The employee importer lets you add employee information to Factorial in bulk instead of creating each profile manually. Before starting the import, prepare your legal entities, employee groups, workplaces, teams, and job catalog so that you can include as much information as possible in the first import.
Overview
The employee importer is a spreadsheet that allows you to upload employee and contract information to Factorial in bulk.
The importer includes mandatory columns, which contain the minimum information required to create an employee profile, and optional columns, which allow you to add additional personal, organisational, and contract information.
Before using the importer, make sure you have prepared the following:
- Legal entities and employee groups: Create all the legal entities and employee groups you need. You must complete a separate importer for each legal entity.
- Contract fields: Review the contract fields available in your legal entity and add or modify fields if necessary.
- Workplaces: Create the workplaces and, if applicable, their work areas.
- Teams: Create the teams that employees will belong to.
- Job catalog: Create and map the relevant job positions, roles, and levels in the Roles section.
We recommend completing as much information as possible during the first import. This reduces the need to update employee profiles manually or use bulk editors later.
Prepare your job catalog
The Job Catalog is the central place to view, organise, and manage your organisation's job architecture.
Jobs are organised into a clear hierarchy of:
- Families
- Functions
- Roles
The tree view helps you understand how positions are related and identify gaps in your job structure.
Select a Family, Function, or Role to open its overview. From there, open Details to review and configure the conditions associated with the position. You can manage information such as:
- Levels
- Working conditions
- Skills and competencies
- Work schedules and location policies
- Assigned devices
The Job Catalog acts as a single source of truth for your organisation's job structure. Once configured, it can reduce manual work in other processes:
- Recruitment: Job positions can be automatically completed in job offers.
- Onboarding: Contracts and IT devices can be assigned automatically.
- Development: Career paths and salary structures can remain consistent across the organization.
How to use
1. Prepare the information in Factorial
Before downloading the importer, create and configure the legal entities, employee groups, workplaces, teams, and job catalog information you want to use.
The importer uses this existing information to populate dropdown menus. For example, the Workplace, Team, Employee group, and Job position columns use information that already exists in Factorial.
2. Access the importer
- In your sidebar, go to Organisation
- In People, click on the arrow next to +Add person and select Import people
- Select a legal entity
- Download the spreadsheet or upload your own
- The columns available in the spreadsheet depend on the information and configuration available in your Factorial account.
3. Complete the mandatory columns
Columns A–E contain the minimum information required to create an employee profile.
| Column | Field | What is it? | Format | Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | First name | The employee's legal first name. | Text | Use the employee's legal name. |
| B | Last name | The employee's legal surname. | Text | Use the employee's legal surname. |
| C | Email address | The email address associated with the employee. | Text | Make sure the email contains no uppercase letters. It can be a personal or work email address. |
| D | Contract start date | The date when the employment relationship begins. |
dd/mm/yyyy* |
This date depends on the date format configured in your preferences. |
| E | Contract effective date | The date from which the contract conditions apply. |
dd/mm/yyyy* |
It can be the same as the contract start date, but cannot be earlier. It is also used to calculate absence prorating. |
The date format may vary depending on your Factorial preferences.
Important: The importer only includes the employee's current contract. Historical contracts must be added separately.
4. Complete the optional employee information
The following columns let you add additional organisational and employee information.
| Column | Field | What is it? | Format | Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Contract end date | The date when the contract ends. |
dd/mm/yyyy* |
If completed, the employee is automatically deactivated in Factorial on this date. |
| G | Default workplace | The workplace where the employee performs most of their activities. | Dropdown | Single selection. |
| H | Default work area | A subdivision within a workplace. | Dropdown | Optional. It can be particularly useful for the Shifts module. The work area dropdown is not linked to the workplace in column G, so you can select a work area from any workplace. |
| I | Workplaces | Other workplaces where the employee also performs activities. | Dropdown | Multiple selections can be used in Google Sheets. |
| J | Teams | The teams used to structure and classify employees. | Dropdown | An employee can belong to multiple teams and have different roles within them. |
| K | Job position in the Job Catalog | The role and level that the employee holds in the organisation. | Dropdown | This column only appears when roles have been created in the Job Catalog. |
| L | Preferred job title | The informal name used internally to refer to the employee's position. | Text | If left blank, Factorial uses the role and level from the Job Catalog. This title can be displayed in Organization > People > Job title. |
| M | Job description | A brief description of the employee's role. | Text | If a Job Catalog position is selected in column K, its configured description is automatically used. |
| N | Manager email address | Identifies the employee's manager in the organisational chart. | Text | Make sure the email contains no uppercase letters. For the first import, we recommend leaving this field blank and assigning managers later in bulk. |
| O | Absence supervisor email address | Identifies another person responsible for the employee's absence-related approvals. | Text | Can be used to create more flexible approval workflows. |
The date format may vary depending on your Factorial preferences.
