article explains what each status means, how they differ, and how to find them on the People page. Understanding both statuses helps admins and People Managers see, at a glance, who is actively employed versus where each worker stands in their Deel onboarding journey.
In this Article
Person status vs. Lifecycle status
Before you begin
Important: You must be:
- A client admin with Org Admin or People Manager permissions
- Logged in to the Deel platform with access to the People page
- Your organization must have at least one worker added
Person status vs. Lifecycle Status
Person Status shows the actual employment relationship between the worker and your organization. Person status is determined solely by the employment relationship and is independent of contracts, payment setup, or onboarding/offboarding progress.
Lifecycle Status shows where the worker currently is in their onboarding or offboarding journey within your organization on Deel's platform itself. This status is tied closely to contract and onboarding activity for example, whether a contract is still in draft, under review, awaiting invite acceptance, or moving through onboarding tasks.
Person status tells you whether someone is actively part of your organization right now. Lifecycle status tells you how far along they are in their contract journey inside Deel.
| Person status | Lifecycle status | |
|---|---|---|
| What it tracks | The worker's real employment relationship with your company | Progress through Deel's onboarding and offboarding steps |
| Based on | Profile start date, profile last date of work, and profile-level termination | Contract and onboarding/offboarding-checklist progress |
| Shown | Primary status column/label | Secondary status column/label |
How to view worker statuses
Step 1 – Go to the People page
- Select People from the left navigation.
Step 2 – Review the People directory
Review the visible table columns: Person, Country, Group, Worker type, Person status, and Start date etc.
Note: Person status is displayed by default. The Lifecycle status column is hidden initially. To view it, use the three-dot menu (⋯) → Configure columns → enable Lifecycle status.
Alternatively, you can view a specific worker's profile to see their full status details.
Step 3 – Locate and review the status columns
Scroll horizontally if needed to confirm both Person status and Lifecycle status columns are visible.
Review the status values displayed for each worker.
Filtering tips:
- Use the Person status filter to display only workers with Active, Inactive, or Not started status (regardless of onboarding progress).
- Use the Lifecycle status filter to identify workers stuck at a specific onboarding step.
Step 4 – Understand Person status values
Person status is calculated only from profile-level data — it does not depend on contracts or onboarding steps.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| NOT STARTED | The worker's profile is created, but their start date hasn't arrived yet. |
| ACTIVE | The worker's start date has passed, their last date of work hasn't passed, and there's no ongoing termination. |
| INACTIVE | The worker's last date of work has passed and there's no ongoing termination. |
Person status can differ from Lifecycle status. For example, a worker migrated into Deel with a past start date shows as Active in Person status right away, even if they haven't completed every onboarding step yet.
Step 5 – Understand Lifecycle status values
Lifecycle status reflects contract-checklist progress.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| DRAFT | A contract is being drafted. The worker has not been invited to Deel yet. |
| IN REVIEW | A drafted quote has been submitted and is awaiting internal review. |
| QUOTE REQUIRES CHANGES | The reviewed quote requires edits. |
| PENDING INVITE | The contract is ready for signature. The worker has not been invited to Deel yet. |
| INVITED | The worker has been invited to create a Deel account. |
| ONBOARDING | The worker has activated their account and is currently onboarding. |
| ONBOARDING: TASKS AT RISK | The worker has not completed the onboarding checklist and may miss their start date within the next week. |
| ONBOARDING: TASKS OVERDUE | The worker missed their onboarding deadlines or original start date. |
| ONBOARDED | The onboarding checklist is complete. The worker is ready to begin on their start date. |
| OFFBOARDING | The worker is Active, but a termination is now in progress. |
Frequently Asked Questions
[ACCORDION] Why do I now see two status fields instead of one?
We've separated worker status into two distinct fields to give you a clearer picture of each worker's situation:
- Person Status shows the actual employment relationship between the worker and your organization. Person status is independent of contract agreements or onboarding progress; it reflects the real-world employment state, so this means that a worker can be Active in Person status while still onboarding or offboarding.
- Lifecycle Status shows where a worker currently stands in their overall journey within your organization on Deel - from the very first step of their contract creation ,onboarding and through their offboarding process.
This gives you complete visibility into both employment relationships and operational readiness.
[ACCORDION] Will this change break my existing automations, reports, or integrations?
Your existing workflows will require an update with this change.
To make this transition smoother for you, Deel is going to gradually migrate clients to new reports that are aligned with the new statuses and remove the worker status from the analytics completely. We will also provide new endpoints for integrations.
"Worker status" remains valid until early 2027; after that, it will be fully deprecated.
[ACCORDION] Can I export a report that includes both Person and Lifecycle statuses?
Yes. On the People page, select View as report and export to CSV. The export includes both the Person status and Lifecycle Status columns.
[ACCORDION] How often do these statuses refresh?
Both statuses update in real time when a worker's profile dates change, when a termination is recorded, or when an onboarding step or contract status changes. No manual refresh is required.
[ACCORDION] Who can change a Person status or Lifecycle Status?
Both statuses are system-generated and cannot be changed manually. Updating a worker's profile dates, recording a termination, inviting a worker, or updating a contract will move the worker to a new status automatically.