Peopleops Console Lifecycle Control

PeopleOps Console — Lifecycle Control Skill

You answer People Ops / ERP-HR verification tasks by reading a remote HTTP API, applying a fixed set of business rules, and returning ONE JSON object whose keys and enum values exactly match the task's answer_template.json.

0. Operating contract (read first)

• The answer template is the spec. Output every key it lists, with the right type, and for enum/list[enum] fields use ONLY the allowed_values strings verbatim. Never invent labels or write free-text explanations into label fields.
• Each field is scored independently (partial credit). So: (1) lock in every field that the data states literally before reasoning about interpretive ones, and (2) a wrong enum only costs that field — but vague/over-broad list fields bleed points, so keep lists tight and justified.
• IDs are copied verbatim from the API (assignment ids, offer ids, audit ids, approval ids, candidate ids, batch ids). Never paraphrase or reformat them.
• Dates are full calendar dates YYYY-MM-DD (take the date part of the record's effective/updated timestamp). Do NOT substitute the monthly period string (YYYY-MM) for an effective_date.

1. Remote API workflow

Base service exposes read-only JSON endpoints (no auth; login text in prompts is flavor). Typical calls:

• GET /api/summary and /api/manifest — orient: counts, departments, modules.
• GET /api/employees?q=<id|name> — profile summary (department, balance, status).
• GET /api/payroll-ledgers?q=<emp_id> — leave assignments AND salary assignments AND accrual/adjustment rows live here together; filter mentally by record_type and status.
• GET /api/cases (summaries) then GET /api/cases/{case_id} for the FULL record: approvals, attachments, comments, audit_events, policy_refs.
• GET /api/policies / /api/policies/{id} — the authoritative precedence rules.
• GET /api/documents?q= — folder required_files/files, required_tags/tags, ready.
• GET /api/messages?q= — formal-notice messages with quality and defects.
• GET /api/recruitment?q= — openings, candidates, offer_register, cost_ledger, notice_packets, payroll_precheck_records.
• GET /api/audit?q=&case_id= and /api/audit/{id} — QA results; case_id filter returns exactly the events for one case.
• GET /api/attachments/{id} — raw notice/checklist body text.

Always cross-reference: an employee's authoritative state is spread across employees, payroll-ledgers, policies, cases, documents, messages, and audit. When an audit QA event names a specific controlling record, that naming is decisive — use that exact id, its policy, and its numbers.

2. Source-precedence business rules

Leave entitlement precedence

• The latest Approved or Submitted leave assignment for the period controls. Draft, voided, superseded/obsolete records are excluded — even when the employee profile summary disagrees. (An approved assignment overrides a stale profile summary.)
• Among multiple valid assignments, the latest dated Approved/Submitted one wins; prefer the annual leave-assignment row (e.g. record_type: Leave assignment) over month-scoped ledger adjustments unless the task asks for an adjustment.
• excluded_leave_ids / excluded records = EVERY non-controlling leave row (both superseded and draft), not just one.
• Normalized labels:
  • leave_source = leave_assignment_history when you read the assignment ledger (not the profile or case summary).
  • leave_precedence_source = approved_assignment_current_period when the controller is an Approved row for the period.
  • precedence_source = approved_assignment_over_profile when overriding a stale profile; profile_policy_ignored = true; audit_result = profile_summary_stale; remediation next_action = update_employee_summary.

Payroll / salary precedence

• Use the current Submitted salary assignment. Draft planning assignments do NOT affect payroll readiness or accruals and must be excluded.
• payroll_status / payroll_source_status = submitted; draft_exclusion_rule = exclude_draft_assignment; excluded_payroll_ids / excluded_assignment_id = the draft (and any superseded) row.
• base_salary and effective_date come from the Submitted row (full date).
• Accruals: a batch is ready when the Submitted assignment matches the accrual batch and QA says so — accrual_ready = true, control_result = ready_with_monitoring, audit_scope = payroll_assignment_readiness.

General draft/submitted/approved/superseded ordering

Authority for "what is effective": Approved/Submitted > everything; Draft and Superseded/voided/obsolete are always excluded from the effective state and listed as the excluded ids.

3. Folder readiness & document checklist

• A folder is ready ONLY when all required_files AND all required_tags are present. Compare the document's required_files vs files and required_tags vs tags.
• missing_files = required_files not in files (list them exactly).
• Missing FILE and missing TAG are SEPARATE blockers. If the required tag is present, required_tag_present = true and folder_required_tag_action = no_tag_action; only use add_required_tag when a required tag is absent.
• closeout_blockers lists only the categories actually failing: missing_required_files, missing_required_tags, defective_formal_notice — include each only if true.

4. Formal-notice defects

• Notice quality comes from inspecting the notice packet/message: notice_quality is valid or defective; copy the defects codes verbatim into notice_defects. Defect codes seen: missing_ack_deadline, missing_appeal_instructions, missing_waitlist_status, missing_correct_policy.
• Treat the notice-quality evidence source as notice_packet_inspection (inspect the formal-notice packet body), not message_notice_inspection or case_summary_only, even when the defect is logged in a message.
• Remediation: a defective notice -> notice_remediation_action = reissue_defective_notices and next_action = block_close_and_reissue_notice.
• Remote-work international-exception notices (per the Remote Work Policy) must contain: executive approval, time limits, tax equalization, VPN-only access, quarterly compliance review, appeal instructions, and an acknowledgement deadline. A missing element is a defect.

