2555311 - FAQs - Import Employees app

You are using the Import Employees Fiori application to load users and workforce data into an SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, and have one or more doubts or issues.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud edition

1, What needs to be considered initially when using the Import Employees app?

• You can create users only if you have the required authorization. Else only workforce persons are created without business users. Users must then have to be created using the Maintain Business Users app.
• Rehiring of a contingent worker (either rehiring again as Contingent Worker or rehiring as an Employee) is not covered by the Import Employees app.
• Always keep a local copy of the CSV files used for the import of workforce persons since the app does not provide any way to export the already imported data in CSV format. If you need to make any changes, these CSV files can be reimported to update the data.

Note:

Company code change is not supported in the Import Employees app (error message displayed: Employee: XXXX - CompanyCode cannot be changed).

In case a company code change is required, there are two options:

• Delete the workforce person and create it again using the correct company code (Refer to KBA 2702011).
• Use the SOAP API or SAP SuccessFactors replication.
  For pointers while downloading and filling templates, refer to Help for Filling In Downloaded Templates.

2, What needs to be considered initially when using the Import Employees app?

There are SAP S/4HANA Cloud customers who first uploaded workforce data using the Import Employees app, and later shift to an integrated scenario with workforce data coming from SAP SuccessFactors.

For this case and to ensure a fully supported and correct behavior, the prerequisite is that all the workforce persons are replicated again from SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central to get the consistent data again in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. For more information, refer to KBA 2646803.

If this approach is not followed, it could result in errors such as failed organization assignment replications if a subordinate-manager relationship involves two workforce persons with different sources. That is, one coming from SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central and the other coming from the Import Employees app. Error message displayed in these cases is: Manager **** not yet replicated from EC.

Further information is described in KBA 2813743.

3, "System settings does not allow this app to be used" is displayed and you are prevented from using the app. Why?

This is caused by some missing or failed delta activation. For more information, refer to KBA  2713527

4, How can the new users generated through the Import Employees app log on to the system?

The business users will receive a notification email so they can activate their accounts.
For details about this procedure, refer to User Onboarding for SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

5, How can I check the status after the upload?

After doing the import from the Import Employees app, the application redirects you to the Monitor Employee Imports app, with the corresponding filters predefined, so that the status of current import can be easily checked.
Additionally, the details of the uploaded workforce persons can be checked with the help of the Employee Fact Sheet app.

6, The workforce person was correctly uploaded and created as a business partner, but the supplier was not yet generated. Why?

In addition to the required data in the CSV files, you need to fill the language, and all the bank/payment data - either T - Bank Transfer with corresponding bank data or C – Cheque. This data is not strictly obligatory for workforce person creation in SAP S/4HANA Cloud (Business Partner creation) but is required if you want to create a supplier.

7, You are getting error 'PersonExternalID is mandatory' ” is displayed during import. Why?

The templates were updated from 1708 release, so this will happen if you reuse the old ones. For more details, refer to KBA 2542225.

8, The error message "Cost center <cost center ID> does not exist on <Date>." is displayed during import. Why?

This message informs you about a failed existence check done in the system against the cost center. The system tries to read the cost center mentioned in the EmploymentData.csv template for the start date of the work agreement. If the cost center does not exist, or even if it exists but at a later time, this existence check fails and displays the error message. You need to review the corresponding cost center data and confirm that it exists on the start date of the workforce person (StartDate field from EmploymentData.csv template).

9, You are getting errors related to payment method or other payment details. Why?

You need to enter the correct payment method in the configuration step Map Payment Methods Used in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central (ID: 103326).

For more information, refer to KBA 3058691.

 10, Is it possible to selectively import data, that is, only one or a few fields in the templates? Can columns be removed from the templates?

No. You always need to have all the fields in the import files of the Import Employees app. However, if you have previously loaded data and need to introduce a small change, you can import the previous CSV files with all previous content again and make that small change.

No. If one or more columns are removed from the template, this can cause unexpected validation issues, for example, wrong date format checks, and so on.

11, Is it possible to update the already existing workforce person data with the Import Employees app?

It depends. You can update workforce person data with the app for those workforce persons who were previously uploaded from it, if you have the corresponding initial import file. However, if the workforce persons were imported in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system through other means, for example, SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central replication, you cannot export and then import their data. This is not a valid scenario, since the system of truth for workforce data must remain constant at all times. In such an example, the changes should only arrive from SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central. The error is described in KBA 2882261.

12, Can a manager be assigned for aworkforce person?

Yes, the manager can be loaded with the employment data upload. Once done, the results can be checked from the Employee Fact Sheet app.

13, How do you handle the situation of a manager getting hired after a subordinate is hired?  

If you are importing a workforce person for whom the manager field has been filled, ensure that the manager exists during the respective date interval.

If the manager was hired after the subordinate workforce person, then the solution would be to include one or more splits in the employment data file to represent the correct intervals in which the manager is actually assigned to the subordinate. Note that for the assigned interval, the manager must exist.

