I am trying to upload employee data, but I am getting an error with the date format.

Issue

I am trying to upload employee data, but I am getting an error with the date format.

Resolution

Sometimes, a date on Excel might look like a date and state that it is in date format, however Excel might read it as text.

1. Right-click on one of the fields, then click Format
2. Change the format to General
3. Pay attention to the Sample value in the preview window.
4. If you see a date, then this is a text value and not stored as the required number format

When importing the data into Peakon, if the date is stored as a text value, the two systems are unable to recognize the date and apply it to the relevant employee. The solution is to use the 'Text to columns' method. 

1. Select the affected column eg. Start date, minus the column header. You can select the first date in the column, then Ctrl + Shift + ↓
2. Click on the Data tab at the top of the Excel file
3. Choose the Text to Columns button, which will open the Text to Columns wizard
4. On page 1 or 3 of the wizard, choose the Delimited option and click Next
5. Leave page 2 of 3 as it is, with the Tab option selected, and click Next
6. On page 3 of 3, choose the Date option, then choose the current format of the dates, for example if your dates are DD-MM-YYYY, choose DMY
7. Click Finish