I see the status line in my list of inactive employees but it is not allowing me to change the status, there is no drop down box.  How do I activate a drop box?

Hello, @Melanie68.

I can walk you through in updating the employment status of your employee. 

1. Go to the Payroll or Workers menu.
2. Choose the Employees tab.
3. Click the drop-down list showing Active employees, select All employees.
4. Locate and double-click the inactive employee's name.
5. From the Employment section, select the Pencil icon. 
6. In the Status drop-down, click Active. 
7. Click Done.

You can browse these articles to help you manage your employee's information:

• Add, edit, or inactivate an employee
• Add or edit an employee in Online Payroll

Keep me posted if you have other questions about updating your employee's information. I'm always here to help.

I keep getting a Error code when I try to switch from inactive to active. Its says 

Business Validation Error: This name is being used by another customer. Please use a different name. You can merge names only when their type (customer, supplier or employee) matches.

How do I solve this? 

Hi, @steph321. It's great to have you here in the Community.

This error message typically refers to a name that already exists in the file, such as a vendor or customer. To fix the error, you can add a middle initial at the end of the employee's name to make it different from the existing one. 

Let me show you how:
 

1. Go to Payroll and select Employees.
2. From the dropdown, select Inactive Employees.
3. Click the employee you want to make active.
4. In the Personal info, click on Edit
5. From there, add a middle initial or a number at the end. Click Save, once done.

You can refer to this article for more information: Fix the name supplied already exists error message. 

I'm also adding this article in case you want to merge duplicate accounts, customers, or vendors: Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online.

Keep me posted for additional questions about duplicate employees. I'd be more than happy to help. Keep safe and have a good one!