Attributes that Determine Journey or Task Assignment

This table lists the differences in journey or task assignment based on the days for initiation, delay duration, and offset days values.

Points to Consider for Journey Assignment	Days for Initiation	Delay Duration	Offset Days
Applicable at the journey level?	Yes	No	No
Applicable at the task level?	No	Yes	Yes
Are there any dependencies?	Yes. This attribute is available only when the Allocation Criteria is set to When the action record becomes effective.	No	No
Does this attribute have a default value?	Yes, default value is 0.	No, default is null.	Yes, default value is 0.
What values to configure?	Only days can be provided. Other units of measure aren't supported.	Days and unit of measure need to be provided. Supported units of measure are days, months, and weeks.	Only days can be provided. Other units of measure aren't supported.
Can the attribute value be negative?	Yes	No	Yes
How is the attribute used?	The attribute value is added to the effective date of the transaction record (for example, effective date of the transfer record).	The attribute value is added to the journey assignment date. If you specify delay duration for a task that has a preceding task, then the delay duration is calculated from the date on which the preceding task is marked as complete.	The attribute value is added to the journey assignment date.
Which date is derived using this value?	Journey activation date.	Task activation date.	Task offset date.
How is the derived date used?	The journey becomes active on the derived date.	The task becomes active on the derived date. This date doesn't determine the date on which these attributes are evaluated. The attributes are always evaluated on the journey assignment date.	These task attributes are evaluated on the journey assignment date. However, the reference date used for evaluation is the task offset date. Task eligibility profile Task performer (line manager and area of responsibility) Task owner (line manager and area of responsibility) For example, the journey is assigned on 1-Sep-2023. Task A in the journey has the offset days set to 10 days. The attributes are evaluated on 1-Sep-2023 (when the journey is assigned). However, the reference date used for evaluation is the task offset date, which in this case would be 11-Sep-2023 (1-Sep-2023 plus 10 days). If Offset Days isn't specified, then the task assignment date is used as the reference date to evaluate the attributes. This derived date doesn't determine when the task becomes active or visible on the user interface.
What displays on the user interface until the derived date?	Workers don't see the assigned journey until the derived date. Managers and HR specialists see the assigned journey with the Deferred status. They can delete or edit this deferred journey. But they can't force complete this deferred journey.	Workers don't see the assigned task until the derived date. Managers and HR specialists see the assigned task with the date it will become active on. If journeys is enabled, then this future start date isn't displayed on the page. They can delete or edit this deferred task. But they can't complete this deferred task.	There's no impact on the user interface.
What is the impact on notifications?	Notifications are sent only when the journey becomes active. Notifications are triggered at UTC midnight when the journey becomes active. The timing of triggering notifications isn't dependent on a user's time zone preferences.	Notifications are sent only when the task becomes active. Notifications are triggered at UTC midnight when the task becomes active. The timing of triggering notifications isn't dependent on a user's time zone preferences.	There's no impact on notifications.
What are the typical use cases?	When you want to assign the journey only a few days before or after the effective date of the transaction. For example, a worker's hire date is 1-Sep-2023. However, the pending worker record is created on 1-Jun-2023. You want the worker to start preboarding tasks and the journey to be active only 10 days before the hire date, which is 21-Aug-2023. In this case, you configure days for initiation as -10.	When you want the task performer to start a task a few days after the effective date of the transaction. For example, the Set Goals task needs to be active for the worker only 10 days after the hire date of 1-Sep-2023. In this case, you configure the task delay duration as 10 days. So, the task will be active only on 11-Sep-2023 (1-Sep-2023 + 10 days).	When you want to evaluate the task performer or owner either few days before or after the effective date of the transaction. For example, a worker is being transferred on 17-Sep-2023. However, the Orientation Session for New Employee task needs to be performed by the HR representative of the new assignment 4 days after the transfer. In this case, you configure the task offset days as 4 days so that the new HR representative is evaluated as of 21-Sep-2023 (17-Sep-2023 + 4 days) and the task is assigned to them.