Verify People Ops employee-lifecycle closeouts (leave/payroll precedence, folder readiness, formal-notice quality, audit-scope selection, recruitment reconciliation) against the remote Northwind PeopleOps Console read-only JSON API. Use whenever a task asks to validate/audit/reconcile an onboarding closeout, leave source precedence, payroll assignment readiness, policy-case folder+notice, or recruitment outcome packet.
Northwind People-Lifecycle Closeout Verification
When to use
Use for any task that points at the PeopleOps Console / "Northwind People Lifecycle Portal" and asks to verify, audit, or reconcile an HR lifecycle closeout. Five archetypes map to five answer shapes:
Critical shape fact: leave assignments and salary assignments are NOT separate endpoints — they both live in /api/payroll-ledgers distinguished by record_type (Leave assignment / Salary assignment). Fetch with ?q=<EMP-id> then filter by record_type.
Endpoint calling order (gather evidence)
Identify the subject: an EMP-xxx, a CASE-xxx / REQ-xxx, or a DOC-xxx.
/api/employees?q=<EMP> → profile summary (name, status, leave_balance_days, salary_band) — the possibly stale summary.
/api/payroll-ledgers?q=<EMP> → leave + salary assignments. Filter by record_type.
If a case exists: /api/cases/<case_id> → approvals, attachments, audit_events, comments, policy_refs. (Case IDs are reused as CASE-<emp-suffix> and recruitment opening IDs REQ-xxx are also cases.)
/api/audit?case_id=<case> (and /api/audit?q=<EMP>) → audit events; call /api/audit/<id> for full detail text.
/api/policies/<policy_id> (from case policy_refs) → confirms what a valid notice/folder must contain (e.g. exception notices need appeal instructions + acknowledgement deadline; onboarding folders need specific files).
For recruitment: /api/recruitment?q=<REQ-id> → candidates, offer_register, cost_ledger, notice_packets, payroll_precheck_records.
Field shapes you will read
Leave assignment record: ledger_id (LA-…), policy_name, period (e.g. "2026"), status (Approved/Superseded/Draft), approved_leave_days, worksheet_leave_days, updated_at.
Salary assignment record: ledger_id (PAY-…), base_salary, period (e.g. "2026-04"), status (Submitted/Draft/Superseded), accrual_batch_id (sometimes), updated_at.
Candidate = the Leave assignment with status == "Approved" whose period matches the current/effective period (e.g. "2026"). Among multiple Approved same-period, take the latest updated_at.
annual_days / balance_days = that assignment's approved_leave_days (NOT the employee profile leave_balance_days).
Exclude every other leave assignment (status Superseded, Draft, or older period) — list them in excluded_leave_ids.
If the profile summary (leave_balance_days / profile policy) conflicts with the approved assignment, the profile is STALE: precedence_source = "approved_assignment_over_profile", profile_policy_ignored = true, audit_result = "profile_summary_stale", next_action = "update_employee_summary".
Payroll source precedence
Candidate = the Salary assignment with status == "Submitted" for the current/effective period.
base_salary from that record. effective_date = the assignment's period (YYYY-MM) rendered as YYYY-MM-01 (or an explicit effective_date field if present).
Exclude Draft and Superseded assignments → excluded_assignment_id / excluded_payroll_ids.
accrual_ready = true only if a Submitted assignment carries a matching accrual_batch_id (and the payroll audit confirms payroll.ready); the accrual batch id = that accrual_batch_id.
control_result = "ready_with_monitoring" when submitted assignment matches an accrual batch (ready, but monitored). block_close/hold_for_folder_and_notice_defects when defective.
Folder readiness (from /api/documents)
missing_files = required_files − files.
required_tag_present = (required_tags ⊆ tags).
folder_ready = (missing_files empty) AND required_tag_present AND documents.ready == true.
folder_required_tag_action = "add_required_tag" if any required tag missing, else "no_tag_action".
Contributes to closeout_blockers: "missing_required_files" (if missing_files non-empty), "missing_required_tags" (if tag missing).
Formal-notice defect detection (from /api/messages or recruitment notice_packets)
Policy context (e.g. HR-POL-014 §7.1) defines what a valid exception notice MUST contain (executive approval, time limits, tax equalization, VPN-only, quarterly review, appeal instructions, acknowledgement deadline) — use it to sanity-check defects; the authoritative defects are the pre-computed defects[] array.
notice_evidence_source = "notice_packet_inspection" when a structured notice record with explicit quality/defects fields is inspected. Use "message_notice_inspection" only when evidence is a raw message channel without a structured packet, "case_summary_only" as last resort.
If notice_quality == "defective" → add "defective_formal_notice" to closeout_blockers.
Audit selection (scope-based)
Choose audit_scope by archetype:
folder/notice case → document_notice_findings_only
leave-precedence case → leave_source_precedence_only
payroll-readiness case → payroll_assignment_readiness
supporting_audit_event_ids = audit events whose event-type belongs to the chosen scope for this case/employee.
excluded_audit_event_ids = adjacent audit events whose event-type belongs to a DIFFERENT scope (e.g. when scope is leave, exclude folder.tag_missing / notice.defect / payroll.* events). Use [] when none.
audit_event_id (single primary) = the in-scope audit event for this case (usually the one whose detail carries QA result: <label>).
Derive audit_result / control_result from the detail text QA result: <X> if present; else infer: leave.profile_mismatch→profile_summary_stale; payroll.ready→ready_with_monitoring; case.close_blocked→block_close; notice.defect→ defective/hold.