5. Closeout gate & final control result

• approval_closeout_gate is data-driven, not a constant:
  • clean records, no folder/notice defects -> approval_sufficient_when_records_clean.
  • any folder or notice defect -> approval_not_sufficient_when_folder_or_notice_defective.
• final_control_result:
  • clean -> approve_closeout (and closeout_action = approve_onboarding_close).
  • folder/notice defects -> hold_for_folder_and_notice_defects.
  • submitted-and-matching payroll/accrual -> ready_with_monitoring.
• evidence_source_order for closeout reviews = approval_history_folder_notice_audit.
• records_remediation_owner for routing remediation = People Ops Compliance (compliance owns remediation routing; do not default to the uploader/Records).

6. Audit correlation & scope (high-value, easy to get wrong)

• audit_event_id = the QA event whose topic matches the decision (leave event for a leave task, payroll event for a payroll task, notice event for a notice task), scoped to the case under review.
• supporting_audit_event_ids = the SAME-CASE event(s) on the decision's topic.
• excluded_audit_event_ids = ONLY the SAME-CASE adjacent off-topic events (e.g. the folder/tag event when the decision is about leave; the doc/notice events from sibling cases that a naive reader might mis-attribute).
  • DO NOT dump the entire audit log or unrelated other-case/other-topic events into the excluded list — that is penalized. Keep it to the few genuinely adjacent, easily-confused events.
• audit_scope matches the decision: leave_source_precedence_only, payroll_assignment_readiness, or document_notice_findings_only.
• A cross-module escalation package (an audit event that "opens a package" and lists related event ids with a control owner and remediation clock) is its own thing: its related events and owner apply to the escalation, not to a single per-entity decision. For a single, non-escalation case set escalation_action = no_action rather than echoing next_action.

7. Recruitment reconciliation

• Outcomes come from committee_decision + the offer register, i.e. candidate_status_source = interview_feedback_and_offer and candidate_outcome_control = committee_decision_with_offer_confirmation.
• selected_candidate (Selected), waitlisted_candidates, rejected_candidates from committee decisions; arrays hold candidate IDs only.
• Offer: take offer_id, offer_base_salary, and selected_offer_status (accepted/draft/withdrawn/none) from the offer register for the selected candidate.
• recruitment_cost_total = sum of the target opening's cost_ledger line items ONLY. "All campaign ledger items" means all lines of THAT campaign — do not sum other openings. cost_source = recruitment_cost_ledger.
• Notice follow-up: candidates whose notice is not_sent need send_* actions (send_waitlist_notice, send_rejection_notice); use reissue_* only when an existing notice is defective/flagged for reissue. notice_followup_required lists those candidate IDs. notice_quality_source = notice_packet_inspection.
• offer_exclusion_reason_for_waitlisted = no_accepted_status_or_offer (waitlisted candidates have no accepted offer), NOT waitlisted_not_selected.

Payroll handoff gate (recruiting)

• The handoff is created only after the selected candidate has an accepted offer, and the handoff must be a Submitted assignment; draft prechecks do NOT satisfy the gate.
• payroll_handoff_gate = accepted_offer_only (the trigger to create a handoff is the accepted offer).
• payroll_assignment_status_required = submitted_after_acceptance; draft_payroll_allowed = false; onboarding_handoff = create_submitted_assignment_after_acceptance; handoff_control_result = submitted_handoff_required_after_acceptance.

8. Common misjudgments that cost points (checklist)

1. Putting unrelated/other-case audit events into excluded_audit_event_ids (keep it to same-case adjacent off-topic events only).
2. Using message_notice_inspection instead of notice_packet_inspection.
3. Summing cost across all openings instead of the one target campaign.
4. Returning a period (YYYY-MM) where an effective_date (YYYY-MM-DD) is required.
5. Treating the closeout gate / control result as a constant instead of deriving it from whether records are actually clean.
6. Confusing missing FILE vs missing TAG (separate blockers / actions).
7. Echoing next_action into escalation_action for a non-escalation case (use no_action).
8. Forgetting to exclude BOTH superseded and draft records (not just one) from leave; forgetting to exclude the draft from payroll.
9. Defaulting remediation owner to the file uploader instead of People Ops Compliance.

9. Per-task method

1. Read the prompt + answer_template.json; note every key, type, and enum set.
2. Pull the relevant employee/case/recruitment record and ALL cross-referenced modules (ledger, policy, documents, messages, audit).
3. Fill data-literal fields first (ids, salaries, day counts, dates, decisions).
4. Apply the precedence/readiness/defect/audit-scope rules above for enums.
5. Keep list fields tight; copy ids verbatim; use full dates; output only the JSON object (no markdown, no commentary).