# Data Import

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The latest documentation is available [here](https://icehrm.com/explore/docs/data-import/).
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You can import data into icehrm using CSV files. By default we support importing basic employee details and attendance data.

## Preparing Employee Data for Upload

1. Download sample data file [here](https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-files/employees.csv)
2. The file has following columns which matches with default employee data file definition
   * employee\_id = The id of the employee (this id should be unique, if the employee with same id exists in the system then employee details will be replaced)
   * first\_name, middle\_name, last\_name = Employee names
   * address1,address2,home\_phone,mobile\_phone,work\_email = Employee contact details
   * gender = Male or Female
   * marital\_status = Married, Single, Divorced, Widowed, Other
   * birthday = MM/DD/YY format
   * Nationality/nationality = Any nationality defined in System -> Manage Meta Data -> Nationality
   * Ethnicity/ethnicity = Any ethnicity defined under System -> Manage Meta Data -> Ethnicity
   * EmergencyContact/name = Emergency contact name
   * EmergencyContact/relationship = Emergency contact relationship
   * EmergencyContact/home\_phone = Emergency contact phone
   * ssn\_num = Social security number or ID number
   * job\_title = Job Title (this should be predefined in Admin -> Job Details Setup -> Job Titles)
   * employment\_status = Employment Status (should be predefined in Admin -> Job Details Setup -> Employment Status)
   * joined\_date = Joined date in MM/DD/YY format
   * department = Company Structure this employee is attached to (predefined in Admin -> Company Structure)

## Importing Basic Employee Data

1. Login as Admin and Navigate to System -> Data Import Files and create a new entry with file created in previous step

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/create_employee_data_import.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
2. Once the entry is created click on "Process"

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/process_employee_data_import.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Creating Data Importers

You can create data importers for importing custom fields or any other additional fields into employees.

## Creating a Data Importer for Updating Supervisors

Here is an example for creating a Data Importer for updating supervisors and some custom fields

1. Login as Admin and Navigate to System -> Data Importers
2. Create a new Data Importer named "Supervisor and Custom Field Importer" and Data Type should be "EmployeeDataImporter"

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_create_custom_importer.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
3. Each importer should have one ID column. For employees the id column should be employee\_id. Here is how you can add this unique id column.
4. Edit the newly created data importer and add a new column named employee\_id. Note that the value "is key field" is true

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_add_employee_id.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
5. Then add the column for Supervisor. We call this type of a column a reference type column because it depends on another row in a different or same entity

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_supervisor_column.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
6. Note that we have set "is key field" to true.
7. Then you can add a sample custom field to the employees (via System -> Field Names Setup -> Employee Custom Fields).
8. For now we will add a custom field named Contract End Date

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_add_custom_field.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
9. Now you can add a column to the existing data importer for importing data for "Contract End Date"

   <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_add_contract_end_date.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
10. Now you can create the csv file for importing supervisor and contract end date for employees. In the csv file there should be&#x20;

    three columns defined fo Employee Id, Supervisor and Contract End Date. The supervisor field should hold the employee\_id of the

    supervisor.
11. Download the file already created csv file for this step from [here](https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-files/employee_supervisors.csv)
12. Crate a "Data Import File" for uploading the new file

    <figure><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/icehrm/images/blog-images/data_import_employee_supervisors_file.png" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
13. Process the file