There are no primary or candidate keys in the referenced table 'PayRoll' that match the referencing column list in the foreign key 'fk_EmployeeNumber' - sql

Question

I'm having some problem with the table called HoursandEarnings and I kept getting an error saying,
"There are no primary or candidate keys in the referenced table
'PayRoll' that match the referencing column list in the foreign key
'fk_EmployeeNumber'"
create table Address
(
PostalCode nvarchar(6) not null,
Address nvarchar(50) not null,
City nvarchar(30) not null,
Province nvarchar(30) not null,
constraint pk_postalcode primary key(PostalCode)
)
create table Payperiod
(
StartDate DateTime not null,
EndDate DateTime not null,
constraint pk_StartDate primary key(StartDate)
)
create table PayRoll
(
EmployeeNumber nvarchar(30) not null,
StartDate DateTime not null
constraint fk_StartDate references Payperiod(StartDate),
PostalCode nvarchar(6) not null
constraint fk_PostalCode references Address(PostalCode),
Department nvarchar(50) not null,
TotalEarningsCurrent decimal(5,2) not null,
TotalEarningsYearToDate decimal(5,2) not null,
Netpay decimal(5,2) not null,
EmployeeName nvarchar(30) not null,
constraint pk_PayRoll primary key(EmployeeNumber,StartDate)
)
create table HoursandEarnings
(
EmployeeNumber nvarchar(30) not null
constraint fk_EmployeeNumber references PayRoll(EmployeeNumber),
StartDate DateTime not null
constraint fk_StartDate references Payperiod(StartDate),
HoursAndEarningsDescription nvarchar(50) not null,
HoursandEarningsCurrent decimal(5,2) not null,
HoursandEarningsYearToDate decimal(5,2) not null,
constraint pk_HoursandEarnings primary
key clustered(EmployeeNumber,StartDate,HoursAndEarningsDescription)
)
create table EmployerPaidBenefits
(
EmployeeNumber nvarchar(30) not null
constraint fk_EmployerPaidBenefits_EmployeeNumber references PayRoll(EmployeeNumber),
StartDate DateTime not null
constraint fk_EmployerPaidBenefits_StartDate references Payperiod(StartDate),
EmployerpaidBenefitsDescription nvarchar(50) not null,
EmployerPaidBenefitsCurrent decimal(5,2) not null,
EmployerPaidBenefitsYearToDate decimal(5,2) not null
constraint pk_EmployerPaidBenefits
primary key(EmployeeNumber,StartDate,EmployerpaidBenefitsDescription)
)
create table Taxesanddeductions
(
EmployeeNumber nvarchar(30) not null,
constraint fk_Taxesanddeductions_EmployeeNumber references PayRoll(EmployeeNumber),
StartDate DateTime not null
constraint fk_Taxesanddeductions_StartDate references Payperiod(StartDate),
TaxesandDeductionsDescription nvarchar(50) not null,
TaxesandDeductionsCurrent decimal(5,2) not null,
EmployerPaidBenefitsYeartoDate decimal(5,2) not null,
constraint pk_Taxesanddeductions
primary key(EmployeeNumber,StartDate,TaxesandDeductionsDescription)
)

Answer 1

Because you have a composite key (EmployeeNumber,StartDate) on table PayRoll, you will need to reference both keys in the foreign key in the other tables which reference it.
If EmployeeNumber is unique in table Payroll, then you can make just EmployeeNumber the primary key on Payroll, and then your foreign keys on the other 3 tables to Payroll will be valid as-is.(Not the case)
Not related, but I believe you may run into problems making PostalCode a primary key on Address - this will mean that only one address with the same PostalCode may be added to the table. I would suggest a surrogate key instead.
Edit
Example of both columns in the foreign key:
constraint fk_HE_EmployeeNumber
foreign key(EmployeeNumber, StartDate)
references PayRoll(EmployeeNumber, StartDate)
Note also that primary and foreign key constraint names must be unique within the database (not just in the table) - you'll need to rename the duplicate keys like fk_StartDate.
SqlFiddle here
You may also find at some point that the encumberance and additional storage requirements of composite / compound keys may make implementation of simple surrogate keys (like int identity() or Guids) a simpler approach.