Security in Workday: What You Need to Know
When most people hear the word security, they think about locks, keys, or passwords. In Workday, security has a slightly different meaning. It’s about who can see what information and who can take what actions in the system. Security in Workday is designed to make sure employees can access the tools they need, while protecting sensitive information and maintaining compliance.
For Clemson, security is especially important because Workday will be the single system for HR, finance, payroll, procurement, and more. That means the correct people need access to the correct information — and only that information. Because of this focus on securing information to protect people and the institution, your access may look very different in Workday than in PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft tends to be a much more open system and the implementation of Workday along with its security functionality has provided an opportunity to rethink access to data for all functional areas.
Security Roles in Workday
In Workday, security is built around roles. Roles define what you can see and do in the system. Here are a few role types and roles you’ll hear about often:
Assignable Role
- Security roles are most often assigned to a position. Think of a position as a chair. Whoever sits in the chair (the faculty or staff member holding that position) gets the security roles attached to it. When someone leaves that chair for another job, the roles stay with the chair. The next person who fills the position automatically has the security they need to do their work.
- The person who moved on will then receive the security roles tied to their new chair (new position).
- Finally – a person or a position can have more than one security role in Workday.
“As Self” Roles
- There are several roles that are considered “As Self” roles, these include: Employee as Self, Contingent Worker as Self, Academic Affiliate as Self and Manager as Self.
- These “as self” security roles enable the self-service capabilities in Workday. They are security roles that are applied automatically in Workday based on job attributes. These roles enable individuals manage their own personal information, like updating your address, viewing your paystub or requesting time off, as well as submitting time, expense reports, etc.
- The Manager as Self role gives those who have individuals reporting to them access to information and tasks related to their direct reports. For example, managers can approve time-off requests, view team specific information, or start job changes for employees on their team.
Planned Workday Roles for Clemson
Below are some of the security roles currently being tested in Workday* and examples of tasks that can be completed by people in those roles (Note: The names and responsibilities of these roles are subject to change.)
Academic Dean/Vice President
- Review and approve recruiting, staffing and compensation transactions for college or unit.
Academic Faculty HR Analyst
- Support Academic Chairs and Deans with new and updates to academic appointments for the Academic unit.
Cost Center Manager
- Oversee cost center (a budget area within the university).
- View financial transactions and reports tied to their area, approve certain expenses.
Timekeeper
- Support managers with employee time entry, time off & leaves of absence
- Act as a liaison between college or department and centralized Time and Leave, and Payroll teams.
Expense Data Entry Specialist
- Verify procurement card transactions.
Sponsored Programs Analyst
- Oversee the administration and tracking of one or more grant awards.
- Approve selected grant-related actions, such as funding allocations or compliance reviews.
HR Liaison
- Initiate, review and support recruiting, staffing and compensation transactions.
- Act as a liaison between college or department and centralized HR teams.
Why This Matters
Security roles ensure that Workday data remains both useful and safe. You’ll only see the information you need, and you’ll have the right tools to do your job without being overloaded with data that doesn’t apply to you.
For most employees, your experience will center around the Employee as Self role or managers as the Manager as Self role. Other assignable roles (like Cost Center Manager, Timekeeper or HR Liaison) are only given when needed for specific job duties.
Your assigned security roles will also determine your specific training pathway. We want to make sure you know exactly what you need when Workday goes live. We’ll keep you updated on training early in 2026.
Looking Ahead
As we approach Workday Go-Live on July 1, 2026, you will receive more information regarding security roles. For now, know that Workday’s role-based security is there to protect information and keep your work streamlined.
