Available for the following plans: Lite, Plus, Unlimited HR, Essentials, Engage, Elite, Unlimited HR+Payroll
Available for the following HR classic plans: Premium, Platinum
Available for the following user access level: Admin

If you need to set up or update custom work hours for multiple employees at once, you can do this by uploading a CSV (spreadsheet) file — instead of editing each employee's record one by one.

This is especially helpful for larger organisations where entering work hours manually for every employee would be time-consuming. With a CSV upload, you can update the standard hours for your entire team in just a few steps.

Warning

Please save a copy of the exported template from your platform when downloading existing data to edit. This way, in case of a mistake, you can re-upload the file containing the information you had before editing. The platform cannot revert to old data after a CSV upload has been done, so it is important to have a backup of your original existing data.
For Employment Hero and Employment Hero Payroll-connected accounts, you can upload 8 weeks' worth of custom work hours at a time. For an Employment Hero only-account, you can upload 2 weeks' worth of custom work hours at a time.

Interactive learning

Click here for an interactive demo

Getting started

Upload a CSV file to import custom work hours

Log in to Employment Hero.
Click the People menu option.
Click the Import Employees submenu option.
Select the Update Employee Custom Work Hours option.
Click the Download button.
Open the downloaded CSV file on your computer.
Enter the following details in the CSV template you downloaded:
- In column A - Employee first name
- In column B - Employee last name
- In column C - Employee account email
- In column D - Employing entity
- In column E - Format [Standard daily | Custom Time | Custom Hours]
  - To import custom start and end times, insert "Custom Time" and to import custom hours per day insert "Custom Hours"
- In column F - Custom weeks [1 | 2]
  - If you are EH payroll connected and are importing more than 2 weeks, ensure you put the number of weeks you are importing e.g. 6
- In column G - Ordinary work day
- In column H - Allowed work sites/positions
- From column I onwards - here you will add in the custom work hours by day.
Helpful Hint

if you are importing "Custom Hours" as per column E rather than start and end times, you can remove the start and end times columns and ensure you only include the total hours for each day.

For column I onwards, you will need to add in the work site, position, start and end time for the following weeks. For Employment Hero and Employment Hero Payroll-connected accounts, you can upload 8 weeks' worth of custom work hours at a time. For an Employment Hero only-account; you can upload 2 weeks' worth of custom work hours at a time.

The column title will display the day, then a number, which denotes the week number, then the work site, position, start or end time. E.g. if a column title says "Thursday 6 start time", this means you will need to add in the custom start time for Thursday in week 6.
Save the changes you made to the file.
Upload the file by entering it in the tile named Click or Drag file(s) here to upload.
Click the Yes button.
Map the columns in the CSV file to the correct fields in Employment Hero.
Click the Continue button. If there are no errors detected by the platform, you will now see the Imported Successfully page, which will list the number of employee records that have been both created and updated. Otherwise, the platform will now present a list of errors in the data that you will first need to correct.

Further information

How do I get the most out of this feature?

We recommend using the pre-prepared sample CSV templates available.

We have also listed some tips below on how to best use these templates as well as important things to keep in mind so you can ensure a successful CSV upload:

Add a personal email in the Account Email column. Employees will then still be able to log in to access their read-only information after they leave your organisation.
Do not use a generic email for your employees (such as info@company.com).
If you receive any error messages during your upload, the error message always corresponds to the following row. For example, an error in row one means the error is in row two, and so on.
Always ensure mandatory fields (those with asterisks) are filled out properly.
Follow all naming conventions referenced in the column headers of your CSV. For example, if an employee is in multiple teams (such as HR, Admin, and Payroll), you must separate those team names with the following symbol: | (in other words, it should look like this: John Smith HR | Admin | Payroll).
Start dates and job titles are interdependent in the CSV that's named 'Update Employee Employment Details'. You can not complete one field without the other.
Salary and Pay Details effective date are interdependent in the CSV named 'Advanced Import Employees (including Pay Details)'. You can not complete one field without the other.
Downloading the CSV named 'Advanced Import Employees (including Pay Details)' removes the leading zeroes from sort codes and account numbers. You must reformat these columns by making the column custom. This is so you can add six zeros for sort codes and eight zeros for account numbers where required.

How do I update employee teams and reporting lines?

We recommend you have your employees' data in Employment Hero before you assign their teams and managers. You can then use the Update Employment Details template to assign teams and primary/secondary managers to employees in bulk.

General CSV bulk import errors

If you receive general errors when bulk-updating employees via a CSV file, try splitting them into separate files based on key differences (such as employment type). Then, upload each file separately.

For example, if your CSV includes both hourly and salaried employees and you encounter an error, move the hourly employees into a separate file. Upload the salaried employees first, followed by the hourly employees. This helps prevent formatting issues and ensures a smoother update process.

Spot common formatting issues

Additional spaces	Any cell that starts or ends with a space can cause an error in the upload.
Format errors	When copying from Excel to CSV, the format changes. This also changes the data, most often with numbers that have leading zeros, such as bank account codes or phone numbers. You will need to reformat the column to a custom format that includes the zero.
Additional hyphens	Bank details are the most common to have added hyphens. There should not be hyphens in these sections.
Data missing from columns linked to other columns	When inputting data into certain columns, you will need to fill out others. Examples are the super columns, banking columns, and tax columns. If you do not have all the data, it is better to delete all these related columns before you do the upload. You can come back instead when you have the data.
Missing column header	Ensure every column has a header and that no data exists in a cell without a corresponding header.
Uploading the advanced spreadsheet when Payroll settings are turned off	The platform will not allow this action. You need to delete all columns that have disappeared along with payroll settings, and then upload.
Missing surnames	Ensure every employee has a surname. If any surnames are missing, either remove those employees from the file or add the missing surnames.
Blank columns	If optional columns (e.g., the 'Cost Centre' and 'Primary & Secondary Managers' columns) have no data, delete them from the CSV to prevent errors. Keep only mandatory fields marked with asterisks.
Missing mandatory fields	Ensure all mandatory fields (marked with an asterisk) are filled out before uploading. Missing mandatory fields will cause the upload to fail.
Leading zeros appear in dates	If leading zeros appear in dates where they are not allowed, revise the formatting rules and remove them.
Unnecessary sheets in the import file	Having unnecessary sheets (sometimes called tabs) in the import file can lead to a failed import. Remove the data from any unneeded sheets and try the upload again.
General errors persist	If general errors persist, try uploading a smaller dataset (e.g. a file with only three employees) to manually pinpoint errors before reattempting to upload the full list.

Fix row-specific errors

Important

If an import error occurs in the platform, it will show which row contains the error. However, note that the platform starts counting from the first employee in your CSV file and ignores the heading row.

For example, if the platform reports an error on row 10, look at row 11 in your Excel file to find and fix the issue.

To resolve import errors, follow the below steps:

Download the file from the platform.
Open the downloaded file and fix the errors. (The errors will appear in red text in the Resolve Errors section and will display the row in which the error needs to be resolved.)
Re-upload the corrected CSV file.

Explore related content