WC365 Requester Guide

# Submit a lifecycle request with confidence

Use the WorkCycle365 portal to tell your organization who needs a lifecycle change and when it should happen.

WorkCycle365 request portal home with five lifecycle choices and Edit Existing. (Image: https\://docs.workcycle365.com/images/portal-option-b.png)

## Before you begin

Confirm that you have:

- access to the WorkCycle365 request portal;
- the correct employee or new-hire identity details;
- the lifecycle type you intend to request;
- the effective date and, when requested, the effective time;
- manager, organizational, and contract information relevant to the change;
- any notes an approver or administrator will need to understand the request.

> **Timing matters:** Enter the date for the selected lifecycle. Its optional time field lets you request a particular time; leave it blank to use the applicable business-hour default. See [timing and scheduling](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/requester/user-timing-and-scheduling/) for the defaults and a same-day example.

## Submit the request

1. Open the WorkCycle365 request portal supplied by your administrator.
2. Choose **New Hire**, **Transfer**, **Extension**, **Departure**, or **Return**. For a temporary absence, choose **Departure**, then select **Leave**.
3. Enter the required person and lifecycle details.
4. Complete optional information only when it is known and relevant.
5. Review the person, lifecycle, effective date and time, and manager or organizational change.
6. Submit once.
7. Wait for the portal's success or error message. A successful submission returns you to the portal home.

The fields change with the lifecycle. Hire collects new-person details. Transfer, Extension, Return, and Departure work with an existing employee; within Departure, choose Leave for a temporary absence.

Complete the fields marked as required for the selected request type. For example, Departure does not require **Last Workday** for Immediate Access Removal, and the optional **Return Date** appears only when **Leave** is selected. For Hire, the organization's username policy determines whether Middle Name or Employee ID is required.

Other forms have important conditional fields too:

- **Transfer:** **New Role Start**, **Staff Email**, and **New Position** are required. **Transfer Time** is optional. If the assignment is temporary, select **Temporary Assignment** and enter **Assignment End**; an Assignment End without Temporary Assignment is treated as a future Contract End instead of a return to the prior assignment.
- **Extension:** Enter **Effective Date** and **Staff Email**. WorkCycle365 processes the Extension immediately and requests cancellation of one matching upcoming Departure and its calendar event. Enter **New End Date** to request a replacement Contract End, or leave it blank for no replacement. **Effective Time** sets the calendar time and does not delay processing. See the [Extension guide](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/extension/) for the full procedure.
- **Return:** **Return Date** and **Staff Email** are required. **Return Time** and **Contract End** are optional; enter Contract End only when a later end is already agreed and should be scheduled separately.

Use the portal's inline guidance for the complete field details.

## What happens next

After **Request submitted**, WorkCycle365 routes the request for its required approval and schedules its lifecycle actions. The confirmation returns you home without displaying a request number. If you need to change a request or see its current status, the available views depend on your role:

- **Submitters:** Open **Edit Existing** to see requests you submitted that are currently eligible for changes. This view lists eligible requests for changes; it excludes Extensions and requests outside the Ready, Processing, Scheduled, or Staging states.
- **Admins and Reviewers:** Open **Dashboard** and refresh. It shows requests dated from seven days before today to seven days after today.

For help following a request or reporting a problem, see [Follow the same request](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/requester/requester-quickstart/#follow-the-same-request).

These views do not show every request. Requests outside these views continue through their approval and schedule. Do not submit again just because it is not visible.

WorkCycle365 coordinates these actions according to the lifecycle and your organization's settings:

- route a request for human approval;
- create a scheduled request that waits for an effective time;
- create or update Microsoft Entra ID information;
- coordinate configured group or license-related actions;
- create or update a calendar event;
- send email or post a request card in Microsoft Teams;
- make request history available to authorized administrators.

Read the [lifecycle guides](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/lifecycle-index/) for the path you selected.

## Follow the same request

A request waits for its required approval and effective time. Allow that stage to complete; you do not need to submit it again. If work is missing after its expected time, a request reports an error, or the result differs from what you requested, contact your administrator.

When asking for help, provide:

- the Request #, if an administrator's Dashboard shows one;
- the employee name;
- the lifecycle type;
- the approximate submission time;
- the expected effective date and time;
- the status currently shown.

Use your organization's approved support channel for employee details. See [Follow your request](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/requester/requester-quickstart/#follow-the-same-request) for request status guidance.

## Change or cancel an existing request

If you are the submitter or a WorkCycle365 admin, open **Edit Existing** to work with a request that is still eligible for changes. This is a change screen, not request history. It lists non-Extension requests in **Ready**, **Processing**, **Scheduled**, or **Staging** status, subject to your role's request visibility. WorkCycle365 checks eligibility again when you submit the change.

1. Select the request and verify its request number, person, and lifecycle type before continuing.
2. To correct an eligible request, update only the intended fields and choose **Submit Update**. A request in **Staging** is short-notice work being prepared for approval: its fields cannot be edited, although it can be cancelled.
3. To stop the selected request, choose **Cancel Request**. WorkCycle365 queues the cancellation for processing.
4. If you need a replacement after cancellation, contact your administrator before submitting it so work already performed can be taken into account. Ask your administrator to remove any outdated calendar event or Teams message. Related Return, Contract End, or return-to-previous-role requests are separate requests and are not changed by updating the selected request.

