Release Notes 9.07

Owned by Frank Gambino
Last updated: Jun 24, 2019
4 min read

Overview


RMS

version 9.07 includes the following improvements and new features:

  • Improvements to Budget Datasets.
  • An improvement to the UniFocus Mobile App version 1.0.
  • The UniFocus Mobile App version 2.0.
  • Modifications to work rules.
  • A change to how schedules are exported.
  • Improvements to exported payroll files.
  • Improvements to Time Clock offline punch processes.

Budgeting

KBI sets and Budget Datasets  (13478)

In previous releases, KBI sets were attached to user-defined datasets (System Setup > Financial > User Defined Datasets) and system-defined datasets (System Setup > Financial > System Defined Datasets). With this method, users could not define the KBI set they wanted to use by year or stat type. In this release, the KBI set functionality has moved to budget datasets (System Setup > Financial > Budget Datasets). On the Budget Datasets screen, users can now select both a stat type and a date.

Interfaces

A change to how schedules are exported (14425)

In previous releases, when a job was selected to be exported, the export included all employees who had that job assigned to them, along with all of their schedules. For example, if users exported Housekeeping and employees were scheduled all week in Banquets but had Housekeeping in their job lists, all of the Banquet schedules would have been exported.

In this release, only scheduled shifts that are part of the list of jobs selected for the export will be exported.

Interfaces, Time & Attendance

Corporate payroll files that contain headers can now be merged during export  (13702)

In 

RMS

, the Export Payroll screen (System Setup > Corporate) enables users to export payroll files that are created in the export process of closing a pay period. In some cases, these files have header rows, which affect how accurately reports are merged when a user exports multiple files at once. In this release, the Export Payroll screen now features a Remove Headers From Secondary Files check box. If users select this check box, all file headers except for the header on the first file are removed so that all files can be successfully exported at once.

Note: The Export Payroll menu option (In System Setup) does not appear as a default

RMS

setting. To activate this option in your installation of

RMS

, contact your UniFocus Partner Relationship Manager.

Mobile 1.0

Improvement to user login session  (13976)

When a user logs in to the Mobile App and selects Keep Me Logged In, the session lasts for 60 days. The user is prompted to log in only if:

  • The 60-day session has expired.
  • The user’s password has changed or is expired.

Mobile 2.0

The UniFocus Mobile App 2.0 features:

For technical requirements, see Technical Requirements for Mobile App 2.0.

For user manuals and video tutorials, see the Video Tutorials: Mobile 2.0 page of the UniFocus website.

Mobile App 2.0 user interface and functionality

Key improvements address:

Note: These notes describe the new features in the UniFocus Mobile App version 2.0. For a complete overview of all screens, see Mobile 2.0 Quick Reference Guide.

 

Main menu

The redesign of the main menu includes the following features and improvements:

  • The home screen now contains a hamburger menu (

     ), from which users can navigate to different screens.
  • In previous releases, after signing in to the UniFocus Mobile App, users had to specify whether they were employees or managers. In this release, when users sign in, they automatically see the relevant manager or employee screens.
  • Certain items display badges that indicate specific information. For example, badges on the Call Ins menu option indicate if users have call-ins with pending responses.

Note: The options that are visible on the home screen depend on users' property configuration.

Time off requests

From the Time Off screens, users can add a new time off request or open the detail screens of individual requests. From the details screen, users can view, edit, and cancel the time off requests.

For all team members (My Time Off Requests screen)

  • The Balances section displays the number of vacation and sick/personal time the team member has accrued.
  • The Requests section displays requests for future time off requests.
  • From the floating add button (  ), team members can open a new time off request.
  • Team members can now cancel pending requests.

For managers (Approve Time Off Requests screen)

For pending requests, managers can:

  • Swipe left to quickly approve or deny a request.
  • View available paid time off for employees.
  • Approve or deny with comments.

Messages and notifications

With the new Messages screen, users can view and manage messages from managers and colleagues. The default view of the screen is the Inbox.

