Setting up approvals for your organisation

How to create approval groups and workflow types, set the organisation-wide approval options, and what changes for jobs already in an approval cycle.

Approvals are configured under Settings > Approval Workflows. The page has four tabs: Approval Groups, Workflow Types, Settings and Justification Form. This article covers setting them up. For what submitters and approvers do on a job, see the article "The approval workflow".

Who can configure approvals

System Admins and HR users can open the page and can create, edit and delete approval groups and workflow types. The organisation-wide options (the switch for requiring approvals, admin bypass, editing after approval, and the justification form) can only be saved by a System Admin. An HR user can see them, but a save is refused. Members and Agency users cannot open the page.

Set things up in this order: groups first, then workflow types that use them, then the options.

Approval groups

A group is the set of people who can approve at one level of a workflow. Any approver in the group can approve on behalf of the whole group.

1. Open the Approval Groups tab and select + Add Group. The group is created straight away with a placeholder name, so rename it before you do anything else.
2. Enter a Group Name (up to 255 characters) and, if you want, a Description (up to 2,000 characters).
3. Under Members, use Add member... to pick people one at a time. Use the bin icon next to a name to remove them.
4. Select Save.

Members must be existing users of your organisation. Agency users cannot be added. In an organisation that belongs to a group of companies, eligible users from the parent company can also be added. If you try to save someone who does not qualify, the save fails with a message saying members must be existing, non-agency users of this organisation.

A group with no members cannot be used. Submitting a job that reaches an empty group fails with "Approval group ... has no members. Add members before submitting for approval."

The badge on a group in the list shows how many workflows and approval steps use it. A group that is in use cannot be deleted, and the Delete button is greyed out. That includes groups used only by jobs that were approved long ago.

Workflow types

A workflow type defines the levels a job passes through. Submitters choose one on the Approvals step of job creation, so create one for each route you need, for example a standard route and a senior hire route.

1. Open the Workflow Types tab and select + Add Workflow. It is created straight away with a placeholder name and one empty level.
2. Enter a Workflow Name and, if you want, a Description.
3. Under Approval Levels, fill in each level. Use Add Level for more. A workflow can have up to 20 levels.
4. Select Save.

Each level has these settings:

• Level Label: the name approvers and submitters see, such as "Finance sign-off". Up to 255 characters.
• Default Group: the group that approves this level. When you choose one, the submitter cannot change it. It shows with a padlock and the hint that the workflow decides which group approves. Leave it empty and the submitter picks a group for that level when they submit.
• Can Edit: when on, members of that level's group can edit the job while it is waiting at that level, as well as approve it. The submitter sees this as a "Can edit + approve" badge on the level. When off, the badge reads "Approve only".

Levels run in the order they are listed: level 1 first, then level 2, and so on. A later level is only opened once the one before it has approved. The list has no reorder control. To change the order, remove the levels and add them again in the order you want. Use the cross at the end of a level's row to remove it.

A workflow with no levels cannot be used to submit a job. Like groups, a workflow that has been used by any job cannot be deleted. The delete button is greyed out and the page says the workflow is referenced by jobs.

Requiring approvals

At the top of the page, above the tabs, is the switch Require approvals for new jobs. It is on by default. It saves the moment you change it, with no Save button.

When it is off:

• Job creation has no Approvals step. After Job Details, the job goes straight to setup, where you finish the team, pipeline and publishing.
• Only Admin and HR users can raise jobs. A Member who tries sees "Approval-only access" and is asked to get an admin or HR user to raise the job for them.
• A job that was left in Draft before you turned approvals off can be moved on with Go to Setup on the job page. This is available to Admin and HR users.
• Jobs already waiting for approval are not affected. Their approvers can still approve or reject them in the usual way.

Admin bypass and editing after approval

The Settings tab on the Approvals page points you to Settings > Roles & Permissions (the link reads Go to Roles & Permissions). The two options live there, in the Approval permissions section. Both save as soon as you change them, and only a System Admin can save them.

• Enable admin bypass (off by default): lets System Admins skip the approval cycle when they submit a job. The Approvals step then shows a switch, "Admin bypass: skip pending approvals and mark as Approved", and the submit button becomes Submit with Admin Bypass. The job goes to Pending Setup, its approval history records that an admin bypassed it, and nobody is emailed to approve. The empty-group check is skipped. With this on, a System Admin can also edit a job while it waits for approval. HR users never see the switch.
• Allow editing of job details after approval (off by default): controls whether Job Details and the approval justification can be changed once a job has been approved and setup is complete. With it off, the edit screen shows "Job details are locked". With it on, Admin and HR users can edit them and nobody else can. While a job is in Pending Setup, details can still be edited as part of setup whatever this option says.

Justification form

The Justification Form tab sets the questions a submitter answers on the Approvals step, under "Approval Justification". Use it for information approvers need, such as a budget code or the reason for the hire.

• You can have up to 30 fields. Each has a label, a type and a required setting, and optionally placeholder text and help text (up to 500 characters).
• Types include text, long text, number, email, phone, URL, date, single choice, multiple choice, checkbox, display text and file upload. Signature, image and heading fields are not available. File answers can only be uploaded once the job has been saved as a draft.
• A field can be shown only when an earlier answer matches a condition, and can be made required only under a condition. Text fields can have minimum and maximum lengths.

Select Save when you are done, or Cancel to drop your changes. Both are greyed out until you change something. If a required field is left empty at submission, the job is not submitted and the error lists the missing fields.

Organisations with several companies

If your organisation is part of a group of companies, a company selector appears at the top of the page. Each company has its own groups, workflow types and options. A workflow type or justification form shared from the parent company is labelled as shared and is read-only in the subsidiary.

Changing settings while jobs are in approval

When a job is submitted, the workflow is copied onto that job: the levels, their labels, the groups chosen and the Can Edit settings. Editing or deleting the workflow type afterwards does not change jobs already submitted. Your changes apply to jobs submitted from then on. This includes a job that is rejected or withdrawn and then submitted again, which uses the workflow as it stands at that point.

Group membership works differently, because it is checked live each time someone acts:

• Someone you remove from a group can no longer approve or reject jobs waiting at that level.
• Someone you add can act on jobs already waiting. They are not emailed about a level that was already open, so tell them.
• If a group is emptied while a job is waiting on it, only a System Admin can act on that step.

Approvers are emailed when their level opens, but only if they are active users with email switched on and the Approval action needed notification left on in their notification settings.

The organisation-wide options are read when they are used. Turning off admin bypass or editing after approval takes effect immediately, including for jobs already approved. The justification form only affects submissions made after you save it. Answers already given stay with the job.