Developer guide to get employee data from Paycor API

Introduction

Paycor is a leading HR and payroll platform that empowers businesses to manage their workforce efficiently. For developers and HR tech teams, accessing employee data via the Paycor API allows seamless integration of payroll, attendance, and HR information into internal dashboards or third-party applications.

This article, part of our in-depth HRIS API series, explains how to retrieve employee data using Paycor’s REST API. We’ll cover the endpoints, authentication steps, and practical Python examples to get you started quickly.

Get Employee Data from Paycor API

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Valid API credentials (Access-Token or Apim-Subscription-Key).
• The EmployeeID for retrieving specific employee data.
• The Legal Entity ID to fetch all employees within an organization.

API Endpoints

1. Get Employee by EmployeeID

To fetch data for a specific employee:

GET /v1/employees/{employeeId}


Path Parameter:

• employeeId – Unique identifier for the employee (required).

Query Parameters:

• include – Add fields like EmploymentDates, Position, Status, or WorkLocation.
• emailType – Specify which email to return (Work or Home).

2. Get Employees by Legal Entity ID

To retrieve all employees in a legal entity:

GET /v1/legalentities/{legalEntityId}/employees


Path Parameter:

• legalEntityId – The unique identifier of the legal entity (required).

Python Code Examples

Retrieve Data for a Specific Employee:‍

import requests

def get_employee_by_id(employee_id, access_token):
    url = f'https://api.paycor.com/v1/employees/{employee_id}'
    headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'}
    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    return response.json()

Retrieve Data for All Employees in a Legal Entity:

import requests

def get_employees_by_legal_entity(legal_entity_id, access_token):
    url = f'https://api.paycor.com/v1/legalentities/{legal_entity_id}/employees'
    headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'}
    response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    return response.json()

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Expired or Invalid Credentials: Always verify your access token before making requests.
2. Incorrect IDs: Ensure you’re using the correct EmployeeID or Legal Entity ID.
3. Rate Limiting: Implement retry mechanisms to handle throttling.
4. Network Issues: Check connectivity if requests fail intermittently.
5. API Versioning: Confirm that you’re calling the correct API version (v1 or latest).
6. Unexpected Schema Changes: Validate the response before parsing it.
7. Error Handling: Handle HTTP 4xx and 5xx responses gracefully in your code.

FAQs

1. What is the default email type returned?
The API returns the employee’s Work email by default.

2. Can I retrieve data for terminated employees?
Yes. Use the Status parameter to include terminated employees in your results.

3. How do I find an EmployeeID?
Use the Get Employees by Legal Entity ID endpoint to list all employees and their IDs.

4. What additional data can I include in the response?
You can include EmploymentDates, Position, Status, and WorkLocation for richer insights.

5. Is there a limit on the number of employees retrieved?
Yes, Paycor APIs often paginate results. Check for pagination tokens in the response.

6. How often is the data updated?
Employee data updates in real time as changes occur in the Paycor system.

7. What should I do if I receive a 500 error?
Check Paycor’s API status page for outages and review your request for formatting issues.

Knit for Paycor API Integration

Integrating directly with multiple HR APIs can be complex and time-consuming. Knit simplifies this process.
With a single integration, you can connect to Paycor API and dozens of other HRIS systems seamlessly. Knit handles:

• Authentication & Token Refresh
• Data Normalization across different APIs
• Error Handling & Maintenance

This eliminates the need to build and maintain individual API connections, saving engineering time and ensuring data reliability across your HR integrations.

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