The following article refers to functionality in Workflow Builder, which can be found within Natural HR at one of the following locations depending on your configuration:

Administration > HR > Workflows
or
Administration > HR > Workflows > Workflows

Within workflows we use a concept of escalations to allow users to customise the process under which the workflow will send out additional reminders or notify relevant individuals that a task still needs to be completed.

When creating a workflow step, if escalations are available for the type of step you are building, you will find a checkbox towards the bottom of the screen labelled 'Escalation options'.  Check this checkbox to reveal the 'Escalation actions':

Each workflow can have up to 5 escalation actions which allow you to remind the targeted user, escalate to the users manager or trigger another workflow, for example.  Each escalation action contains 3 fields which when combined create the specific rule for each escalation. 

In the first field, enter a number of days, weeks or months.  In the second field choose whether the number you've entered is in days, weeks or months.  And in the third field choose the action to be taken after this period. 

For example, in the above screenshot, the escalation actions are:

1. After 1 day send a reminder to the employee who is the subject of the workflow.
2. After 5 days escalate to the employee's manager.
3. After 10 days escalate to the HR mailbox.

IMPORTANT: The ESCALATE action moves the whole step from the original assignee to the person it has been escalated to - this means the original assignee will no longer be able to access the step and the step will now show on the home screen etc for the person who it has been escalated to.

When choosing your timing, be aware that an escalation time of 0 Days will trigger the escalation immediately. Please also be aware that your timing is relative to the trigger of the initial workflow step,  and not the preceding escalation.  So, in our example above, the escalations will trigger 1 day, 5 days and 10 days after the workflow step first triggered.

Below is a list of each escalation action and a description of what they do:

1. Send reminder - Sends the assigned employee a reminder that there is a task waiting. 
2. Escalate to manager - Moves the entire workflow step to the employee's manager for completion. 
3. Escalate to manager's manager - Moves the entire workflow step to the employee's manager's manager for completion. 
4. Escalate to approver - Moves the entire workflow step to the employee's approver for completion. 
5. Escalate to super approver - Moves the entire workflow step to the employee's super approver for completion. 
6. Escalate to Head of department - Moves the entire workflow step to the employee's head of department for completion. 
7. Escalate to finance mailbox - Sends a notification to the finance mailbox that the assigned employee has a task awaiting completion, this can then be addressed by any user with the Finance user group. 
8. Escalate to HR Mailbox - Sends a notification to the HR mailbox that the assigned employee has a task awaiting completion, this can then be addressed by any user with the HR user group. 
9. Escalate to training mailbox - Sends a notification to the Training mailbox that the assigned employee has a task awaiting completion, this can then be addressed by any user with the Trainer user group. 
10. Approve - When used as part of a "Require Approval" step, the workflow step is automatically approved and the employee is notified. 
11. Trigger workflow - Triggers a separate workflow assigned to the associated employee.

PLEASE NOTE:  Any escalations which are set to Escalate to a Mailbox, Super Approver etc. This will physically remove the task from the original assignee of the task and physically assign the task to the escalated recipient(s)