diff --git a/pos/blueprints/config_bp.py b/pos/blueprints/config_bp.py
index 5e56a88..2e353f3 100644
--- a/pos/blueprints/config_bp.py
+++ b/pos/blueprints/config_bp.py
@@ -315,8 +315,9 @@ def update_employee(emp_id):
 @config_bp.route('/employees/<int:emp_id>', methods=['DELETE'])
 @require_auth('config.edit')
 def delete_employee(emp_id):
-    """Soft-delete (deactivate) an employee. Owners cannot be deleted via UI
-    to prevent locking out the tenant; use direct DB access if really needed."""
+    """Hard-delete an employee. Foreign-key references are nulled and
+    dependent rows (permissions/sessions) are removed. Owners cannot be
+    deleted via UI to prevent locking out the tenant."""
     conn = get_tenant_conn(g.tenant_id)
     cur = conn.cursor()
 
@@ -330,15 +331,32 @@ def delete_employee(emp_id):
         cur.close(); conn.close()
         return jsonify({'error': 'No se puede eliminar una cuenta de dueno'}), 403
 
-    cur.execute("UPDATE employees SET is_active = false WHERE id = %s", (emp_id,))
+    # Resolve every foreign-key column that points back to employees.
+    cur.execute("""
+        SELECT c.relname::text AS tbl, a.attname::text AS col
+        FROM pg_constraint con
+        JOIN pg_class c ON c.oid = con.conrelid
+        JOIN pg_attribute a ON a.attrelid = con.conrelid AND a.attnum = ANY(con.conkey)
+        WHERE con.confrelid = 'public.employees'::regclass
+          AND con.contype = 'f'
+    """)
+    refs = cur.fetchall()
+
+    for tbl, col in refs:
+        if tbl in ('employee_permissions', 'employee_sessions', 'notification_preferences'):
+            cur.execute(f"DELETE FROM \"{tbl}\" WHERE \"{col}\" = %s", (emp_id,))
+        else:
+            cur.execute(f"UPDATE \"{tbl}\" SET \"{col}\" = NULL WHERE \"{col}\" = %s", (emp_id,))
+
+    cur.execute("DELETE FROM employees WHERE id = %s", (emp_id,))
 
     from services.audit import log_action
-    log_action(conn, 'EMPLOYEE_DEACTIVATE', 'employee', emp_id)
+    log_action(conn, 'EMPLOYEE_DELETE', 'employee', emp_id)
 
     conn.commit()
     cur.close()
     conn.close()
-    return jsonify({'ok': True, 'message': 'Employee deactivated'})
+    return jsonify({'ok': True, 'message': 'Empleado eliminado'})
 
 
 @config_bp.route('/currency', methods=['GET'])