Contract duration and lifecycle settings

Sherin Amini

Modified on: Tue, 9 Aug, 2022 at 3:32 PM

In Oneflow, it is possible to create contracts with the following durations:

No duration
Single period
Recurring
Recurring with two periods.

When the contract is signed, it gets a secondary lifecycle state.

The lifecycle state keeps track of the contract status: awaiting, active, or ended. There are also composite states, or substates, for canceled (for active) and terminated (for ended).

In this article, we will consider all the contract duration settings combinations and their impact on the contract lifecycle.

Note:

Depending on the selected contract duration, settings marked as not allowed in the tables below will be disabled in the Oneflow application UI. However, when setting parameters that are not allowed for this type of contract using the API, the system will generate an error 400 (bad request).

No duration

A typical case of a contract with no duration is an employment contract in which only a start date can be set:

Available settings

The table below shows all the settings allowed for a contract with no duration in the Oneflow application UI:

	Allowed	Description
Duration		This setting is not allowed for contracts with no duration.
Notice period		This setting is not allowed for contracts with no duration.
Start date		You can set the start date. See more in the Contract start date options chapter.
End date		This setting is not allowed for contracts with no duration.
Initial duration		This setting is not allowed for contracts with no duration.

Impact on the contract start and end

For contracts with no duration, the following combinations of the contract settings are possible:

Combo	Start date	Contract starts	Description
A		On the start date	The contract with a start date will start according to the start date specified in the contract.
B		At the time of signing	The contract with no start date specified will start only when the contract is signed.

Lifecycle development

Depending on the settings combinations described in the table above, the contract lifecycle state will change accordingly:

Combo	Awaiting	Active	Ended	Description
A	Before start date	Never*	Never*	When a start date is specified, the contract will be in the Awaiting state before the start date and will get neither Active nor Ended status.
B	Never	Never	Never	Contracts with no start date will always be Active.

*Note:

Contracts with no duration and no start_date are similar to not adding the duration box.

Single period

A single-period contract is a contract that is valid between a specific start and an end date or a period after the start date:

Available settings

The table below shows all the settings allowed for a contract with a single period in the Oneflow application UI:

	Allowed	Description
Duration		You can set the contract duration.
Notice period		This setting is not allowed for contracts with a single period.
Start date		You can set the contract start date.
End date		You can set the contract end date.
Initial duration		This setting is not allowed for contracts with a single period.

Settings combinations

	Duration	Start date	End date	Description
	-			For a contract with a specified duration, it’s possible to set a start date, whereas the end date option will be unavailable.
Start date		-		For a contract with a specified start date, it’s possible to specify the duration or the contract's end date.
End date			-	For a contract with the specified end date, it is only possible to select a start date, whereas the duration option will be unavailable.

Impact on the contract start and end

For contracts with a single period, the following combinations of the contract settings are possible:

Combo	Duration	Start date	End date	Contract starts	Contract ends	Description
A				At the time of signing	Signing time + duration	The contract with only its duration specified will start when the contract is signed and will end when its duration is over.
B				On the start date	Start date + duration	The contract with the specified duration and the start date will start on the start date and end when the duration is over.
C				On the start date	On the end date	The contract with the specified start and the end dates will start and end accordingly.
D				At the time of signing	On the end date	The contract with a specified end date but no duration or start date will start when the contract is signed and will end on the end date.

Lifecycle development

Depending on the settings combinations described in the table above, the contract lifecycle state will change accordingly:

Combo	Awaiting	Active	Ended
A	Never	Immediately after signing the contract.	After the contract duration has elapsed or if the contract is manually terminated.
B	Before the start date	After the start date, until the duration has elapsed.	After the contract duration has elapsed or if the contract is manually terminated.
C	Before the start date	After the start date, until the end date.	After the contract end date or if the contract is manually terminated.
D	Never	Immediately after signing the contract, until the end date.	After the contract end date or if the contract is manually terminated.

Note:

Only the owner-side party can manually terminate the contract.

Recurring

Recurring contracts automatically renew once the contract period is over unless the contract is canceled during the notice period.

Available settings

The table below shows all the settings allowed for a recurring contract via the Oneflow application UI.

	Allowed	Description
Duration	Required	The duration setting is mandatory.
Notice period	Required	The Notice period is mandatory.
Start date		You can set the contract start date.
End date		You can set the contract end date.
Initial duration		You can set the initial contract duration.

Settings combinations

For recurring contracts, the following settings are possible:

Note:

The Duration and Notice period settings are not shown in the table as they are mandatory and should always be used.

	Start date	End date	Initial duration	Description
Start date	-			For a contract with a specified start date, it’s possible to set the end date and the initial duration.
End date		-		For the contract with the specified end date, it’s possible to set the start date option, whereas the initial duration option will be unavailable.
Initial duration			-	For the contract with the specified initial duration, the end date option will be unavailable.

Impact on the contract start and end

For recurring contracts, the following combinations of the contract settings are possible:

Note:

The Notice period always works the same regardless of other settings.

