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Help Topic: Placement Approval | Permissions, Settings & Mandatory Data


Overview

Tracker Pro and Enterprise tiers only

Placement Approvals lets you set a workflow where placements and extensions must meet set criteria (mandatory fields) and then be authorised, in one or more ordered approval steps, before a working status is applied.

Placement Approvals apply to non-shift jobs only.

Benefits

  • Placements cannot go live with missing data, because mandatory fields must be complete first.

  • Every placement is checked by the right people before a candidate starts.

  • Approvals can be single-step or multi-level, so the process can match your internal sign-off rules.

This article covers the settings, layout changes, mandatory data and permissions an administrator needs. The other articles in the series cover what users and approvers do day to day.

Recommended setup order

Work through the steps below in order. Turn on Require Placement Approvals last, because working statuses are removed from the placement status dropdown as soon as it is switched on.

  1. Add the Company Agreement to the company record and set it as active, with Scope & Coverage completed (see Company Compliance & Company Agreements).

  2. Set the placement mandatory data.

  3. Add the approval blocks to the layouts.

  4. Set permissions and the Cc address.

  5. Switch on Require Placement Approvals.

Work through the steps below in order. Turn on Require Placement Approvals last, because working statuses are removed from the placement status dropdown as soon as it is switched on.

  1. Add the Company Agreement to the company record and set it as active, with Scope & Coverage completed (see Company Compliance | Adding Compliance & Company Agreements).

  2. Set the placement mandatory data.

  3. Add the approval blocks to the layouts.

  4. Set permissions and the Cc address.

  5. Switch on Require Placement Approvals.

Step 1: Set placement mandatory data

Mandatory fields define what a placement must have before it can be submitted for approval.

  1. Go to Tools & Settings > Customization > Mandatory Fields.

  2. In the Record dropdown, choose Placements.

  3. Select the fields on the tab:

    • Core Placement Fields: the fields available as placement mandatory fields, include Company Agreement (the dropdown in the Placement Details block) > select the submission stage each is required for.

      • Select Company Agreement if every placement must be made under a client agreement. The placement then cannot be sent for approval until an active agreement is selected. If the client has no suitable agreement, the field is hidden and not enforced.

    • Candidate Custom Fields: select any required (non-heading) candidate custom field.

    • Placement Custom Fields: select any required (non-heading) placement custom field.

    • Job (Opportunity) Custom Fields: select any required (non-heading) job custom field.

  4. Make sure Enforce Mandatory Fields is set to Yes.

Note: If a placement does not meet all the requirements and Require Placement Approvals is enabled, the status dropdown on the placement record will show no working status values.

Step 2: Add the approval blocks to your layouts

Three blocks are used by Placement Approvals. Add them in Tools & Settings > Customization > Layout Designer.

Block

Record screen

Purpose

Placement Approval

Placement

Shows the requirements to complete before submitting

Placement Approval Requests

Placement

Lists the approval requests for that placement only

Placement Approval Requests

Job

Lists the requests for every placement on that job

  1. Set Record Screen to Placement (then repeat for Job).

  2. Drag the block from Available Record Blocks onto a tab. Changes save automatically.

  3. The Placement Approval Requests block shows in both Quick View and full view.

Important: Put the Placement Approval block and the Placement Approval Requests block on a tab named exactly Approvals. The login button in the approval email then takes approvers straight to that tab. The name must match exactly, including the capital A. See Placement Approval | Approval Emails.

Step 3: Set permissions and the Cc address

Who can approve or reject

Who can approve or reject a placement is guided by who receives the approval email. Anyone added as an approver on the Placement Approval Request can approve or reject it. They can do so:

  • from the Placement record, and/or

  • from Tools & Settings > Collaboration > Placement Approval Requests, if their user group has the Placement Approval Requests privilege.

Set the privilege in Administration > User Groups > Collaboration for each group that needs to use the Placement Approval Requests area.

Copying others in

In Tools & Settings > Collaboration > Placement Approval Requests, enter one or more email addresses in Send Also To (Cc) and save. These addresses are copied on every Placement Approval Request email. They are not treated as approvers.

Locking privileges

If you use automatic locking of linked Assignments/Projects, two further privileges apply. See Placement Approval | Locked Assignments/Projects.

Step 3: Set permissions and the Cc address

Who can approve or reject

Who can approve or reject a placement is guided by who receives the approval email. Anyone added as an approver on the Placement Approval Request can approve or reject it. They can do so:

  • from the Placement record, and/or
  • from Tools & Settings > Collaboration > Placement Approval Requests, if their user group has the Placement Approval Requests privilege.

Set the privilege in Administration > User Groups for each group that needs to use the Placement Approval Requests area.

Copying others in

In Tools & Settings > Collaboration > Placement Approval Requests, enter one or more email addresses in Send Also To (Cc) and save. These addresses are copied on every Placement Approval Request email. They are not treated as approvers.

Locking privileges

If you use automatic locking of linked Assignments/Projects, two further privileges apply. See Placement Approval | Locked Assignments/Projects.

Step 4: Turn on Require Placement Approvals

  1. Go to Tools & Settings > Application Settings > Placement Settings > General Settings.

  2. Set Require Placement Approvals to Yes (the default is No).

  3. Save Settings.

Once it is on:

  • Working status values are removed from the status dropdown on the placement record.

  • A placement can reach a working status only by being submitted for approval and approved.

  • Extensions follow the same approval workflow (see Placement Approval | Extensions)

Important: Do this step last, once mandatory fields, layouts and permissions are in place. Switching it on removes working statuses from the dropdown straight away.

Example scenario and tips

Example: An agency wants every contract placement to carry a signed client agreement, a confirmed pay rate and a completed candidate compliance field before start. The administrator ticks Company Agreement, Pay Rate and the compliance custom field as mandatory, sets Enforce Mandatory Fields to Yes, adds the blocks to an Approvals tab, ticks the privilege for the Operations Managers group, adds finance@ as a Cc address, and finally sets Require Placement Approvals to Yes.

Tips

  • Applies to non-shift jobs only.

  • Check the setup on a test placement before switching the setting on for everyone.

  • Remember Company Agreement, Pay Rate and the other mandatory fields only block approval submission, not saving.