Integrate Workday with Perk

Only available for Premium and Pro accounts.
Only account admins can perform this task.

Workday is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for HR. Their applications have been adopted by thousands of organizations worldwide, spanning multiple industries, including more than 50% of Fortune 500 companies. 

Understanding the Workday integration

The Workday integration lets you:

  • Provision users — onboard and offboard employees directly from your employee directory.
  • Auto-fill employee profile information on Perk.
  • Trigger manual syncs to import new employees and archive those who left.
  • Run fully automated syncs between Workday and Perk.
  • Set up accounts automatically, such as adding cost objects and approval processes (Pro plan only).

Before you begin

  • To enable the Workday integration, you must be an account admin on Perk and Workday.
  • If you have SSO enabled for Perk, it is recommended to disable Allowing user creation and Allowing user updates, as this could conflict with the integration. For more information, see Customize SSO settings.
  • To disable the Workday integration, follow the instructions on Manage integrations.
  • If a person's first name, last name, or email in the identity provider (IDP) is different from Workday, the IDP will override the data synced from Workday to Perk.
  • If the admin who set up the integration is no longer active, the sync will fail, and you'll need to reconnect the integration with a new admin account.
  • If you have any questions or need assistance setting up the integration, contact your account manager. 

1. Connecting Workday to Perk

Note: Connecting Workday requires completing setup steps in both Perk and Workday. Make sure you have admin access to Workday before you begin.

  1. Go to Settings > Integrations.
  2. Find the Workday integration and click Start setup.
  3. Click Enable — this opens the Merge Link pop-up.
  4. Choose your authentication method — see the table below — and follow the corresponding guide on the Merge Help Center to complete the connection. Once connected, return here to set up the integration.

2. Choosing your authentication method

Workday supports two authentication methods. The method you choose determines whether out-of-office sync is available.

Authentication method  When to use Guide to follow
Use my credentials (recommended) For standard employee sync without out-of-office. Workday ISU guide
Use my Workday credentials and also provide OAuth credentials For standard employee sync and out-of-office sync. Workday time-off guide

Note: If you connect using Use my credentials and want to turn on out-of-office sync later, you'll need to add the additional Workday permissions listed below and reconnect through the Merge Link pop-up using Use my Workday credentials and also provide OAuth credentials.

3. Perk permissions required in Workday

Add the following Get Only domain security policy permissions to your Workday security group.

Parent Domain  Subdomain
Domain Security Policy Fields used for integration
Worker Data: Public Worker Reports
Manage: Organization Integration Company hierarchy
Worker Data: Organization Information Cost object, company
Person Data: Name First name, last name
Person Data: Personal Data Date of birth, sex
Person Data: Work Contact Information Contact number
Person Data: Private Work Email Integration Primary email
Person Data: Public Work Email Address Integration Primary email
Worker Data: All Positions Line manager
Worker Data: Current Staffing Information Start date, termination date
Worker Data: Employment Data Employment type
Worker Data: Workers Employment status

If you selected Use my Workday credentials and also provide OAuth credentials, you also need the following Get and View permissions for out-of-office sync.

Operation  Domain Security Policy
Get and View Operation
Get and View Worker Data: Public Worker Reports
Get and View Worker Data: Time Off
Get and View Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off)
Get and View Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Balances Manager View)
Get and View Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Balances)
Get and View Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Manager View)

4. Setting up the Workday integration

After you successfully connect to Workday, navigate to the configuration page to complete your setup.

  1. Start setup:
    1. Go to Settings > Integrations.
    2. Find the Personio integration in the Enabled section and click Manage.
    3. In the Finish setup box, click Configure.
  2. Employee selection: Select which employees to sync to Perk — click either Sync all employees or Sync a group of employees.
    • When Sync all employees is selected, Perk syncs all active employees.
    • When Sync a group of employees is selected, Perk syncs only the selected groups.
  3. Default field selection and mapping: Select and map fields to sync from Workday to Perk. All available fields are selected and mapped by default, with the exception of Unique ID which requires custom mapping or removal.
    • To remove a field, click the trash can icon to the right of the field row.
    • To add a field, click Add default field at the bottom of the default field list.
    • To customize a field mapping, use the left-side column to select an alternative field from Workday.
  4. Custom field selection and mapping: Select and map custom fields to sync from Workday to Perk. All existing custom fields in Perk will be available for sync with Workday.
    • If a custom field is not visible, check that it has been created in Perk.
  5. Company selection and mapping: Select and map companies to sync from Workday to Perk. Workday automatically detects companies and displays them in the left-side column. By default, all companies from Workday are mapped to the default company in Perk.
    • To customize the source field, use the left-hand column to select an alternative source.
    • To customize the company mapping, use the right-hand column to select an alternative company in Perk. If a company is not visible, check that it has been created in Perk.
    • To complete the process, click Save and sync. The initial sync will take a few hours to complete — the account admin will receive an email notification when it's done.
  6. Turning on automatic syncing and error notifications (optional):
    • To automatically sync Workday to Perk on a daily basis, turn on the Automatic sync toggle.
    • To receive error notifications, enter an email address and click Save.

Running a manual sync

Use manual sync to import the latest employee data from Workday at any time. On the Workday integration settings page in Perk, click Sync now to import the latest data.

If there are any errors during the sync, you can download the XLS log to find more details. For more information, see Understanding the integration sync log.

Synced employees are indicated with the Sync icon on the People page.

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