Don't want to upload census files each month? Set up an HRIS integration to automate the process. Learn more.
What is a census?
An employee census is a file that contains information about your employees such as start date, working location, salary, and more. Cocoon uses this information to facilitate leave plans, claims, and payroll, so it's incredibly important to upload an accurate and timely census file to Cocoon to ensure your employees' leaves run smoothly.
How does our census inform leave pay?
Cocoon's software needs up-to-date salary information to ensure accurate and timely delivery of pay files. If salaries are inaccurate in the census provided to Cocoon, employee pay may be impacted and need to be adjusted in future pay files.
How often do I need to upload a census?
During implementation, your payroll team will provide Cocoon with your internal pay file deadlines. Census files will need to be uploaded ahead of these deadlines to ensure accurate pay files. Workspace and Pay Admins will receive an automated reminder ahead of the due date to make sure our system is using the most up-to-date information.
How to upload a census
NOTE: Cocoon adjusted our census upload process starting in January 2024. Please review the process below and reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.
Ahead of each pay file, Cocoon will send you automated email reminders to upload a new census to ensure we have the most up-to-date employee information on file.
Click on the Documents tab in your Cocoon Dashboard
Select Census documents
Click Upload
After you upload your census file, you will be taken to a new screen where you can scroll through the headers in your uploaded file and match each field to the corresponding Key columns that Cocoon needs
EXAMPLE: if you have a header in your file labeled "Employee First Name", you'd go to the row that represents this header and select "legal_first_name" from the dropdown menu
5. When you are finished selecting key columns for all the headers you want to share, can click Submit to finish the upload process
What do I need to include in my census file?
On the Match columns page, any fields with a red * next to them are required. These include:
Employee's legal first name
Employee's legal last name
Work start date
Annual salary
Work email
If you try to click submit without selecting a header for these fields, you will receive an error message.
There are also several "encouraged" fields, which are not required but further help Cocoon automate processes like like determining employee eligibility, calculating leave pay, and creating leave timelines. If you have an unmapped field that is encouraged by our system, you will see a yellow warning pop-up after clicking Submit.
NOTE: each header in your uploaded file must have a unique label
If you're sure of your selections, simply click Submit a second time to finish your upload.
Saving your mappings
To make this process quicker and easier, we have included an option to save your header-to-field mappings from the previous upload. When you select this option and submit, the next time you upload your census file our system will scan for the same headers that you mapped in your previous upload and pre-fill the corresponding column key choices.
Why did Cocoon change its census upload process in January 2024?
Previously, Cocoon encouraged Admins to use a standard template with clearly defined headers. This new system gives more flexibility, allowing you to upload a file in any format and decide exactly which field that Cocoon should ingest.
What does this mean for the Cocoon's census template ?
While it's no longer required to use Cocoon's census template, it still serves as a helpful guide to understand which fields Cocoon will look for.
Any questions? Please reach out to the Support team at: