Managing Employees

Overview

The employee management system tracks staff members who interact with the inventory system. Employee records are essential for audit trails, as they link to product edits, stock movements, price changes, and merchandise receptions.

Employees in this system are user records for audit purposes, not full authentication accounts. The system currently does not include login functionality.

Why Employee Records Matter

Employee tracking provides accountability across the system:

Product Edits: When editing products, you must select which employee made the change
Price Changes: All price updates are logged with the employee who authorized them
Stock Movements: Inventory entries, exits, and adjustments track the authorizing employee
Merchandise Reception: Product receptions record which employee received the goods

Once an employee has associated records (edits, movements, receptions), they cannot be deleted from the system due to foreign key constraints.

Accessing Employee Management

Navigate to the Gestión de Empleados page (empleados.php) from the main navigation menu.

Interface Layout

The page uses a two-column layout:

Left Panel (4 columns): Quick registration form for new employees
Right Panel (8 columns): Table of all employees with edit and delete options

Creating a New Employee

Locate the registration form

On the left side, find the “Registrar Nuevo Empleado” card with a dark header.

Enter employee name

In the “Nombre Completo” field, enter the employee’s full name.Examples:

Juan García Martínez
María Elena Rodríguez
Carlos Alberto López

Use full legal names for proper identification in audit trails.

Select employee role

Choose from the “Puesto” (Position) dropdown:Available roles:

empleado - Standard employee role
gerente - Manager role

Currently, roles are descriptive only and don’t enforce permission differences in the system.

Save the employee record

Click the “Registrar” button (full-width blue button) to create the employee record.

Verify creation

After successful creation:

Page reloads with ?msg=creado in the URL
New employee appears in the table
Form clears for next entry
Employee is now available in dropdown menus throughout the system

Database Operation

INSERT INTO empleado (nombre, puesto) VALUES (?, ?)

The id_empleado is auto-generated as a primary key.

Viewing Employees

The employee table displays:

Column	Description
ID	Auto-generated unique identifier
Nombre	Employee’s full name
Puesto	Role badge (blue for empleado, red for gerente)
Acción	Edit and Delete buttons (yellow and red)

Role Badge Colors

empleado: Blue badge (badge bg-info)
gerente: Red badge (badge bg-danger)

These color-coded badges make it easy to identify management staff at a glance.

Editing an Employee

Employee editing uses a modal dialog to update name or role without leaving the page.

Click Edit button

In the employee table, locate the employee you want to modify and click the yellow “Editar” button.

Modal opens with current data

The “Actualizar Empleado” modal appears, pre-populated with:

Hidden field: id_empleado
Nombre del Empleado: Current name
Cambiar Puesto: Current role selected in dropdown

Update employee information

Modify any fields as needed:Nombre del Empleado (required)

Correct spelling errors
Update to reflect legal name changes
Adjust formatting

Cambiar Puesto (required)

Promote employee to gerente
Demote gerente to empleado
Correct role assignment errors

Save changes

Click “Guardar Cambios” (blue button) to save, or “Cerrar” (gray button) to cancel.

Verify update

After saving:

Modal closes automatically
Page reloads with ?msg=actualizado
Updated information appears in the table
Role badge updates to reflect new position

function abrirEditar(id, nombre, puesto) {
    document.getElementById('edit_id').value = id;
    document.getElementById('edit_nombre').value = nombre;
    document.getElementById('edit_puesto').value = puesto;
    
    var myModal = new bootstrap.Modal(document.getElementById('modalEditar'));
    myModal.show();
}

Deleting an Employee

Employee deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Use with extreme caution.

Locate the employee

Find the employee record you want to delete in the table.

Click Delete button

Click the red “Eliminar” button in the Acción column.

Confirm deletion

A browser confirmation dialog appears:

“¿Estás seguro de eliminar este empleado?”

