Importing Employee Data

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Import employee data.
Identify steps in exporting employee data.
Describe Centralized Services.

Employee Import Overview

The Import Employee Data tool allows you to add new employees, update existing employee records, and terminate users.

A screenshot of the Import Employee Data tool with sections marked 1-6 to correspond to numbers 1 -6 in the text.

Familiarize yourself with the different sections of the tool:

You can download the templates directly from the UI. The Comma Separated Values (CSV) template matches the configuration of the employee objects in the system. The download template tool automatically includes all required fields and displays the label of other enabled fields in alphabetical order. You can choose the optional fields for inclusion in your import template.
For country-specific configured HRIS elements, you have the option to include CSF fields or deselect all the countries to download just the base model fields.
Selecting an entity allows you to determine which area of the employee file you are creating. The type of entity you choose must match the template you downloaded. Depending on the effective dating of the entity you are importing, you may choose between full purge or incremental load.
Full Purge will replace and overwrite the records of employees in your import file. Existing employee records that are not in your import file will not be affected. You only use Full Purge for initial uploads or if you intend to overwrite records.
Incremental Load will update the employee record. This is used when you want to add, insert, correct, or delete.
File Locale allows you to choose the language and locale for your import. This is especially important for the date, number, and picklist fields, as the format can change based on the locale.
Validate Import File runs a check to ensure that there are matching import headers and that the CSV file you are attempting to upload contains valid data. We recommend that you complete this check before any import.
For jobs that are too big or can't be validated directly on the screen, the Monitor Job redirects you to Scheduled Job Manager to check on the status of the validation or import and see if there were any errors.
Once the file has been validated successfully, and no errors are found, you may now choose Import to initiate the upload.

Employee Central Entity Import Permission

Use Manage Employee Central Settings to activate Enable Control on Basic User Import in Role-Based Permissions. When you enable this option, only users who are granted the Import Employee Data and Basic User Import permission from the Manage User Permission category can perform the basic import. If this feature is not enabled, then you cannot view or control the Basic User Import permission.

To define who can perform an import at the entity level, use the following permissions:

Then grant the import permission for the selected entity in User Permissions→Employee Central Import Entities.
Enable Administrator Permissions→Employee Central Import Settings→Import Employee Data
Additional permissions to control Employee Central Imports can also be enabled.

Additional Permissions to Control Employee Central Imports

Permission Name	Expected Behavior
Import Employee Data	Allows user to have access to Import Employee Data tool
Enable RBP Access Validation for EC Elements during Imports (Do not enable during first time import)	Enable RBP access validation during imports
Enable workflows for selected entities	Workflows assigned to the selected EC import entities are triggered when you’re importing employee data.
Enable business rules for selected entities	Business rules assigned to the selected EC import entities are triggered when you are importing employee data.
Enable execution of rules against NO_OVERWRITE	Business rules assigned to the selected EC import entities will also update fields that are marked as "NO_OVERWRITE" in your import file template.
Enable Forward Propagation during Incremental Import	Data is propagated to effective-dated records when you’re importing data with the selected Employee Central import entities.
Support cumulative update of country/region-specific data for global information import in full purge mode	Country/region-specific data existing in the Employee Profiles is retained when you’re importing Global Information in full purge mode.

Add New Employees via Import

New Employee Import Process

When importing new users, the file order matters. The first six files represent the least amount of data that can be captured for an employee before they can be active in Employee Central.

