WFM UK | HR UK: Data Imports - Employee Contracted Hours

Overview

The Contracted Hours import allows administrators to assign or update employees' contracted hours in bulk via a simple file upload. Each record requires an employee number and a contracted hours value. When processed, the import will either apply the value for the first time or overwrite the existing value with the updated figure.

Any validations that apply when editing contracted hours directly within the system are also enforced during the import process. Full details of these validations, along with file formatting requirements and field guidance, are covered in this article.

Contents

• User Access Permissions
• Downloading & Populating the CSV Template
• Uploading the Data
• Appendix
  • Upload Validations
  • Filtering the Results Table

User Access Permissions

Before a user can have access to this specific import, they must also have access to the 'Data Imports' page itself. To allow access and control which type of upload a certain user can perform:

• Using the side menu, go to HR > Users > Assign User Access > search for and select the required Employee
• Select User Profile from the top-right corner
• Locate the new 'Data Imports' permission group
• To allow access to the new menu option in the HR module, tick Data Imports
• Then, tick the box(es) for any import type for the user to have access to. In this case, select Employee Contract Hours Import upload

These individual permissions can also be applied to User Access Templates:

• Using the side menu, go to HR > Users >Templates
• Create A New Template or select an existing one
• Select Assign Permissions

• Within the pop-up, select Data Imports
• Select the permissions required to be added for the template and Save
  • Note: As above, the Data Imports permission is required for users to access the imports page

These templates can then be assigned to each user to update multiple permissions at once, rather than individually:

• Using the side menu, go to HR > Users > Assign User Access > search for and select the required Employee
• Select User Profile from the top-right corner
• Select the Access Template, and then Apply

Downloading & Populating the CSV Template

With permissions now applied, users can access the Data Imports page and the individual imports where access is applied.

• Using the side menu, go to HR > Administration > Data Imports
• Select an Upload Type, which in this case is Employee Contract Hours Import
• Select Download CSV Template

The CSV Template will look like this, with the following column headers and the individual field validations:

Please note: More information on wider upload validations is available in the appendix.

• Populate and save the template, ensuring it remains as a CSV file type

Uploading the Data

• Using the side menu, go to HR > Administration > Data Imports
• Select an Upload Type, which in this case is Employee Contract Hours Import
• Load in the template saved earlier, and select an If Validation Errors Occur option:
  • Cancel Upload - even if just one error, the entire file will not upload and will be cancelled
  • Continue with Upload - all successful records in the template will load into the system, whilst the rejected ones will not
• Select Upload

Once the upload has been processed, a table will be displayed within the same page, detailing the status of each change in the upload.

A successful row will show Record Processed Successfully under 'Status', and an unsuccessful row will show Record Validated with Errors, with the reason detailed under 'Error Description'.

• Correct any erroneous data and reattempt the upload, noting that;
  • If Continue With Upload was selected, successful records will update the data in an employee's record. When re-completing the upload, exclude successful records
  • If Cancel Upload was selected, then no records will be processed, and all records, including successful ones, should be included in the re-completed upload

Please note: More information is available in the appendix around filtering the results table, especially helpful if the import features a lot of data.

Once the upload has been completed, the following data will be updated:

• HR > Employees > Employee List > find & select Employee > Employee Info > Employment Details

The Contracted Hours field will now be populated with the uploaded contracted hours value

Note: The effective date of the change is always the date and time it was imported. If a change of this nature should be scheduled for an earlier or future date, then make the change via the employment details screen instead (or using Employment Change Request)

Appendix

Upload Validations

The following validation rules are applied when processing a Contracted Hours import. Any records that fail validation will return an error and will not be processed.

File & Employee Validations

• Duplicate Employee Number: The same employee number appears more than once in the file. Each employee should only have one record per import
• Missing Employee Number: Employee number is required on every row and cannot be left blank
• Unable to Determine Employment Type: The employee cannot be found, is not current, or does not have a valid employment type assigned. Ensure the employee record is active and correctly configured before retrying

Contracted Hours Validations

Contracted Hours validation behaviour is controlled by system settings and may vary depending on the employee's employment type.

• Display Contracted Hours: Contracted Hours cannot be added for this employee if the global setting is configured to be Hidden for their employment type
• Negative Value: Contracted Hours cannot be a negative number
• Validate Contracted Hours: Where minimum and maximum contracted hour limits are configured via this global setting, the value provided must fall within that range
• Employment Change Conflict: The record cannot be processed if there is a conflict with an employment type change already scheduled on the employee's record. Review the employee's employment history and resubmit

Filtering the Results Table

Once an import has been processed, the results table provides filtering options within the column headers, allowing records to be narrowed down by success or failure status, as well as by specific error descriptions. The full results table can also be exported to Excel or CSV if required.