The approval workflow

How a job moves through approval, from submission to the point where it is ready for setup, and what happens if it is rejected or withdrawn.

If your organisation requires approvals, every new job has to be signed off before it can be set up and published. The person raising the job submits it from the job creation flow, each level of the approval workflow signs it off in turn, and the job then moves on to setup. This article explains that route from the submitter's side and shows how to follow a job along it. For the approver's screens, see "Approving, rejecting and withdrawing a job". For how workflows, groups and options are configured, see "Setting up approvals for your organisation".

The route a job takes

Draft. The job is being written. Nothing is sent to anyone.
Pending Approval. The job has been submitted. Each level of the workflow is assigned to a group of people, and the levels run in order. Only the group at the current level can act. When that level approves, the next group is asked. Levels never run at the same time, whatever the workflow mode selector on the Workflow Types tab shows.
Pending Setup. The last level has approved. The application form, recruitment team, pipeline and publishing choices are set up from here.
Published or Scheduled. Approval does not publish anything. When setup is completed, the job goes live straight away or on the posting date chosen on the Publishing step of setup.

A rejection at any level, or a withdrawal by the submitter, sends the job back to Draft. Nothing is carried over: the job starts again at level 1 when it is resubmitted.

Who can submit a job

Admin and HR users can submit any job for approval. A Member can submit a job they are the hiring lead for. Agency users cannot. Only a job in Draft can be submitted.

If your organisation has switched off Require approvals for new jobs, none of this applies. Job creation has no Approvals step, the job goes straight from Job Details to setup, and only Admin and HR users can raise jobs.

Submitting a job for approval

Go to Jobs and start a new job. Choose how to create it on the Start step, then complete Job Details. To pick up a job you saved earlier, open it and select Continue Draft Job.
On the Approvals step, choose a Workflow Type. Your organisation may have several, for example one for standard roles and one for senior hires. If none exist, the step says "No approval workflows configured. Contact your administrator."
Under Approval Levels, each level shows its name and a badge. Can edit + approve means the approvers at that level can change the job as well as approve it. Approve only means they cannot.
Assign a group to each level. A level with a padlock and the text "The approval workflow decides which group approves this level." is fixed and cannot be changed. Every other level needs a group chosen from Select approval group....
Answer the questions under Approval Justification. These are set by your organisation, and any marked required must be filled in. If one is missed, the job is not submitted and the message lists the fields that are missing.
Select Submit for Approval.

A group with no members cannot be used. The step shows "This group has no members. Add members before submitting for approval." next to it, and the submission fails until a System Admin adds someone to the group. A group marked Hidden is not offered in the Select approval group... list unless the workflow already fixes it on that level.

The job also has to be complete enough to publish. If required job details are missing, the submission fails with "Job is not ready to publish" and a list of the fields to fill in. Go back to Job Details, complete them and submit again.

Admin bypass

If your organisation has turned on admin bypass, a System Admin sees an extra switch on the Approvals step: "Admin bypass: skip pending approvals and mark as Approved". Switching it on changes the button to Submit with Admin Bypass. The job goes straight to Pending Setup, nobody is asked to approve it, and the Approval History records that it was bypassed by an admin. HR users never see this switch.

What happens after you submit

The job moves to Pending Approval and everyone in the group at level 1 is emailed. Each later group is emailed when the level before it approves. You are not emailed at intermediate levels. You are emailed when the last level approves and when any level rejects, and the email carries the approver's name and their comment or reason.

Approvers are only emailed if they are active users, have email notifications on, and have Approval action needed switched on in their notification settings. If a job is sitting still, ask the approver to check My approvals in the left navigation, which lists every job waiting on them.

Following a job through approval

Open the job and stay on the Details tab. A banner shows Pending Approval, the group the job is waiting on and the level, for example "Level 1 of 2". The Approval History card near the bottom of the page lists every round of approval for the job. For each round it shows who submitted it and when, the decision at each level with the approver's name, any rejection reason, the justification answers that were given, and how the round ended: approved, rejected, withdrawn or bypassed.

On a job brought across from the previous system you will also see an Approval History (Vacancy Filler) card with a Legacy record badge, if approvals were recorded there. It shows the step, the approver's name (or "Name not recorded") and the date. It is read-only and kept separate from approvals made in Recruit.

Admin and HR users also see a count such as "3 awaiting approval" beside the Jobs heading, and jobs in Pending Approval are highlighted in the jobs list.

Changing a job that is waiting for approval

Only approvers at the current level can edit the job while it waits, and only when that level is set to Can edit + approve. For everyone else the Edit option in the job's actions menu reads Edit (blocked during approval). If you need to change something yourself, withdraw the request.

Open the job and scroll to the Approval Actions card.
Select Withdraw Approval Request.
Optionally give a Reason for Withdrawal, then select Withdraw.

The job returns to Draft and the approvers at the current level are emailed. Only the person who submitted the request or an Admin can withdraw it. Withdrawal is not possible once the request has been fully approved or rejected.

If the job is rejected

The job goes back to Draft and you are emailed with the approver's reason. When you open the job, a banner reads "This job was previously rejected" followed by the reason, with a View history link to the full record. If it has been rejected more than once, the banner gives the number of times.

Edit the draft, deal with the reason given, and submit it again from the Approvals step. It starts at level 1 as a new round. The earlier rounds stay in the Approval History.

If workflow settings change while a job is waiting

When a job is submitted, the workflow is copied onto it, so editing or deleting the workflow type afterwards does not change a job already in approval. The change applies to jobs submitted from then on, including one that is rejected or withdrawn and then resubmitted. Group membership works differently. It is checked each time someone acts, so anyone added to or removed from a group affects jobs already waiting.