Lifecycle - Schedule Future-Dated Changes to Employee Job Details (Effective Dates via Bulk Import)

Overview

The Future Effective Dates feature allows HR admins to plan and schedule employee job detail changes in advance.

Instead of manually updating records on the exact date, changes can be configured ahead of time and will be automatically applied by the system on the specified effective date.

This ensures:

• Accurate employee records at all times
• Reduced manual effort and dependency on reminders
• Smooth handling of transitions such as transfers, promotions, and policy changes

Who can access this feature?

• HR/Admin users with permission to edit employee job details
• Users with access to Employee Job Details Import (bulk uploads)
• Permissions must allow access to the relevant employees and fields

Note: Scoped users cannot perform bulk imports.

Supported Fields

Future-dated changes are supported for the following fields:

Core fields

• Business Unit
• Department
• Location
• Cost Center
• Reporting Manager
• Dotted-Line Manager
• Worker Type (only when changing to Permanent)

Job attributes

• Job Title (Primary)
• Secondary Job Title
• Pay Band
• Pay Grade

Additional fields

• Time Type
• Employee Number
• Notice Period Policy

Some fields may be gradually enabled across milestones.

How it works

1. Admin selects a field and updates its value
2. Selects a future effective date
3. Saves the change

System behaviour:

• Current value remains unchanged
• A scheduled change is created
• The system applies the change automatically on the effective date

Steps to Schedule Changes via Bulk Import

1. Navigate to Employee Job Details Import
2. Download the latest import template
3. Update employee data
4. Add effective date columns in the format: 
   1. Department effective from
   2. Location effective from 
      (applies only to fields being updated)
5. Enter valid dates (past or future)
6. Upload the file

After upload:

• Future dates → changes are scheduled
• Past/current dates → changes are applied immediately
• Validation results are shown

Viewing Scheduled Changes

1. Employee Profile

• Banner appears:

“This profile has upcoming changes scheduled. [View Details]”

• Clicking View Details opens a panel showing:
  • Field
  • Current value
  • Scheduled value
  • Effective date
  • Reason

2. Scheduled Changes Dashboard

Admins can view all scheduled changes with statuses:

• Scheduled – Pending execution
• Completed – Successfully applied
• Failed – Could not be applied

Dashboard actions:

• Filter by field, date, or status
• Edit or cancel scheduled changes
• Retry failed changes (bulk action)
• View activity logs

Note: Dashboard is introduced in later milestones.

Background Job Behaviour

• A daily background job checks for changes due on the current date
• Applies updates automatically
• Logs all actions in audit trail
• Updates status to Completed

Key rules:

• Works based on employee’s work location timezone
• Executes even on weekends and public holidays
• Does not delay changes

Failure Handling

• Automatic retry is triggered
• If failure continues: 
  • Status marked as Failed
  • Admins are notified
• Admins can manually retry from the dashboard

Editing or Deleting Scheduled Changes

Admins can:

• Edit value or date
• Delete scheduled changes

Behaviour:

• All actions are recorded in audit logs
• Deleting removes the schedule permanently
• Editing creates a new audit entry

Important Notes

• Only one scheduled change per field per employee is allowed
• Duplicate entries in import → entire file is rejected
• Scheduled changes are not affected by updates to current/past values
• Effective date must not be before Date of Joining (DOJ)
• No limit on future date selection
• Employees cannot view scheduled changes (V0)
• Changes apply even if employee is on leave

Validations and System Rules

Duplicate handling

• Same employee + same field + same effective date → Import rejected

Multiple schedules

• Not allowed for same field

Existing schedule + new update

• Schedule continues
• Warning shown

Concurrent updates

Error shown:

“Other admins were trying to update this field at the same time. Please try again.”

Auto-Assigner Behaviour

If Auto-Assigner is enabled:

When these fields change:

• Department
• Location
• Job Title
• Business Unit
• Worker Type

→ Policies are automatically reassigned on the effective date

If Auto-Assigner is not enabled:

• Policies must be updated manually

Audit Trail

All scheduled changes are tracked with full history:

• Created
• Edited
• Deleted
• Applied
• Failed

Audit includes:

• Values
• Effective dates
• Admin actions
• Timestamps

Example Scenario

An HR admin schedules a department transfer:

• Employee: John
• From: Marketing
• To: Product
• Effective Date: 1 August 2026

Result:

• Till 31 July → Employee stays in Marketing
• On 1 August → System automatically updates to Product
• Audit trail logs the change