**Extensions use a separate procedure:** they do not appear in **Edit Existing**. Submit another Extension request to change the end-date arrangement; the earlier completed request and its notification remain unchanged. See [Extension](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/extension/).

Do not use **Edit Existing** as a retry for completed, rejected, cancelled, or failed work. For a failed or interrupted request, contact your administrator before trying again. The administrator checks work already performed before arranging recovery.

## If something looks wrong

| What you see                                                  | What to do                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Work is missing after its expected time                       | Contact your administrator with the details above. Keep the existing request rather than submitting a duplicate.                                                                                                                 |
| The details are wrong and **Edit Existing** lists the request | Confirm the request identity and type, then update it only if the portal allows editing. **Staging** requests can be cancelled but not edited.                                                                                   |
| The work should no longer happen                              | Use **Cancel Request** for the selected eligible request. If related work still appears active or you need a replacement, contact your administrator.                                                                            |
| An approval was rejected                                      | The request will not continue through that approval. If the business decision changes, agree the next step with your administrator before submitting a replacement.                                                              |
| The request shows Failed or processing was interrupted        | Contact your administrator with the request number if one is available; otherwise provide the employee name, lifecycle, and approximate submission time. Do not use **Edit Existing** or repeatedly resubmit as a generic retry. |
| You cannot access the portal                                  | Ask an administrator to verify your WorkCycle365 and Microsoft Power Apps access.                                                                                                                                                |

For common questions, see the [WorkCycle365 overview](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/shared-reference/suite-overview/).

# Set a request time

Use the date and time fields shown for the lifecycle you are submitting or approving. WorkCycle365 schedules requests in your organization's configured time zone. Check that zone when selecting a time, especially when working from another region.

## Before you submit a request

1. Choose the intended calendar date. If you want a particular time, select it in the lifecycle's optional time field. The current portal time pickers offer quarter-hour values from `00:00` through `23:45`; the selector does not advance the date when you choose a time.
2. Leave the optional time blank to use the lifecycle's business-hour default below. A blank time does not mean immediate processing.
3. For the first hour after midnight, select the date on which the action should occur and choose a time such as `00:15`. The picker does not offer `24:xx` or advance the date for you.
4. Review the employee, date and time, then submit once. Approval and scheduled actions follow submission.

When editing an existing request, the **Modify** time selector shows the time supplied for the request. The selector is blank when no time was entered on the request, including when the calendar uses a business-hour default. If you need a specific value, select it before submitting the update.

## When the time is blank

WorkCycle365 uses your organization's business hours to place the lifecycle's calendar event on the selected date. A time you supply takes priority for that event, subject to the past-time adjustment below.

| Lifecycle                                  | Default calendar start when no time is supplied                               |
| ------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Hire**                                   | Business Start Hour                                                           |
| **Transfer** or **Return**                 | 90 minutes before Business Start Hour                                         |
| **Extension**                              | 90 minutes before Business End Hour; Extension processing itself is immediate |
| **Planned Departure**, including **Leave** | Business End Hour                                                             |

The fallback business hours are **09:00** for start and **17:00** for end when the corresponding setting is unset. A separately scheduled Contract End uses Business End Hour; a Return generated from Leave uses 90 minutes before Business Start Hour.

## Understand the scheduled time

For the lifecycle events listed in the table above, when the event is being built and its planned start has passed or is no more than ten minutes away, WorkCycle365 moves its start to ten minutes after the current time. This also applies to a time you supplied.

For example, Business Start Hour is **09:00**, and you submit a Hire for today at **11:00** with Start Time blank. If WorkCycle365 builds its start event at **11:00**, the calendar start becomes **11:10**, rather than the already-passed 09:00. If approval or account preparation delays event creation until later, the adjustment is based on that later time.

The adjusted time is the calendar start. WorkCycle365 completes the required approval and scheduled processing before the account action; Microsoft 365 services then apply the resulting changes.

If a displayed time is still unexpected after allowing for these rules, contact your administrator before creating another request.

Two lifecycles use a different processing schedule:

- **Immediate Access Removal** follows its urgent approval path; it does not wait for an ordinary planned Departure calendar window. Follow the [Departure and Immediate Access Removal guide](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/departure-and-termination/).
- **Extension** processing is immediate. Its optional Effective Time describes the calendar event; it does not delay the Extension. See the [Extension guide](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/extension/).

Planned access removal requires approval and waits for the scheduled cutoff. Contact your administrator if the approval is missing or access remains after that cutoff. Keep the existing request rather than submitting a duplicate.

## If the time looks wrong

When asking for help, include the request number if shown, the selected date, the time field and its value, and the organization's time zone. If no request number is shown, also include the submission date and lifecycle. Ask an administrator to check the request's schedule and progress. Do not resubmit just to change how a schedule is displayed. If a supported correction is needed, use the eligible Modify path or ask support for help.

Related: [Follow your request](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/requester/requester-quickstart/#follow-the-same-request) · [Requester quickstart](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/requester/requester-quickstart/) · [Approvals and notifications](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/approver/approvals-and-notifications/) · [Lifecycle guides](https://docs.workcycle365.com/guides/lifecycle-reference/lifecycle-index/)