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 available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional via the Interface Marketplace.
For ZEP Clock, the integration is available upon request from ZEP Support.
Absence synchronization additionally requires the Absences & Overtime module.
Assigning a default price group for new users requires the Revenue & Costs module (ZEP Compact + Revenue & Costs or ZEP Professional).
Prerequisites
To set up the integration, you need:
Access to the Interface Marketplace in ZEP
HR WORKS API credentials: Access Key ID 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 > HR WORKS and enter the Access Key ID 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.
Absence reasons in HR WORKS must have the same name as the short designation in ZEP.
Enable user import in HR WORKS or store the HR WORKS ID with users in ZEP.
Set the start date for the Absences & Overtime module.
Set the introduction date for the HR WORKS module.
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.
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 | userid |
|
personnelNumber | hrworksId | Unique ID used for synchronization |
firstName | first name |
|
lastName | last name |
|
| ||
birthday | birthday |
|
address | street, postal code, city, country | Address is split into individual fields |
workSchedule | regular working time | Regular working time is adjusted or newly created if necessary |
gender | salutation |
|
title | title |
|
officePhoneNumber | phone |
|
costCenterNumber | cost center |
|
datevPersonnelNumber | persnr |
|
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 MinusUser 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 module is licensed, a Default price group for added users can be configured under Administration > Interfaces > 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
The time booking synchronization 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 > 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 module in ZEP and a configured holiday calendar.
Mapping Absence Reasons
For ZEP to correctly map absence records from HR WORKS, the absence reason names in HR WORKS must match the short designations of the absence reasons in ZEP. This match is a prerequisite for error-free synchronization.
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.