Bulk upload is very specific and you must follow the instructions closely.

(March 2019, version 3.4)

Bulk upload employees allows companies to quickly and easily upload multiple employees into the system without having to manually add the employees via the web interface. The process is facilitated via utilising a CSV file which you can download to your computer, input your employee information into and then upload via the main admin interface of Natural HR.

Please note: This system cannot currently be used to modify existing employees. If you try to upload the same file again the upload will fail as, like the core application, it checks the National Insurance Number (aka Social Security number) and if it finds a duplicate it will throw an error. If you were to enter a different National Insurance number for each entry this would bypass the check but it would mean you would have duplicate employees so this is not recommended. To update employees, the Bulk update module would be more suitable.

The information collected and inserted into the system is NOT the same as that which would be inserted if you were to use the full Add Employee function but, instead, enters the same level of detail as that entered when using Quick Add Employee. At this time it is not possible to add the same level of information as a full employee addition but this is in planning for future releases.

We have made available a sample CSV file for you to download and we recommend you use this file as the template for your CSV which you intend to upload (obviously, you should delete the sample data row which we have included in the file but DO NOT REMOVE THE HEADER ROW).

Additionally as the CSV system requires you to enter the system identifiers for manager, job title, job status and department we have made the facility available for you to easily display each of these via the Bulk upload screen – we encourage you to use this to make the upload process successful.

Whilst the process of uploading data via a CSV file is a quick and easy process you should pay extra attention to the data you are inputting into the file as there is obviously no validation possible whilst you enter the information into the CSV file. As a result, we have implemented robust validation for the data when you try to upload the file to ensure the data is correct and is as we need to receive it. If you try to upload a file which does not meet the correct criteria as outlined below the upload will fail so please pay careful attention to the general notes below as well as the attached help and instructions guide to ensure that the data is uploaded correctly.

General notes:

1. The file should be saved as COMMA separated CSV file with a CSV extension
2. The title row must be left in place and should not be changed
3. Make sure there are no additional rows in the document by viewing in a text editor before uploading
4. You should avoid entering data which includes a comma as this will cause an error – if you need to include a comma then the whole field should be enclosed in double quotes “ “
5. When entering telephone numbers, if using a spreadsheet, ensure you set the field type to TEXT otherwise most spreadsheets will remove the leading zero (0) so, for example, 01234567890 will become 1234567890
6. When entering system determined values please note where they are case sensitive – for example, enabled or ENABLED is not the same thing as Enabled
7. Ensure none of your data contains “or ‘or any other similar iteration as they will be escaped by the application to ensure data integrity. If you do try this you will end up with a \ in front of the prohibited characters which is intentional on the part of the application.
8. You must fill in ALL mandatory columns – please see below for the columns which are mandatory
9. Dates must be entered in the format dd/mm/yyyy regardless of your system setting for date formats
10. The value in the National Insurance field (aka Social Security number) is required and must be unique
11. For Manager, Job title, Job status, Site, Department, Sub Department and Leave Reason you must enter a valid value exactly as it appears in the system – for example, Sales manager is not the same as Sales Manager and Bob smith is not the same as Bob Smith.
12. Additionally, for these fields, the values must be unique – for example, if you have two managers called Bob Smith then anyone reporting to that manager will fail due to “Manager does not exist or is ambiguous”
13. You should ensure that you have pre entered managers, job titles, job status and departments before attempting bulk upload as these are mandatory fields

Field notes:

Employee works ID – works ID for employee within your company. Can be made up of letters and or numbers.

Employee surname – can be made up of letters and or numbers.

Employee first name – can be made up of letters and or numbers.

Gender – Male, Female or Not are the only valid options with Not indicating not specified.

DOB (dd/mm/yyyy) – must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy

National Insurance number – also known as Social Security number outside the UK, can be made up of letters and or numbers but MUST be unique within your company.

Manager ID – the system record ID for the employee’s manager. Please ensure the number referenced is for an existing employee who should hold a role which is designated as being manager level.

Employee status – only valid entries are Current or Archived.

Job title ID – the system record ID for the employee’s job title or role. Please ensure the number referenced is for an existing role within the system.

Job status ID – the system record ID for the employee’s job status. Please ensure the number referenced is for an existing status within the system.

Start date (dd/mm/yyyy) – must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy

Holidays per year – must be a number, maximum of two digits

Department ID – the system record ID for the employee’s department. Please ensure the number referenced is for an existing department within the system