Employee sync with Workday Integration

Workday's cloud-based HR platform helps companies streamline their HR processes, from recruitment to payroll. 

This Workday↔Remote integration improves HR team efficiency by linking worker data and automating key HR functionality. This reduces the chances of manual errors, enhances accuracy of HR processes, and helps ensure a smoother, faster onboarding experience. With Remote’s integration with Workday, you can now sync EOR and Contractor Management (CM) data from Workday to Remote.

This integration is free for customers using both Workday and Remote.

Is this integration right for me?

Before enabling the integration, it is important to understand who it is available for and how data synchronization functions to ensure it aligns with your needs. Listed below are key details about which data is synced from Workday to help you determine whether this integration is for you.

Data synced from Workday

The data that syncs from Workday into Remote depends on your Workday configuration. There are three types of data fields:

1. Worker data for EOR and CM
   • For new hires: The following information is synced upon hiring:
     • Email address (used as a unique identifier for each user)
     • Full name
     • First name, Last name
     • Preferred name and pronouns
     • Start date
     • Job title
     • Country
     • Address (excluding country)
     • Department
     • Supervisor
     • Birth date
     • Legal sex
     • Gender
     • Mobile phone number
   • For active workers: Once onboarding is completed in Remote, the following data is synced:
     • Full name
     • Job title
     • Address (excluding country)
     • Department
     • Supervisor
2. Time off for employees: Approved future time off requests can be synced from Workday into Remote through Employee time off sync feature.

Important: When syncing new workers from Workday to Remote, ensure that you select a future date. Additionally, you need administrator permissions in Workday to complete the integration setup. If you have changed any of the default section names in Workday, the integration ma not work correctly.

How to enable the integration

Before getting started, make sure you have administrative permissions in Workday, without which this integration cannot be setup. To configure the integration, you will need the following details:

• Client ID
• Client secret
• Refresh token
• Token endpoint

We recommend getting these details in advance and saving them in a secure place before returning to Remote. Follow these steps to successfully enable this integration.

Create an API client

1. In the Workday search bar, type Register API Client for Integrations and select the task with that name.

   

2. A popup with settings will appear. 

   

3. Use the following settings when creating your API client in Workday:

   • Client Name: Enter any name you prefer.

   • Non-Expiring Refresh Tokens: Check this box. If selected, the Refresh Token Timeout (in days) field will be ignored.

   • Disabled: Leave this unchecked.

   • Scope (Functional Areas): Select the following:

     • Contact Information

     • Core Compensation

     • Organizations and Roles

     • Payroll Interface

     • Personal Data

     • Staffing

     • System

     • Tenant Non-Configurable

     • Time Off and Leave

     • Worker Profile and Skills

   • Include Workday Owned Scope: Check this box.

   • Locked Out due to Excessive Failed Signon Attempts: Leave unchecked.

   • Restricted to IP Ranges: Leave empty

4. Click OK. You should now see the API client listed along with the Client ID and Client Secret. Copy these two details.

   

Get token endpoint

In the search bar, go to task View API Clients. You should be able to see the Token Endpoint there. Copy this endpoint's URL. Copy the token and save it for later.

Create Integration System User (ISU)

1. Go to the task Create Integration System User.

2. Configure the following:

   • User Name: isu_remote_integration
   • Set a password for the user.
   • Uncheck Require New Password at Next Sign In.
   • Set Session Timeout Minutes to 0 to prevent session expiration.
   • Check Do Not Allow UI Sessions.

   

3. Click OK, then Done on the next screen.

Set up security group and assign ISU

1. Search for and open Create Security Group in Workday.
2. Choose Integration System Security Group (Unconstrained) as the type.
3. Name the group issg_remote_integration.
4. Click OK to create the group.
5. Add the ISU isu_remote_integration to this group.
6. Click OK, then Done.

Configure domain security policies

1. Search for and open Maintain Permissions for Security Group.

2. Select the security group issg_remote_integration you created in the previous step.

   

3. Grant View Only permissions for the following domain policies.

   Worker Data: Current Staffing Information
   Worker Data: Historical Staffing Information
   Worker Data: Dependents	
   Person Data: Public Work Phone Integration
   Person Data: Home Contact Information
   Worker Data: General Staffing Information
   National ID Identification
   Person Data: Private Home Phone Integration
   Person Data: Private Work Phone Integration
   Worker Data: Public Worker Reports
   Worker Data: Organization Information
   Person Data: Work Contact Information
   Person Data: Nationalities
   Person Data: Public Home Phone Integration
   Worker Data: Staffing Information
   Person Data: Emergency Contacts
   Worker Data: Workers
   Workday Query Language
   Worker Data: Staffing
   Special OX Web Services
   Worker Data: Employment Data
   Worker Data: Service Dates

   And Modify permissions for:

   Worker Data: All Positions
   WQL for Workday Extend

4. Click OK, then Done.

Activate security policy changes

1. Search for Activate Pending Security Policy Changes in Workday.
2. Review the pending changes, add any relevant comments, and click OK to activate them.

