WFM UK | Payroll UK: Data Imports - Employee Deductions Import

Overview

The Employee Deductions import allows administrators to add deductions to employees' current payroll in bulk using a CSV file upload. Rather than applying deductions individually, this import enables deductions to be assigned across multiple employees in a single operation.

Three deduction types are supported: a one-off deduction applied within a single pay period, an ongoing deduction with no defined end point, and a deduction spread across a set number of pay runs up to a defined total amount. The fields required in the template will vary depending on which deduction type is being applied, and full guidance on each is covered in this article.

Once processed, the uploaded deductions will be added to each applicable employee's current payroll. Please note that if a deduction needs to be uploaded for a leaver, that employee must first be manually added back to payroll before the import can be processed successfully.

Any validations that apply when adding deductions 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
  • One-Off Deduction
  • Ongoing Deduction
  • Deductions over a Set Amount of Pay Periods
• Uploading the Data
• Appendix
  • Deduction Name
  • 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 Payroll > 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 Deductions Import

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

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

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

Please note: Some of the fields above state 'should always be set to No', but are required to validate the deduction being added to payroll.

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

One-Off Deduction

To complete a one-off Deduction, along with the Employee Number and *Deduction Type, the following cells must be populated on the Deduction upload template:

• Amount Per Period 
• Start Date - must fall within current pay range 
• End Date - must fall within current pay range
• Deduct from Total - always No
• Suspend Deduction? - always No
• Variable - always No

Ongoing Deduction

To complete an ongoing Deduction, along with the Employee Number and *Deduction Type, the following cells must be populated on the Deduction upload template: 

• Amount Per Period 
• Start Date - must fall within current pay range
• Deduct from Total - always No
• Suspend Deduction? - always No
• Variable - always No

Deductions over a Set Amount of Pay Periods (initial total prorated)

To complete a Deduction over a set amount of pay periods, along with the Employee Number and *Deduction Type, the following cells must be populated on the Deduction upload template: 
 

• Amount Per Period 
• Start Date - must fall within current pay range
• Initial Total - total to be deducted from the employee
• Deduct from Total - always Yes
• Suspend Deduction? - always No
• No of Payruns - total number of payruns for which the Deduction will appear
• Variable - always No

When the correct type of deduction has been identified:

• Populate and save the template, ensuring it remains as a CSV file type
  • Important: To support users with populating this template, users can find more information on getting the Payment Code in the appendix
  • Important: If uploading a deduction for a leaver, then that leaver must be manually added back to payroll

Uploading the Data

• Using the side menu, go to Payroll > Administration > Data Imports
• Select an Upload Type, which in this case is Employee Deductions 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:

• Payroll > Employees > Employee List > find & select Employee > Employee Info > View Payroll Summary > Deductions

The Payment will now be visible in the employees payroll:

Appendix

Payment Code

To retrieve the deduction name, go to:

• Payroll > Administration > Deduction Types
• Select a Deduction Type
• See the Description field for the correct name, and use this in the Deduction Type field in the upload template:

• Complete the Employee Payments Upload template and ensure it is saved as a .csv file type. example (one-off deduction):

Upload Validations

The following validation rules are applied when processing an Employee Deductions upload. Any records that fail validation will return an error and will not be processed.

File & Employee Validations

• Missing Employee Number: Employee number is required on every row and cannot be left blank
• Duplicate Employee Number, Deduction Type and Start Date: The same combination of Employee Number, Deduction Type, and Start Date appears more than once in the file. Each combination should only appear once per import
• Employee Not Found: The employee number provided does not match an existing or current employee record. Ensure the employee is active before retrying
• Existing Deduction Conflict: A deduction record with the same Employee Number, Deduction Type, and Start Date already exists in the system. Review the existing record before resubmitting

Required Field Validations

• Missing Deduction Type: Deduction Type is required on every row and cannot be left blank
• Deduction Type Not Found: The deduction type provided does not match an existing deduction type in the system. Ensure the correct name is taken from Payroll > Administration > Deduction Types
• Missing Amount Per Period: Amount Per Period is required on every row and must be a positive value greater than zero
• Missing Start Date: Start Date is required on every row and cannot be left blank
• Start Date After End Date: Where an End Date has been provided, it must fall after the Start Date

Field Format & Value Validations

• Incorrect NI Number: A National Insurance number has been provided, but does not match the NI number held on the employee's record
• Invalid Deduct From Total Value: Deduct From Total must contain either Yes or No
• Initial Total Required: Where Deduct From Total is set to Yes, an Initial Total value must be provided and must be greater than zero
• Invalid Suspend Deduction Value: Suspend Deduction must contain either Yes or No
• No of Payruns Required: Where Suspend Deduction is set to Yes, the number of Payruns must be provided and must be greater than zero
• Invalid Variable Value: Variable must contain either Yes or No

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: