This article explains how Deel HR clients can use the Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information feature to edit the details of their workforce in bulk.
The Bulk edit feature also enables clients to record the changes made to their workers’ data and log the reasons for modifying any data for audit purposes.
In this article:
About Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information
How to use the Bulk Edit feature
How to Download Current Data of Workers
How to Upload New Data of Workers
What are the accepted formats in every field?
Validation Errors & How to Fix Them
About Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information
With the Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information feature, you can edit details of your workforce in bulk by downloading a .csv file, editing the necessary fields, and uploading the file back onto the Deel platform. This feature will save you time and effort and reduce the chances of errors which typically come about while manually updating worker details individually.
Worker types supported fully:
- Direct employees you have hired through your local entity (Deel HR direct employees)
Worker types supported but in a restricted manner:
- Direct employees you are paying through Global Payroll (Global Payroll Direct Employees)
- EOR employees
- Contractors
What does the .CSV file contain?
In addition to the workers’ data, the .CSV file lists the Modification reasons allowed by the client admin, and also has two additional columns for every field -
- One column for the users to schedule a data change to occur at any point in time in the future.
- Another column to provide reasons for modifying data.
How to use the Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information
There are two parts to this feature. The first part involves downloading the current data of the workers, while the second part involves uploading any updated data for the workers.
How to Download Current Data of Workers
✅ Step 1 - Access the Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information Feature in People List
Select the People tab on your home page.
Navigate to the People List, and click on "More Actions" in the top right.
From there select the "Bulk Edit of workers' information" option.
✅ Step 2 - Select Download Current Data of Workers
Select download current data of workers to choose the workers whose information you want to edit and the fields you wish to modify.
✅ Step 3 - Select the Worker Type
Select the worker type whose information you want to edit. Once you are done selecting, click Continue.
✅ Step 4 - Select workers
Select the workers whose information you want to edit. Once you are done selecting, click Continue.
✅ Step 5 – Select fields to edit
After selecting workers, the available editable fields will be displayed on the screen. Select the fields you would like to edit. Once you are done selecting, click Continue.
Note that the fields may vary based on the worker type (Direct Employee, GP, Contractors & EOR).
✅ Step 6 - File Configuration
You can choose if you want to provide different reasons and an effective date for different fields or the same reason for all fields.
You can provide reasons as to why you are modifying the data and can schedule changes to come into effect on a specific date and time. Both of these fields are optional.
✅ Step 7 – Download current data of direct employee
"Download CSV" button to generate a .CSV file containing the selected workers' data and the editable fields.
The downloaded .CSV file will also include the columns for "Scheduled Data Change" and "Reason for Modifying Data."
✅ Step 8 – Fill in CSV
In the CSV file, edit the data that you want to modify. Open the downloaded .CSV file using any spreadsheet editor (e.g., Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets).
Modify the data in the relevant fields as needed. Ensure that you adhere to the allowed Modification Reasons. You can also provide appropriate justifications for data modifications.
After modifying the workers’ information, save the changes made in the .CSV file on your local device.
A comprehensive list of accepted CSV fields here
How to Upload New Data of Workers
✅ Step 1 – Select Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information
Select the People tab on your home page. On the people list, click More Actions and click Bulk Edit of Workers’ Information.
✅ Step 2 – Select Upload New Data of Workers
Select upload new data of workers so you can upload the CSV file that you just edited. Deel will validate the newly uploaded data and you can review the field that you wish to modify.
✅ Step 3 – Upload the CSV File
Select the modified .CSV file from your device and confirm the upload. Once you added the CSV file, click Continue.
In case of any errors, the system will prompt an error message.
Once validation is done, and there were no errors found in your CSV file, then click Continue to review and apply the changes.
✅ Step 4 – Validate Data
It may take a while to validate the file depending on the file size.The system will perform basic validation to ensure that the uploaded .CSV file is correct and that critical fields have not been altered to avoid disruptions.
