Preparing a people import file

People import from a spreadsheet is live since 16 July. Product page: People import from a spreadsheet.

The file

CSV, UTF-8, comma-separated, one header row, at most 5,000 rows per file.

Column	Required	Example	Notes
first_name	yes	Ruth
last_name	yes
email	one of email or phone		If they will use single sign-on: their username in Entra ID or Okta (UPN), not a private or old address
phone	one of email or phone	+31 6 1234 5678	International format
home_depot	yes	ROT	The depot's code
role	no	Member	Administrator, Approver or Member. Approver for one depot is set in the portal
sign_in	no	password	password, phone_code or sso
employee_number	no	104233	Stored for reference

Steps

1. Ask the customer for an export from their HR system with these columns. Send them this table.
2. Upload it in the portal, People › Import, and run the dry run. Nothing is saved.
3. Download the error file if there is one: one line per row with the problem. Fix and run the dry run again.
4. Run the import. People who already exist (same email) are updated, not duplicated.

Common errors

Error	Fix
"File is not UTF-8"	Save as "CSV UTF-8" from Excel
"Unknown depot"	The depot code doesn't exist yet; create the depot or fix the code
"Phone number not in international format"	Add the country code
"Duplicate email in file"	The same person twice; keep one row

Agency drivers

A person must have a home depot. Give agency drivers the depot of their first shift and phone codes as sign-in. Their requests at other depots still go to their home depot's manager; tell the customer.

Change history

Version	Date	Who	What
1	17 Jul	Clara	First version
4	21 Jul	Clara	Parcelwise's import: common errors
6	28 Sep	Clara	Re-homing people after a depot import
7	5 Oct	Clara	Kelderby: agency drivers
8	27 Oct	Clara	Use the identity provider's username as the email (Kelderby's duplicates)