Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment

Activate User's Guide
Version
2025.1
Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment

In Dayforce, employees are assigned to work assignments for workforce management tasks, such as timesheet approval, scheduling, and budgeting purposes.

Use the Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment wizard to upload historical work assignments or add secondary work assignments for an employee.

Note: The Organizational Hierarchy wizard won’t be available for use after you complete a YTD Load. See Year-to-Date Payroll Totals (USA/CAN) and Year-to-Date Payroll Totals (CAN).

Note: Activate uses HR Version 2.0 (NextGen) when loading data during configuration.

Before you begin

You have completed Getting Started, Employees, or Clean Up Data for Parallel or Go Live.

Key concepts

Work assignments are defined as the job + department (job assignment) and org unit (on-site department) where the employee can work. An employee can have different work assignments across different time frames and secondary work assignments across time.

Using this wizard

The previously loaded employee information shows in an editable grid with the work assignment-related fields that need to be populated. You can enter information directly in the grid or you can download the Job History Data template, populate it, and then upload the data. When you edit the data in the grid, Activate shows any applicable validation warnings or errors. If warnings or errors are shown, review them and then update the data in the grid or uploading a corrected template to correct them.

Always enter the required changes in the template to assure accuracy for future uploads. If you make edits directly in the grid, click Save and download the updated file for record keeping purposes.

Tasks

To confirm the prerequisites and indicate whether you need to load historical data:
  1. In Activate Central, click Load Your Data. The Load Your Data wizards are shown.
  1. Click Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment.
  1. On the Intro page, review the information and verify that you:
    • All Jobs, Departments, and OrgUnits have unique and defined XRefCodes.
    • All Reason Codes are configured in Dayforce.
  2. Select both checkboxes to confirm that you’ve completed the tasks.
  3. Click Next.
To indicate if you want to configure missing jobs, departments, job assignments, on site departments, and sites:

Note: Onsite Departments consist of Departments and Sites. Job Assignments consist of Jobs and Departments.

  1. On the Configuration Options page, if your data references jobs, departments, and locations aren’t yet configured in Dayforce, indicate if you want Activate to install them automatically.
    • Yes: If they don’t exist in Dayforce, Activate creates Jobs, Departments, OrgUnits, and related org structure configuration.
    • No: Activate doesn’t automatically create the missing configuration based on the information provided. Instead, Activate validates the uploaded data against the existing Dayforce configuration. This validation prevents the load when a field value mismatch occurs. No new configuration takes place.

    Note: You’re required to answer this question to continue.

  2. Click Next.
To complete and upload the Job History Data template:
  1. On the Job History Data page, click Download.
  2. Select the location where you want to save the template document.
  3. Open the JobHistoryDataTemplate.xlsx template on your computer.

    Note: You can also download an empty Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment template from the Download Template Files page.

  4. On the Job History Data tab, complete all columns with the data for all employees in the organization.

    Note: The Activate release version shows in cell B3 on the Instructions tab of the template. This information helps you later determine the version of Activate you were using when you downloaded the template.

    Note: Instructions for populating the fields are in the Job History Data Template Fields section (below) and on the Instructions tab of the template.

  5. Click Save and close the template.

    You can use any file name for the template you upload. The file must be an Excel or CSV (Comma-Separated Value) document and contain the data in the required format.

    Important: Don’t change the name of the tab in the template. Activate uses the tab name to validate that the correct template is being uploaded. In addition, don’t change the column headings.

  6. On the Job History Data page, click Upload.

    Note: You can upload only data that doesn’t already exist in Dayforce.

  7. Go to the completed Job History Data template in the location where you saved it.
  8. Click Open. Activate validates the uploaded file.

    Note: If the uploaded file has errors, a Validation Failed message shows in red at the bottom of the page. You must correct the errors in the file on your computer and upload the file again.

    Note: When you upload an Excel file, Activate includes the name of the uploaded file into the name of the XML file it generates and loads to the Dayforce File Server. The format of the generated XML file name is <NamespaceName>_<Import Type>_<file name provided>_YYY-MM-DD_HHMM. This information makes it easier to audit files later.