Approval closeout gate (THE key decision)
Clean (folder ready AND notice valid AND records approved/submitted, no draft selected):
approval_closeout_gate = "approval_sufficient_when_records_clean", final_control_result = "approve_closeout", closeout_action / next_action = "approve_onboarding_close".
A case approval existing is NOT sufficient when the folder or notice is defective — the gate blocks closeout regardless of approval. This is the most common misjudgment.
ready_with_monitoring is an intermediate result (records OK but a follow-up needed, e.g. update stale profile); it is neither full approve nor hold.
Escalation & remediation owners
escalation_action: "open_records_remediation" when a folder/file/task defect exists; "block_close_and_reissue_notice" when only a notice defect; "no_action" when clean.
records_remediation_owner: "Records" for folder/file defects; "People Ops Compliance" for notice/policy-compliance defects; "Payroll QA" for payroll-assignment defects.
notice_remediation_action: "reissue_defective_notices" when notice defective; "send_new_offer_notice" when a new offer notice is required; "no_notice_action" when clean.
evidence_source_order: "approval_history_folder_notice_audit" when the full chain (approval history → folder → notice → audit) is inspected (typical for folder/notice cases); "folder_notice_audit" when no approval history; "audit_only" last resort.
Recruitment cost-summing
recruitment_cost_total = sum of every cost_ledger[].amount across ALL line items (do not skip any line, do not use the case summary's number). cost_source = "recruitment_cost_ledger".
Candidate outcome reconstruction
selected_candidate = candidate with committee_decision == "Selected" AND an offer_register entry with status == "accepted".
selected_offer_status = the selected candidate's offer status (accepted/draft/withdrawn/none).
offer_id, offer_base_salary from the selected candidate's offer_register entry.
notice_followup_required = candidates whose notice is not properly delivered (notice_status like "Notice not sent"/"not_sent", or notice_packets status == "not_sent") — typically the waitlisted + rejected candidates needing notices. The selected (offer-accepted) candidate is NOT in this list.
waitlisted_followup_action = "send_waitlist_notice" (or "reissue_waitlist_notice_not_rejection" if a defective waitlist notice was mistakenly sent as a rejection).
rejected_followup_action = "send_rejection_notice" (or "reissue_rejection_notice" if a defective rejection notice exists).
"create_payroll_precheck" when an offer is accepted but no submitted payroll assignment exists yet (payroll_precheck_records empty / no submitted assignment).
"create_submitted_assignment_after_acceptance" when a submitted assignment already exists.
offer_exclusion_reason_for_waitlisted = "no_accepted_status_or_offer" (waitlisted candidates are excluded from offer/payroll because they have no accepted status or offer).
Answer field definitions (produce these, exact enum labels from each task's answer_template.json)
Always emit JSON matching the provided answer_template.json — every field the template lists, using ONLY allowed_values for enum fields. Key fields by archetype:
approval_event_id = the approval_id of the FINAL approval step; approval_authority = its approver; final_decision from case status/summary/approval decision.
Do NOT pick a Draft (or Superseded) leave/salary assignment even if it shows more days / higher salary. Always pick Approved/Submitted current-period; list drafts+superseded in the excluded_* fields.
Do NOT trust the employee profile leave_balance_days or profile policy over an approved leave assignment — the profile can be stale.
Do NOT treat an existing case approval as sufficient for closeout when the folder is missing files or the notice is defective (the approval-closeout gate blocks closeout).
Do NOT put adjacent-scope audit events in supporting_audit_event_ids; move them to excluded_audit_event_ids (e.g. folder.tag_missing excluded from a leave-scope decision).
Do NOT sum only some cost lines — recruitment_cost_total is the sum of ALL cost_ledger amounts; never use a summary-stated total.
Do NOT include the selected (offer-accepted) candidate in notice_followup_required; follow-up = waitlisted + rejected needing notices.
Do NOT reissue a waitlist notice as a rejection (or vice versa): waitlist → waitlist notice, rejection → rejection notice.
Do NOT allow draft payroll for onboarding handoff (draft_payroll_allowed is false).
Do NOT return candidate objects in arrays — arrays must contain candidate IDs (strings) only.
Do NOT add markdown or explanatory text — return ONLY the JSON object matching the template.
Do NOT invent enum labels — use exactly the strings in the template's allowed_values.
Pre-submission checklist
Every field in the task's answer_template.json is present; no extra fields.
Every enum value matches an allowed_values entry exactly (case-sensitive).
All IDs are exact strings copied from the API (case-sensitive: EMP-, CASE-, LA-, PAY-, AUD-, DOC-, REQ-, CAND-, OFFER-).
Arrays contain only strings (IDs) where the template says list[string]; empty arrays [] when none (e.g. excluded_audit_event_ids).
Numbers are JSON numbers: base_salary/offer_base_salary/recruitment_cost_total as number; annual_days/balance_days as integer.
Leave: Approved current-period assignment selected; Draft+Superseded listed in excluded_leave_ids; annual_days from the selected assignment.
Payroll: Submitted assignment selected; Draft excluded and named in excluded_payroll_ids/excluded_assignment_id; payroll_source_status="submitted".
Recruitment: recruitment_cost_total = sum of all cost lines; candidate arrays are IDs only; draft_payroll_allowed=false; handoff fields consistent with accepted-offer-only gate.
effective_date formatted YYYY-MM-DD.
Output is a single bare JSON object — no markdown fences, no commentary.
