SuccessFactors Employee Central 1H 2026

The SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central 1H 2026 release delivers a range of exciting innovations and enhancements designed to help organizations transform HR operations, increase employee engagement, and drive better business outcomes.

This release continues SuccessFactors Employee Central 1H 2026 focus on automation, data accuracy, and improved administrator and employee experiences. Don’t miss out on the latest improvements introduced in SuccessFactors Employee Central 1H 2026. Below are some of the key updates and enhancements you should consider enabling or adopting as part of your HR roadmap.

Release	Preview	Production
1H 2026	April 13, 2026	May 15–16, 2026

1. Auto-Reassigning Primary Phone and Email Records

SAP has introduced a new option that allows the system to automatically update existing primary phone and email records to non‑primary when a new primary record is added through imports.

Business Context

Employees can have:

• Only one primary phone record
• Only one primary email record

Previous Behavior

Previously, if an import attempted to add or update a phone or email record as primary while another primary record already existed, the system would return an error.
Administrators then had to manually correct the data by adjusting primary flags before re‑running the import.

What’s Changed

With the new Auto‑Reassignment of Primary Phone and Email Records option:

• When an import adds a new primary phone or email record:
  • The system automatically changes the existing primary record to non‑primary
• The import completes successfully
• A warning message is displayed to inform administrators of the automatic reassignment

This ensures seamless data updates without import failures.

Scope and Applicability

✅ Applies to:

• Phone records
• Email records
• Records created or updated via imports

🚫 Does not apply to:

• Manual UI updates (behavior remains unchanged)

Configuration Requirements

To enable this feature:

1. Navigate to Admin Center
2. Go to Manage Employee Central Settings
3. Select Person, Employment and Worker Type
4. Enable Auto‑Reassignment of Primary Phone and Email Records

Result After Enabling

Once enabled:

• The system enforces the single primary record rule
• Existing primary records are automatically updated to non‑primary
• Imports complete without errors
• A warning message provides transparency into the changes made

Key Benefits

Supports smoother, large‑scale data imports

Eliminates import errors caused by multiple primary records

Reduces manual post‑import data correction

Improves data consistency and user experience

Previous Behavior
Previously, if an import attempted to add a new primary record while another primary record already existed, the system would return an error and the import would fail.

Technical Details

Reference Number	ECT-254499
Product	Employee Central
Module	Employee DataI ntegration and Extension
Feature	Personal Information People Profile API
Action	Recommended
Enablement	Customer configured
Lifecycle	General Availability
Type	Changed
Major or Minor	Minor
Business Process Variant	Hire to Retire
Software Version	1H 2026

2. Automated Deletion of Future-Dated Job and Compensation Information Records After Employment Termination

Administrators can now configure the system to automatically delete any future‑dated Job Information and Compensation Information records that fall after an employee’s termination date.

How it works

• The system uses the Termination Date from Job Information, which corresponds to the effective start date of the inactive record, as the reference point.
• Once an employee is terminated, any Job Information or Compensation Information records dated after this termination date are automatically removed.

How to enable the feature

• Enable the Delete Future‑Dated Records After Termination option in the relevant Event Reasons that support your business processes.
• After activation, the system handles the cleanup automatically—no manual intervention required.

What’s covered

✅ Job Information
✅ Compensation Information
✅ Related Position Management data (for customers using Position Management)

🚫 Not included:

• Any related Time Off records are not affected by this feature.

Key benefits

• Reduces administrative effort by eliminating the need to manually clean up invalid future‑dated records
• Improves data accuracy, preventing incorrect employee data from impacting downstream processes such as payroll, reporting, and integrations
• Enhances auditability—all automatically deleted records are logged in the audit trail for transparency and compliance

How It Looks Now

Previous Behavior

In earlier versions, this setting was not available. As a result, future‑dated Job Information and Compensation Information records remained in the system even after an employee was terminated. Administrators had to manually identify and delete these invalid records, increasing administrative effort and the risk of data inconsistencies. SuccessFactors Employee Central 1H 2026.

Technical Details

Reference Number	ECT-260432
Product	Employee Central
Module	Employee Data
Feature	Job Information Employee Central Compensation Hire, Rehire, and Termination
Action	Info only
Enablement	Customer configured
Lifecycle	General Availability
Type	New
Major or Minor	Minor
Software Version	1H 2026

3. Enabling Country/Region-Specific Settings on Alternative Address Fields

As an HR administrator, you can now configure alternative address fields at the country/region level, allowing your organization to collect localized address information only where it is legally or operationally required.

Business Context

Alternative address fields (for example, country-alt1, city-alt2) enable HR administrators and employees to enter address data in an alternative language, such as an employee’s native language.

Previous Behavior

Previously, alternative field settings defined in country/region‑specific homeAddress elements (for example, homeAddress_CHN) in Manage Business Configuration were ignored by the system.
The system always followed the alternative field settings configured in the base homeAddress element, regardless of country/region‑specific requirements.

This limitation reduced flexibility for organizations operating across multiple countries with different legal or payroll address requirements.

What’s Changed

A new setting—Enable Country/Region‑Specific Address Alternative Field Settings (Latest People Profile Only)—is now available.

When this option is enabled:

• Alternative field settings configured in a country/region‑specific homeAddress element override the settings in the base homeAddress element
• You can enable and make alternative fields mandatory for specific countries/regions only
• Example:
  • The country-alt1 field can be enabled and mandatory for homeAddress_CHN, even if it is disabled in the base homeAddress element

Important Note

• For countries/regions without a country/region‑specific homeAddress element, the system continues to use the alternative field settings from the base homeAddress element

Configuration Requirements

To enable this functionality:

1. Go to Admin Center
2. Navigate to Manage Employee Central Settings
3. Select Person, Employment and Worker Type
4. Enable Enable Country/Region‑Specific Address Alternative Field Settings (Latest People Profile Only)

⚠️ This setting applies only to the Latest People Profile and does not support the legacy People Profile.

