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The EDATE() function returns a date that is a specified number of time units (months, days, or years) before or after a given start date, making it useful for dynamic date calculations.

Key Features

• Supports day, month, and year offsets.

• Allows negative values to calculate dates in the past.

• Defaults to the month unit if the unit is not specified.

• Provides clear error messages for incorrect usage.

• Supports both forward and backward date shifts.

• Clamps day to the end of the month when overflow occurs.

Syntax

The standard syntax, where the offset_value is in months.

EDATE([start_date], offset_value)

Alternate Syntax

In situations where you need date shifts to be dynamic based on different time scales, you can use a unit parameter that allows specifying the unit of time.

EDATE(start_date, offset, [unit])

Arguments

• start_date: The original date (in this case, the employee’s hire date).

• offset_value: The number of months to shift the date forward or backward. A value of 12 moves the date forward by one year

• unit (optional):

  • "m" for months (default)

  • "y" for years

  • "d" for days
    If the unit is omitted, it defaults to months, mimicking Excel-like behavior

Examples:

• EDATE("2025-01-01", 2) → 2025-03-01

• EDATE("2025-01-01", 10, "d") → 2025-01-11

• EDATE("2025-01-01", -5, "m") → 2024-08-01

• EDATE("2025-01-01", 3, "y") → 2028-01-01

Notes

• Syntax Validation:

  • Must include at least two arguments.

  • If the optional third argument is used, it must be one of "d", "m", or "y".

• Argument Validation:

  • start_date must be a valid date.

  • offset must be an integer.

  • Only one unit type is allowed. Mixed or invalid units like "md" will trigger a validation error.

Example

Awarding an Anniversary Bonus Based on Hire Date

The following formula determines whether an employee is eligible for an anniversary bonus by checking if their hire date aligns with the current reporting period:

IF(EDATE(Attr[Hire Date], 12) = PERIOD_DATE("start", 0), Comp[Anniversary Bonus], 0)

This formula adds 12 months to the employee’s hire date using the EDATE function to calculate the first work anniversary. It then compares this adjusted date to the current period’s start date using PERIOD_DATE("start", 0).

• If the anniversary date falls on the start of the current reporting period, the employee qualifies for the Anniversary Bonus specified in the compensation data.

• If not, the bonus value defaults to 0.

The DATEDIF() function computes the difference between two dates in terms of years, months, or days. This supports more precise tenure-based and eligibility calculations.

Syntax

DATEDIF([start_date],[end_date], "unit")

Arguments

• start_date: A valid date attribute or a date-producing function.

• end_date: A valid date attribute or date-producing function.

• unit:

  • "d" for days

  • "m" for months

  • "y" for years

Note: Both start_date and end_date must be valid date expressions. The unit is mandatory and must be one of the accepted types.

Key Behavior Rules

1. Inclusive Date Range for "d" (days): Includes both start and end dates in the count.Example: DATEDIF("2025-05-12", "2025-05-15", "d") → 4

2. Negative Differences Supported: If start_date > end_date, the result will be negative. Example: DATEDIF("2025-05-15", "2025-05-12", "d") → -4

3. Exact Month and Year Units: "m" (months) and "y" (years) count only full units.

   • Partial months or years are not counted.

   • Example: DATEDIF("2025-01-31", "2025-02-28", "m") → 0

4. Accurate Day Counts Across Calendar Months: Day calculations honor varying month lengths. Example: DATEDIF("2025-01-31", "2025-02-02", "d") → 3

Example

Evaluating Eligibility for a Short-Term Bonus Based on Tenure

The following formula determines whether an employee qualifies for a short-term bonus based on the length of time they held a specific position:

IF(DATEDIF(Attr[Position Start Date], Attr[Position End Date], "m") < 6, Comp[Short-Term Bonus], 0)

This logic calculates the number of complete months between the employee's position start date and end date. If the tenure is less than 6 months, the employee is eligible to receive the Short-Term Bonus specified in the compensation data. If the tenure is 6 months or more, the bonus amount defaults to 0, indicating no short-term bonus is awarded.

The DATE() function defines dates explicitly in formulas, which helps in performing direct and date comparisons.

Key Features

• Supports date format (YYYY-MM-DD).

• Supports syntax to include an optional parameter to define other date formats

• Enables date comparison without type mismatch.

• Provides error messages for invalid or ambiguous formats.

Syntax

DATE("MM/DD/YYYY")

Arguments

"YYYY-MM-DD": A string representing a specific date (year-month-day). This date is compared directly to the employee's hire date.

Alternate Syntax

In situations where you need to input dates in non-default formats (e.g., U.S. or European formats), the DATE() function supports an optional second parameter to explicitly define the intended format. This helps avoid ambiguity and ensures the expression engine correctly interprets the input.

You can use the alternative syntax:

• If the month and day order is locale-specific and ambiguous

• If you copy-paste from Excel or external systems that use formats like "MM/DD/YYYY"

If the date is passed in a non-YYYY-MM-DD format and no second parameter is provided, it gives a validation message.

Supported Alternative Syntax Patterns

Notes

Years must be 4-digit (YYYY) – two-digit (YY) formats are not supported

Example

Determining Merit Cycle Eligibility Based on a Hire Date

In organizations where the performance cycle runs from June to June, employees are often required to be employed for a certain minimum period before they become eligible for merit increases. A common policy is to include only those employees who were hired before the cycle start date, for example, June 1st.

To determine if an employee is eligible for the current Merit Cycle (2024–2025), we check if their hire date falls before June 1, 2024.