Example

Workforce person 1, who is a subordinate, was hired on 2017/01/01. But the corresponding manager (Manager1) is hired on 2018/03/01. This manager can be assigned to workforce person 1 starting from this date only. To correctly represent this for workforce person 1, two splits can be created as follows:

External Person ID	Start Date (YYYYMMDD)	End Date (YYYYMMDD)	Manager External Person ID
Workforce person 1	20170101	20180228	< for this split manager would be left empty or alternatively another valid manager can be informed>
Workforce person 1	20180301	99991231	Manager1

In general, the recommended approach is to have the imports in separated files. First import the top managers, then the subsequent bottom-level managers, and finally the subordinate workforce persons. This way, a manager would exist already in the system when it is referred in the ManagerPersonExternalId field. Processing a manager and the corresponding subordinate in the same file result in errors due to interdependencies of the data. This is due to internal sorting criteria that gets applied while uploading the data. This result in the subordinate getting processed before the manager is processed, resulting in the mentioned error.

14, Workforce person data imported with umlauts and other special notation marks gets incorrectly saved with question marks ("?"). Why?

To properly save the umlauts and other notation marks, save the CSV file in the UTF-8 Encoding format.
If workforce persons were already uploaded where this was saved as "?", upload the same CSV again with the Import Employees app. Save it in the UTF-8 format now.
When using MS Excel, while saving the file, ensure to choose the option as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv). if this option is not available (due to the version of the program), modify the file after saving. To modify the file, open the file with Notepad and save using the encoding UTF-8 and append ‘.csv’ at the end of the file name.

15, Only one template is downloaded for the import type ‘Employee and Employment Data’. Why?

If you have an ad-blocker, please deactivate it on this page. 
Check if a dialog box button appears in the navigation bar, which is blocking multiple downloads.

16, How do you concatenate the Full Name for the business partner?

When editing the EmployeeData.csv Template, if the PersonFullName field is filled, this information is populated in the Full Name field of the business partner. However, if it is empty, the full name will be the concatenation of the First Name field and the Last Name field.

17, You are getting an error message "Postal code & must have the length &" during import. What needs to be done?

Configure the postal code for the company code. To do this, go to Manage Your Solution>Configure Your Solution. In the Application Area dropdown, select Organization. In the Sub Application Area, select the required item in the search result. Under the Configuration Steps section, maintain Company Code Master Data.

Note: The length takes into account the spaces and signs also.

18, You are getting an error message "Operation is not supported; see long text (R111085)" when modifying BP data. What needs to be done?

To maintain the integrity of the data, update the information using any HR source. For example, if the bank information was created using the Import Employees app, use this method to update bank information. The deletion of the bank information created by the Import Employees app is not supported using any other method. If you had created bank information records locally through the business partner apps, this information could have been editable. To know more about how to maintain workforce person data, refer to KBA 2646803.

19, The vendor role is not being created for the BP. What needs to be done?

You need to enter the payment method in this case. For more information, refer to KBA 2846285.

20, There is an error related to invalid date format. What needs to be done?

This error could appear if the date format is not correct. Please enter dates in YYYYMMDD format. The error can occur if the Import Name field in the Import Employees app contains special characters, for example, if there is slash ('/') or if the file's format is incorrect. This error can also occur if the phone number or mobile phone number is not formatted as Text in the CSV file. For more information, refer to Help for Filling the Downloaded Templates.

21, You are getting the error message "Business partner XX is not Organization or Group’ or “Business partner XX does not exist”. Why?

The supplier specified in the CSV file (which is mandatory when creating or updating a workforce person with BusinessPartnerRole BBP005 [Service Performer]) must exist in the system. Moreover, the Type of business partner must be 2 or 3 (Organization or Group). Ensure that you do not enter business partners of Person type as suppliers.

22, Why is the business user not getting created? You are getting the error message "No authorization to assign users to employees".

If the User Name filed is filled, the system checks whether the person who uploaded the file has the required authorizations to create business users using the Maintain Business Users app. Business Catalog is SAP_CORE_BC_IAM_UM. If user creation authorizations are not available, then only the workforce person is created and the error message "No authorization to assign users to employees" is displayed.

If the User Name field is not filled, the business user won't be created.

23, Can I change the cost center assigned to a workforce person?

You can use the Import Employees app to change the cost center of a workforce person. Prerequisites are:
The new cost center must belong to the assigned company code. This app does not support company code changes.
In the EmploymentDataTemplate.csv template, the validity of the new cost center must be from the date when the workforce person was hired. It is not possible to have one entry for the old cost center and another for the new one

24, The "Preferred Name" field is not available in the template files.

This field can only be set using SAP SuccessFactors integration. Other tools, such as the Import Employees app or the SOAP API, do not support this field.

Frequently Asked Questions - Import Employees App

KBA , CA-WFD-INT , S/4HANA Cloud Workforce Domain Integration , How To

SAP S/4HANA Cloud all versions