Import Files

Import File	File Description	Business Keys
1. Basic User Information	Information such as the first name, last name, e-mail ID, and so on, is populated in the system. Basic User Import creates the "User Accounts"	Status, User ID, Username, Firstname, Lastname, Gender, Email, Manager, HR, Department, Timezone
2. Biographical Information (personInfo)	With Biographical Information import, information that constitutes the biodata of users, such as the country/region of birth, region of birth, person ID, and so on, is added to user accounts. Persons are created.	User ID.Person ID External can be created using this import
3. Employment Information (employmentInfo)	Information, such as the employment start date, hire date, stock grants, option grants, and so on, is added to user accounts.	Hire Date, Person ID External, User ID
4. Job History (jobInfo)	Information related to employee's function within the company	UserId, Event Date, Event Reason, Legal Entity, Business Unit, Sequence Number, Job Classification, Manager
5. Compensation Information (compInfo)	Information, such as the applicable pay group, pay type, payroll ID, and so on, is added to user accounts.	UserId, Event Date, Event Reason, Sequence Number
6. Personal Information (personalInfo)	Information, such as the first name, last name, preferred name, gender, nationality, native language, marital status, and so on, is added to user accounts.	Event Date, First Name, Last Name, Person ID External
The following files can be imported in any order along with the rest of the supplemental employee information.
Pay Component Recurring	Information about recurring pay of an employee (salary amount, frequency, and so on). When you import data for a recurring pay component record that does not have a corresponding Compensation Information record, the system creates a new Compensation Information to match the recurring pay component record.	UserId, Event date, Pay Component, Amount, Currency, Frequency, Sequence Number
Pay Component Non-Recurring	Information about one-time or spot bonus.	UserId, Issue Date, Pay Component
Job Relationships	Information about hierarchical and non-hierarchical employee relationships (HR, second-manager, and so on).	UserId, Event Date, Relationship Type, Name

Always download a template to ensure the import file corresponds to the latest system configuration.

Below is an example of importing data for the Employment Details portlet. You can see that the template and the resulting information in the Employment Details portlet on Irvi Singh’s profile are populated.

Note

There is no import sequence when modifying existing user data.

To learn more about import sequence for rehires and other employment type, visit the Managing Mass Changes in Employee Central guide in the SAP Help Portal.

Import Purge Types

Full Purge

In full purge, the data in the import file replace matching records in the system. Select Full Purge if you’re importing the data for the first time, or you want to overwrite existing data with information included in the template. Existing records not included in your import file are unaffected.

Incremental Load

Incremental load only uploads changes into the system. Incremental loads can be any of the following:

Append - An employee is moving from Department A to Department B, starting on November 1st. There is currently an active record in the system that lists the employee in Department A. You download the template and add the new information. When you complete an incremental import, the record is appended. The Department A record is closed on October 31, and the Department B record now starts on November 1st.
Insert - An Employee is missing historical data about their previous department. The most current record shows the employee in Department B, starting on October 1. You download the template and add the new information. When you complete an incremental import, the historical record is inserted. The Dept A record is inserted before the Department B record.
Note
Incremental loads never overwrite existing dated records in the system, unless they are listed in the import file. Even if the End Date field were left blank in the import file, the record would automatically end at the next start date that is currently in the system for that portlet.
Correct - An employee has incorrect information in the system about a past Job Classification. User 1 was a developer from January 1 to September 30. However, they are incorrectly listed as an engineer. You download the template and add the correct information. When you complete an incremental import, the historical record is corrected.

Update Specific Fields via Import

Partial import is a type of incremental load where you only update certain fields in the import file. Use &&NO_OVERWRITE&& in the fields you want to remain unchanged except business key fields.

When the import process is initiated for entities that support partial import, the fields with &&NO_OVERWRITE&& will retain the values saved in the database while the empty fields are replaced by null values.

Unsupported Entities for Partial Imports

The following entities do not support partial imports:

Work Permit Info
Job relationships
Dynamic Role
Workflow

Delete Employee Data via Import

Employee data can be deleted in Incremental Load by choosing an operation type between DELETE and DELIMIT. The operation type depends on the entity you are importing.

Use DELETE for the following entities:

Compensation Information
Email Information
Emergency Contact Information
Job History
National ID Information
Non-recurring Pay Component
Personal Information
Phone Information
Social Accounts Information

Use DELIMIT for these entities:

Addresses
Global Information
Job Relationships
Person Relationships
Recurring Pay Component

Note

For MDF records, the Delete operation is used to delete parent object records. Delimit is for deleting a specific record of a child object from a parent, and Clear is used for deleting all the records of a child object from the parent. You can refer to the Metadata Framework Implementation Guide for more information.

