Set up job classifications

A job classification describes the kind of work a position is for, such as Patient Services Coordinator. Every position needs one. Create related job classifications under job groups when that makes the catalog easier to browse, then choose where and when each classification can be used.

Several positions can share one job classification while keeping their own position numbers, dates, and details. The job classification identifies the kind of job; the position identifies the individual approved job. Job groups help organize the catalog, while department availability controls where a classification can be selected.

Before you begin

You need the Manage job catalog permission to maintain the job catalog and its department availability. In Workforce Budgeting, viewing or selecting financial reference fields also requires the View labor budgets permission for All departments. Maintaining a shared job-classification budget rate requires Manage labor budgets for All departments.

Plan the catalog

Use stable names that match the organization language people already know. Create enough levels to support reporting and position selection without turning every title variation into a separate job classification. A job classification does not receive an employee-style FTE Tree number. Its name is the normal choice label, and its optional external ID is the exact code used to match an approved outside system.

Use the job classification Patient Services Coordinator for that kind of work. A position can use the same title, as in the walkthrough, or a more specific title such as Cardiology front desk. The shared job classification keeps related positions together in reports and setup.

The catalog allows up to three job group levels: Job function → Job family → Job subfamily, followed by the job classification. A job function is always top-level; a job family can be top-level or belong to a function; a job subfamily must belong to a family. Job classifications can belong directly to any of these groups or remain ungrouped, so you can use just one or two group levels when that is enough.

Use the display control to choose Flat list or Job catalog tree. Your choice is remembered for your next visit. In the tree, use a group’s chevron to expand or collapse its contents, or Collapse all to return to the top level. Search finds matching items inside collapsed groups too.

Keep job classification choices separate

Changing one choice does not automatically change the others. Making a classification available to a department does not create a budget rate. Changing its budget rate does not change the job classification on a position.

Create a job classification or job group

1. Open Settings, then Job catalog.
2. Choose whether to create a job group or job classification.
3. Enter the name, parent, availability, and start date.
4. Add an external ID only if your organization uses one to match another system.
5. Review and save.

After saving a job classification, configure department availability and any labor budget rate separately. Create one sample position to confirm that the classification appears for the intended department and date.

Only job classifications can be selected on positions. Job groups organize the catalog.

Example: group and classification

Patient services could be a job group containing Patient Services Coordinator, Scheduling Coordinator, and Registration Specialist. A position selects one of the job classifications, not the group.

Change a job classification’s group

1. Open the job classification and select Job group.
2. Use Show and Effective date to review all saved entries or the entry applying on a selected date, including future changes and Ungrouped entries.
3. Choose Add change, select the primary job group, and enter the date the new relationship begins. Leave the group blank when the classification should be Ungrouped.
4. Save, then compare the day before the change with its effective date.
5. Review inherited department availability, pay-grade and account defaults, and any group-based adjustments affected by the move.

Use Correct entry in a row’s Actions menu only when its date or group was recorded incorrectly. Use Void entry when the relationship should never have been recorded; the previous valid group entry applies again. The first entry cannot be voided. Group names reflect each entry’s effective date.

Earlier entries on the same date remain visible until explicitly updated or voided; the latest valid entry applies. Corrected and voided entries remain in Activity history, available from the clock beside the page actions. Changing the group keeps the same job classification and does not directly change the classification selected on a position.

Department availability

Limit a job classification to selected departments only when the organization has a clear business rule for doing so. An unavailable job classification remains in history but cannot be selected for a new dated position value.

Review existing and future-dated positions before ending department availability. If the classification is valid in one department but not another, change only the relevant department relationship.

Department availability can come from the job classification itself or from its job group and parent groups. A choice made for a parent department also reaches departments below it. Removing one direct department choice may therefore leave another source of availability in place. Review the inherited choices before concluding that a classification is no longer available to a department.

In Eligible Departments, Direct and inherited means both kinds of rule apply. Each Source rule line is labeled Direct or Inherited. For example, selecting both Finance and its parent department produces two lines for Finance; removing its direct selection leaves it eligible through the parent.

Choose Add change to open a separate form for the complete direct department selection and its effective date. Edit source opens a separate job group when its rules contribute availability. The Direct (including inherited) filter includes rows with both kinds of rule; Inherited only shows rows with no direct selection.

Which job classifications can I choose?

For a position, employee, or proposed position change, choose the department and effective date first. The list contains job classifications available to that department on that date, within your access for the task. Changing the department or date can change the choices. An existing historical value does not make the classification available for a new selection.

For a position transfer, you can save the proposed department first, then choose a job classification for that destination. The department and job classification must form a valid combination before the changes can be applied.

Reports and dashboards can include Historical use beside a job classification that appears in records you can review but is no longer available for new selection on the selected date, or at the end of a report period. Selecting it filters those records; it does not reactivate the classification. Unused setup classifications do not belong in these lists. Catalog administrators can still review unavailable and unused classifications in the catalog.

If a saved choice is no longer permitted, the form shows Selection no longer available. Remove it or choose an allowed value. Clearing a report filter intentionally includes all job classifications you can include in that report. See Choose, run, and download a report.

