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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-03-13
Maintain Step Delay

Maintain Step Delay

Security: These domains in the System functional area:
  • Business Process Administration
  • Manage: Business Process Definitions
You can add a built-in delay of at least 1 day to a business process step. You can add a delay to a business process step to run the business process in the background until the delay is complete. This is useful for business process steps that frequently require a lengthy period to complete. During the specified delay, the remaining steps disappear from
My Tasks
 of any responsible group. The steps then reappear upon completion of the specified delay.
Steps are sequential unless they share the same value in the
Order
 column, which makes them parallel. Example: Steps with the order of
b
 are parallel, while steps with the order of
b1
,
b2
, and
b3
 are sequential.
When you add a step delay to a step that's within a set of parallel steps, Workday delays the step but doesn't delay the other parallel steps. Workday doesn't move to the next step until all parallel steps are complete.
Example: A business process definition has these steps:
  • a
  • b
     has a step delay. The
    Parallel Step Order in My Tasks
     has a value of
    1
    .
  • b
     with
    2
     in the
    Parallel Step Order in My Tasks
     column.
  • b
     with
    3
     in the
    Parallel Step Order in My Tasks
     column.
  • c
The first
b
 step delays but the second and third
b
 steps continue with no delay. All
b
 steps must complete before moving to step
c
.
  1. Access the
    Edit Tenant Setup - Business Processes
     task.
  2. Select the owner of the Business Process Resume Delayed Steps process from the
    User for Business Process Time Delay Background Processes
     prompt. Workday references this user in business process events as having completed tasks.
  3. Select the environments in which the Business Process Resume Delayed Steps background process runs in your tenant from the
    Step Delay Schedule Restrict to Environments
     prompt. When you don't select an environment, this background process runs in all environments in your tenant.
  4. Access the
    Edit Tenant Setup - System
     task.
  5. As you complete the
    Business Process Date Calculation Time Zone
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Workday Default Time Zone Settings (PST)
    Workday resumes all delayed steps in Pacific Standard Time (PST).
    Tenant Default Time Zone Settings
    Workday resumes all delayed steps based on the time zone in the
    Default Timezone
     prompt. Example: If you select
    Japan Standard Time (JST)
    , Workday resumes all delayed steps in JST.
    When you don't select a value in the
    Default Timezone
     prompt, we use PST to calculate the step delay.
    Event Related Time Zone
    Workday resumes delayed steps based on the time zone in the following order. When the:
    1. Event is about a worker, we use the time zone of that worker.
    2. Event isn't about a worker (such as a supplier invoice) but a worker initiates the event, we use the initiator's time zone to calculate when the step delay trigger begins. When the initiating action is delegated, we use the time zone of the delegator and not the delegate's time zone.
    3. Event isn't about a worker and wasn't initiated by a worker, we use PST.
  6. Access a business process definition.
  7. Select
    Business Process
    Maintain Step Delay
     from the related actions menu of the business process step.
  8. (Optional) Enter the
    Time Zone
    . The default time zone is the user's current time zone.
    You can only select a time zone when you enable the
    Business Process Configuration Time Zone
     check box on the
    Edit Tenant Setup - System
     task.
    • When you enter the current date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect immediately.
    • When you enter a future date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect at midnight on the specified date in the specified time zone. Users in other time zones see the changes at the corresponding date and time in their time zones.
    • When you enter a past date in the specified time zone, the changes take effect at 11:59:59 PM on the specified date in the specified time zone. Users in other time zones see the changes at the corresponding date and time in their time zones.
  9. Under
    Delay Is Based On
    , select
    Prior Step Completion Date
     or
    Process Initiation Date
    . You can also select an external
    Field
    , such as
    Effective Date
    .
    Date is a static value. Meaning, Workday sets the date when we generate the step delay. Step delay is calculated when the business process transaction reaches the step with the delay. Subsequent changes to the business process, such as correcting the effective date of the business process event, doesn't cause the delayed step to recalculate the delay. When the step delay calculates to a day that's in the past or the current date (today's date), the step delay doesn't occur.
    When you select the
    Recalculate Delay upon Correct
     check box, Workday recalculates the step delay when you correct the business process. Workday displays the newly calculated step delay date in the process history of the business process event. For business processes with subprocesses, Workday recalculates the step delay for all of the subprocesses in addition to the parent business process.
  10. Specify the
    Additional Delay
     in the
    Calculated Date
     prompt.
    You can't add step delays for a period of time that is less than a day or a date. Because the step delay background process runs around midnight in the associated time zone you selected, Workday resumes delayed steps for periods of time that can be expressed in units of whole days only.
    For dates that are calculated in units of days, Workday uses the rule based calendars that you configure on the business process definition . Otherwise, Workday calculates the step delay based on consecutive days.
  11. (Optional) Select the
    Recalculate Delay upon Correct
     check box.
    When you select this checkbox, Workday re-evaluates and updates the step delay's end date whenever the business process is corrected. If the business process involves subprocesses, the recalculation applies to them as well. Workday only recalculates the delay if the step has not already completed.
To change or cancel the business process instance, force the completion of a step that's within its specified delay period.
  1. Access the
    Reschedule Delayed Business Process Transactions
     task to select the business process instance.
    When you reschedule a step delay using the
    Reschedule Delayed Business Process Transactions
     task in a nonproduction tenant, a background job runs every hour to process the delay. Expect a delay of up to 1 hour. Example: At 5:05 PM, you use the task to reschedule a step delay. The job runs and the step comes off of the delay approximately 1 hour later at 6:05 PM.
  2. Select the
    Business Process Type
     of the instance you want to reschedule, and a
    Start Date
     and
    End Date
     that contain the scheduled completion date of the delayed step.
  3. In the
    Reschedule To Date
     prompt, select the date on which you want the delayed step to complete. This date honors the time zone settings you configured in your tenant.
    Example: You configure your tenant to use
    Event Related Time Zone
    . There are delayed steps on the
    Hire
     business process type for a worker in Japan and a worker in San Francisco.
    When you select 2021-12-15 as the date on which you want the delayed steps to complete:
    • The step for the worker based in Japan completes on 2021-12-15 at 12:00 AM JST.
    • The step for the worker based in San Francisco completes on 2021-12-15 at 12:00 AM PST.