How It Looks Now

After enabling the option:

• You can configure alternative address fields directly within country/region‑specific address elements (such as homeAddress_CHN)
• These country/region‑specific settings take priority over the base homeAddress configuration

Key Benefits

• Greater flexibility in collecting localized address data
• Improved compliance with local legal and payroll requirements
• Reduced unnecessary data collection in countries where alternative fields are not required
• Better support for multilingual employee populations

---

How It Looked Before

Previously, alternative address fields could only be configured in the base homeAddress element. Any alternative field settings defined at the country/region‑specific homeAddress level were ignored by the system, limiting the ability to collect localized address information based on country/region‑specific requirements.

Technical Details

Reference Number	ECT-262863
Product	Employee Central
Module	Employee Data
Feature	Personal Information Country/Region Specifics
Action	Info only
Enablement	Customer configured
Lifecycle	General Availability
Type	New
Major or Minor	Minor
Business Process Variant	Hire to Retire
Software Version	1H 2026

4. Sequence Number Field Reportable in Story Reports

You can now report on the Sequence Number field in Compensation Recurring, providing enhanced visibility, clarity, and usability in compensation reporting and user interfaces.

Business Value

The availability of the Sequence Number in reporting improves:

• Data consistency across compensation records
• Clarity when reviewing or auditing multiple recurring compensation entries
• Overall ease of managing and interpreting compensation data for administrators

This enhancement is particularly beneficial in scenarios where employees have multiple recurring compensation components.

Role‑Based Permission Prerequisites

To access the Sequence Number field in reporting and UI:

1. Navigate to Role-Based Permissions
2. Go to User Permissions
3. Select Employee Central Effective Dated Entities
4. Assign the appropriate access levels for
   compinfo_seq-number under Compensation Information

What’s Changed

Previously, the Sequence Number field was not available for reporting in Compensation Recurring, limiting administrators’ ability to clearly distinguish between multiple records and reducing reporting precision.

How It Looks Now

In the current version:

• A new Sequence Number column has been added to the Compensation Recurring table
• The column is available under the Compensation schema
• Reports and UI views now display this field, improving transparency and interpretability of recurring compensation data

Key Benefits

• Improved reporting accuracy for recurring compensation data
• Clear identification of multiple compensation records
• Better administrative and audit usability
• Enhanced consistency between UI and reporting outputs

How It Looked Before

In previous versions, the Sequence Number field was not available in the Compensation Recurring table, limiting reporting capabilities and making it more difficult to clearly distinguish between multiple recurring compensation records.

Technical Details

Reference Number	ECT-251305
Product	Employee Central
Module	Reporting
Feature	Story Reports
Action	Info only
Enablement	Automatically on
Lifecycle	General Availability
Type	Changed
Major or Minor	Minor
Business Process Variant	Not Applicable
Software Version	1H 2026

5. Updated Default Settings for MDF Objects

As part of an ongoing SAP SuccessFactors initiative to improve security and permission governance, the default settings for several Metadata Framework (MDF) objects have been updated.

Background

Previously, the Access to Non‑Secured Objects permission was required to maintain records for these MDF objects. Any user with this permission could add, update, or delete records, which increased the risk of overly broad access.

What’s Changed

For new customers, the MDF objects listed below are now delivered as secured by default. This ensures that permissions are explicitly granted and aligned with role‑based access control principles.

✅ There is no change for existing customers.
Existing implementations retain their current security settings unless manually updated.

MDF Objects Now Secured by Default (New Customers Only)

Employee Central & Payroll‑Related Objects

• Hire Date Correction
• Fallback Event Reason Configuration
• Alternative Cost Distribution
• Recurring Deductions
• One‑Time Deductions

SAP strongly recommends retaining the secured default for these objects to avoid unintended access.

Document Generation Objects

The following objects are also delivered as secured by default for new customers:

• Document Generation Template
• Document Generation Template Email Options
• Document Generation Group
• Document Generation Screen Lookup

Permission Assignment

• Permissions for these objects must be granted under:
  Role‑Based Permissions → Document Generation Object Permissions
• If child objects are manually set as secured in Configure Object Definition, ensure that all required permissions are granted to those child objects as well.

For configuration guidance, refer to the Document Generation MDF Object Permissions documentation.

Why This Matters

This change supports SAP’s broader initiative to ensure:

• MDF objects are secure by default
• Customers make informed, deliberate permission decisions
• Improved compliance, audit readiness, and data protection
• Reduced risk of excessive administrative access

Technical Details

Reference Number	ECT-265184
Product	Platform Employee Central
Module	Integration and Extension
Feature	Metadata Framework Job Information
Action	Info only
Enablement	Automatically on
Lifecycle	General Availability
Type	Changed
Major or Minor	Minor
Software Version	1H 2026

Thanks & Regards,
Anipe Abraham
Sr. #SAP #SuccessFactors Consultant | Employee Central | Employee Central Payroll | Recruitment Management l Onboarding | PMGM | Sap Hcm | Corporate Trainer.

The blogs on my personal website are designed to support consultants and students eager to expand their knowledge. Writing these posts is driven by my personal interest, and my hope is that they serve as helpful learning resources. I focus on sharing the most up-to-date content in SAP SuccessFactors to ensure readers get accurate, valuable insights. By Anipe Abraham.