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Sync HRIS Data From Justworks via the API

Learn how to sync employee data from Justworks into Culture Amp using a secure, one-way API integration.

Jessie Walsh avatar
Written by Jessie Walsh
Updated in the last hour

Who can use this feature?

Available on:

  • All Culture Amp subscriptions.

You can import employee data directly from Justworks into Culture Amp using a secure, one-way API connection. This ensures your employee list and demographics are always up-to-date.

  • Data Flow: Employee Data flows from Justworks into Culture Amp (one-way sync). Changes made in Culture Amp will not sync back to your HRIS.

Choosing Your Integration Method


We offer two primary ways to connect your employee data. For Justworks, the API integration is the standard, recommended approach. The table below briefly outlines both options to help with decision-making:

Method

Type of Import

Best For

Key Difference

Full Integration (API)

Full Employee Import

Organizations seeking real-time, daily automation of all employee data that the API supports.

Data transfer is handled automatically via a secure API connection. Users with an End Date in the HRIS become former employees instantly upon sync. If a user is simply removed from the sync report without an End Date, they will remain "Active" in Culture Amp until a manual sync is performed by our Culture Amp Support team. Properly terminating employees in your HRIS with an End Date is the only way to guarantee automatic deactivation.

Partial Employee Import

Organizations that need complete control over file creation, have unique filtering requirements, or need to manage data fields not supported by the API.

You generate a file and securely transfer it to us at scheduled intervals. Users missing from the file are ignored unless you include an end_date.

API Integration Checklist


Use this checklist to navigate the API integration setup. Each step links to a more detailed section below.

  1. Access Requirements — Prerequisites and system logic.

  2. Step 1: Connect & Authenticate — Locating and entering your API credentials.

  3. Step 2: Field Mapping — Review the automated field mapping logic.

  4. Step 3: Activate Integration — Establishing the technical connection.

  5. Step 4: Run Your First Sync — Reviewing and importing employee records.

  6. Troubleshooting & FAQs — Solving errors, duplicates, and sync blocks.

Before You Start: Access Requirements & Terminology


To set up the connection, you’ll need:

Important Considerations & Data Limitations

  • Initial Setup Timeframe: The setup process for this integration is generally straightforward and typically takes 1 week, provided the administrator has the necessary API keys or OAuth credentials ready. We recommend involving a standard system administrator to authorize the connection.

  • Field Mapping Limitation: Justworks currently does not support field mapping for custom demographics directly within the Culture Amp platform. This includes the ability to set up an exclusion field. Only the core demographic fields listed in the table will automatically map.

  • International & EOR Employees: International and Employer of Record (EOR) employee types are now supported via the API (as of December 10, 2024). If these employees were previously missing, they will now be included in your sync.

  • Member ID vs. Employee ID: Justworks uses a unique Member ID (the id field in the API) to identify individuals. This is mapped to the Employee ID in Culture Amp.

  • Hierarchy Logic: Reporting lines are built based on the Manager field in the Justworks member profile. For the hierarchy to sync correctly, the manager must have a valid work email address populated in Justworks and be part of the active sync.

Required Permissions & Rationales

Permission/Role

Needed in Justworks

Rationale

Administrator

API / Integration Settings

Required to authorize the "handshake" and grant Culture Amp access to view member data.

View Members

GET /v1/members

Allows the sync to retrieve names, emails, and manager assignments.

View Companies

/companies/{id}/members

Required to scope the data to your specific business entity.

Step 1: Connect and Authorize Your Justworks Account


The Justworks integration setup is initiated within the Culture Amp platform, which will redirect you to Justworks for authorization.

  1. Sign in to Culture Amp with an account that has Account Administrator or Employee data administrator access.

  2. Navigate to your Settings > Account > Integrations page in the Culture Amp platform.

  3. Select Justworks from the list of integrations and click Continue setup.

  4. Click I am an admin to confirm your Justworks administrator permissions.

  5. You will see Culture Amp’s request to read your Justworks employee data. Click Next.

  6. Open the window and login to Justworks to authorize the integration.

🔑 Authenticate Your Justworks Account

Overview

To authenticate your Justworks account, you will need to login to Justworks and authorize the integration in the linking flow.

Note: The steps below are sourced from Merge, our integration partner. We recommend checking their official guide for the most current instructions: Merge Justworks Account Linking Guide.

Prerequisites

Please ensure you fulfill all the requirements to set up the integration:

  • You are an Administrator in your company's Justworks instance, or someone has shared their access with you.

  • Your company is on an active paid plan with Justworks

Instructions

Step 1: Open window to the Justworks login screen

Step 2: Log into Justworks

Step 3: Click next on first screen

Step 4: Click on checkbox if applicable and click Authorize

  • The checkbox is only relevant if the company you're connecting to requires access to Sex or Date of Birth information. If they do not, you will not see this checkbox.