Click OK to proceed
Click Cancel to abort

Handle result

Success Case:

Page reloads with ?msg=eliminado
Employee removed from table
Employee no longer appears in system dropdowns

Failure Case:

Alert displayed: “No se puede eliminar este empleado porque tiene registros de mercancía asociados.”
Employee remains in the system
Database integrity preserved

Why Deletion Fails

Employees cannot be deleted if they have associated records in:

registro table: Merchandise receptions the employee received
actualizacion table: Price changes the employee authorized
movimiento_stock table: Stock movements the employee processed

This is enforced by foreign key constraints:

FOREIGN KEY (id_empleado) REFERENCES empleado(id_empleado)

Alternative to deletion: Instead of deleting employees with history, update their name to indicate inactive status (e.g., “[INACTIVE] Juan García”).

Employee Roles Explained

empleado (Employee)

Purpose: Standard staff members who handle day-to-day operations Typical responsibilities:

Receiving merchandise
Processing stock movements
Basic product edits
Regular inventory updates

Visual indicator: Blue badge in the table

gerente (Manager)

Purpose: Supervisory staff with broader responsibilities Typical responsibilities:

Authorizing price changes
Approving large stock adjustments
Overseeing inventory accuracy
Managing employee records

Visual indicator: Red badge in the table

Currently, both roles have identical system access. The role distinction is primarily for organizational hierarchy and audit trail context.

Future Role Enhancements

While the current system treats roles as labels, future versions could implement:

Permission-based access control: Restrict certain operations to managers
Approval workflows: Require manager approval for price changes over a threshold
Reporting access: Limit financial reports to management roles
Audit filtering: Filter audit logs by role to identify patterns

Common Use Cases

Setting up initial employee roster

When first configuring the system:

Create manager accounts first: Register all gerente-level staff
Add employee accounts: Register all empleado-level staff
Verify in dropdowns: Check that all names appear correctly in product edit forms
Test role badges: Ensure managers show red badges and employees show blue

Consider creating a “System Admin” or “System” employee for automated processes or migrations.

Promoting an employee to manager

To change an employee’s role:

Click Editar on the employee’s row
In the modal, change Cambiar Puesto from “empleado” to “gerente”
Click Guardar Cambios
Verify the badge changes from blue to red

Historical records maintain the employee’s role at the time of the action, not the current role.

Handling employee departures

When an employee leaves the company:If they have NO associated records:

Delete the employee using the Eliminar button

If they have associated records:

Cannot delete (foreign key constraint)
Update name to: “[INACTIVE - DATE] Original Name”
Example: “[INACTIVE - 2026-03-15] Juan García”
This preserves audit trails while indicating inactive status

Never delete employees who have processed transactions. Historical data integrity depends on preserving employee records.

Correcting employee name spelling

If you need to fix a typo or update a name:

Click Editar on the employee
Update the Nombre del Empleado field
Click Guardar Cambios
Name updates throughout the system immediately
All historical records now show the corrected name

Because of this behavior, name corrections should be made promptly to avoid confusion in audit trails.

Troubleshooting

Cannot delete employee - has associated records

This is the most common issue:Error message:

“No se puede eliminar este empleado porque tiene registros de mercancía asociados.”

Why it happens:

Employee has received merchandise (registro table)
Employee has authorized price changes (actualizacion table)
Employee has processed stock movements (movimiento_stock table)

Solution:

Mark as inactive by updating the name: “[INACTIVE] Name”
Keep the record in the system for data integrity
Contact a database administrator if deletion is absolutely necessary

Employee doesn't appear in dropdown menus

Role badge shows wrong color

Badge colors are determined by the puesto field:

Blue (bg-info): puesto = ‘empleado’
Red (bg-danger): puesto = ‘gerente’

If the wrong color appears:

Edit the employee
Check the selected value in Cambiar Puesto
Select the correct role
Save changes
Refresh the page to see the updated badge

Edit modal shows wrong employee data

Cannot save employee - form validation fails

Both fields are required:

Nombre Completo: Cannot be empty
Puesto: Must select either “empleado” or “gerente”

If the form won’t submit:

Ensure the name field has text
Ensure a role is selected in the dropdown
Check browser console for validation errors
Try a different browser if issues persist

