v1
latestOpenAPI 3.1.02026-07-26294215839.4 KBCreate Employee
Create a new employee. At minimum, provide a first name and last name in a JSON object or XML document. The request body schema lists commonly used fields, but any valid writable employee field name may be included 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, set, or remove the employee profile photo. Photo-related keys (e.g. photo, photoUrl) included in the body are silently ignored: the request still creates the employee and returns 201, but no photo is attached. After creation, use the Upload Employee Photo endpoint (upload-employee-photo) to attach a profile photo. AI connectors cannot use that endpoint reliably and should redirect the user to the BambooHR web UI.
Trax Payroll note: Employees added to a pay schedule synced with Trax Payroll 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.
OAuth Scopes: employee, employee.write, employee:assets.write, employee:compensation.write, employee:contact.write, employee:custom_fields.write, employee:custom_fields_encrypted.write, employee:demographic.write, employee:dependent.write, employee:dependent:ssn.write, employee:education.write, employee:emergency_contacts.write, employee:identification.write, employee:job, employee:job.write, employee:management.write, employee:name.write, employee:payroll.write, employee:photo.write, employee:vaccination.write, sensitive_employee:address.write, sensitive_employee:creditcards.write, sensitive_employee:protected_info.write
Request body
Example request
{
"firstName": "Panda",
"lastName": "Bear",
"jobTitle": "Software Engineer",
"department": "Engineering"
}Response
Employee created successfully.