  9. Click Next.
To review and confirm the data:
  1. Review the information shown in the grid.

    The Job History Review page contains a table that shows what will be loaded, including the following: Employee Identifier, First Name, Last Name, Job Title, Department, Physical Work Location, Effective Start Date, Is Primary, Reason Code, Rate, FTE, Business Title, and Is Virtual Employee.

    Reason code validation

    Activate validates the Reason Code field values in the loaded file with the “Change Reason is Mandatory” setting in Dayforce based on the following field settings:

    How Activate validates the Reason Code values
    Change Reason is Mandatory
    Any fields to mass assign
    When field will be effective
    Carry Forward

     

    Then....

    Yes

     

     

     

    		Except “Reason Code”

     

    Any

     

    No

    • Fields selected to mass assign are updated to the values selected in the Wizard only on the specific point of time.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code are set to “New Assignment.”

    • Employee records (from Dayforce) with an existing Reason Code retains the existing Reason Code.

    Yes

    • Fields selected to mass assign are updated to the values selected in the Wizard from the specific point of time and after.

    • Employee records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code have their Reason Code set to “New Assignment.”

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with the existing Reason Code retain the existing Reason Code.

    With “Reason Code”

     

    Any

     

    No

    • Fields selected to mass assign are updated to the values selected in the Wizard only at that specific point in time.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with a NULL/EMPTY Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with existing Reason Code have their Reason Code set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    Yes

    • Fields selected to mass assign are updated to what values were selected by the user in the wizard on the specific point of time and after

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    • The Reason Code for employee records (from Dayforce) with existing Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    No

     

     

     

    		Except “Reason Code”

     

    Any

     

    No

    • Fields selected to mass assign should be updated to what values were selected by the user in the wizard only on the specific point of time

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code retain the existing Reason Code.

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with the existing Reason Code retain the existing Reason Code.

    Yes

    • Fields selected to mass assign should be updated to what values were selected by the user in the wizard from the specific point of time and after

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code retains the existing Reason Code.

    • Employee Records (from Dayforce) with the existing Reason Code retains the existing Reason Code.

    With “Reason Code”

     

    Any

     

    No

    • Fields selected to mass assign should be updated to what values were selected in the Wizard only at that specific point in time.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with existing Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    Yes

    • Fields selected to mass assign will be updated to the values selected in the Wizard at the specific point in time and after.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with NULL/EMPTY Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

    • The Reason Code for Employee Records (from Dayforce) with existing Reason Code are set to what is selected in the Wizard.

  2. To make updates to data on the page:

    • To insert a new row in the grid, click the row where you want to insert it and click New.

    • To delete a row, click the row and click Delete.

    • To download the error message list and save it to your computer, click Download Errors File.
    • To correct errors in the grid, click in the field containing the error. Click Tab to move to the right and Shift+Tab to move to the left in the row. Use the scrollbars on the right side and bottom of the grid to go to other areas of the grid.

    • To save information in the grid to your computer, click Download File and save it to the location you want.

    • To upload the file from your computer, locate the file and click Upload File. The data in the file shows in the grid.

    • To remove changes that you don’t want to save, click Refresh.

  3. When the data is complete, click Done & Install. When you leave the page, the selected values stay in the grid.
To install work assignment data

When the data is complete in Activate, you must install the data in Dayforce.

  1. On the Job History Review page, click Load.

    A prompt states that upon completion of this data load, access to the Org Hierarchy solution will be limited to Dayforce users.

  2. Click one of the following:
    • Yes to continue.
    • No to return to the Job History Review page.

    The Load page opens with a list of the steps to complete and an estimate of how long the installation usually takes. During the installation, the current step in the process is bolded so you can monitor the progress.

  3. Click one of the following:
    • Add Email and enter your email address to receive an email when the installation process ends, instead of waiting for it to finish.
    • Next w hen the installation is complete.

    Activate Central opens with the name of the Wizard now shown in green text and a green checkmark to the left of the wizard’s name. The current day, date, and time of completion are included, along with your name as the user who completed the Wizard. The environment in which the installation was applied (Stage, Config, or Train) is also shown.

    Note: If you want to add more information, click I want to add more. See Executing a Rollback When Using the “Add More“ Feature in the Payroll Wizards.

Results

You can view the uploaded data on the Employee Record > Work > Work Assignments > Expand Work Assignment Record > General tab page in Dayforce.

