In Workday, encumbrances are driven by compensation status, not by HR end dates. This means that having an end date on a job, contract, or position will not stop pay or encumbrances.

Encumbrances will continue as long as compensation is still active. Compensation is considered active if anything like base pay, allowances, or other recurring earnings is still in place and has not been formally ended.

This is the key distinction:

• HR end dates (like end employment date, contract end date, or position end date) are used for tracking and planning
• Compensation status is what actually controls whether pay and encumbrances stop

Because of this, an assignment ending or an end date being entered does not automatically end compensation.

To stop encumbrances, you must take an action that ends compensation, such as:

• Processing a termination (including a future-dated one), or
• Removing or ending the compensation plan 

If this action is not taken, Workday will continue to treat the employee as actively paid, and:

• Encumbrances will remain on the account
• There is a risk the individual could continue to be paid

This is especially important for temporary, adjunct, or reappointed employees, where it is more common to rely on end dates alone—but end dates by themselves are not enough.