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Add employees in bulk via CSV file

Available for the following plans: Employment Unlimited
Available for the following user access level: Admin    

Updating your employee records individually is a time-consuming process, which is why a CSV bulk uploading feature is essential.

This article explains how to use the Import Employees feature. This lets you choose from a pre-prepared template or your own CSV file and then bulk upload the data to your Employment Hero platform. It also includes a field mapping product so you can customise the location of specific data fields in your CSV file.

Helpful Hint

Currently, you cannot use the Bulk Import feature to update Account Emails. This is due to the Account Email being used to map the changes in the CSV File to the correlating employee profile.

Getting started

Upload a CSV file

Important

When preparing your CSV file for import, ensure address details (e.g. street address and country) are grouped together to help ensure a successful import.

Do not delete or remove any columns before uploading your file. This can clear existing data, cause errors, and affect your records on the platform. 

  1. Click  People on the main menu.
  2. Select Import Employees from the submenu.
  3. Choose which one of the templates you need:
    • Update Employee Employment Details
    • Advanced Import Employees (including pay details)
    • Quick Import Employees
    • Update Employee's Custom Fields
    • Update employee custom work hours
  4. Tick or leave the following checkboxes as appropriate:
    • Include existing user information (If you select this, 2FA will be required to access sensitive data such as tax details.)
    • Include terminated users
  5. Click the Download button.
  6. Enter the required details in the template you downloaded. If you want employees to be added to your pay runs, please ensure these fields are completed. 
  7. Save the changes you made to the file.
  8. Upload the file by clicking or dragging it into the Click or Drag file(s) here to upload tile.
  9. Click the Yes button.
  10. Map the columns in the CSV file to the correct fields in the Employment Hero platform. (If the CSV file includes the Contract Type column, select either Permanent or Fixed Term as the field cannot be blank.)
  11. Click the Continue button.
  12. If there are any errors on the CSV file, you'll need to resolve the errors before you can move on. You'll see a list outlining the errors in EH, go back to your CSV file and make the changes. Save your edited file and upload to Employment Hero again and click continue. For more tips, check out our Troubleshooting section below.
  13. New employees will now receive an email invitation prompting them to create their Employment Hero Work account password and begin the onboarding process.
  14. Check the Imported Successfully page, which shows the number of employee records created and updated. (Refer to this article's Troubleshooting section if import errors apply.)
  15. Click the Go to Employee List page if you would like to review the employee data.

FAQs

How do I get the most out of this feature?

We recommend using the pre-prepared sample CSV templates available. We have listed the following tips on how to best use these templates and help ensure a successful upload of your data:

  • We recommend adding a personal email in the Account Email column. Enabling a valid personal email address for login purposes ensures employees will still be able to access their read-only employee information after they leave your organization.
  • 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; an error in row two means the error is in row three (and so on).
  • Remember that fields with an asterisk are always mandatory.
  • Follow the naming conventions used in the column headers of your CSV. For example, if an employee belongs to multiple teams (such as HR, Admin, and Payroll), separate the team names using the | symbol. The correct format should look like this: John Smith HR | Admin | Payroll.
  • In the Update Employee Employment Details CSV, remember that the Start Dates and Job Titles fields are interdependent. You can not complete one field without the other.
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.

Troubleshooting

General fix for 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.

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 BSBs and 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 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.
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. This is because row 1 contains the header names.

To resolve import errors, follow the below steps:
 

  1. From the platform, re-download the file that had the import error.
  2. 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.)
  3. Re-upload the corrected CSV file.

Further information

CSV fields to update together

Employment history

If you need to update the Employment History details stored on your HR platform in bulk, you will need to update all the following fields together:

  • Employment type (Full-time | Part-time | Casual)
  • Job title
  • Start date (dd/mm/yyyy)

Other fields (A to Z)

