The HR WORKS integration transfers working hours, periods of absence, and master data between ZEP and HR WORKS keeping both systems automatically up to date.

Data direction: ZEP ↔ HR WORKS

Product line availability

Note: The HR WORKS integration is included in all product lines. You set it up and activate it in the Interface Marketplace.

Absence synchronization additionally requires the Absences & Overtime area.

Assigning a default price group for new users requires the Revenue & Costs area (from ZEP Control onwards).

For setup and configuration, you need the Administration Area permission with Edit under Roles & Permissions. Administrators always have this permission.

Prerequisites

To set up the integration, you need:

Access to the Interface Marketplace in ZEP
HR WORKS API credentials: Access key and Secret Access Key
The API Administrator role in HR WORKS to create API keys

Setting up the integration

Setup consists of two steps: first create API credentials in HR WORKS, then configure the connection in ZEP.

Creating API Credentials in HR WORKS

To create API credentials, you need the API Administrator role in HR WORKS. Open the section Administrator > Basics > HRworks API.

There you can create and delete API keys and define permissions. ZEP requires the following keys:

Access Key ID
Secret Access Key

ZEP uses these keys to request access tokens that enable access to HR WORKS data.

Configuring HR WORKS in ZEP

Open Administration > Interfaces > Interface Marketplace > HRworks and enter the Access key and Secret Access Key.

Then create a task HR WORKS Synchronization under Administration > System > Tasks. This task controls the regular automatic synchronization.

Note: The following points must be observed during setup:

Create a holiday calendar so that periods of absence are synchronized.
Enter the key of the HR WORKS absence type in the field HR WORKS absence type on the ZEP absence reason.
Enable user import in HR WORKS or store the HR WORKS ID with users in ZEP.
Set the start date for the Absences & Overtime area.
Set the introduction date for the HR WORKS module.

You find the field "Introduction of the HR WORKS module" under Administration > Interfaces > Interface Marketplace > HRworks. There, you set month and year. From this date, ZEP synchronizes absences from HR WORKS. Earlier absences are not imported. For time bookings, an additional look-back limit of a maximum of twelve months applies.

Synchronizing master data

The master data synchronization automatically transfers employee data from HR WORKS to ZEP. All fields listed below are synchronized at every run. Users not yet present in ZEP are created automatically.

Note: Data transfer is exclusively one-way – from HR WORKS to ZEP. Changes made in ZEP are not transferred back to HR WORKS.

The master data synchronization is activated via the option Apply user data from HR WORKS under Administration > Interfaces > Interface Marketplace > HR WORKS.

User Matching

ZEP matches HR WORKS employees with existing ZEP users via their HR WORKS ID. If the option Synchronize HR WORKS IDs using e-mail address is enabled, ZEP additionally uses the e-mail address to automatically assign HR WORKS IDs to existing ZEP users.

Alternatively, you can manually store the HR WORKS ID on individual users in ZEP.

Synchronized Fields

The following fields are transferred between HR WORKS and ZEP during synchronization:

HR WORKS	ZEP	Info
personId	Username
personnelNumber	HR WORKS ID	Unique ID used for synchronization
firstName	First name
lastName	Last Name
email	Email
birthday	Date of birth
address	Street, ZIP, City, Country	Address is split into individual fields
workSchedule	Working time model	Regular working time is adjusted or newly created if necessary
gender	Salutation
title	Title
officePhoneNumber	Phone
costCenterNumber	Cost Center
datevPersonnelNumber	Personnel Number
joinDate	Employment Period	Employment period is adjusted or created if necessary
leaveDate	Employment Period	Employment period is adjusted if necessary
profilePictureUrl	Profile picture	Picture is imported

New Users

If the option Find new HR WORKS users and create profiles in ZEP is enabled, ZEP automatically creates user accounts for all HR WORKS employees who do not yet have a ZEP account.

You can configure the Mode for creating the username in the settings. The following modes are available:

email_personId – Email prefix combined with the HR WORKS person ID (e.g., john.smith_12345)
user_personId – Fixed prefix "user" combined with the HR WORKS person ID (e.g., user_12345)
firstname.lastname – First and last name separated by a dot (e.g., john.smith)
firstinitial+lastname – First letter of the first name combined with the last name (e.g., jsmith)
Name from email – Local part of the email address (e.g., john.smith)

Newly created users automatically receive the default user rights and must subsequently be assigned the desired user rights manually in ZEP.

With the option Send a link to change the password via email, every newly created user automatically receives an email with a link to set their password.

Default Price Group for New Users

If the Revenue & Costs area is active, a Default price group for added users can be configured under Administration > Interfaces > Interface Marketplace > HR WORKS. This price group is automatically assigned to every newly imported employee, unless a different value is stored in HR WORKS.

Synchronizing time bookings

If the option Synchronize time bookings is active, ZEP automatically transfers all working hours recorded in ZEP to HR WORKS. Time bookings are imported into HR WORKS with the prefix "ZEP:" in the remark so that bookings originating from ZEP are clearly identifiable. If a remark already exists in the project time entry, "ZEP:" is prepended as a prefix.

Note: Transfer is exclusively from ZEP to HR WORKS. Changes made in HR WORKS do not affect the time entries recorded in ZEP.

Synchronizing absences

Under Administration > Interfaces > Interface Marketplace > HR WORKS, you can configure in the Synchronization of periods of absence section how absences are synchronized between ZEP and HR WORKS. The following modes are available:

Do not synchronize periods of absence – Absences are not transferred between the systems.
Apply HR WORKS periods of absence in ZEP – Absences from HR WORKS are imported into ZEP.
Transfer ZEP periods of absence to HR WORKS – Absences recorded in ZEP are exported to HR WORKS.

Note: Synchronizing periods of absence requires the Absences & Overtime area in ZEP and a configured holiday calendar.

Mapping Absence Reasons

For ZEP to correctly map absence records from HR WORKS, assign the matching HR WORKS absence type to each ZEP absence reason. You make this assignment on the absence reason under Administration > Overtime & absences > Reasons for Absence. Once HR WORKS is configured, the field HR WORKS absence type appears there below the Abbreviation. Enter the key of the HR WORKS absence type there. ZEP does not transfer absences whose reason has no such entry, in either direction.

Setting up synchronization

Under Administration > System > Tasks, set up the task HR WORKS Synchronization. This task automatically runs synchronization for all activated areas (master data, time bookings, periods of absence).

Available execution intervals are: hourly, daily, on Saturdays, on Mondays, and on the first of the month. The default setting is hourly.