Uploaded data in Dayforce
You can view this data... On this page in Dayforce...
Departments Org Setup > Organization > Departments tab
Sites Org Setup > Organization > Organization tab
On site Departments Org Setup > Organization > Organization tab
Jobs Org Setup > Jobs and Job Assignments
Job Assignments Org Setup > Jobs and Job Assignment
Fields populated in Dayforce

The data uploaded from the Job History Data template populates the fields on the Work Assignments page (People icon > Work > Work Assignments) in Dayforce.

Note: You must select an employee if you haven’t already done so.

Dayforce fields populated by the Job History Data template
Field in Template Field in Dayforce People Profile
Employee Identifier Numeric identifier next to the employee name
First Name Employee First Name
Last Name Employee Last Name
Job Title Job Assignment (Job + Department)
Department Job Assignment (Job + Department)
Physical Work Location Location
Effective Start Date Effective From
Is Primary Primary (checkbox)
Reason Code Reason
Rate Rate
FTE Full Time Equivalent
Business Title Business Title
(enable Business Title customer property)
Is Virtual Employee Virtual

Employment Indicator

 Employment Indicator

Position Term

Position Term
Files generated by the Job History $ Secondary Work Assignment wizard

After completing the Employee Job History & Secondary Work Assignment wizard, three import files are automatically generated and placed on the customer's FTP site.

For an example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML, click here.

Org Unit Import

  • FTP Subdirectory: Import/OrgUnitImport
  • Filename: <Namespace> OrgUnitImport <DateTime>.xml
For an example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML, click here.
Copy 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OrgUnitImport>
  <OrgUnit>
    <Name>MySite</Name>
    <Description>MySite</Description>
    <XrefCode>MySite</XrefCode>
    <OrgLevelXrefCode>SITE</OrgLevelXrefCode>
    <ParentOrgUnitXrefCode>RefCode_1</ParentOrgUnitXrefCode>
    <EffectiveStart>1950-01-01</EffectiveStart>
    <Address></Address>
    <Address2 />
    <City></City>
    <PostalCode></PostalCode>
    <CountryCode>AUS</CountryCode>
    <County />
  </OrgUnit>
  <OrgUnit>
    <Name>MySite - MyDept</Name>
    <Description>MySite - MyDept</Description>
    <XrefCode>MySite_MyDept</XrefCode>
    <OrgLevelXrefCode>ONSITEDEPARTMENT</OrgLevelXrefCode>
    <ParentOrgUnitXrefCode>MySite</ParentOrgUnitXrefCode>
    <EffectiveStart>1950-01-01</EffectiveStart>
    <DepartmentXrefCode>MyDept</DepartmentXrefCode>
    <ZoneXrefCode>MyDept</ZoneXrefCode>
  </OrgUnit>
</OrgUnitImport>

For an example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML, click here.

ConfigData Import

  • FTP Subdirectory: Import/ConfigDataImport
  • Filename: <Namespace> ConfigDataImport <DateTime>.xml
For an example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML, click here.
Copy 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ConfigDataImport>
  <Job>
    <JobDefinition>
      <XRefCode>NEW_JOB</XRefCode>
      <Name>New Job</Name>
      <Description>New Job</Description>
      <EffectiveStart>1950-01-01</EffectiveStart>
    </JobDefinition>
  </Job>
  <PayType />
  <PayClass />
  <EmploymentStatus />
  <Department>
    <DepartmentDefinition>
      <XRefCode>NEW_DEPARTMENT</XRefCode>
      <Name>New Department</Name>
      <Description>New Department</Description>
    </DepartmentDefinition>
  </Department>
  <Position>
    <PositionDefinition>
      <XRefCode>NEW_DEPARTMENT_NEW_JOB</XRefCode>
      <DepartmentXrefCode>NEW_DEPARTMENT</DepartmentXrefCode>
      <JobXrefCode>NEW_JOB</JobXrefCode>
      <EffectiveStart>1950-01-01</EffectiveStart>
      <IsNonService>false</IsNonService>
      <ShortName>New Department - New Job</ShortName>
      <LongName>New Department - New Job</LongName>
      <Officer>false</Officer>
      <Executive>false</Executive>
      <Status>OPEN</Status>
      <PositionTermXrefCode>REGULAR</PositionTermXrefCode>
      <IsWCBExempt>0</IsWCBExempt>
      <PPACAFullTime>0</PPACAFullTime>
    </PositionDefinition>
  </Position>
  <PositionAssignment>
    <PositionAssignmentDefinition>
      <DepartmentXrefCode>NEW_DEPARTMENT</DepartmentXrefCode>
      <JobXrefCode>NEW_JOB</JobXrefCode>
      <OrgXrefCode>4D5B4A5B_3EC5_4BF1_BFB2_5EB2C6C646C4</OrgXrefCode>
      <EffectiveStart>1950-01-01</EffectiveStart>
    </PositionAssignmentDefinition>
  </PositionAssignment>
</ConfigDataImport>

