Workday / Guide: Understand date concepts

Scope

  • Workday tracks two distinct date concepts that serve different business purposes and can significantly impact reporting accuracy

Environment

  • 1191721: Workday

Core Date Definitions

  • Effective Date — The actual date when a change takes effect in the real world. This represents when something operationally happens, such as when an employee begins a new role, receives a promotion, or terminates employment
  • Entry Date — The administrative date when the transaction was recorded in Workday. This captures when the HR team or manager actually processed the paperwork, regardless of when the change became effective

Field-Level Date Tracking

Most Workday fields internally maintain both date concepts. For example, when processing a termination, the system captures:

  • When the termination becomes effective (Effective Date)
  • When the termination was entered into the system (Entry Date)

This dual-date structure exists across various data fields, allowing for flexible reporting based on business needs.

Real-World Application: Employee Resignation Analysis

Scenario: An employee submits resignation on March 1 with an effective termination date of March 15.

An Active Employee Headcount custom report specifically uses the Job End Date field to determine employee status. When running this report on different dates, the results vary based on which date concept the report uses from the Job End Date field:

 

February 28 Report Execution

  • Entry Date–Based Report: Employee appears as ACTIVE
    • Rationale: No Job End Date entry has been recorded in the system yet
  • Effective Date–Based Report: Employee appears as ACTIVE
    • Rationale: The effective Job End Date hasn't been reached

 

March 10 Report Execution

  • Entry Date–Based Report: Employee appears as TERMINATED
    • Rationale: Job End Date was entered into the system on March 1
  • Effective Date–Based Report: Employee appears as ACTIVE
    • Rationale: Employee is still actively working until the effective Job End Date of March 15

 

March 25 Report Execution

  • Entry Date–Based Report: Employee appears as TERMINATED
    • Rationale: Job End Date entry occurred March 1
  • Effective Date–Based Report: Employee appears as TERMINATED
    • Rationale: Effective Job End Date of March 15 has passed

 

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