It’s the season of giving, and the UKG Ready team is thankful for you – our customers. In our upcoming December release, we’re delivering a bountiful number of enhancements and features to simplify tasks and processes and help you become a great place to work. Here are nine features to get you excited:
Advanced Custom Columns
Advanced mode for custom columns is finally here and comes with a plethora of new reporting functionality. One of the most-requested features has been to easily report on those columns. You’ll now have the option to sort, group, filter, and build charts and graphs on your custom columns. For now, the Advanced Custom Columns will provide the option to build your columns using 36 of the most popular reporting functions, but don’t worry, you can still access all the available functions using the basic custom column builder. If you already built a custom column using the basic builder, your configured expressions will automatically copy over when switching to Advanced mode. For more details, access the Custom Column Expressions Encyclopedia within the Online Documentation.
Where to find it: Cross Product: Reports, Charts, and Dashboards Release Notes
Who will use it: Managers and Admins
State Withholding Forms in Checklists
Save time and avoid incomplete checklist tasks with the option to add and complete state tax withholding forms directly in your checklists. This will help close the gap and provide consistency among the available government forms to add to your new hire, preboarding, and other HR checklists. Administrators can add the Checklist Item Type for Government Form and select the applicable state for the checklist.
Where to find it: Payroll Release Notes
Who will use it: Managers and Admins
Password Builder
Strong passwords = increased security for employee data. We’ve introduced a new Password Builder that allows administrators to select from the following tags to build a standard, unique format for password resets. Tags include the following:
- First three letters of first name
- First three letters of last name
- Birthdate
- Hire Date
- Start Date
- Last 4 digits of SSN/National ID
By selecting the tags, you can help reduce any potential issues with resetting passwords and accessing the system. The passwords can be set for each Authentication Profile and are also available for new account creation settings as well.
Where to find it: Cross Product: Suite Experience Release Notes
Who will use it: Employees, Managers, and Admins
Guided Analysis for Tax Wage Details
To help ease quarter-end processes and reduce potential reconciliation payrolls, we’re introducing a new Guided Analysis through the Insights Explorer functionality. Guided Analysis will be available on the Tax Wage Detail report and will help you determine variances in state unemployment taxes. Managers and admins will need to select a state unemployment tax and enter the expected rate for the quarter, then the Guided Analysis will process and help you determine any variances and the amount in a few simple clicks.
The Guided Analysis on the Tax Wage Detail report will be available to all UKG Ready customers using Payroll and Time from the December 2023 release until the April 2024 release for customers who do not currently own the People Insights module. The Tax Wage Detail Guided Analysis will continue to be available for existing People Insights customers after the April release.
Where to find it: Cross Product: General Release Notes
Who will use it: Admins
Timesheet Tasks Widget for Managers
As a manager, staying on top of employee timesheets is crucial to ensure they are paid accurately. A new Timesheet Tasks widget for the dashboard will help to improve the accuracy of timesheets and proactively fix any timesheet errors or missing punches prior to the payroll process. The widget will show several timesheet tasks, including:
- Pending timesheet To Do items
- Missing punches
- Timesheet on approval errors/warnings
- Timesheet submission metrics
These tasks include hyperlinks that direct managers to the location in the system to correct the errors, approve requests in To Do items, and view the details within the reports or timesheet.
Where to find it: TLM Release Notes
Who will use it: Managers
Accrual Donations Enhancements
Donating time off is a great way to help others and build a sense of community within your organization. While the Accrual Donation functionality has been around for a while, we’re making updates to help managers and employees through the processes. First, we’re updating the Time Off Request Workflow to remind managers that the Accrual Bank Request must be approved before approving time off. Next, we’re providing better visibility into donation amounts for employees and managers. Users will be able to see who they’ve donated to, when they donated, the approval status, and the option to cancel pending submissions. Lastly, managers will have the option to perform donation actions on behalf of their employees.
Where to find it: TLM Release Notes
Who will use it: Managers and Employees
Web-based Forms
As we move towards a more accessible system, we’re converting a few of the Government Forms to web-based forms, including the Form CC-305 (Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability) and the Federal Tax Withholding (Form W-4). Web-based forms make the forms more accessible for all, and also allow for the forms to be responsive on the mobile app, making it easier to complete critical forms and tasks within the solution.
Where to find it: Payroll Release Notes (W-4) and HR Release Notes (CC-305)
Who will use it: Employees
Rating Question Type for Surveys
Gauging your employees based on a rating scale is a great way to gather feedback. With the upcoming release, administrators will be able to add a new Rating Question type to surveys. Adding a Rating Question type can help evaluate how a responder feels about a particular topic and gauge any areas for improvement. This enhancement will allow you to identify your values, minimum and maximum rates, and the rate step. Also, to provide consistency across the survey configuration, fields can be translated using the Translation tab.
Where to find it: HR Release Notes
Who will use it: Employees and HR Admins
Career Portal Refresh and Show Job Page Updates
Give your Career Portals a cohesive feel with expanded capabilities that will allow admins to align the careers page with their branding. This includes added functionality for the language drop-down menu, helping to translate the UKG-defined fields in the system, and allowing the applicant to view certain information in the language of their choice. Additionally, the Show Jobs page will align with the design set by your organization within the Career Portal configuration.
Where to find it: HR Release Notes
Who will use it: Applicants and HR Admins
This is only a quick highlight of enhancements coming in the December release. For a full overview, be sure to check out the December Release Notes.
For more on the different UKG Ready Release Resources available, check out the Your Guide to UKG Ready Release Resources blog.
Additional Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Release
- For 24/7 access to release notes and user guides, log in to your account and go to My Info > Help > Online Documentation within the UKG Ready solution.
- Bookmark the Release Readiness page in the UKG Community™ for everything you need to learn about what’s new and what’s next.
- Visit the Announcements group in the UKG Community to stay up to date on published release notes and future release dates.
- We’re always trying to make our solution the best it can possibly be. Have an idea for a feature enhancement? Make sure to submit it on the Ideas portal in the UKG Community.
- Alert groups provide you with important notifications on critical system updates. Not sure which alert group to join? Click here.
- Review our technical highlights for easy reference to key Release Notes.
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