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Adding Custom Fields to the Employee screen
Adding Custom Fields to the Employee screen

Learn how to create your own fields to add on to the Employee Details screen.

Marie Claire Saliba avatar
Written by Marie Claire Saliba
Updated over 5 months ago

What are Custom Fields?

The Custom Fields functionality gives you the power to add employee details that aren't already catered for by the existing fields in Indigo, making it possible to create a whole new section within the Employee Details screen in which such information can be recorded.

You can enable Custom Fields via the following permissions:

  • HR_EmployeeCustomFields: enable this to view any tailored fields in Employee Details created via Custom Fields.

  • HR_EmployCustomFieldsMenu: this gives you access to Custom Fields itself to create, edit or delete tailored fields as needed.
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Full functionality (that is, both Custom Fields access and viewing in the Employees screen access) is given once both permissions are assigned, making Custom Fields visible and accessible in HR > Main.

Creating Custom Fields

  1. Go to HR > Main > Custom Fields.

  2. In the Custom Fields grid, click the blue + Add New button in the bottom right of the screen.
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  3. The Create Custom Field modal will open.
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  4. Fill in the fields, set the Active and Required toggles, and choose the field Type. Don't forget to turn on the Sensitive Data switch if the field contains identifying data!

    1. Name: what the field should be labelled/called/named.

    2. Field Number: the number of the field in the section.

    3. Display Order: the order in which the field will be shown in the Custom Fields section.

    4. Active: switch this on for the field to be active, or off if you'd like to deactivate it.

    5. Required: you can set the field to be obligatory by switching on this option. This means you won't be able to save the Employees screen when editing unless this field is completed.

    6. Type:

      1. Short field: shorter character limit (50 characters).

      2. Long field: longer character limit.

      3. Selection: add multiple answers to be chosen from via a dropdown.

    7. Contains Sensitive Data: switch this on if the data would need to be anonymised via the GDPR Anonymisation tool during employee terminations.

  5. Click Save on the bottom right of the modal, then click Save again on the confirmation message.
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The confirmation message will close and the grid will automatically refresh, showing your newly created field in the list.

Repeat the process above to create up to 20 customised fields.

Once you have created your customised fields, head over to HR > Employees, select an employee and access their form view. You will find your newly made Custom Fields section between the Employment Details and Payment Details sections. Click edit, fill in the fields, then click save.

Below you'll see an example of Custom Fields set up based on vehicle use for work:

Editing Custom Fields

Noticed a typo in a field, or need to change the wording for better clarity? No problem!

  1. Go to HR > Custom Fields, and find the entry for the field you need to amend.

  2. On the far right of the grid, under the Actions column, click the blue Edit button for the entry.
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  3. The 'Edit Custom Field' modal will open for you to make your changes. Note: This modal is exactly like the 'Create Custom Field' one.

  4. When you're ready, click Save on the bottom right, then click Save again in the confirmation message.
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The entry in the grid will update with your changes right away.

Deleting Custom Fields

If you created a field that turns out to be unnecessary and need to delete it, follow these steps:

  1. Go to HR > Custom Fields, look for the field you need to delete.

  2. Click the red bin button at the far right of the grid, under the Actions column.
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  3. The 'Custom Field Deletion' confirmation will pop up. Go ahead and click Delete if you're ready to continue.
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The grid will refresh and the entry will no longer show in the list.

If the custom field you wish to delete has been filled in on an employee's screen, and that employee has been included in a Payroll Calculation, you will not be able to delete the field.

In this case, you can instead deactivate the field by toggling the Active switch to Off in the 'Edit Custom Field' modal.

How will my customised fields show in reports?

Currently, Custom Fields are available in Payroll reports. You can group the report by the custom field of your choice.

In the Payroll's Detailed report, you can also tick the 'Include Custom Fields' in the Custom Analysis Fields section.

Top Tips

  • When using the Import or Export functions in the Employee screen, the data from any custom fields will be shown in columns labelled CustomField01, CustomField02, and so on.

  • You can apply a user record filter on Custom Fields.

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