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Approval Hierarchies (HCM Administration) ​

This page documents the shipped Approval Hierarchies screen (hcm-admin-console) — where administrators create and manage the approval workflows that run across HCM. Not for plugin developers.

What you see ​

Every approval workflow as a card showing its name, module and status (Draft, Published and so on), one card per workflow (not one per version). Filter by module. This is the same engine that runs approvals for leave, transfers, promotions, resignations, expenses and timesheets, so what you author here is what actually runs.

Create and edit a hierarchy ​

New Approval Hierarchy opens an editor with eight tabs:

  • Basic Info — name, description, transaction type, approval mode and priority.
  • Scope — the scope the hierarchy applies to.
  • Approval Levels — add each level with a code, a name and an approver. Levels run in the order added; click a level to remove it.
  • Conditions — field, operator and value rules.
  • Escalation — reminder and escalation timings.
  • Delegation — whether approvers can delegate.
  • Notifications — which events notify which channels.
  • Review & Publish — a summary and a validity check, then Save Draft, Test or Publish.

Click a hierarchy to open its details and Edit, Clone, Publish, Deprecate, Archive, create a New Version, Test (a dry run that creates nothing), view History, Export or Delete a draft. Published hierarchies are not edited in place: create a new version.

Approvers ​

Approvers are entered as tokens such as ${context.managerId}. A token only resolves when the HCM module that starts the workflow supplies that value, so the approver types are a naming convention, not roles that resolve by themselves. Check with the module's owner that it provides the key you use.

Known limits ​

  • Scope, escalation and delegation are recorded on the hierarchy but are not enforced by the workflow engine.
  • Levels run in the engine's default order. Branching from the Conditions tab is stored, but no transitions are generated from it.
  • No drag-and-drop canvas, no conflict detection, and no re-ordering of levels after adding them.
  • Dollar-limit approval tiers (for example "a manager can approve expenses up to $500") are a separate feature managed in Studio's Approval Permissions screen.
  • Import is pasted JSON; Export downloads the definition.