IF(Attr[Hire Date] = DATE("2024-06-01"), Comp[Bonus], 0)

This formula checks whether the employee’s hire date matches June 1, 2024. If the condition is true, the employee is included in the merit cycle, and the system uses the value from the Comp[Bonus] field. If the hire date does not match the specified date, the result is 0, meaning not eligible.

With this release, you can perform Actions such as Termination, Promotion, and Transfer on existing employees directly through Data Load Rules (DLRs).

This capability enables organizations to streamline bulk workforce changes while maintaining consistency in compensation, reporting attributes, and allocation data.

In addition to that, you can also perform post-action updates to compensation items, allocations, and even employee types using the Data Load Rules, eliminating the need for manual edits post-promotion or transfer. To learn more about the Actions menu, click here.

Key Notes

The existing Workforce Planning - Employee Load Data Load Rule, traditionally used to load employee data, has been extended to support advanced planning actions. This means that Promotions, Transfers, and Terminations can now be initiated using the same DLR process. To learn more about the Workforce Planning - Employee Load DLR, click here, and to learn more about Data Load Rules, click here.

Prerequisites

As you know, the initial step to create a Data Load Rule is to prepare the input file. To use this feature, your input file must now include two new columns:

• Action: Specifies the planning action (e.g., Promote, Transfer, Terminate)

• Planned Action Date: Defines the effective date of the action

These columns ensure the execution of the appropriate planning action, such as creating new positions, ending existing roles, or transitioning employees across budget entities.

Mandatory Fields for Each Action Type

The table below shows which fields are mandatory in your input file based on the action type. This ensures accurate execution and avoids errors during the load process:

Notes

• For Terminate, all other fields are ignored.

• For Promote and Transfer, optional compensation updates can also be included.

Additionally, ensure each employee included in the load file has complete profile data, including:

• All relevant Reporting Attributes

• Compensation Attributes set up

• Compensation Items and Compensation Attributes

• Defined Allocations

Refer to the sample file, which demonstrates Termination, Promotion, and Transfer actions using Data Load Rules. Each row aligns with the action-specific requirements:

• EMP1 – Terminate: Only required fields are populated.

• EMP2 – Promote: Includes position and salary updates.

• EMP3 – Transfer: Provide updated budget entity and salary.

All records must include the Action and Planned Action Date fields and meet the mandatory field criteria based on the action type.

Using the Workforce Planning - Employee Load DLR to Perform Actions

The process to create a Workforce – Employee Data DLR for advanced planning actions (Promote, Transfer, and Terminate) is the same as the existing Workforce employee load process, except that the Define Overall Settings tab will now have the newly added fields, both Action and Planned Action Date, as shown below.

To learn more about how to create a Workforce Planning - Employee Load Data Load Rule, click here.

High-Level Steps to Create or Use the DLR

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Data Integration > Data Load Rules.

2. Click Add to create a new DLR or open an existing one.

3. Select the following on the New Data Load Rule tab:

   1. Load Type: File Load

   2. Load Item: Workforce Planning

   3. Load Sub Item: Workforce - Employee Data

4. Complete all the steps and proceed to Load Data, then click Finish to run the DLR. To learn more about DLRs, click here.

5. Go to Workforce Planning > Employees to validate the Actions in Workforce Planning.

6. Filter by the scenario and entity to view affected employees.
   The image below shows how actions like Promotion and Transfer are executed via the DLR, resulting in two employee profiles (e.g., for EMP2 and EMP3), just like when using the Actions menu in the application. The Planned Action column confirms the applied actions (e.g., Promotion, Transfer Out/In, Termination).
   

Verify that:

• Terminated employees show end dates.
  
  

• Promoted employees have updated roles and compensation.
  
  

• Transferred employees are now listed under the new entity.
  
  

Updating Fields Using Data Load Rules (DLR)

After applying advanced planning actions (such as Transfer or Promotion) to employee records, you can optionally update certain fields using the same Data Load Rule (DLR) structure. This allows for further modifications to attributes like:

• Bonus

• Allowances

• Allocations

• Employee Type (only after completing the promotion or transfer action)

Important: Be sure to remove the Action field from the update rows. This avoids re-triggering any previous actions unintentionally.

General Guidelines

• Actions must be applied only to valid employee records.

• Employee Type cannot be changed during an action, but it can be updated afterward.

• Allocation splits and compensation dependencies are retained unless explicitly overridden.

How to Update Compensation Fields

To update compensation-related fields (e.g., Bonus, Allowance) for employee records that have already undergone actions like Transfer or Promotion:

1. Use the same DLR that was used to load the employee data originally.

2. In the input file:

   1. Update the compensation values (e.g., Bonus, Allowance) and Employee Type (e.g., from Full-Time (FT) to Part-Time (PT)).

   2. Ensure both the Action and Planned Action Date columns are blank.

      Note:

      Employee Type cannot be modified as part of an action like Transfer or Promotion; it can be updated after the action is complete.

      

      
      

3. Ensure both the Action and Planned Action Date columns are blank.

4. Re-upload the file and run the same DLR.

Example:

Employee EMP3 previously had a Transfer applied. So, after running the DLR, you can validate these changes by navigating to the Employee roster and opening the Employee Number link of the EMP3 Employee profile.

• Original values: Bonus = 10, Allowance = 12,000, Employee Type: FT

• New values: Bonus = 20, Allowance = 24,000, so the I/P compensation shows the calculation as 24000/12 = 2000 per month, Employee Type: PT
  

Limitations

You cannot update values for:

• Terminated employee profiles

• Transfer-Out profiles

• Previous positions in a Promotion profile