Protect 'Original Estimate' from edits once work log exists

Question

As a Jira Cloud user, some time back we lost the time tracking configuration that once allowed me to protect the 'Original Estimate' from being altered once a work log exists on the issue. It would hide the original estimate from being changed and only expose a means to update time remaining. This was great.

The problem is that a worker can alter the value to make the result of the task appear to come in under budget.

I may just be out of luck right now but don't find many answers here.

I have the jmwe add-on. I'm having trouble finding a validator on a workflow step to trap this value from being edited. It would need to determine if I am editing the original estimate field but only if a work log exists.

The problem is that even if I do get this validation working, this will only block edits to the 'original estimate' field during a workflow transition. Since the 'Time Tracking' field is available on the issue and since it is a conglomerate of the 'original estimate' and 'time remaining' fields, a worker can still access and alter the original estimate without doing a transition which in theory could be blocked by a validator.

Use cases:

* Force the user to set an original estimate on the issue early (I have this working and business process is place on the team).
* Disallow edits to the 'original estimate' when it's work log count > 0 (it must protect this field from edits throughout the lifecycle of the issue not just during a transition.)

The only idea that seems sort of feasible is to remove the 'time tracking' field completely from all screens related to that issue type. I use Tempo Timesheets for time tracking by the way and since it's 'log time' dialog does not expose the 'original estimate' perhaps this is the best I can do. The problem with this approach is that we are unable to adjust time remaining directly on the issue since the only means to edit time remaining will be in conjunction with entry of a work log there. I'm curious how others are dealing with this...thanks for reading.

Paul Alexander · Answer

Hello friends...

Is there no one but me having difficulty in this area? Having lost the ability to protect the original estimate, how do you deal with keeping it static once it is originally set? I know I can inspect the history of an issue to reveal if it was changed by someone, but that's no good when trying to ethically track performance of a worker.

Paul Alexander · Answer

Any reply here is likely a good one, so I honor your proposition. I need to get more familiar with the automation engine in Jira that's for sure - another piece I've yet to do much with. I'll give it a try early next week...thanks!

Trudy P Claspill · Answer

Just spit-balling here, and I haven't worked with JMWE.

Perhaps you could use an Automation Rule triggered on a change to Time Tracking, and then look at the changelog (smart value) to find out if the Original Estimate was updated. From the changelog you can get the before and after values of the changed field. In the Rule you could also check if any Work Logs exist. If so, you could use the Rule to revert the Original Estimate to its original value.

I do know that you can access the change log for an issue in an Automation Rule. I haven't tried to use that to access the Original Estimate value.

I haven't actually tried to get that working so I'm not sure it is a viable solution.