Employee Audit Trail Integration

Product Edits

When editing products (editar.php), the employee dropdown is required:

<select name="id_empleado" class="form-select border-danger" required>
    <option value="">-- Seleccione su nombre --</option>
    <?php
    $res = $conn->query("SELECT id_empleado, nombre FROM empleado");
    while($row = $res->fetch()) {
        echo "<option value='{$row['id_empleado']}'>{$row['nombre']}</option>";
    }
    ?>
</select>

Price Change History

Price updates create audit records with employee attribution:

INSERT INTO actualizacion (precio_anterior, precio_nuevo, id_prenda, id_empleado) 
VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)

View this history in Historial de Actualización de Precios (actualizaciones.php).

Stock Movements

Inventory operations require an authorizing employee:

<select name="emp" class="form-select">
    <?php 
    $es = $conn->query("SELECT id_empleado, nombre FROM empleado"); 
    while($e = $es->fetch()) {
        echo "<option value='{$e['id_empleado']}'>{$e['nombre']}</option>"; 
    }
    ?>
</select>

Merchandise Reception

Product receptions record which employee received the goods:

<select name="id_empleado" class="form-select" required>
    <?php
    $emps = $conn->query("SELECT id_empleado, nombre FROM empleado");
    while($e = $emps->fetch()) {
        echo "<option value='{$e['id_empleado']}'>{$e['nombre']}</option>";
    }
    ?>
</select>

Managing Products

Learn how employee selection is required when editing products

Stock Operations

Understand how employees authorize inventory movements

Database Schema

Review the empleado table structure and foreign key relationships

Best Practices

Create employee records before operations

Set up all employee accounts before starting inventory work. This ensures proper audit trails from day one.

Use full legal names

Enter complete, official names for clear identification in audit reports and historical records.

Assign roles accurately

Use the gerente role for supervisory staff and empleado for standard staff to maintain organizational clarity.

Never delete employees with history

Preserve employee records that have associated transactions. Use the [INACTIVE] naming convention instead.

Review employee actions regularly

Periodically review audit trails (price changes, stock movements) to ensure employees are using the system correctly.

Update roles promptly

When employees are promoted or change positions, update their role in the system immediately to maintain accurate organizational hierarchy.

Get Started

Core Features

User Guide

Overview

Why Employee Records Matter

Accessing Employee Management

Interface Layout

Creating a New Employee

Database Operation

Viewing Employees

Role Badge Colors

Editing an Employee

Deleting an Employee

Why Deletion Fails

Employee Roles Explained

empleado (Employee)

gerente (Manager)

Future Role Enhancements

Common Use Cases

Troubleshooting

Employee Audit Trail Integration

Product Edits

Price Change History

Stock Movements

Merchandise Reception

Managing Products

Stock Operations

Database Schema

Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Features

User Guide

​Overview

​Why Employee Records Matter

​Accessing Employee Management

​Interface Layout

​Creating a New Employee

​Database Operation

​Viewing Employees

​Role Badge Colors

​Editing an Employee

​Modal JavaScript Implementation

​Deleting an Employee

​Why Deletion Fails

​Employee Roles Explained

​empleado (Employee)

​gerente (Manager)

​Future Role Enhancements

​Common Use Cases

​Troubleshooting

​Employee Audit Trail Integration

​Product Edits

​Price Change History

​Stock Movements

​Merchandise Reception

​Related Features

Managing Products

Stock Operations

Database Schema

​Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Why Employee Records Matter

Accessing Employee Management

Interface Layout

Creating a New Employee

Database Operation

Viewing Employees

Role Badge Colors

Editing an Employee

Modal JavaScript Implementation

Deleting an Employee

Why Deletion Fails

Employee Roles Explained

empleado (Employee)

gerente (Manager)

Future Role Enhancements

Common Use Cases

Troubleshooting

Employee Audit Trail Integration

Product Edits

Price Change History

Stock Movements

Merchandise Reception

Related Features

Best Practices