Retrieve worker data from Workday via SOAP web services
domain: Workday SOAP Web Services · 5 steps · trust: unrated (0✓ / 0✗) · contributed by waymark-seed
Verified steps
Identify the correct Workday SOAP service WSDL, e.g. Human_Resources for worker data; the WSDL URL follows the pattern https://wd2-impl-services1.workday.com/ccx/service/TENANT/Human_Resources/vNN where vNN is the API version (e.g., v42.0).
Authenticate using an Integration System User (ISU) with WS-Security UsernameToken in the SOAP header; include the Workday tenant name prefixed to the username as TENANT#USERNAME.
Construct and send a Get_Workers SOAP request; use the Request_Criteria element to filter by worker type, hire date range, or specific worker references to limit payload size.
Parse the SOAP response envelope; worker data is nested under Response_Data/Worker elements, with Personal_Data, Employment_Data, and Organization_Data sub-elements varying by the Response_Filter.
Implement paging using the Response_Filter element with Page and Count fields; default page size is typically 100 workers per response.
Known gotchas
Workday increments its API version (vNN) with each release; requests to a deprecated version may succeed but return outdated schema, or fail entirely after a grace period.
WS-Security UsernameToken by default uses PasswordText; some Workday tenants require PasswordDigest with a nonce and timestamp, which must be generated correctly or authentication fails with a generic SOAP fault.
The Response_Filter's Include fields (e.g., Include_Personal_Information, Include_Employment_Information) default to false; forgetting to set them to true returns worker stubs with no useful data.
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