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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Roles, Time Zones, and Snapshots

Concept: Roles, Time Zones, and Snapshots

Time Zones on Role Assignments

Workday enables you to configure the time zone in which role assignments become effective. When you configure time zones for roles in the
Time Zone Configuration
 section of the
Edit Tenant Setup - System
 task, consider these options from the
Role Assignment Time Zone Option
 prompt:
Option
Description
Blank
If you leave the
Role Assignment Time Zone Option
 blank, Workday populates the time zone as Pacific Time. Workday recommends configuring a time zone to avoid ambiguity in future transactions.
Assignee Location
Workday sets the time zone based on the location of the role assignee.
  • When a role has multiple assignees, Workday uses the earliest time zone.
  • When you assign an unfilled position to the role, Workday uses the location on the job requisition.
  • If the job requisition has multiple locations, Workday uses the earliest time zone.
  • If a role assignment is changing location, Workday uses the location of the effective date of the role assignment change.
If you assign a role using a subprocess of a role-related business process, Workday uses the
Assignee Location
 option.
If you select the
Assignee Location
 option on the
Role Assignment Time Zone Option
 prompt and then use the
Assign Role
 task from the related actions menu on an organization, the time zone will default to Pacific Time.
Tenant Default
Configure this time zone for your tenant to default to when no other time zone is selected.
When you configure 1 of these time zone options, Workday recommends that you also:
  • Opt-in to the Workday 32 - Time Zone functionality by accessing the
    Maintain Feature Opt-Ins
     report. You can't reverse this action after opting in to the functionality.
  • Configure the
    Manage: Role Assignment Time Zone
     domain so that you can override default time zones in role assignment tasks. It also enables you to specify a time zone when you add, remove, or change a role assignment for a worker on a task or business process.
Once you select a
Role Assignment Time Zone Option
, you can't disable it.
When you configure a value for
Role Assignment Time Zone Option
 on the
Edit Tenant Setup – System
 task and you:
  • Select the
    Roles
    Assign Roles
     related action on a role-enabled business object.
  • Assign roles during the creation of a role-enabled business object.
Workday populates the time zone with:
  • The default time zone value you configured on the
    Edit Tenant Setup – System
     task when the
    Role Assignment Time Zone Option
     is
    Tenant Default.
  • The time zone of the processing user when the
    Role Assignment Time Zone Option
     is
    Assignee Location.
A worker's time zone is determined, in order of preference, by:
  • Their specified time zone.
  • The time zone of the location of their primary position.
  • The tenant default time zone.
  • PST.

The Snapshot Date Model and Role Assignments

Role assignments use snapshots to capture the role assignees that are effective as of a particular date. When you enter role assignments in date order, each effective date is a snapshot view of the role assignees for your role assignments. A snapshot is updated if a role assignee is removed as of the effective date.
When you enter roles out-of-date order and back-date the
Effective Date
 field, you should add the roles to all later-dated snapshots as well.
  • To automatically update later-dated snapshots with changed role assignments, select the
    Update Later-Dated Assignments
     check box on the
    Assign Roles - Add/Remove
     and
    Assign Roles - Change Assignments
     actions.
  • You must have access to the
    Roles: Manage
     domain to select this check box.
When you use the
Assign Roles
 related action or a subprocess to enter role assignments, you must update future snapshots manually.
Example: Dave is added with a back-dated
Effective Date
.
Date Entered
Effective Date
Workers Added
2021-01-03
2021-01-03
+Cynthia
+Kim
2021-01-03
2020-01-28
+Dave
2021-01-10
2021-01-10
+Amy
Cynthia
Kim
Dave has the role between 2020-01-28 to 2021-01-02 only. To ensure that Dave has the role until 2021-01-15, you must add Dave to the role twice: effective as of 2021-01-03, and effective as of 2021-01-10.
Date Entered
Effective Date
Workers Added
2021-01-03
2021-01-03
+Cynthia
+Kim
2021-01-03
2020-01-28
+Dave
2021-01-10
2021-01-10
+Amy
Cynthia
Kim
2021-01-15
2021-01-03
+Dave
Cynthia
Kim
2021-01-15
2021-01-10
+Dave
Amy
Cynthia
Kim