Permissions & Setup Wizard
Two things to know before HR and Payroll are usable day to day: the guided Setup Wizard that gets the module ready the first time, and how an admin grants each person the access they need.
Setup Wizard
An HR admin opening HR for the first time is taken straight to the Setup Wizard, and keeps being taken there until setup is activated; everyone else sees their Daily Hub as normal. A Global Progress card tracks the four steps. Progress is saved as you go, so you can close the browser and pick up where you left off. You can step back to any completed step, but steps unlock in order.
- Member Group Setup — define one or more member groups: work type, work rules and overtime policy, leave types, benefit types and pay structure. Each needs a name and code, and at least one group must be saved before you move on. See HR Settings.
- Member Registration — add employees with Manual Add (a name, and optionally email, department and start date), or in bulk with Bulk Data Import: drop an XLSX, XLS or CSV file (up to 10 MB), map its columns to employee fields, and import. Download Template gives you a spreadsheet with every column the import understands. Both paths create real employees straight away; a bulk import finishes in the background.
- Assign Members — put each employee into a member group: pick a group on each row, use Quick Assign Logic to assign a whole department at once, or export the list to Excel, fill in the group names and import it back.
- Finalize — review your member groups, choose the company's default retirement plan (defined contribution, defined benefit, both, or none — individuals can be overridden on their pay record; see Year-End & Severance), set the System Activation Date, and activate. A validation panel shows whether every group is fully configured, whether your compliance templates are synced, and whether anyone is still unassigned.
Activation needs every member group to be fully configured and a go-live date. Unassigned employees don't block it, but you're warned that they'll sit outside the standard payroll and reporting until they're assigned.
Payroll has its own readiness checklist, Payroll Setup Health, on the Payroll overview — see Payroll Overview. You can return to the wizard any time from Re-run the Setup Wizard on HR Settings → General.
Granting access
HR and Payroll access is granted per user on the User & Permission page, with switches on the person's record:
- HR — Self, Manager and Admin. Each includes the ones before it: turning on Admin also turns on Manager and Self, and turning on Manager also turns on Self.
- Payroll — Read and Write. Write includes Read.
- Restricted tax identity — an Export switch that controls who can download prepared tax filing files containing sensitive tax identity details.
What each HR level gives:
| Level | Can do |
|---|---|
| Self | Clock in and out, file and track their own requests, see their own leave balances, record and certificates, read announcements |
| Manager | Everything in Self, plus My Team: attendance for their direct reports, approving or rejecting their requests, and the Shift Roster |
| Admin | Everything in Manager, company-wide, plus the Members roster, HR Settings, the Setup Wizard, announcements, certificates and contracts |
A few rules follow from this:
- Direct reports come from the Supervisor field. A manager sees and decides requests only for employees whose Supervisor is them — not their reports' reports. Keep Supervisor filled in on each member's HR Info tab.
- A manager can't approve their own request. It goes to their own manager or to HR.
- HR access doesn't include pay. Payslips — on the Payroll screens and on a member's Pay History — are visible only to users with a Payroll switch, whatever their HR level.
- Each user needs a linked employee record. Clocking in, filing requests and read tracking all work through the employee record linked to the user's login.
If your company's plan doesn't include HR or Payroll, those switches are unavailable until the module is enabled for your account.