FAQ - Ask BambooHR®

What are the most frequently asked questions about Ask BambooHR?

Table Of Contents

FAQs

For more details on how BambooHR keeps our AI features secure and compliant, please review our AI Security & Compliance FAQ.

What is Ask BambooHR?

Ask BambooHR is a feature in BambooHR that allows employees use an AI-powered chat interface to get fast, accurate answers about their company's HR policies and their personal information stored in BambooHR.

Which packages is Ask BambooHR included in?

Ask BambooHR is available in the Core, Pro, and Elite packages.

Where is my Ask BambooHR data stored, and how long is it kept?

Your Ask BambooHR data is stored in the same region as where your BambooHR data is stored. Admin chat transcripts are deleted upon termination of your account. Individual employee chat transcripts are deleted when an admin deletes their employee profile.

Is Ask BambooHR automatically enabled by default for all employees?

Yes. Ask BambooHR is now enabled by default in all packages to make it easier for your employees to access and start using the feature. If you prefer not to have it enabled, you can turn it off by going to Settings > Ask BambooHR and clicking Turn Off in the top right corner. You can turn it back on anytime if needed.

Does Ask BambooHR collect personally identifiable information (PII)?

For security purposes, please remove all personally identifiable information (PII) that may be contained in your policy and procedure documents before uploading them.

Yes. PII may be stored in Ask BambooHR in two ways:

  1. PII was included in documents or files you uploaded into Ask BambooHR
  2. PII was included in your input or output from the data stored in BambooHR (the HRIS)

Please see our Privacy Notice and AI Addendum in the Legal Hub for more information.

Can I enable Ask BambooHR for only some employees?

No. When Ask BambooHR is enabled, it is available to everyone in your account.

Can I test Ask BambooHR before enabling it for all employees?

Yes. If the feature is not enabled in Settings > Ask BambooHR, click on the Preview Chatbot button to preview and test how Ask BambooHR responds before your employees start using it. If the feature is automatically enabled in your account, you can turn it off momentarily in Settings > Ask BambooHR to access the Preview Chatbot option for testing. Once everything looks correct, click Turn On.

Can custom access level users be granted access to Ask BambooHR settings?

No. At this time, the Ask BambooHR section of Settings is only available to Account Owners and Full Admin users.

What are some questions employees might be able to ask?

That depends on what data and documents employees can access, but here are a few examples:

  • "What are our company holidays?"
  • "How much time off do I have?"
  • "What is my pto balance?"
  • "Who's out today?"
  • "Who am I?"
  • "Who is [Employee Name]?"
  • "Who is out today in my department?"
  • "How many days have I been with the company?"
  • "What benefits am I enrolled in?"
  • "What is my medical insurance group number?"
  • "How much is my deductible?"

Troubleshooting Tips

Some documents are not showing up in Settings > Ask BambooHR for upload.

Files must meet a few requirements in order to appear as options to upload:

  • Files must be PDFs uploaded to your Files tab.
  • Files must be shared with at least one employee from your Files tab.

If your files do not meet both of these requirements, they will not show as options in Settings > Ask BambooHR > Add Policy Documents.

A file upload failed or shows an error message.

Special characters in file names can cause upload errors. Avoid using the following characters in your file names:

  • # pound
  • % percent
  • & ampersand
  • { left curly bracket
  • } right curly bracket
  • \ back slash
  • < left angle bracket
  • > right angle bracket
  • * asterisk
  • ? question mark
  • / forward slash
  • blank spaces
  • $ dollar sign
  • ! exclamation point
  • ' single quotes
  • " double quotes
  • : colon
  • @ at sign
  • + plus sign
  • ` backtick
  • | pipe

Ask BambooHR is not answering an employee's question.

If an employee is not getting an answer:

  1. Check that the file containing the answer has been shared with the employee from the Files tab.
  2. Verify that the file has been uploaded in Settings > Ask BambooHR.
  3. Confirm the exact question(s) the employee asked.
  4. Test these (and similar) question(s) using the Preview AI Assistant option in Settings > Ask BambooHR.
    • Please note that the Preview AI Assistant option is only accessible when Ask BambooHR is turned off. You can turn it back on when you are done testing.

If the issue continues, gather the following details and share them with our Support team so we can help review:

  • The name of the employee(s) asking the question.
  • The name of the file(s) that contains the answer to the question.
  • Examples of questions asked and responses received that are not satisfactory.

The full list of files is not loading when trying to upload a file to Ask BambooHR.

Ask BambooHR only loads the first 500 eligible files. If your account has more than 500 files, only the first 500 will appear and in alphabetical order. You can rename a file by adding a symbol or number (not a special character) at the beginning of the file name to move it to the top of the list.