Delegating Workday Transactions: Delegates vs. Alternate Delegates

There has been confusion between assigning delegates and selecting an alternate delegate. When you delegate transactions in Workday you are choosing someone to act on your behalf. If a backup is needed for the person to whom you delegate, you can enter additional names in the Delegate field. A delegate cannot further delegate or choose a backup for tasks that have been delegated to them.

What is an Alternate Delegate?

When delegating transactions, you are required to either check the box to Use Default Alternate or select a different alternate. An alternate delegate is not your backup or additional delegate but rather serves as an alternate approver. The Default Alternate is your primary manager. The alternate delegate field only pertains to delegating inbox tasks since a delegate themself cannot approve transactions that relate to them. This is to ensure the submitter does not receive and approve their own tasks as an approver.

For Example: A delegate is assigned to approve expense reports. The delegate submits an expense report for themself. The expense report will route to the alternate delegate for approval instead of the delegate.

The following resources may be helpful:
Overview of delegation, FAQs, and best practices 

Delegate Workday Transactions Quick Reference Guide