Employee Import

  • FTP Subdirectory: Import/EmployeeImport
  • Filename: <Namespace > EmployeeImport < DateTime > xml
For an example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML, click here.
Copy 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<EmployeeImport>
  <Employee>
    <XRefCode>1007</XRefCode>
    <EmployeeNumber>1007</EmployeeNumber>
    <FirstName>Andrea</FirstName>
    <LastName>Monan</LastName>
    <WorkAssignment>
      <JobXrefCode>JOB5</JobXrefCode>
      <DeptXrefCode>DEPARTMENT</DeptXrefCode>
      <OrgXrefCode>GDLLP_USA_03091_POLO_PARK</OrgXrefCode>
      <IsPrimary>true</IsPrimary>
      <EffectiveStart>2007-01-01</EffectiveStart>
      <ReasonXrefCode>PROMOTION</ReasonXrefCode>
      <Rate>12.50000</Rate>
      <FTE>0.75</FTE>
      <BusinessTitle>Job Handler</BusinessTitle>
      <PositionTermXrefCode>REGULAR</PositionTermXrefCode>
      <EmploymentIndicatorXRefCode>INTERNSHIP</EmploymentIndicatorXRefCode>
      <IsVirtualEmployee>true</IsVirtualEmployee>
    </WorkAssignment>
  </Employee>
</EmployeeImport>

Next steps

Review the Organization Structure and confirm that the employees loaded in the Timesheets and Scheduler as expected.

Complete the next wizard, as appropriate.

Job History Data template fields

All templates have the same basic structure:

  • Instructions tab: Helps you understand the purpose of the data and complete the fields in the template.
  • Data tab: Contains headers for the data to be included in the template. The headers remain the same, but you can change the column order. If you add more columns, Activate ignores them.

All number ranges in the templates include the numbers at both ends of the range.

To see a list of the fields in the template, click here.
Employee Identifier (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
1 Alphanumeric. Unique value between 1-9 characters. It allows our system to identify employees uniquely. Use the same number assigned to the employee in the Getting Started HR data loads. 3241245
000000006
abc123499

For this import; the Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template.

This required field is used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values provided must match exactly to an existing employee record in Dayforce.

First Name (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
2 String1 between 1-64 characters.

Legal first name of the employee.

The value provided must match exactly to an existing employee record in Dayforce.

 Joe

For this import; the Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template.

This required field is used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values provided must match exactly to an existing employee record in Dayforce.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Last Name (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
3 String1 between 1-64 characters.

Legal last name of the employee.

The value provided must match exactly to an existing employee record in Dayforce.

 Smith

For this import; the Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template.

This required field is used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values provided must match exactly to an existing employee record in Dayforce.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Job Title (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
4

String1 between 1-64 characters.

Accepted Values:

See your consultant.

The employee's historical jobs.

This is what the employee “does” at your organization. Not to be confused with 'where' the employee does the work, or for what 'department' the employee is a member of.

You might also include the employee's current job within the template to update additional fields not populated as part of the employee data template.

Your consultant can provide a list of accepted values for Parallel and Go-Live data loads.

 Clerk
Machinist
Director
RN

Part of an Employee's overall work assignment. Jobs fully describe what kind of work is performed at your organization. Jobs can help qualify employees for pay and benefit plans, supports recruiting, and many other Dayforce functions. Jobs fall into EEO Categories, Pay Grades, Job Families and Functions, and FLSA Status. It can also assist in how time and pay are charged to the GL.

The Job and Department make up an employee's Job Assignment.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Department (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
5

String1 between 1-64 characters.

Accepted Values:

See your consultant.

The employee's historical departments.

