Best practice to handle SLA

[Steeve P_]

Hi Everyone,

Got a case here, where...i'm stuck.

Here is the point

Originally, we had 3 SLA running (Assign , Total time , Agent time)

Something quite basic, but enough for a few.

Soon, i'll have a difference between First line support and Second line Support Team.

Which mean I'll be in need to see which team broke the SALe (if broken...) and follow up on work for everyone.

But so far... can't handle to make this work.

I've made a specific group in Atlassian admin with all N2 Support , Same for N1 , which allow me to only Show "Agent N2 time" when the issue is assigne dto someone inside this group.

But I can't manage to make the "N2 Sla" start at this moment as well.

Same for the "N1 Sla" that I can't stop...

Thought that using the JQL prior to this would at least (and at first) allow me to only Start SLA when the issue match de JQL ... but seems that if the Start trigger happend even way before, it will calculate it at the Trigger moment...not JQL one.

To make an exemple of what i'm trying to do.

Got an Issue

A is an N1 Agent

B is an N2 Agent

Issue is assigned to A --> N1 SLA Start

A assign the issue to B --> N1 Sla stop -> N2 SLA Start

Looking on different topic it seems that i'll have a hard time reaching this without an Add-on...but surely , I'd love to hear from the community before...maybe someone had the case already and solved this :-)

Regards,

[Dave Mathijs · Accepted solution]

Hi @Steeve P_ 

You'll need to split the single SLA into two separate SLA's:

1. N1 SLA
2. N2 SLA

Reason for this is that N1 SLA needs to stop/pause at the moment of assignment to N2.

Additionally, you might want to reconfigure your workflow depending on the statuses you are using for N1 and N2. Or you might need to add a condition related to the Atlassian Teams or custom Group field picker to determine the trigger for the start of the SLA clock depending on how you configured the N1/N2 teams.

Requirement is that you group N1/N2 Agents into a "Team".

[Marc - Devoteam · Accepted solution]

Hi @Steeve P_ 

SLA can trigger on Assignee change, but can't determine which Assignee or Group.

The best way to achieve a differentiation is to have 2 statuses in your workflow, like;

Waiting for 1st line support and Waiting for 2nd line support, then you can use the status as the trigger of the SLA.

[Alina Kurinna _SaaSJet_]

Hi @Steeve P_ 

Thanks for sharing your case!
You're right: out of the box, Jira doesn’t let you start or stop SLAs based on who the issue is assigned to (like a user group or team) — unless you rely on separate statuses (like “In Progress N1” / “In Progress N2”), which can quickly clutter your workflow.

But if you’re open to using a Marketplace app, I highly recommend trying SLA Time and Report, developed by my team. It’s built to solve exactly these kinds of challenges, and is especially effective for support teams managing complex flows

With this app, you can:

✅ Create multiple SLA goals on the same work items, each with its start, pause, and stop conditions

✅ Start/stop SLA timers based on assignee, user groups, custom fields, or status

✅ View and compare SLA performance for each team in real-time

✅ Build clear reports and add visual SLA widgets to your Jira dashboard

It’s a more scalable option if you want to avoid breaking up your “In Progress” status into multiple stages or duplicating transitions.

Please let me know if I was able to assist you. If you have any further questions, I'm happy to help.

Regards!

[Steeve P_]

Hi @Alina Kurinna _SaaSJet_ 

Your answer is defintely complete and helpful ;-)

My company try to avoid add-on as much as possible, to ensure we don't easily fall into the "Let's pay a few more , it's worth it" before even trying to get things work on a vanilla use.

I think i'll have to go to the Workflow solution so.

But I saw other app by SaaSJet as well, maybe one day, i'll need to contact you for something

Thanks for your time.

[Alina Kurinna _SaaSJet_]

 @Steeve P_ Thank you so much!

Totally understand your approach. Many teams do exactly the same to keep things lean and manageable.

If you ever decide to explore additional tools in the future, feel free to reach out — whether it's for SLA Time and Report or any of our other apps. Happy to help you find the best fit for your needs when the time is right!

Wishing you smooth workflows (and no more SLA headaches 😅)!

[Steeve P_]

@Marc - Devoteam @Dave Mathijs 

Thanks for both answers, so fast ;-)

My SLA are already splitted. , that's already a good thing.

But I understand that i'll have to re-work my workflow to make this happen.

Didn't thought about this that way...but clearly it would solve everything (Except my Headhache) 

I already got a request to make few update to it...so I'll do both after my Holiday .

This will need some duplication of transitions..

But having "En cours" (In progress) as "En cours N1 and "En cours N2" will make it 

Thanks again to both of you ;-) 

[Dave Mathijs]

@Steeve P_ Enjoy your holiday! If our answers helped you, thanks to click the green 'Accept answer' button next to the respective answer.