How to Cost-Effectively Manage a Long-Term Employee Leave in Workspace?

PWA By islever Editorial Last updated

Short answer

A Assign an Archive User license.

Question

An employee at your company does not need access to their Workspace account while they are on leave for a year. When they return, you need to ensure they have access to their account and that all their data and current emails remain intact. Also, their shared documents must be available to other users. You must accomplish this goal in the most cost-effective way. What should you do?
  1. Assign an Archive User license. Correct Answer
  2. Suspend their account in the Admin console.
  3. Delete the user after copying their emails and reassigning their documents to their manager.
  4. Remove the user license in the Admin console.

Key Takeaways

The exam tests knowledge of Workspace licensing tiers and billing rules, with the common trap being the assumption that suspending or removing licenses eliminates costs without losing data accessibility.

This question tests cost-effective licensing strategies for long-term employee leaves while preserving data and shared resources. The community overwhelmingly agrees that assigning an Archive User license is the optimal solution.

Common mistake: Option B (Suspend account) is frequently selected due to intuitive assumptions about deactivation, but suspended accounts still incur full licensing fees, making them financially inefficient.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Assigning an Archive User license is the most cost-effective method because it significantly reduces monthly charges while retaining all user data, emails, and shared document permissions. When the employee returns, you can simply reassign a standard user license to instantly restore full functionality without data loss. This approach aligns perfectly with Google Workspace's licensing model for inactive employees.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Suspending an account (Option B) does not reduce billing costs on annual or flexible plans, as Google continues to charge the full license rate. Removing the license entirely (Option D) or deleting the user (Option C) risks permanent data loss or requires complex manual migration of emails and documents, violating the requirement to keep everything intact and accessible. Both options also fail the cost-effectiveness criterion since suspension maintains the same financial burden.

Community Comment Notes

Comment [1] correctly highlights that suspended accounts remain fully billed, providing the official Google support link to validate this billing rule. Contributors like Chetantest07 emphasize that archive licenses preserve shared document visibility for other team members, directly addressing the prompt's requirements. The overwhelming consensus reinforces that archive licensing balances compliance, cost savings, and operational continuity during extended absences.

Official Reference

https://support.google.com/a/answer/33312?hl=en

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

Always cross-reference licensing scenarios with Google's official pricing and billing policies before selecting suspension or removal options. Prioritize archive or read-only licenses when data retention and shared resource access are mandatory during extended inactivity.

Community Votes

A
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 7 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 7

  1. Chetantest07 👍 2
    Correct Answer A. Assigning Archive licnese. Suspended accounts are still charged at the same rate as active accounts on both the Annual billing plan and the Flexible plan. https://support.google.com/a/answer/33312?hl=en Removing user license will not help in maintaining user data and providing access to others.
  2. apb98 👍 1 Answered A
    I agree with Chetantest07, this ensures that their emails, documents, and other data remain intact and accessible to other users who need it. When the employee returns, you can reassign a full user license to restore their access to the account.
  3. csavar 👍 1
    this is definitely B!!!! the key : Also, their shared documents must be available to other users!!!! archived user : data, documents is not available for others!!
  4. ptsironis 👍 1 Answered A
    A is correct.
  5. vladik820 👍 1
    Definetly A!
Show 2 more comments
  1. mostafa97 👍 1
    A is correct
  2. dija123 👍 1 Answered A
    Agree with A

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