Step 2: Reviewing Field Mapping


Once you have authenticated with Justworks, you will be prompted to map the demographic fields you would like to import into Culture Amp. The API doesn’t support custom demographic fields. If you need additional demographic data, we recommend using SFTP or a manual file import instead.

Note: Core demographic fields map automatically and should not be manually configured unless instructed by a Culture Amp specialist. Please note that once these fields are set up, they cannot be edited or deleted. If you need to make changes, reply with "ask a person" in a support conversation to speak with a specialist.

Core Demographics: Automatic Mapping

The fields listed below are configured to automatically map to their equivalent in Justworks.

Note: While the "Typical Justworks UI Label" shows the common reference field in Justworks, exact UI labels and underlying field names may vary by tenant and configuration.

Typical Justworks UI Label

Justworks Endpoint (Data Location)

Culture Amp Field (The Destination)

Work Email

GET /v1/members

Email (Unique Identifier)

Member ID

GET /v1/members

Employee ID (Unique Identifier)

First Name / Last Name

GET /v1/members

Name

Preferred Name

GET /v1/members

Preferred Name

Date of Birth

GET /v1/members

Date of Birth

Start Date

GET /v1/members

Start Date

End Date

GET /v1/members

End Date

Manager (Work Email of referenced Manager)

GET /v1/members

Manager Email (Hierarchy Demographic)

Custom Demographics

Justworks currently does not support field mapping for custom demographics. If you need additional demographic data, we recommend using SFTP or a manual file import instead.

Excluding Employees

Justworks does not support an exclusion field via the API. If you need to exclude users from your sync, you must use Culture Amp’s bulk deactivation feature as a workaround.

  1. Allow the initial sync to import all users from Justworks, including those you want to exclude.

  2. In Culture Amp, export a copy of your user list:

    • Go to Settings > Employee Data > Users > Import & Export > Export

    • Check the box for Include deactivated users

    • The export will contain a column labeled Employee Deactivated.

  3. Update the Employee Deactivated column in the exported file:

    • Assign "TRUE" to all users you want to exclude (they will be deactivated).

    • Assign "FALSE" to users who should remain active.

  4. Save the file and perform a manual partial import:

    • Go to Settings > Employee Data > Users > Import & Export > Import users > Upload your file > Partial import.

  5. Once complete, deactivated users will remain deactivated and will not be reactivated in future syncs.

Step 3: Activate Integration


Once everything's set up, you'll see the integration screen. Click Sync and the system will run an initial sync to connect your Justworks account details and mappings.

Note: This sync does not import employee data yet.

  • You will see a "Syncing data" message. This initial sync can take up to 12 hours to complete, depending on the size and complexity of your Justworks configuration.

  • Feel free to navigate away from the page. The process runs in the background.

  • The "Syncing data" message confirms the connection and mapping setup. Once this first sync completes, you can proceed to import your employee data through another sync.

Note: As part of our commitment to data security, only data relevant to your import and field mappings will be stored.

Step 4: Run Your First Employee Data Sync


Once the initial setup sync is complete, the Integrations page in Culture Amp will update. Follow these steps to run your first employee data import:

  1. Click the Finalise sync button.

  2. Click Get Started.

  3. On the review page, ensure Sync is selected in the "Sync with merge" section (ignore the other options).

  4. Culture Amp will validate the data. If there are no concerns, click Next.

  5. Review the data: Carefully examine the review screen, which shows the number of new employees to be created, existing employees to be updated, and employees to be deactivated.

  6. If the data looks correct, click Import Data to pull the employees into Culture Amp.

  7. After the import is complete, click Go to Users to review the new users.

Note: If you see any unexpected numbers (e.g., too many employees being deactivated or created), do not proceed with the import. Check the Troubleshooting section or reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.

Once these steps are completed, you will see the green "Syncing data" notification appear on the Integrations page.

After syncing is complete, you will see the latest sync information, including the date and time of the last sync, and confirmation that your integration is Connected on the Integrations page.

Set Up Automated Daily Syncs

By default, auto-syncs are Off. We recommend enabling daily syncing to ensure your employee demographics are kept up-to-date.

  1. To enable: Go to Integrations, click on the Off button and toggle Auto-sync On.

  2. To disable: Go to Integrations, click on the On button, then click Turn off auto sync.

Note:

  • Auto-sync won’t run if the Finalise sync step is still displayed. Click Finalise sync to finish setup.

  • While you can enable daily auto-sync, due to the current integration logic for Justworks, updates aren't always instant, but they are guaranteed. See the Troubleshooting/FAQs section to learn more.