A - F
Account Columns
  • Hyphens being included.
  • Not 6 digits.
  • Including alpha characters.
  • Space between digits 3 and 4.
Account email Account emails can only be changed within the person’s profile, not via CSV. If you change someone’s account email in the CSV, you will create a new employee.
Account Number Columns
  • Spaces in the numbers.
  • Hyphens in the numbers.
  • Including alpha characters.
Additional Cost Centres
  • Adding ‌a cost centre before updating from payroll classic. If it has been added to the payroll classic platform and not re-synced to Employment Hero, Employment Hero will think it does not exist.
  • Not utilising the '|' symbol to separate multiple additional cost centres.
Allocated Percentage Columns Empty for those with multiple accounts.
Anniversary date [dd/mm/yyyy] Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
Classification
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a combination that does not exist.
Company Landline
  • Leading zero being dropped.
  • Spaces being added.
Company Mobile
  • Leading zero being dropped.
  • Spaces being added.
Contract type [Permanent|Fixed term]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
  • Leaving blank for Full-time or Part-time employment types.
  • Head to the 'Contract Type' column in your CSV file and enter either Permanent or Fixed Term, depending on the employees employment status.
Contract type is only applicable for full-time and part-time employment types.
  • Ensure the 'Contract Type' field is left blank for independent contractors
  • Anniversary Date: If an employee is assigned to an award (Classification, Industrial Instrument and/or Pay rate Template), they will need to have an anniversary date listed. This is the anniversary date of the pay rate and indicates when the employee may be eligible for their next pay increase based on the award settings.
Could not assign the correct Pay Rate Template to employee This error occurs when the pay rate template listed in the CSV data does not align with the classification and/or industrial instrument selected for the employee. Ensure the correct pay rate template is listed.
Date of birth Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
Employing Entity Misspelling.
Employment type [Full-time | Part-time | Casual]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
End Date Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
ESA Details missing from one column that is related to the others.
Fixed Amount Columns Leaving empty.
G - L
Gender [Female | Male | Non-binary | Prefer not to say]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Home Phone
  • Leading zero being dropped.
  • Spaces being added.
Industrial Instrument
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a combination that does not exist.
Job Title Leaving empty.
time off allowance templates Renaming time off allowance templates (LATs) in the Employment Hero platform ensures that each template has a unique name. If awards are in use, including the award number at the end of the template name can help differentiate the LATs.
Line 1 contains empty header or columns
 
This occurs when the CSV file has empty columns at the end of the document. To open this, open the file, delete or all needed 'Columns' and then save as CSV again.
Line 0 unfortunately an error has occurred
 
This error typically occurs when mandatory columns are removed from the CSV file. To learn about what columns are required when updating specific fields, refer to this article's CSV fields to update together section.
M - R
Marital status [Single | Married | In a Relationship]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Nationality
  • Listing a nationality that is not listed.
  • Misspelling.
income type
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting an option that does not exist in your platform.
Pay details - Effective from [dd/mm/yyyy]
  • Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
  • Not updating this field when you are attempting to create a new salary line.
  • Ensure a date is listed in the Pay details - effective from column.
Pay Rate Template
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a combination that does not exist.
Pay schedule
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting an option that does not exist in your platform.
Personal Mobile Number
  • Leading zero being dropped.
  • Spaces being added.
Primary Cost Centre
  • Adding ‌a cost centre before updating from Payroll. If it has been added to the Payroll platform and not re-synced to HR, HR will think it does not exist.
  • Not utilising the '|' symbol to separate multiple additional cost centres.
Primary Manager Email
  • Putting an email that is not the account email for the manager.
  • Putting the manager’s name instead of an email.
S - Z
Salary option [Annum | Hour]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Secondary Manager Email
  • Putting an email that is not the account email for the manager.
  • Putting the manager’s name instead of an email.
Social Insurance Number (SIN)
  • Inputting asterisks instead of numbers
  • Hyphens listed.
  • Spaces being added.
  • Less than 9 digits.
Start Date Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
Team [separate multiple teams with '|'] Not using the '|' symbol to separate multiple teams.
Termination Date
  • Not in dd/mm/yyyy format.
  • Missing when termination type is populated.
Timesheets [Enabled | Disabled | EnabledForExceptions]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Title [Mr | Ms | Mrs | Miss | Dr | Mx]
  • Misspelling.
  • Adding a full stop at the end.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Type [Employee | Contractor]
  • Misspelling.
  • Inputting a type that is not listed.
Unable to touch historical versions File imports are only able to update the 'current' salary record on an employee's profile or create a new record. It is not possible to amend previous salary records. To resolve this error, ensure the Pay details - effective date matches the date listed on the employee's current salary details or list a new date to create a new salary record.

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