Transaction Fundamentals
A transaction occurs when you change an employee record (for example, to promote or hire an employee). For certain blocks, when the initiator starts the transaction, they must provide a start date for records. The start date can be in the past, present, or future. When the transaction is submitted, it may trigger an approval process, also known as a workflow.
Watch the video to learn how effective dating is used in Employee Central transactions.
Effective Dating
Many of the records in EC are effectively dated. Each time you insert a new record for one of these items, the system prompts you to provide the effective start date. Understanding and maintaining effective dates are important because they enable you to create historical, present, and future records. For example, if Marcus is moving in January, you can add his new address with an effective date in the future. However, Marcus will not see that change in effect until January.
In the application, the fields start-date and end-date are used for effective dating. The start date is displayed in the UI. The field end date doesn't typically appear in the UI but is visible in reports. When you create the first record for an entity, the start date is supplied by the user creating the record, and the end date will be automatically set to December 31, 9999.
Learn how to administer changes to the employee file in the following interaction.
Manage Effective-Dated Record
Selecting the pencil icon allows you to create a new dated entry into the employee's file. This action can trigger an approval process, which must be completed before the record is active in the system.
If you navigate to the history of a block and select a dated record, you will see various options. The Edit button enables a user to make changes to the historical record. For example, Marcus Hoff moved on January 5, 2010, but accidentally entered the incorrect ZIP code. To make changes to the historical record, choose History→Edit. This record will show the corrected ZIP code only.
The Insert New Record is located inside the History UI (the clock button). Transactions initiated from the History UI do not trigger workflows. Approval processes are only triggered through the pencil icon or the Take Action option.