Troubleshooting & FAQs


If the fixes below don't resolve your issue, please reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.

General Data Integrity & Import Management

The first step when investigating any data issue is to check the Import Summary Screen for your most recent import.

  1. Go to Settings > Employee Data > Import History.

  2. Select your most recent import to view details.

This screen provides information on the state of your integration, any specific errors, or will prompt you to run a manual sync to identify problems.

Justworks: Integration-Specific Errors

Issue

Cause

Suggested Fix

Missing Data/Users

The connecting Justworks service account lacks the required read access to necessary employee data objects.

Verify Permissions: Ensure the user has full permissions to read all necessary employee data in your Justworks instance.

Custom Demographics Not Syncing

Justworks API currently does not support custom field mapping via the Merge integration.

Alternative: If you require additional demographic data, you will need to manage these fields via a Manual File Import (CSV) or SFTP.

Terminated Employees Still Showing as "Active"

The employee was removed from the Justworks sync report or deactivated without a populated End Date.

Immediate Fix: Re-add the user to the Justworks report with a valid End Date and sync again.

Secondary Fix: If they cannot be re-added to the report, reach out to our Culture Amp Support team (via "Ask a Person") to request a manual sync to process the deactivation.

Missing Manager/Hierarchy

The Manager in Justworks is missing a work email address.

Check Profile: Ensure the person listed in the "Manager" field has a valid work email in Justworks. Without an email, the sync cannot link the reporting line.

Missing Date of Birth data

The specific permission checkbox was not selected during authentication.

Re-Authenticate: Go back to Step 1 and ensure the checkbox for "Sex or Date of Birth" is selected during the Justworks authorization window.

Updates aren't appearing instantly

Integration logic timing or "Sync Lag."

Wait & Verify: Updates in Justworks are guaranteed but may not be immediate. If a change doesn't appear after your daily auto-sync, wait 24 hours or run a manual sync to force the update.

International or EOR employees missing

These were previously unsupported but are now available via the API.

Refresh Sync: If you connected before December 10, 2024, you may need to re-authenticate or run a manual sync to capture these employee types.

Switching From CSV or Other Imports

If you are moving from CSV uploads or a different integration, keep the following in mind:

  • Demographic Consistency: When mapping fields, you must map the data to the exact same demographic field you used historically (e.g., mapping to "TEAM" is different from mapping to "TEAM NAME"). Using an incorrect or slightly different title risks discontinuity in your trended survey results.

  • Recommended Action: To avoid confusion, we recommend navigating to Settings > Employee Data Demographics and deleting the old, unused demographics after your first successful sync. (This won't impact any previous survey results.)

Handling Duplicate Employees

Culture Amp uses two fields as unique identifiers for user profiles: Email and Employee ID.

  • As long as at least one of these remains consistent between Justworks and Culture Amp, the sync will successfully update the existing profile rather than creating a new one.

  • Duplicate Risk: If you change both the Email and the Employee ID simultaneously in Justworks, the sync will not find a match and will create a duplicate profile.

If you see a duplicate profile error flag during your import, take the following steps:

Scenario

Action to Take

A. Before Changes Are Applied

During the first sync review screen, stop the sync. Update the employee emails in Culture Amp to match those in Justworks.

  1. Go to the Culture Amp Users page,

  2. Click on the name of the employee you want to update.

  3. Update their email.

  4. Click Save and Exit to update.

  5. Repeat for all duplicated employees.

  6. Then, retry the integration sync.

B. After Changes Are Applied

To clean up the duplicated profiles:

  1. Go to the Culture Amp Users page,

  2. Locate the newest duplicate profile for that user. Click on the name to open up their profile.

  3. Remove existing Email/Employee ID and assign a fake Email or Employee ID to the user and save.

  4. Deactivate this updated profile.

  5. Update the original user profile to match emails in Justworks. This keeps the history on the existing employee record.

Further Guidance

Check out our dedicated support guide for further information on duplicate employee clean-up.

Sync Blocked to Protect Employee Privacy

Your automated daily sync might be blocked if Culture Amp detects a high-risk change for an employee. You will receive an email notification if this occurs.

  • When It Happens: The sync is blocked if a combination of an employee's Name, Date of Birth, or Email is changed simultaneously.

  • Purpose: This prevents one employee from accidentally getting access to another employee's private information (like performance reviews).

  • Fix: If you've intentionally changed the employee's details, you can run a manual sync to push the change through. Go to Settings > Employee Data > Users, click Import data, and select Sync. Culture Amp will guide you through the rest.

Redaction of Sensitive Data

As part of this integration, Culture Amp has the ability to redact sensitive data at your request. If you need any fields to be disabled/redacted for your account, please reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.


💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.

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