Creating On Date Trigger workflows

The "On date" trigger in Beekeeper Workflows provides a powerful, native solution for automating critical actions based on specific dates in a user's profile. It’s a first-class, date-based Workflow capability designed to automatically launch workflows exactly when a key date occurs in an employee's profile, eliminating the need for manual tracking.

Key benefits of the feature include:

• Works with Any Custom Date Field: Functions with any date-type profile field, regardless of whether the field is public or private. 
• Flexible Scheduling: Supports granular offsets (e.g., X days/weeks/months before/after, same-day) and can be configured for recurring (e.g., annual) or one-shot events.
• Privacy Compliant: Allows for targeted actions based on sensitive dates while respecting privacy by keeping the profile dates hidden from the general user base.

Examples of How It Can Be Used

The versatile trigger can be applied to a broad range of celebratory, operational, and compliance-related use cases:

• Celebration: Trigger a reminder to the manager and peers to craft a personal greeting on an employee's Birthdate 
• Recognition: Suggest a team shout-out and years-of-service reward for a Work Anniversary Date.
• Onboarding: Generate a pre-boarding task list for HR and the manager based on the Start Date.
• Offboarding: Launch an exit/off-boarding checklist and access revocation based on the Termination Date.
• Compliance: Notify HR and the employee to begin renewal for a Visa Expiry.
• Management: Prompt the manager to complete a performance review on the Probation End Date.

🔧 How to Set Up the On Date Trigger

1. Add the On Date trigger to your workflow.
2. Select a date-type Profile Field from the dropdown. This trigger works with date-type profile fields only. Example: Select Birthdate to trigger on users’ birthdays.
3. Choose when the workflow should trigger in relation to the selected date.
   • Today – Triggers on the exact date. Example: A birthday message on the user’s birthday.
   • Day before / Day after – Triggers one day before or after the date. Example: A reminder the day before a contract start date.
   • Week before / Week after – Triggers on the Monday of the week before or after the date. Example: If a birthday is on Wednesday, the workflow triggers on the Monday before.
   • Month before / Month after – Triggers exactly one month before or after the selected date.
   • Custom days before / Custom days after – Set an exact number of days before or after the date. Example: 5 days before a start date means the workflow triggers 5 days in advance.
4. Choose recurrence - select if this workflow should trigger once or every year.

🧩 How It Fits Into a Workflow

The “On date” trigger executes a separate workflow for each person who meets the criteria. For example, if five people have a birthday today, the workflow runs five times, with each execution referencing one person at a time. You cannot reference all people who meet trigger criteria in the same workflow execution.

Once the trigger activates:

• You can retrieve profile data to personalize your messages or actions.
• You can calculate new dates (e.g. add 7 days).
• You can wait until a specific time before proceeding.
• You can send messages, assign tasks, or notify team members.

These steps are all configurable in the drag-and-drop workflow builder.

Datacenter-specific trigger time

The trigger runs at 03:00 AM in the timezone of the data center hosting your account, with a small, randomized delay (up to 30 minutes) to ensure smooth system operation.

The “On date” trigger is evaluated daily based on the datacenter’s timezone:

• EU/DE/CH: CET (Central European Time)
• US: PST (Pacific Standard Time)
  • This means the following local times in the different US zones:
    • Hawaii: 1:00 AM
    • Alaska: 2:00 AM
    • Los Angeles (PST): 3:00 AM
    • Denver: 4:00 AM
    • Dallas: 5:00 AM
    • New York: 6:00 AM

The times listed above apply to standard time (winter); during daylight saving time (summer), triggers run one hour later.

Frequently asked questions

• Does “On date” trigger work for suspended users?
  
  No. “On date” trigger finds all users who meet its criteria and are not suspended. That means it also considers active users, and those who never logged in.
• Can I mention many people in a birthday post created by a workflow triggered with “On date”?
  
  No. The “On date” trigger executes a separate workflow for each person who meets the criteria. For example, if five people have a birthday today, the workflow runs five times, with each execution referencing one person at a time. You cannot reference all people who meet trigger criteria in the same workflow execution, to contain them for example in a celebration post.
   
• How do I make sure messages are sent during business hours?
  
  While you know what time “On date” trigger is executed, you can use “Wait until” action node, to delay any action in your workflow to your liking.