Update Employee

post

https://{companyDomain}.bamboohr.com/api/v1/employees/{id}

Update an employee's fields by submitting a JSON object or XML document containing field name/value pairs. The request body schema lists commonly used fields, but any valid writable employee field name may be used as a key. To discover available field names, call the List Fields endpoint (operationId: list-fields, GET /api/v1/meta/fields).

This endpoint does not upload, replace, or remove the employee profile photo, and does not accept any binary or file uploads in general. Photo-related keys (e.g. photo, photoUrl) included in the body are silently ignored: the request still returns 200, but no photo change is made. To change a photo, use the Upload Employee Photo endpoint (operationId: upload-employee-photo, POST /api/v1/employees/{employeeId}/photo).

Trax Payroll note: If the employee is currently on a pay schedule syncing with Trax Payroll, or is being added to one, the request must include the required payroll-related employee fields: employeeNumber (unless the company has automatic employee numbers enabled), firstName, lastName, dateOfBirth, ssn or ein, gender, maritalStatus, hireDate, address1, city, state, zipcode, country, employmentHistoryStatus, exempt, payType, payRate, payPer, overtimeRate, and location.

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Path Params

string

required

The employee ID.

Body Params

A dictionary of employee field names and their new values. The properties listed below are commonly used fields, but any valid writable employee field name can be used as a key. To discover all available field names, call the List Fields endpoint (operationId: list-fields, GET /api/v1/meta/fields). Only the fields you include will be updated; omitted fields are left unchanged. Some string-valued fields are backed by lists or lookups, so callers should use valid option values from BambooHR metadata rather than assuming any free-text string will persist as entered. Important for AI agents: Unknown or misspelled field names are silently ignored — the endpoint returns 200 but the field is not updated. Always use the exact alias from the schema properties below or from the list-fields endpoint; do not invent aliases by adding prefixes such as home (e.g., homeCity is wrong — the correct alias is city). Photo data is not writable through this schema: photo-related keys are silently ignored. Use the Upload Employee Photo endpoint (operationId: upload-employee-photo) to change a profile photo.

firstName

string

Legal first name.

lastName

string

Legal last name.

workEmail

string

Work email address.

jobTitle

string

Job title.

department

string

Department name.

division

string

Division name.

location

string

Location name.

hireDate

date

Hire date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

mobilePhone

string

Mobile phone number.

homePhone

string

Home phone number.

workPhone

string

Work phone number.

address1

string

Home street address line 1. The correct alias is address1 — do not use homeAddress1, homeStreet1, or street1.

address2

string

Home street address line 2 (apartment, suite, etc.). The correct alias is address2 — do not use homeAddress2 or homeStreet2.

city

string

Home city. The correct alias is city — do not use homeCity.

state

string

Home state or province. The correct alias is state — do not use homeState. Values are normalized to standard abbreviations (e.g., "Pennsylvania" becomes "PA").

zipcode

string

Home ZIP or postal code. The correct alias is zipcode — do not use homeZipcode or homeZip.

country

string

Home country name. The correct alias is country — do not use homeCountry.

Headers

content-type

string

enum

Defaults to application/json

Generated from available request content types

Allowed:

Responses

400

Provided JSON is malformed, or required fields are missing.

403

The API user does not have permission to see the employee or to update any of the requested fields.

404

The employee does not exist.

409

A field was given an invalid value (e.g., duplicate email, invalid state/country, incompatible pay type).

200Employee updated successfully.