Earlier departments and access

A job classification’s earlier use in your department does not give you access to everyone who uses that classification today. For example, if a CEO position moved to another department, you may review the permitted part of its history in your department.

You do not gain its later records or pay. Your current access determines which departments’ history you can review; losing department access also removes access to its protected saved results. Position, employee, budget, and compensation access remain separate.

Example: department-specific use

The Registered Nurse job classification is available to Clinical Services but not Administration. A position in Clinical Services can select it. A position in Administration cannot, even though the job classification remains active in the catalog.

Labor budget rates

A job classification can have a shared labor budget rate. Manage that rate in Labor budget, not in position control. A position-specific labor budget rate takes priority when both apply.

The shared rate is useful when positions with the same job classification use the same budget rate. A position-specific rate is an exception, not an amount to add to the shared rate.

Review dated changes

The job classification record has four tabs: Details, Availability, Job group, and Department availability. Your selected Effective date stays with you across these tabs. On Details > All fields, review each value and its source, including inherited job-group defaults. Pay-grade and account defaults appear only with the required financial permissions. Select an individual field to review its saved entries.

Choose Add change in the page actions to enter a new value and its effective date. Use a later dated value when the catalog changes on a real date. Use a row’s Correct entry only when its recorded value or date was wrong, or Void entry when the entry should never have existed and that action is offered. Activity history keeps the correction and identifies who recorded it; the effective date identifies when the value applies.

For example, if a job classification moves from one job group to another on July 1, add the later relationship. A June report should continue to show the earlier group.

Use Availability to make a classification unavailable from a date when it should remain in history but no longer be offered for new work. Department availability controls which departments may select it and records the complete direct selection for each change date. Review inherited availability separately before concluding that removing a direct selection ends eligibility.

Check a job classification change

1. Review the job classification on a date before the change.
2. Review it again on the effective date.
3. Confirm its job group and department availability.
4. Open one affected position and confirm the expected classification is available.
5. If labor budget is used, verify whether the shared job classification rate or a position exception applies.
6. Run Job Classification Catalog when you need a repeatable one-row-per-job-classification review with job group context in columns.
7. Open Activity history and confirm the change reason is clear.

Should every position title have its own job classification?

No. Use a job classification for a reusable classification and the position title for the specific role when those meanings differ.

Review scheduled catalog changes

Open Structure changes from the job catalog to review upcoming or earlier job-group and job-classification changes. Choose the date view and available filters, then open the affected record. Check the group and availability that apply on the effective date before interpreting a report or adjustment match. See Review structure changes.

Form choices

Use this reference to choose form values. Available choices depend on the task, selected date, and your access.

Job group type

Use a stable level in your organization’s job catalog. Group type describes the classification, not pay or department access.

Choose names and parent groups that follow your organization’s catalog. Classifying a job classification does not itself change its rate, pay grade, or department availability. Job-group adjustment scopes can include subgroups, so review applicable adjustments when changing classification.

Account code

Choose a specific account when this record needs one. Otherwise, use the applicable inherited default.

A job classification without its own account uses the nearest job-group default. A pay adjustment rule without its own account uses the position’s effective job-classification account for that component. Department financial classifications are maintained separately. Review the complete classification used by financial results, not only this one field.

Department availability

Choose the departments where this job classification or group may be selected. Check inherited availability before adding an exception.

Use Effective date on Department availability to review the direct and inherited choices that apply on that date. Choose Add change to record a new complete direct selection on a separate form. The form’s effective date determines when that selection starts; changing the viewing date does not save a change.

A job group can supply department availability to its job classifications. A job classification can have its own department-availability setup. Check the effective date and applicable group or job-classification configuration when a classification is missing from a position form. Making a job classification available does not give people access to it; their permissions still apply.

Primary job group

Choose the job classification’s main group for the effective date, or leave it blank for Ungrouped. Changing the group can change inherited pay-grade and account defaults and which group-based adjustments match. It does not enter a budget rate or employee pay.

Parent job group

Choose a parent allowed by the group type. Job functions are top level. A job family can be top level or belong to a function; a job subfamily must belong to a family. A job group can have up to 100 direct department selections. Review inherited availability as well as direct choices.

Pay grade

Choose a pay grade for this catalog entry, or use its inherited default where offered. A pay grade does not set an employee’s pay.

A job classification without its own grade can use the nearest job-group default. Review the grade’s dated availability and range before selecting it. Budget rates and employee pay are maintained separately, so choosing a different grade does not itself create a salary change.

Optional practice: make the job classification available to the department

For exercises that change records, use a separate practice organization and complete the preparation below.

Practice steps and checks

1. Open job-classification setup and create Patient Services Coordinator in the intended job group.
2. Complete its required fields.
3. Make it available to Outpatient Services for the position’s January 1, 2027 start.
4. Open the position form and check that you can choose it.

The walkthrough enters a $70,000 yearly position budget rate separately. A job-classification name or pay-grade range does not enter that rate for you.

On a separate job classification, try changing its group and the dates when it can be selected. Check Job group and a position on each side of the change. Keep old classifications for their original meaning; create a new classification for a different job. Next, create the work schedule.