Generate refresh token

Now, with the Token Endpoint saved, 

1. Go back to the View API Clients section.
2. Scroll down to the endpoints list and select the API Clients for Integrations tab.
3. Find the API client you created earlier and click on the three dots next to it.
4. From the dropdown, select API Client > Manage Refresh Tokens for Integrations.

5. For Workday Account option, select integration system user isu_remote_integration created earlier.

   

6. Click OK and check Generate New Refresh Token checkbox.
7. Once done, click on OK and you will see the new Refresh Token. Copy and save this token securely.

Enter credentials in Remote

1. Log into your Remote account and navigate to Company Settings > Workflow & Integrations > Integrations. Click Add on the Workday integration card.
2. In the Add Workday Integration section, click on Add Integration or select the Add Workday Integration button in the top right corner.
3. Enter the Client ID, Client Secret, Refresh Token, and Token Endpoint from the previous steps and click on Connect.

Create Custom Organization Type

To ensure that Workday workers are synced with Remote, the integration requires the creation of a custom org named Remote EOR.

1. From Workday, go to the Maintain Organization Types report.
2. Go to the Custom tab and click Edit and + to add a new row to the table.

3. Add EOR against Organization Type Name and Company as Used by Organization Subtypes. 
4. Check the Allow Reorganization Tasks box. This ensures that you are able to move existing workers and add new workers to this organization type.
5. Click OK to save.

6. Now, launch the Create Custom Organization task. Select EOR as the Custom Organization Type and any Reorganization of your choice. Click OK.

7. Fill out the form as follows:
   1. Name: Remote EOR
   2. Code: Remote EOR
   3. Subtype: Company
   4. Visibility: Everyone
8. Click OK to save configuration

Assign any employees you wish to sync to this organization. Employees added to this organization will be automatically synced to Remote.

Manually Sync Workers from Workday to Remote

Remote automatically syncs worker data every few hours. To perform a manual sync of data between your Workday tenant and Remote, follow these steps:

1. First, ensure the Employee data toggle in the settings is enabled.

2. Head over to your Workday integration page in Remote and click on the Sync Now button. This might take a few seconds to complete.

On successful sync, you will find your Workday workers populated in the People tab.

How to disable the integration

If you want to disable the Workday integration, do the following:

1. Log into Remote and go to Company settings > Integrations & APIs > Workday.
2. Click on the Remote integration button.
3. From the pop-up, select Delete integration to confirm.

Frequently asked questions

I followed the setup instructions, but none of the workers are syncing to Remote

If no workers are syncing, it usually indicates a permissions issue. Please verify that all required permissions are included for the API client.

Some employees are not syncing to Remote

If you notice certain workers are not syncing, then check the following:

1. Verify custom org configuration:

   Make sure all workers you want to sync have been added to the custom org created.

2. Check email addresses: 

   Records in Workday and Remote are matched using work and personal emails. If the worker already exists in Remote, the email addresses must match exactly to update the correct users. To sync, temporarily update the email in Workday to match the existing Remote record. Once synced, you can revert the email if needed.

   If the email is tied to an older archived profile for the same person, contact our support team to merge the profiles.

3. Verify start dates:

   New employees in Remote: If no record exists for the email, the start date must be in the future for that EOR employee.

   Existing workers in "Created" status: Start date must also be in the future for EOR employees and contractors who have not onboarded yet.

   Workers in "Active" status: Start date can be any value (past, future, or blank). Remote ignores changes to start date for active workers.

   Recommended approach: If a worker's start date is in the past, onboard them directly on the Remote platform rather than through the HRIS integration. Once the worker is active in Remote, all future updates to their profile can be synced through the integration.

If only certain workers are missing, follow these steps:

1. Check the custom org

   Ensure the workers you want to sync are added to the custom org.

2. Verify email addresses
   • Remote matches worker records based on email addresses (work or personal)
   • For existing users in Remote, the email in Workday must match exactly

   • If necessary, temporarily update the email in Workday to match Remote, perform a manual sync, and then revert the email if needed.

     Note: Any email changes in Workday will continue to sync automatically to Remote

3. Check for archived profiles

   If a worker's email is linked to an archived profile in Remote, contact support to merge the profiles.

If you have verified the above and the issue persists, contact Remote support with the following information:

• Screenshots of the Permission Group configuration for the Service User
• List of workers not syncing, including for each their Name, Email in Remote, Workday work and personal emails, Start date, Workday Employee ID.

How to capture screenshots of permissions:

1. Service user permission group:

   • In Workday, search for Maintain Permissions for Security Group and open the task.
   • Select the security group issg_remote_integration.
   • Set Operation to Maintain to preview all permissions.
   • Take screenshots covering all listed domain policies.

   

2. API client permissions:

   • In Workday search, navigate to View API Clients task.
   • Go to the API Clients for Integrations tab.
   • Click on your API client and then on More... to expand and show all assigned scopes.
   • Take screenshots to capture all scoped listed here.

   

Note: If the permissions list is long, please scroll and capture multiple screenshots to ensure nothing is missed.

I want to make changes to a worker's profile before onboarding starts

You can update the following fields in Workday before onboarding begins in Remote:

• Name
• Start date
• Job title
• Email address

Changes may take up to an hour to reflect in Remote automatically. To apply updates immediately, perform a manual sync in Remote.