Think of this as the group the employee belongs to. This group doesn’t have to be at the same location, and all employees in this group don’t have to work the same job.

You might also include the employee's current department within the template to update additional fields not populated as part of the employee data template.

Your consultant can provide a list of accepted values for Parallel and Go-Live data loads.

 HR Finance 0437-Admin Operations

Part of an Employee's overall work assignment. The department concept allows for organizations to group together employees who might be working towards the same goal but work in different jobs. This can be a high-level concept like 'Marketing' or can be more detailed to also include a cost center, thereby assisting in how time and pay are charged to the GL. Adding cost center to the definition of the Department is only recommended if cost centers are shared amongst groups of employees.

The Job and Department make up an employee's Job Assignment.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Physical Work Location (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
6

String1 between 1-64 characters.

Accepted Values:

See your consultant.

The name of the historical locations or sites where an employee works.

Use the name that your organization commonly uses to describe the location.

If the employee is virtual, provide the name of the location or site that they report into.

You might also include the employee's current location/site within the template to update additional fields not populated as part of the employee data template.

Your consultant can provide a list of accepted values for Parallel and Go-Live data loads.

Head Office Plant 8 14-Valley Road Part of an Employee's overall work assignment. The location is at the core of your organizational hierarchy. It provides the place where schedules are generated and time is tracked. As you build out all levels of your organizational hierarchy, it also allows for assigning of Legal Entities, and determines how time and pay are charged against the GL.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Effective Start Date (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
7 Date. Excel right-justified date format or Excel text format yyyy-mm-dd.

Effective start date for an employee work assignment.

This record can’t be dated after the primary status record that was provided on the Employee Data or Fresh Start Date templates.

Date formatted cells:

09/24/2015
24/09/2015

Text formatted cells:

2015-09-24

This field is used to indicate when the employee can start working the new job. By default, employees are eligible to work new jobs the day you assign them.
Is Primary (Required)
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
8

Accepted Values:

YES
NO

Primary employee work assignment flag.

Only one record per employee can be flagged as the Primary work assignment

 YES
NO 		This field is used to indicate the employee work assignment as primary or secondary.
Reason Code
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
9

String1 between 1-128 characters.

Accepted Values:

See your consultant.

Indicates the specific reason that the employee has been designated to the new work assignment.

Accepted Values:

Dayforce Configured.

See your consultant.

The reason for the employee's work assignment change provides more detail to the nature of the job change.

When the Dayforce client property (Change Reason Code is Mandatory) is enabled, Activate with throw an error to provide this information where missing.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Rate
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
10 Decimal between 1-15 digits, precision 5. The hourly rate is tied directly to the work assignment. 15.785 25.00 The Rate for a work assignment is used to override an Employee's base rate when they work in the job associated to said rate.
FTE
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
11 Decimal between 1-3 digits, precision 2. Numerical value between 0.00 and 1.00. 0.25 0.75 This value represents the workload associated with the Job Assignment.
Business Title
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
12 String1 between 1-128 characters. Alternative title describing employee's Job Assignment. Consultant, Principle Lead Designer, Product Defines a Business Title that can shown as an alternative to the default Job Assignment Title throughout the Dayforce application.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Is Virtual Employee
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
13

Accepted Values:

YES
NO

 Indicates whether an employee is a virtual employee (works from home). Accepted Values: Yes No If the employee is a virtual employee and their current primary work location is not a physical location, the qualifier determines the worked in the state or province by looking up the organizational hierarchy and finding the location of the nearest physical location.
Employment Indicator
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
14 String1 between 1-128 characters. Used for selecting the type of work associated with the assignment. Apprenticeship
Internship
Seasonal		 This value is used to categorize employees into different groups that track the type of work associated with a position. For example, the position could be an apprenticeship or internship depending on how your organization structures it.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Position Term
Order Data Type Description Examples Why This Is Needed
15 String1 between 1-128 characters. Used for the position term associated with the assignment. Fixed
Regular
Temporary		 This value is used to track the intended duration of a position such as Episodic or Fixed. For example, you could use this parameter to specify that the work assignment is temporary.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Commonly encountered issues

Activate recreates the Org structure and Positions based on this additional data. If this data upload is incorrect, the user will need to redo the Org Structure and Positions and upload a corrected Job History data file.