5. Complete personal and contract information
Columns P–BE contain additional employee, contract, working-time, and personal information.
| Column | Field | What is it? | Format | Considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Seniority date | The date used to calculate the employee's seniority. |
dd/mm/yyyy* |
Appears in the employee's profile. |
| Q | Company identifier | A customisable alphanumeric code that can be used as an employee identifier, including for clock-in purposes where applicable. | Alphanumeric | The format can be customized. |
| R | Phone number | The employee's phone number. | International format | Start with the country code, for example, +34. |
| S | Date of birth | The employee's date of birth. |
dd/mm/yyyy* |
— |
| T | Gender | The employee's gender. | Dropdown | Options are populated from Factorial. |
| U | Nationality | The employee's nationality. | Dropdown | — |
| V | Identification type | The type of identification document. | Dropdown | — |
| W | Identification number | The number associated with the identification document. | Alphanumeric | Do not include spaces or slashes. |
| X | ID expiration date | The expiration date of the identification document. | dd/mm/yyyy |
— |
| Y | Social Security number | The employee's Social Security identification number. | Alphanumeric | Do not include spaces or slashes. |
| Z | Education level | The employee's education level. | Dropdown | Available options can be edited from Settings > Legal entities > Contracts. |
| AA | Address - City | The employee's city of residence. | Text | — |
| AB | Address - Postal code | The employee's postal code. | Text | — |
| AC | Address - Province | The employee's province or region. | Text | — |
| AD | Address - Country | The employee's country of residence. | Dropdown | — |
| AE | Emergency contact name | The name of the employee's emergency contact. | First and last name | — |
| AF | Emergency contact phone | The emergency contact's phone number. | International format | Start with the country code, for example, +34. |
| AG | Account number | The employee's bank account number. | Alphanumeric | Do not include spaces. Use uppercase letters where applicable. |
| AH | Bank account format | The format of the employee's bank account. | Dropdown | — |
| AI | Additional bank code | An additional banking code, such as a BIC. | Alphanumeric | Do not include spaces. Use uppercase letters where applicable. |
| AJ | Employee group | The employee group assigned to the employee. | Dropdown | Options are populated from Factorial. They can later be edited from Settings > Legal entities > View legal entity > Employee groups. |
| AK | Salary amount | The employee's gross salary. | Number | — |
| AL | Salary amount period | The period associated with the salary amount. | Dropdown | — |
| AM | Contract type | The employee's contract type. | Dropdown | Options can be edited from Settings > Legal entities > Contracts. |
| AN | Working hours type | The employee's working-hours arrangement. | Dropdown | Options can be edited from Settings > Legal entities > Contracts. |
| AO | Has probation period | Indicates whether the employee has a probation period. | Yes/No | — |
| AP | Probation period end date | The date when the probation period ends. | dd/mm/yyyy |
— |
| AQ | Has remote-work agreement | Indicates whether the employee has a remote-work agreement. | Yes/No | — |
| AR | Professional category | The employee's professional category. | Dropdown | Options can be edited from Settings > Legal entities > Contracts. |
| AS | Contribution group | The employee's contribution group. | Dropdown | — |
| AT | Contract notes | Private notes related to a specific contract. | Text | — |
| AU | Contract hours | The number of contracted hours. | Number | We recommend entering weekly hours. |
| AV | Contract hours period | The period associated with the contracted hours. | Dropdown | We recommend selecting a weekly period. |
| AW | Working days of the week | The days on which the employee normally works. | Dropdown | Multiple selections can be used in Google Sheets. |
| AX | Maximum annual hours | The maximum number of working hours allowed per year. | Number | — |
| AY | Maximum weekly hours | The maximum number of working hours allowed per week. | Number | — |
| AZ | Holiday work policy | The policy that applies to work performed on public holidays. | Dropdown | — |
| BA | Minimum rest hours between working days | The minimum required rest period between working days. | Number | — |
| BB | Maximum daily hours | The maximum number of working hours allowed per day. | Number | — |
| BC | Indefinite intermittent contract | Indicates whether the employee has an indefinite intermittent contract. | Yes/No | — |
| BD | Address - Street and number | The employee's street address and number. | Text | — |
| BE | Address - Additional information | Additional address information. | Text | — |
The date format may vary depending on your Factorial preferences.