Combo	Duration	Start date	End date	Initial duration	Contract starts	First period ends	Subsequent periods length	Description
A					At the time of signing	Signing time + duration	Duration	The first period of the contract with only its duration specified will start when the contract is signed and will end when its duration period is over. The subsequent periods are equal to the specified duration.
B					On the start date	Start date + duration	Duration	The first period of the contract with the specified duration and the start date will start on the start date and end when the duration period is over. The subsequent periods are equal to the specified duration.
C					On the start date	On the end date	Duration	The first period of the contract with the specified duration, start, and end dates will start and end accordingly. The subsequent periods equal to the specified duration.
D					At the time of signing	On the end date	Duration	The first period of the contract with a specified duration and the end date but no start date will start when the contract is signed and will end on the end date. The subsequent periods are equal to the specified duration.
E					At the time of signing	Signing time + initial duration	Duration	The first period of the contract with the specified duration and initial duration but no start or end date will start when the contract is signed and will end when the initial duration is over. The subsequent periods are equal to the specified duration.
F					On the start date	Start date + initial duration	duration	The first period of the contract with the specified duration, start date, and initial duration will start according to the start date and will end when the initial duration is over. The subsequent periods are equal to the specified duration.

Lifecycle development

Depending on the settings combinations described in the table above, the contract lifecycle state will change accordingly:

Combo	Awaiting	Active	Ended
A	Never	Immediately after signing the contract, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
B	Before the start date	After the contract start date, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
C	Before the start date	After the contract start date, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
D	Never	Immediately after signing the contract, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
E	Never	Immediately after signing the contract, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
F	Before the start date	After the contract start date, until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.

Contract termination

If a recurring contract is terminated, the following applies:

Notice period always works the same, regardless of other settings.
If a contract party cancels the contract before the notice period, there will be no new periods, and the contract will expire at the end of the current period.
If a contract party cancels the contract after the start of the notice period, there will be another period after which the contract will end.
If the owner-side party manually terminates the contract, it ends immediately.

Recurring with two periods

Recurring contracts with two periods are only valid for two periods. When the first contract period is over, the contract is automatically renewed unless the contract is canceled during the notice period. After the second period, the contract is no longer renewed.

Available settings

The table below shows all the settings allowed for a recurring contract with two periods via the Oneflow application UI.

	Allowed	Description
Duration		You can set the contract duration.
Notice period	Required	The notice period setting is required for recurring contracts with two periods.
Start date		You can set the contract start date.
End date		You can set the contract end date.
Initial duration		The initial duration setting is unavailable for recurring contracts with two periods.

Setting combinations

For recurring contracts with two periods, the following settings are possible:

Note:

The Notice period setting is not shown in the table as it is mandatory and should always be used.

	Duration	Start date	End date	Description
Duration	-			For the contract with the specified duration, it’s only possible to set the start date, whereas the end date option will be unavailable.
Start date		-		For the contract with the specified start date, it is possible to set the contract duration and the end date.
End date			-	For the contract with the specified end date, it’s only possible to set the start date, whereas the duration option will be unavailable.

Impact on the contract start and end

For recurring contracts with two periods, the following combinations of the contract settings are possible:

Combo	Duration	Start date	End date	Contract starts	First period ends	Second period length	Description
A				At the time of signing	Sign time + duration	Until terminated	The first period of the contract, with only its duration specified, will start when the contract is signed and will end when its duration period is over. The second period is not limited to any date and will last until terminated.
B				On the start date	Start date + duration	Until terminated	The first period of the contract with the specified duration and the start date will start on the start date and end when the duration of the first period is over. The second period is not limited to any date and will last until terminated.
C				On the start date	On the end date	Until terminated	The first period of the contract with only the start and end dates specified will start and end accordingly. The second period is not limited to any date and will last until terminated.
D				At the time of signing	On the end date	Until terminated	The first period of the contract with only the end date specified will start when the contract is signed and will end on the end date. The second period is not limited to any date and will last until terminated.

Lifecycle development

Depending on the settings combinations described in the table above, the contract lifecycle state will change accordingly:

Combo	Awaiting	Active	Ended
A	Never	Immediately after signing the contract.	When the contract is terminated.
B	Before the start date	After the contract start date until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
C	Before the start date	After the contract start date until its termination.	When the contract is terminated.
D	Never	Immediately after signing the contract.	When the contract is terminated.

Contract termination

If a recurring contract with two periods is terminated, the following applies:

Notice period always works the same, regardless of other settings.
For the initial period:
- If a contract party cancels the contract before the notice period, there will be no new periods, and the contract will expire at the end of the first period.
- If a contract party cancels the contract after the start of the notice period, the contract will be renewed for the second period.
For the second period:
- If a contract party cancels the contract during the second period, the contract will be active during the time equal to the notice period, after which the contract will end.
If the owner-side party manually terminates the contract, it ends immediately.