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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-03-13
Reference: Actions Available on Business Processes

Reference: Actions Available on Business Processes

You can take a variety of actions on business processes in Workday. You typically initiate these actions when you receive an item in your My Tasks. However, you can also initiate an action directly from the business process itself.
These task actions can be available for your My Tasks items. This table doesn't list actions that are related to approval steps for specific business processes (such as
Title Change)
.
Task Actions
Description
Fix
The business process definition isn't valid. Create a new business process definition or fix the existing business process definition, and then click
Restart Business Processes in Error
.
On Hold
The business process is on hold and can't be processed. This might occur when you have another event that must be completed before you can complete this event.
The only action that you can take after opening the business process is to open the other event.
Reassign
There isn't a worker to perform the current step because the role required by the business process definition is unfilled. You must reassign specific steps in the business process definition so that the business process has valid role assignments for each step.
You can reassign the unassigned task directly to a worker, or you can assign a worker to the role.
You can reassign business process steps to a person with a non-worker role, such as a student or extended enterprise learner. You can also reassign a step to a terminated worker if they have an active Workday account. But you can't reassign steps to a person that doesn't have an active Workday account, like a candidate.
If a user wants to reassign a business process step directly to another worker, but doesn't have the appropriate security group membership to reassign tasks, they can access the
Request Reassignment
task.
Skip This Task
When you skip a business process step, Workday doesn't process any data as part of that step. If you complete an Optional step and the business process is sent back and this step is skipped, any data you entered as part of this step isn't processed.
When a business process step is saved for later, you won't be able to use the
Skip This Task
action on the step.
These actions are available directly from a business process, either by clicking a button on a business process step or as a related action on the business process itself. This table doesn't list actions that are related to approval steps for specific business processes (such as
Title Change
).
Action Available from Business Process
Description
Approve
Approves the previous step in the business process. The business process then continues to the next step.
An approver of a business process can add additional approvers to an event while the business process is in progress only when:
  • The business process allows ad hoc approval.
  • Security groups are configured for the
    Ad Hoc Approve
    action on the business process security policy.
On the toolbar of a My Tasks item, you can click the 3 dots and select
Add Approvers
to add additional approvers to a business process step. In the
Additional Approvers
prompt, you can select 1 or more users who you want as approvers for the event (in addition to yourself).
The prompt displays all role types, such as a Service Center Representative and Student. This enables you to select a wider range of roles applicable to your organization to approve a business process step.
You can only select users that belong to security groups granted permissions to the
Ad Hoc Approve
action on the business process security policy. The contextual security groups displayed in the prompt are context-sensitive to the event target, not to the user taking action on the business process.
The
Ad Hoc Approve
action is available on review steps of a business process in which you can add or change data, as well as
Action
,
Approval
, and
Consolidated Approval
steps of a business process. The
Add Approvers
option isn't available on
Approval Chain
and
Consolidated Approval Chain
business process steps.
On the business process definition, you can access the
Maintain Step Conditions
task from the related actions menu of an
Action
step to enable the
Enable Validation Conditions for Add Approvers
check box. If you select the check box on an
Action
step, Workday triggers validation conditions when reviewers add additional approvers on the step. Selecting the check box provides you with the ability to maintain data integrity and prevent additional approvers from approving incorrect information. To trigger the validation conditions, there must be:
  • A security group for the
    Ad Hoc Approve
    action on the business process security policy.
  • At least 1 validation condition for the
    Action
    step.
If you currently use report fields in a validation condition rule that requires reviewers to add an approver before submitting an
Action
step, don't select the
Enable Validation Conditions for Add Approvers
check box on the
Action
step. Example:
Ad Hoc Approval Count
report field. If you want to enforce this rule, Workday recommends that you select the check box on the
Action
step and remove the validation condition that uses those report fields. After the
Action
step, configure an
Approval
step with a report field that requires an additional approver in an entry condition rule.
Cancel
Immediately ends the business process. To restart the business process, you must submit the process again and redo all previously completed steps. You can configure a business process to automatically launch an orchestration when you take this action.
Canceling a subprocess after the completion step of the parent business process immediately ends the subprocess, but the parent business process continues to run.
Use the
Rescind
action to cancel a business process after the completion step.
Close
Closes the business process window after you've taken an action, such as
Approve
,
Deny
, or
Submit
.
Correct (Related Action)
Enables you to correct the details of a business process event to fix data entry errors or react to changes. You can correct a business process event as many times as needed. You can configure a business process to automatically launch an orchestration when you take this action.
In many cases, you can correct a business process event out of order without rescinding subsequent business process events as long as you keep the sequence of events in the same order.
Deny
Immediately ends the business process. To restart the business process, you must submit the process again and redo all previously completed steps. You can configure a business process to automatically launch an orchestration when you take this action.
When you deny a subprocess before the completion step of the parent business process, both the subprocess and the parent business process are immediately ended. Denying a subprocess after the completion step of the parent business process immediately ends the subprocess, but the parent business process continues to run.
You can deny a business process or task only when:
  • The business process allows the
    Deny
    action.
  • Security groups are configured for the
    Deny
    action on the business process security policy.
Don't Accept
Forwards the step to a reviewer who then decides if the process goes back to a previous step for revisions or moves forward and skips the user who didn't accept.
This action is only available when you configure redirect on a
Review Documents
step on the
Offer
business process. When you click
Don't Accept
on the My Tasks item, the security group or configured user receives a redirected My Tasks item and can select a redirect action.
Reassign Steps
Reassigns the business process step (or steps) to a worker in the appropriate role.
Rescind (Related Action)
Reverses a completed business process. When you rescind a business process, it also rescinds any other business processes that were called as actions. All data is restored to the state they were in before this business process instance ran. You can configure a business process to automatically launch an orchestration when you take this action.
Save for Later
Save input for this business process step so that it can be reviewed or changed later. The data you entered reappears when the business process step is reopened. However, the data isn't submitted until you click
Submit
. If you save the business process step for later, Workday removes the My Tasks item from all other recipients.
Send Back
Members of a designated security group can send the current step back to:
  • A prior
    Action
    step.
  • The
    Initiation
    step in the parent business process.
  • Prior
    Approval
    steps in business process types for which
    Allow Send Back to Prior Approval
    is enabled.
  • Prior
    Generated Documents
    steps.
  • Prior
    Review Documents
    steps.
  • Prior
    Questionnaire
    steps.
A step can also be sent back to the
Initiation
step of any sibling of the current business process.
When you send back an event to a worker that has a future-dated business process that changes their worker type, such as from a contingent worker to an employee, Workday sends the event back to the assigned worker. The step doesn't go unassigned.
Example: James is a contingent worker and his contract ends on 2023-09-10. The company submits the business process to hire him as a staff employee. The hire process completes and effective 2023-09-15, his role changes to a staff employee. On 2023-09-08, James submits an I-9 form. On 2023-09-14, an HR Partner sends back the I-9 form to James to correct. He receives the sent back task on 2023-09-15.