PBJ Error -1025: The 22.5-Hour Limit Across Linked Employee IDs
Published October 5, 2026
Error -1025 arrived with PBJ in iQIES, which went live on August 17, 2026. It is the 22.5-hour rule applied to a person instead of a single employee ID.
What the error says
The total number of hours by a System Employee ID for a single date must be less than or equal to 22.50. This total includes the sum of all hours across all linked Employee IDs for the specified date. Please review the employee linkage for the listed Employee IDs.
- Severity: Fatal. The record is rejected and has to be fixed and sent again.
- In the iQIES error list since: August 17, 2026.
What triggers it
When two employee IDs are linked as the same person (through the Employee Link part of PBJ, which ties an old employee ID to a new one), iQIES adds their hours together. If the total for one date passes 22.5, the record is rejected.
The iQIES error list gives two causes:
- This submission alone puts the person over 22.5 hours on a date.
- This submission, added to hours already submitted, puts the person over 22.5.
The second one catches people out. The file you are sending can look fine on its own, and still fail because of hours sent earlier under the other linked ID.
How it differs from -4025
Error -4025 checks one employee ID: all its job titles on one date, no more than 22.5 hours. Error -1025 checks all the employee IDs linked to one person. You can pass -4025 and still hit -1025.
How to fix it
- Find the employee IDs named in the error on your Final Validation Report.
- Check the employee link. Are these IDs really the same person? If a link is wrong, correct it.
- Add up the hours for that person on the date named, across every linked ID, in this file and in what you already submitted.
- Correct the hours at the source (time clock or payroll) so the total is 22.5 or less, then export again.
- Resubmit and check the new Final Validation Report.
iQIES's own action for this error: review the current and past submitted values for that System Employee ID and correct the records.
Check the whole file before the November 14 quarterly deadline. The PBJ Staffing Data Pre-Submission QA checks your XML against the CMS v4.10.0 specifications and the staffing patterns CMS has named as audit or rating risks, before you upload to iQIES. $25.00 per report, with a free test on the page. Check a PBJ file
The QA checks the 22.5 total for each employee ID inside your file (the -4025 rule). It cannot see your earlier submissions or your employee links in iQIES, so it cannot fully predict -1025. A PASS is not CMS acceptance: iQIES runs its own checks and has the final word.
More PBJ help
- Free PBJ pre-flight checks: zero-RN days and meal break deductions
- PBJ Error -4025: More Than 22.5 Hours for One Employee on One Date
- PBJ Error -3679: A Number Outside the Allowed Range
- PBJ Error -3676: A Code That Is Not on the CMS List
- PBJ Error -4016: Employee ID Not Found in the PBJ System
Sources: the iQIES PBJ Error Messages list (CMS, July 2026), the CMS PBJ data specifications v4.10.0 and Policy Manual, and the QTSO notice that PBJ is live in iQIES. SpreadRun is not affiliated with or endorsed by CMS. This is general information, not legal or compliance advice.