Role-Based Visibility in Zal.ai
Understand who can see what based on user roles
Zal.ai uses role-based permissions to control what each user can see and do within the platform. This article explains the visibility rules for each role so you know exactly who can access your data.
This article is relevant to: All roles
Feature: Permissions
User Roles Overview
Zal.ai has four user roles:
- Employee – Standard user who participates in reviews and sets goals
- Manager – Can view and manage their direct reports' data
- HR – Organization-wide access except their own review data
- Admin – Full system access including all configuration settings
What Each Role Can See
Employees Can See:
- Their own profile, goals, brag sheet, and review history
- Their assigned review tasks (self assessments, peer reviews)
- Published reviews shared by their manager
- Meeting notes marked as "shared" by their manager
- Their own private meeting notes
Managers Can See (in addition to Employee access):
- Direct reports' profiles via My Team's Profiles
- Direct reports' goals via My Team's Goals
- Direct reports' performance appraisals via My Team's Appraisals
- Feedback about direct reports via My Team's Feedback
- All data sources for their direct reports' reviews
HR Can See (in addition to Manager access):
- All employees' profiles, goals, and reviews
- All review cycles and their progress
- Calibration data and rating distributions
- Exception: HR cannot see their own review data or feedback about themselves
Admins Can See:
- Everything HR can see, plus their own data
- All system configuration settings
- User management and role assignments
What Stays Private
- Private meeting notes – Only visible to the person who wrote them
- Draft self assessments – Not visible until submitted
- Unpublished reviews – Employees cannot see until manager publishes
- Peer review responses – Anonymous to the reviewee; visible to managers and HR