Troubleshooting FAQs

Below you will find guidance to help you resolve issues that you may be experiencing with accessing or using HR Self-Service, as a staff member or manager. For general information or guidance on accessing and using HR Self-Service, please visit the HR Self-Service user guides and HR Self-Service FAQs pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

HR Self-Service is currently only available to University of Oxford employees, TSS and casual staff (including teachers and examiners), agency workers and employees of eligible subsidiaries. If you are employed by a college or a non-eligible subsidiary you will not be able to access this service.

To identify the access issue, please check the following:

1. Your HR Self-Service account has been set up. Staff whose accounts have been set up will have received a 'Welcome' email from hrselfservice@admin.ox.ac.uk. If you started your appointment more than two weeks ago and have not yet received an email about HR Self-Service, please notify your local HR contact.

2. You are connected to a University network (not just WiFi). HR Self-Service can only be accessed via the University network. If you need to access the system off site or you are using a University WiFi connection, you will also need to connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Visit the IT Help page for guidance on how to install VPN on your device, or contact your local IT officer.

3. You have an active Single Sign-On (SSO) account. If you are experiencing problems with your Single Sign-On account, contact the IT Service Desk for assistance.

New starters

The setup of your HR Self-Service account relies on the following processes having been completed:

  • Your University card creation
  • Single Sign-On (SSO) creation and activation
  • Your HR team having created your HR record in the University's HR system (including your University email address)

If you started your appointment more than two weeks ago and have not yet received an email about HR Self-Service, please notify your local HR contact.

Still need help?

If you still need help, please refer to your local HR contact (or equivalent).

HR Self-Service can normally be accessed at any time via the University network or VPN.

Please note, we undertake routine system maintenance between 20:00 on Wednesdays to 02:00 on Thursdays. The system may be unavailable for up to an hour during this window.

Occasionally, there may be short periods of system downtime at other times, for essential maintenance. We aim to undertake these outside of regular hours, to minimise disruption.

If you see a downtime message when logging in, please come back later.

Extended periods of planned downtime will be communicated via the HR Self-Service Staff Gateway page. 

Always access HR Self-Service via the Staff Gateway page (rather than bookmarking the system URL itself) to ensure you see system downtime notices and other important news and updates.

It can take up to 15 minutes for a submitted request/timesheet to appear in the approver's screen. If this doesn't appear after 15 minutes, please check that:

  1. The staff member has 'submitted' the request/timesheet (rather than 'saved').
  2. The staff member is allocated to your team (ie 'work group') in the system.
  3. The request/timesheet hasn't already been approved. When a request is submitted, all approvers with permissions for your team (ie 'work group') will receive an email notification. If the request is not displayed in your Manager dashboard, it may already have been approved. To check this view the 'Approved' requests. For guidance, please follow the steps outlined in the 'Approve annual leave' How-To Guide.

Check that you have added a reason in the Comments box. This field is mandatory and must be completed in order for the rejection to be processed. Please refer to the 'Approve annual leave' How-To Guide.

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You must be on the University's network or VPN to access HR Self-Service; for example, if you are working from home, log into VPN first.

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Contact


If your query isn't answered here, please contact your HR administrator for help.

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