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Version: 1.0.70

SLA & Escalation

Each step in a workflow can carry a service-level agreement (SLA) — the time within which the role at that step is expected to act. The Workflow Engine tracks this per step and supports a second-level SLA for escalation when the first deadline passes.

At a glance​

fa-sitemap | Record arrives at step | The patient comes in for their turn.
fa-file-text-o | Record assignedAt and dueAt | We pick a helper for the job.
fa-circle-o | Acted before dueAt? | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-check | Set completedAt | All done — great job!
fa-clock-o | First-level SLA breached | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Second-level SLA passed? | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Awaiting action | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-clock-o | Flag second-level SLA | Here is what happens at this step.
fa-bell | Auto-escalate if configured | If it waits too long, a bigger boss is told.

How SLA Timing Works​

When a record advances to a step that has an SLA, the engine records:

  • assignedAt — when the record arrived at the step.
  • dueAt — the deadline, calculated from the step's slaHours.
  • completedAt — set when the role finally acts, so the time taken is captured.

These timings are stored per step on the instance, so a record that visits several steps keeps a full SLA trail rather than a single global timer.

First- and Second-Level SLA​

A step definition can define two thresholds:

  • slaHours — the first-level deadline. Missing it marks the step as breaching its primary SLA.
  • secondLevelSlaHours — the second-level deadline used for escalation after the first one lapses.

When a record is sitting on a step whose second-level SLA has been triggered, the instance's current state is flagged with second-level SLA so escalation and reporting can treat it differently from a record that has only just become due. Some definitions also wire an auto_escalate transition that moves a breached record onward automatically.

tip

Because SLA is defined per step, you can hold different roles to different deadlines in the same workflow — for instance a tight first-reviewer SLA and a longer final-approver SLA.