6. Use multiple selections when needed
Factorial can interpret multiple selections in a single column. This is useful for fields such as Teams, Workplaces, and Working days of the week.
Excel doesn't allow multiple options to be selected from standard dropdown menus. If you use Google Sheets, you can enable multiple selections:
- Select the column where you want to allow multiple selections.
- Open the dropdown menu
- Select the Edit option, represented by the pencil icon
- Check the box to Allow multiple selections
- Open Advanced options
- Change the display style to Chip
- Enable Allow multiple selections
- Select Done
- Select the required options for each employee
- For example, an employee can belong to both the Finance team and the Accounts Payable team and have a different role in each
7. Complete the manager information carefully
The manager email field requires the users referenced as managers to already be available in the import process. For this reason, we recommend leaving column N blank during the first import and assigning managers afterward using Factorial's bulk editing options.
8. Review the spreadsheet before importing
Before uploading the file, check that:
- All mandatory columns are completed
- Email addresses don't contain uppercase letters
- Dates use the correct format
- Contract effective dates aren't earlier than contract start dates
- Dropdown values match the options available in Factorial
- Employees are assigned to the correct legal entity
- Job Catalog positions, teams, workplaces, and employee groups have already been created
- Multiple selections use the correct format if you're using Google Sheets
- Manager and supervisor email addresses correspond to the correct Factorial users
9. Import the employees
Upload the completed importer to Factorial and follow the instructions shown on screen.
Tips and best practices
- Prepare your Factorial configuration first. Create legal entities, employee groups, workplaces, teams, and Job Catalog positions before downloading the importer so the corresponding dropdowns are populated.
- Complete as much information as possible. Adding more information during the initial import can significantly reduce manual work later.
- Start with the mandatory information. If you don't have all optional information available, you can import the employees first and complete additional information later.
- Use the Job Catalog whenever possible. Assigning a role and level in column K can automatically provide related job information, such as the job description.
- Be careful with email addresses. Use lowercase email addresses in the email and manager fields.
- Consider assigning managers later. This can make the first import simpler, especially when importing employees at different levels of the organisational chart.
- Use Google Sheets for multiple selections. This is particularly useful when employees belong to multiple teams or workplaces.
- Check your date preferences. The expected date format may depend on the settings configured in your Factorial account.
FAQ
-
Do I need to complete every column?
No. Only columns A–E are required to create the employee profile. The remaining columns are optional, although completing as much information as possible is recommended.
-
Can I import employees without assigning a Job Catalog position?Ç
Yes. However, if you have already created your Job Catalog, assigning the relevant position during the import can reduce manual work later.
-
Can an employee belong to more than one team?
Yes. An employee can belong to multiple teams and can have different roles within those teams.
-
Can I assign more than one workplace to an employee?
Yes. You can assign a default workplace and additional workplaces. Multiple selections can be made when using Google Sheets.
-
Can I import historical contracts?
No. The employee importer includes the employee's current contract. Historical contracts must be added separately.
-
What happens if I enter a contract end date?
The employee is automatically deactivated in Factorial on the date entered.
-
Can the contract effective date be earlier than the contract start date?
No. The contract effective date can be the same as the start date, but it cannot be earlier.
-
Can I change the contract dropdown options?
Yes. Some contract fields can be edited from Settings > Legal entities > Contracts.
-
What happens if I leave the preferred job title blank?
Factorial uses the role and level configured in the Job Catalog as the employee's job title.
-
Can I import multiple working days for an employee?
Yes. If you use Google Sheets, you can enable multiple selections in the dropdown for the working-days column.
-
Should I assign managers during the first import?
We recommend leaving manager fields blank during the first import and assigning managers afterward in bulk. This can simplify the import, especially when employees are imported across different levels of the organisational structure.