Zenefits is a cloud-based HR platform purpose-built for small and mid-sized businesses that need to run HR operations with discipline, speed, and compliance baked in. It centralizes payroll, benefits administration, time tracking, onboarding, and compliance into a single system, eliminating fragmented tools and manual workarounds that don’t scale.
Where Zenefits truly becomes enterprise-ready is through its APIs. The Zenefits API exposes core HR, workforce, time, and platform data in a structured, secure manner, allowing teams to integrate HR directly into payroll engines, finance systems, IT provisioning workflows, analytics stacks, and third-party SaaS products. For teams building serious HR automation, the API is not optional; it’s foundational.
Key Highlights of Zenefits APIs
- Authoritative HR Data Access
Retrieve canonical company, employee, department, and employment data directly from Zenefits as the system of record. - Employee Lifecycle Coverage
Programmatically track hires, role changes, compensation history, and terminations without relying on manual exports. - Payroll & Banking Integrations
Secure access to company and employee bank account data to support payroll runs, reimbursements, and financial controls. - Custom Field Extensibility
Capture and sync organization-specific attributes using custom fields at both company and individual levels. - Time & Attendance Visibility
Pull granular work-hour data, approval states, and exceptions to ensure payroll accuracy and compliance. - Leave & PTO Synchronization
Integrate vacation types and PTO requests into scheduling, payroll, and workforce planning systems. - Platform & App Lifecycle Control
Manage application installs, subscriptions, flows, and status changes for Zenefits marketplace integrations. - Secure, OAuth-Based Access Model
Token-based authentication with scoped permissions, logging, and audit-friendly access patterns.
Zenefits API Endpoints
Core
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies
This API endpoint retrieves information about companies. It requires an authorization header with a bearer token. Optional query parameters include 'name' to filter by the common name of the company and 'includes' to specify additional information such as departments, locations, or company banks. The response includes detailed information about each company, including legal name, address, EIN, logo URL, and references to related entities such as departments and locations. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies/{:company_id}/company_banks
The Company Bank Accounts API retrieves information about a company's bank accounts. It requires a company ID as a path parameter and an authorization bearer token in the headers. The response includes details such as account number, account type (checking or savings), bank name, company reference, and routing number. The response is structured with meta information and may include a URL for the next set of results if pagination is applicable. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies/{:company_id}/locations
This API endpoint retrieves a list of locations for a specified company. The request requires an Authorization header with a Bearer token and a path parameter for the company_id. The response includes details about each location such as city, country, name, phone, state, street address, and zip code. It also provides references to the company and people associated with each location. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies/{:company_id}/people
This API endpoint retrieves information about all employees of a specified company. The request requires an authorization header with a bearer token and a path parameter for the company ID. Optional query parameters can be used to filter the results by fields such as first name, last name, and employment status. The response is paginated and includes a next_url for subsequent pages. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies/{:company_id}/people/{:id}
The Get Employee by ID API endpoint retrieves detailed information about a specific employee. It includes personal information, employment details, administrative roles, and related metadata. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/companies/{:id}/departments
Retrieves a list of departments for a specified company, including department names, IDs, and associated people. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/custom_fields
Retrieves company-level custom fields, supporting filtering by name and pagination. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/labor_group_types
Provides information about a company's labor group types and associated labor groups. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/labor_group_types/{:labor_group_type_id}/labor_groups
Retrieves labor groups associated with a specific labor group type, including assigned members. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/me
Returns information about the currently authorized user, including company context, OAuth scopes, and token status. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/people/{:person_id}/banks
Retrieves an employee’s bank account details, including paycheck distribution priority. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/people/{:person_id}/employments
Retrieves historical employment records, including salary, compensation type, hire date, and termination details. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/core/person/{:person_id}/custom_field_values
Retrieves custom field values for a specific employee with pagination support.
Platform
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/platform/applications
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/platform/company_installs
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/company_installs/{:install_id}/fields_changes/
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/company_installs/{:installation_id}/status_changes/
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/flows/
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/flows/{:subscription_id}/fields_changes/
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/platform/person_subscriptions
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/person_subscriptions/{:subscription_id}/fields_changes/
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/platform/person_subscriptions/{:subscription_id}/flows
- POST https://api.zenefits.com/platform/person_subscriptions/{:subscription_id}/status_changes/
Time & Attendance
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/time_attendance/time_durations
Retrieves detailed time and attendance records including hours worked, activity type, approval status, and exceptions.
Time Off
- GET https://api.zenefits.com/time_off/vacation_requests
Retrieves PTO vacation requests with filtering by status, dates, creator, and employee. - GET https://api.zenefits.com/time_off/vacation_types
Retrieves company PTO types and their associated configurations.
FAQs
- Is Zenefits a system of record for HR data?
Yes. Zenefits is typically treated as the authoritative source for employee, employment, and benefits data. - Does the API support pagination?
Yes. Many endpoints are paginated and return anext_url, this must be handled explicitly. - How is authentication handled?
All APIs require OAuth-based bearer token authentication with scoped permissions. - Can custom fields be accessed via the API?
Yes. Both custom field definitions and employee-level values are available. - Is real-time syncing supported?
Near real-time workflows are possible using platform flows and subscription events, but polling or scheduled syncs are still common. - Can Zenefits be embedded into third-party products?
Yes. The Platform APIs are designed specifically for marketplace apps and embedded HR workflows. - Is the API suitable for payroll and finance integrations?
Yes, but teams should be explicit about data ownership and reconciliation between Zenefits and downstream systems.
Get Started with Zenefits API Integration
If you want fast, reliable access to Zenefits without managing OAuth flows, token refreshes, pagination, and schema changes yourself, Knit API offers a pragmatic alternative. Integrate once with Knit, and it handles authentication, authorization, normalization, and long-term maintenance, so your team can focus on building workflows, not decoding integrations.
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