Product Update August 2024

Welcome back to the August edition of the Employment Hero product update. We’re running full speed into the second half of the year, which means one thing – we’ve got a whole bunch of new product releases to share with you.

So, what’s new? We’ve introduced the ability to auto-approve timesheets, a new Zapier integration, an easier way to upload jobs to the ATS, a new custom form feature, more enhancements to SmartMatch, plus so much more. It’s all here and ready for you to use in-platform – let’s get to it.

Auto-approve timesheets

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum 

We’ve just made it a whole lot easier to manage timesheets with our brand new auto-approve feature.

Customers will now see a toggle to turn the auto-approve function ON or OFF, by going to Company Settings > Employment Settings > Auto-Approve Timesheets.

When switched ON, if any timesheets with start and end time that employees submit (Daily or Weekly) matches with their rostered shift, it will automatically be approved, given that the following are matching:

• Date
• Shift start time
• Shift end time
• Cost centre
• Work type
• Number of breaks

Learn more about auto-approving timesheets.

Custom colours now available

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum 

You can now swap out the default purple for your brand’s colours, making it uniquely yours.

Simply head to Settings > Custom Branding > Custom Colour Scheme to get started.

Learn more about customising your HR Platform here. 

Enhanced workflow experience

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum 

Previously, the Employee File Change workflow templates lacked essential dynamic fields, limiting your ability to include critical contextual information like an employee’s primary manager or start date. We’ve now upgraded the workflow engine to support additional dynamic fields, allowing you to tailor it to your business needs and improve operational efficiency, user experience, and scalability.

In addition, we’ve introduced a series of UI/UX enhancements, including updated workflow icons, user-friendly components for new users, and confirmation popups to prevent accidental exits. These updates are designed to make your workflow smoother, easier to navigate, and more efficient.

We’ve just made it easier for your team to manage 1:1s

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum

We all know how valuable 1:1s are, which is why we’ve made them even easier for you to manage in-platform.

Previously, only admins and owners were able to set up 1:1s on behalf of other employees.

Now, admins and owners can now grant access to employees to help view, modify, or delete 1:1s, giving you more flexibility and support in managing your team.

Learn more about managing 1:1s here. 

New Zapier integration

We’ve launched a new integration with Zapier, allowing you to seamlessly transfer data from Employment Hero Payroll to apps in the Zapier app store. This low-code solution not only streamlines your workflows, but also is now the first payroll provider on Zapier.

Learn more about the new Zapier integration and how to get started. 

We’ve streamlined the ATS job creation flow and reduced the time it takes to input job details

Available for the following HR plans: Hiring Essentials, Standard, Premium, Platinum

Everyone knows how time-consuming it can be to set up a job ad, which is why we’ve streamlined the process even further with a new pre-job creation modal.

Now, when you select “Add New Job” or “Create Internal Role” you’ll have three options:

• Create from Scratch: This option will launch the existing job creation flow, where the user will manually enter job details.
• Create from Job: This option will launch the job creation flow, but in the “Job Details” step, the user will be able to select an existing job within their organisation to automatically populate fields in the “Job Details” step using input from the previous job. This is similar to the logic used when a user copies a job.
• Create from Employee: This option will launch the job creation flow, but in the “Job Details” step, the user can select an employee within their organisation, and the employee’s job details will be copied over (excluding sensitive fields such as salary).

Learn more about posting job ads. 

Close jobs ads without closing a role

HR plans: Hiring Essentials, Standard, Premium, Platinum

When you’re in the final stages of hiring, you might want to close off the ability for new applicants to apply. This could be due to having enough applicants already, or simply because you’ve already offered the role to a candidate and are awaiting their acceptance.

Previously, when you would close off accepting applicants, it would close off the entire job in the ATS. This could make it hard if you needed to reopen the job to find more candidates or re-start the process if a candidate fell through.

Now, hiring managers are able to remove the job from all job boards (including Swag Jobs and their careers pages) without closing the entire job in the ATS. If the hiring manager wishes to reopen the job to accept more applications, it can be reposted to these job boards easily.

Say hello to a new powerful Custom Form feature

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum

We’ve introduced a powerful custom form feature, allowing admins to easily capture specific information from their team. With this update, you can create tailored forms, send them to individuals, teams, or locations, and track responses – all from the dashboard.

Employees will receive email notifications when a form is active and can complete it directly from their ‘To Do’ widget. Authors will also be notified once a form is completed, ensuring smooth and efficient communication.

Learn more about Custom Forms.

An easier way to schedule shifts with our new Copy Shifts feature

Available for the following plans: Platinum

We’ve made scheduling even easier with our new Copy Shifts feature. Now, you can quickly copy selected shifts to the next day, week, or fortnight, with advanced options for managing leave and shift clashes.

You can also select how to navigate employees being on leave or shift clashes by selecting either to not copy the shift or to paste as empty shift (if shift bidding is enabled).

Learn more about managing shifts.

Enhanced job matching in SmartMatch and our ATS

Available for the following HR plans: Standard, Premium, Platinum

Finding the perfect fit for your open role has just gotten a whole lot easier. We’ve enhanced our job matching capabilities with a new standardised “Seniority” filter for employers.

Now, when using our ATS or SmartMatch features, you’ll benefit from improved candidate relevance by filtering based on six seniority levels (e.g. Graduate, Trainee, Junior, etc), ensuring better alignment between job roles and candidate experience.

Learn more about SmartMatch.

New features added to the HR Clock/Clock Out feature

Available for the following HR plans: Standard, Premium, Platinum

We’ve added a new feature to our HR Clock In/Out settings that requires employees to capture a photo when clocking in or out of shifts and breaks.

This update, available on mobile, also captures GPS locations. Employees using this feature will be prompted to grant their Swag app access to their camera and location.

Please note: this applies only to those using the HR Clock In/Out feature, not the HR Payroll Swag Experience beta.

Filter SmartMatch searches by desired salary

Available for the following HR plans: Hiring Essentials, Standard, Premium, Platinum

We’ve enhanced SmartMatch with a new feature that allows employers to filter recommendations by desired salary, helping you find top talent within your budget.

You can now refine your search by adding a salary range in any currency, either annually or hourly. The recommended candidates will then be filtered based in this range to only show those candidates that are within budget.

Tasks created via Workflows can now be sent to an external inbox

Available for the following HR plans: Platinum 

We’ve expanded our task management capabilities by allowing tasks created via Workflows to be sent to an external inbox, just like manually created tasks and onboarding/offboarding checklists.

This means that you can be notified when a new employee is added to your team, when an employee has changed their role, or even when a candidate has signed their contract. This feature also makes it possible to notify people externally when a task is due, e.g. external IT providers.

You can do this by adding in the send email notification action in the Workflows feature.

Learn more about Workflows. 

Bank Islam salary crediting payment file for Malaysia

Available for the following payroll plans: Standard and Premium

The payroll platform now supports Bank Islam’s Bulk Payment Salary upload file. This allows admins to easily pay employee salaries through Bank Islam via bulk upload.

This can be set up in Payment Files in the Business Settings screen. Select the Bank Islam Bulk Payment in the dropdown selection for file format.

Learn more about Bank Islam salary crediting payment file for Malaysia or visit here for more information on how to upload your banking files.

Follow along every month for the latest and greatest product updates

We want our customers to get the most out of our platform. Whether it’s HR, payroll or benefits, you can expect to find new updates here – all designed to make your world at work easier and more valuable. If you’d like to stay up-to-date with our content, you can visit our resource hub or follow us on LinkedIn.