A list of possible errors & how to fix them here
✅ Step 5 – Review and Apply Changes
You can review the workers and their new data by clicking the Review button.
This will redirect you to another page that shows the table with the workers’ names and job titles. Some data might have different colors depending on your modification.
- Data with purple color shows the new data
- Deleted with red color means the data will be deleted
- Data with grey color means there will be no changes
After reviewing the new data, click Back located at the top of the table. You need to tick the checkbox in order to confirm that you have reviewed and approved the imported data. Click apply in order to import the data.
What are the accepted formats in every field?
[ACCORDION] CSV Fields
| Date of birth | The format should be YYYY-MM-DD |
| Work email | johndoe@mail.com |
| Nationality | Format should be ISO 3166-1alpha-2, for example: US |
| Phone | Input should be a numeric value |
| Calling code | Country calling code with leading +, for example: +972 |
| Country | Format should be ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, for example: US |
| State | Format should be ISO state / province,for example: TX |
| Vacation yearly policy |
Input should be a numeric value Days off per year. If the policy is unlimited, leave the field blank. |
| Vacation accrual start date | Format should be YYYY-MM-DD |
| Employee number | Input should be a numeric value |
| Gross salary | Input should be a numeric value, for example 1000.45 |
| Employment type |
The value must be either: PART_TIME FULL_TIME |
| Part time percentage |
If employment type is part time this field will contain part-time percentage, for example: 50. Leave empty if the worker is full-time |
| Contract currency | Format should be ISO 4217, for example USD |
| Contract effective date | YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ, for example: 2015-09-08T04:00:00+00:0 |
| Contract timezone |
Here’s the list of timezones https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones For example: America/Toronto |
| Department |
|
| Work location | The value must match the name of the Work location in your Organization Settings. |
| Direct manager | The value should be the work email of the direct manager |
[/ACCORDION]
Validation Errors & How to Fix Them
[ACCORDION]Custom field value not found
The entered value cannot be found.
Fix this error by making sure that you are entering the correct value. If you are trying to create a new value within the custom field, this is not possible in the Bulk Edit feature.
[/ACCORDION]
[ACCORDION]Nested custom field depth can't be more than 3
Fix this error by making sure you are following the correct format. For example, Product//Product Management//Product Operations. Each // indicates a level and we have a maximum of three levels.
[/ACCORDION]
[ACCORDION]Nested path for custom field values not found A, B, C
The custom field and value exist but the entered order levels doesn’t exist. Fix this by making sure you are entering the correct order of levels.
[/ACCORDION]
[ACCORDION]Direct manager was found for {Worker} but the CSV file has an empty value for the direct manager field. Reupload the CSV file with filled value of direct manager or by continuing, the direct manager relationship will be deleted
This is a warning, if the direct manager exists and you want to delete it, then you can proceed. If you want to fix this, fill the direct manager with their work email in the .CSV file.
[/ACCORDION]
[ACCORDION]CSV Snapshot not found
Please use the CSV file that you have downloaded on the Bulk Edit feature since this contains a values associated with the data.
[/ACCORDION]
[ACCORDION]Manager not found
Fix this by providing the right work email in the CSV File.
[/ACCORDION]
Frequently Asked Questions
What worker details can I edit?
As an organization admin, you should be able to edit most details of your workforce like any professional/job-related field (entity, location, manager, title, currency, any of the compensation fields & their associated percentages, department, group, custom fields, level, equity, etc).
Which details are not allowed to edit?
A few fields can’t be edited typically for any of the following reasons:
- Any field, which when edited, would trigger a contract amendment or change
- Any field that can’t be edited by the client (due to legal or privacy reasons) and can only be edited by the workers themselves
Why is my uploaded .CSV file showing an error?
The system does a basic validation to check if the right file has been uploaded, and that the fields/columns, etc are not changed as changing them would break the upload flow. Additionally using special characters like commas is not accepted in currency updates, to avoid such errors remove any special character in the file.