Tips to Import

Here are some tips to prevent the import from failing. Before importing the CSV import file:

Ensure that all the required fields are entered in the file. Also, verify that the value in each column is correct/valid.
Validate that the columns in your import file correspond to the columns in the import template. If not, you need to download a new import template from Import Employee Data.
Verify that the field you have enabled for an HRIS-element is valid. To know more about field configuration, see the Data Object Tables handbook on the SAP Help Portal.
Check that the fields are configured correctly. For example, if the field is a picklist or an object-related field, ensure that the related picklist/object is configured to the HRIS field.
Check if the failed row has an end date. If the end date in the CSV file you’re importing does not correspond to the end date value present in the system, importing the CSV file will lead to an error. While the system calculates the end dates based on the hierarchy of event start dates, you can remove this value, and try importing the file again.
Make sure all the effective-dated records for employees are in a single CSV file. This is applicable only when importing multiple batches in parallel.
Details on entity-specific behaviors can be in the Employee Central Mass Changes handbook in the SAP Help Portal.

Basic Employee Data Export

In Admin Center, you can export a basic user file. This file contains standard fields in the system.

To perform a basic employee data export, navigate to Employee Export.

To export more detailed employee information, such as Personal Information or Job History, a table report must be run. Please see the Appendix of this document for more information on how to work with Table Reports.

Screenshot of Admin Center page to export users with options to specify export details

Centralized Services

Centralized services is an umbrella term for a collection of specialized services governing different processes in Employee Central. Centralized Services aim to resolve incompatibilities to several important functions like business rule execution, identical record suppression, deleting employee data, validation, and so on.

Centralized services regulate the following processes in Employee Central:

Importing Employee Data – applicable to data imports initiated from Import Employee Data page and OData APIs
Saving on History UI – applicable when saving changes in the History UI (clock icon) of a block in People Profile
Saving on Editing UI – applicable when saving changes in the Editing UI (pencil icon) of a block in People Profile

Centralized Services universally support all entities enabled by default and cannot be disabled except for the following processes, which can be opted out of in the Company System and Logo Settings tool:

Changes to Dependents - applicable for data imports from UI and API and changes on Editing UI
Changes to Job and Compensation Info – applicable to Manager Self-Service UI
Termination Details – applicable to Manager Self-Service UI, data imports, and API

Add New Employees via Import

In this activity, you will add two new employees using the Import Employee Data tool in Employee Central.

Note

This exercise is a standalone activity and is not required for completing other hands-on exercises for this course.

Use the simulation if you don't have a practice system.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

Use the Action Search to navigate to the Import Employee Data tool.
Next to Select the action you want to perform:, choose Download Template.
Choose Select an Entity: Basic Import and Generate Template.
Navigate to the folder you want to save the CSV file in and choose Save.
Open the downloaded file in a spreadsheet editor like Microsoft Excel.

Input the information given in the table below for two new employees. Note: Only fill out the fields mentioned below. The rest of the fields can be left blank.

USERID	twright	jmoire
Username	twright	jmoire
First Name	Timothy	Julie
Last Name	Wright	Moore
Email	your email address	your email address
Gender	M	F
Email	your email address	your email address
Manager	cgrant1	cgrant1
Human Resource	nnnn	nnnn
Department	SALES	SALES
Job Code	ADMIN-1	SALES-MAN
Division	IND	IND
Location	US_DCM	US_SFO
Time Zone	US/Eastern	US/Eastern
Hire Date	12/01/2017	12/01/2017
Default Locale	en_US	en_US

Save the spreadsheet to the same location you downloaded it to.
Use the Action Search to navigate to Import Employee Data.
Select an Entity: Basic Import.
Click Browse to navigate to the updated CSV file.
Click Open.
Click Validate Import File Data.
If there are no errors, click Import.
If you received errors during validation, fix the file and continue to validate until no errors are found.

Next lesson