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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-02-07
Concept: Retro Processing Periods

Concept: Retro Processing Periods

No Retro Processing Prior to Date

A worker’s No Retro Processing Prior To (NRPPT) date determines the earliest period for which Workday recalculates earnings and deductions for supported retro events. Workday selects the pay components to recalculate according to their retro setting and effective date. For any changes that occur before that date, you must manually calculate and enter the differences, such as with payroll inputs.
When you run the retro pay calculation for workers with supported retro events, Workday:
  • Detects all events for the workers, but only calculates differences for supported events occurring after the workers' NRPPT date.
  • Reports differences for the events in each period processed in retro, from the workers' NRPPT date to the current pay period.
  • Reports with a status of
    Unprocessed
    events linked to pay components with an effective date before the worker's NRPPT date.
When the NRPPT date falls midperiod, Workday:
  • Ignores that period, and considers events in the next period.
  • Doesn't create a zero pay result while calculating retro.
You can view workers' NRPPT dates on retro reports before and after you run retro such as the
Retro Calculation Processing Report
. You can view the NRPPT date used for the next retro run on the
Payroll No Retro Processing Prior To Date for Group of Workers
report.

How Workday Assigns the No Retro Processing Prior to Date

Preset Timeframe at Tenant Level
In the preset configuration, Workday processes past events up to 24 months before the workers' current pay period. You can change this timeframe in the
Maximum Months Allowed For Retro Processing
field on the
Edit Tenant Setup - Payroll
task. For optimized performance, Workday recommends that you set the limit to 24 months or fewer.
Run Retro Pay Calculation
When you run the retro pay calculation, Workday sets the NRPPT date for:
  • Workers with unsupported events to 1 day after the last period with completed on- or off-cycle results.
  • New hires to the later of:
    • The start date of the first processing period of their pay group, and
    • The date determined by the
      Maximum Months Allowed For Retro Processing
      field on the
      Edit Tenant Setup - Payroll
      task.
  • All other workers to the later of the first pay period with completed results, and 24 months before you run retro.
Suspend Retro Results
When you suspend a worker's retro results, Workday changes their NRPPT date to the day after the last period with completed results.
Cancel Retro Results
When you cancel a worker's retro results, Workday reverts their NRPPT date to the value it was before you ran retro.

Impacts of Changing the No Retro Processing Prior to Date

You can change the NRPPT date that Workday assigns to workers, but only do so when necessary because:
  • Setting the date too far back can impact performance.
  • Setting it too far forward can require you to process too many retro events manually.
You can't move a worker's NRPPT date before an unsupported event.
Changing the NRPPT date doesn't trigger a retro pay calculation. When the new NRPPT date is before the original date, you can generate retro differences for previously unprocessed events only when:
  • They were unprocessed because they occurred before the original NRPPT date, or in the same period as that date.
  • You run retro again for the worker to process a new supported event.
You can manage the other unprocessed events with pay inputs or off-cycle payments.

Examples

No Retro Processing Prior to Date and Supported Retro Events
John has an NRPPT date of January 1. On April 20 of the same year, you enter a 10% retro pay increase effective February 1. When you run retro on April 25, John has no unsupported retro, so Workday:
  • Doesn't change the NRPPT date.
  • Process the pay increase because it's effective after the worker's NRPPT date.
No Retro Processing Prior to Date and Unsupported Retro Events
John has an NRPPT date of January 1. You enter these retro events for him:
  • April 5: Pay group transfer effective March 25.
  • April 20: 10% retro pay increase effective February 1.
When you run retro on April 25, Workday:
  • Detects the pay group transfer as an unsupported retro event.
  • Changes the worker's NRPPT date to April 1. This new date is the day after the end date of his last completed payroll period (March).
  • Doesn't process the pay increase because it's effective before the worker's new NRPPT date.
Midperiod No Retro Processing Prior to Date and Supported Events
John has an NRPPT date of January 1 and the pay period is from December 25 to January 10. On February 1, you enter a 10% retro pay increase effective January 5. When you run retro, John has no unsupported retro, so Workday doesn't change the NRPPT date. However, Workday doesn't process the pay increase because it's effective in the same period as the worker's NRPPT date.
No Retro Processing Prior To Date and Effective-Dated Pay Components
You have a deduction for which the
Recalculate During Retro
check box is clear. On January 16, you select the check box and add an effective date of that day to the deduction.
You enter a supported event effective on January 2 for James, Carrie, and Richard. They all have different NRPPT dates. You run retro for the January 1 to January 15 pay period to process that event. Workday compares the deduction effective date against each worker's NRPPT date to calculate the deduction and retro differences for the event:
Worker
NRPPT Date
Deduction
Supported Event
James
January 1
Unprocessed
The deduction effective date is after the period considered in retro.
Processed
The event is effective after the NRPPT date.
Carrie
January 15
Unprocessed
The deduction effective date is after the period considered in retro.
Unprocessed
The event is effective before the NRPPT date.
Richard
February 1
Unprocessed
The deduction effective date is before the NRPPT date.
Unprocessed
The event is effective before the NRPPT date.
The workers have another supported event effective on January 16 so you run retro for the January 16 to January 31 pay period. Since the deduction effective date is in the period processed in retro, Workday always calculates the event, but processes it according to the NRRPT dates:
Worker
NRPPT Date
Deduction
Supported Event
James
January 1
Processed
Processed
The event is effective after the NRPPT date.
Carrie
January 15
Processed
Processed
The event is effective after the NRPPT date.
Richard
February 1
Processed
Unprocessed
The event is effective before the NRPPT date.