SuitePeople: Employee Record Schema Additions

2026.1 adds native fields to the Employee record that most customers had implemented as custentity_* fields. Useful — but also a code smell waiting to happen.

Fields added

• preferredname — string
• pronouns — list/select against a new system list
• worklocation — list/select against Locations

Why this needs a migration plan

Any script, workflow, saved search, or integration that currently reads custentity_preferred_name (or your account's equivalent) will not automatically start reading the new native field. You will end up with two fields holding the same data and drifting apart over time.

Treat this as a coordinated cutover:

1. Backfill the new native field from the custom field.
2. Update SuiteScripts and integrations to read/write the new field.
3. Mark the old custom field read-only and rename it with a deprecation prefix.
4. Drop the custom field one full release cycle later.