All team members can:

  • See a list of their sent and deleted messages.
  • Mark individual messages as read/unread by swiping a message.
  • Mark multiple messages as read/unread by tapping the Edit button and selecting messages.
  • Compose new messages by tapping the floating compose button (  ).

Scheduling

New scheduling improvements enable team members to view their own schedules and those of their peers through calendars. Features include:

  • My Schedule – This screen displays a list of currently published shifts. Team members see their next shift at the top of the screen. From this screen, they can request to drop a shift .

  • Peer Schedules – This screen displays a grid view of the team member's schedule, as well as the names of other team members who have the selected job.

    Note: Peers who have shifts in other jobs will appear as gray if it is a shift that is not for the selected job.

    On this screen, team members can:

    • Change the job selection based on the jobs to which they have access.
    • Select to give away or swap a shift with another employee or peer.
    • Request to drop a shift.
  • Open shifts – This screen displays a grid view of users' schedules, as well as any open shifts that are available for the selected job. On this screen, team members can:
    • Change job selection based on jobs to which they have access.
    • Request pickup of an open shift by selecting it.
    • Request to drop a shift.

Shift requests

On the Shift Requests screen, managers can now create urgent pickup requests, enabling them to blast an open shift to employees to request coverage.

Employee availability requests

In this release, team members can now add availability, which will be reflected in the Employee Maintenance component of

LMS

. With this functionality, they can do the following:

  • View current and pending availability.
  • Edit current availability and submit for manager approval.
  • Cancel pending availability.

Note: Managers must manually update employee requests in the Employee Maintenance component of

LMS

.

Time cards

Team members can now send messages about missed punches to managers.

Employee alerts

In previous releases of the Mobile App, each employee alert type appeared as a menu option at the top of the manager home screen. Managers selected the options to open the detail screens. In this release, the Employee Alerts screen is the manager home screen and appears automatically when managers sign in. Alert types now appear as icons, which managers select to open the detail screens for the alert types.

Icons on this screen indicate which employees are:

  • Approaching break.
  • Late to clock out.
  • Late to clock in.
  • In but not scheduled.
  • Calling in tardy. 
  • Calling in absent.
  • Clocked in.
  • Coming in soon.

By selecting these icons, managers can see which employees have triggered the alerts, whether those employees are clocked in or out, and whether there are any details related to the alerts.

Note: Some icons change color based on urgency.

If a manager selects the alert detail from the list, the Employee Profile screen opens. If the employee is clocked in, the manager can clock out the employee or transfer the employee's job.

Managers can also see the employee's projected hours for the period, the number of hours the employee has to date for the period, and the employee's current shift information. Managers can contact the employee via email, text, message, or phone.

Note: Although the Call Ins alert appears in the new Employee Alerts screen, Call Ins also appears as a main menu option (as it did in previous versions). In this release, managers can access the Call Ins alert by either selecting the option in the main menu or by selecting the Call Ins icons in the Employee Alert screen.

New registration process

Mobile App 2.0 introduces a new registration process for users:

  1. Managers send invitations to one or multiple team members—either active unregistered or new unregistered employees—from the Employee Maintenance screen in

    RMS

    . 

    Note: New regular employees refer to employees who have been added within the last two weeks.

  2. Team members receive an email invitation with a link to the Mobile App setup wizard.
  3. Team members with both a valid email address and employee ID use the setup wizard to create their password and security question.
  4. When team members complete the setup wizard, they receive a link to download the Mobile App.

For instructions, see Inviting employees to the Mobile App.

Improvement to user login session

Mobile App users remain logged in for 60 days

When a user logs in to the Mobile App, the session now lasts for 60 days. The user is prompted to log in only if:

  • The 60-day session has expired.
  • The user’s password has changed or is expired.

Time & Attendance

Work Rules

Day Cut OT DT Daily, Weekly, 7th Day Anytime work rule has been removed  (14022)

The Day Cut OT DT Daily, Weekly, 7th Day Anytime work rule was removed from the Hours Distribution work rules category. This rule can be replaced with the OT DT Daily, Weekly, 7th Day Anytime and used in conjunction with the Regular Hours Distribution rule for splitting by day when the property is set to use midnight (12:00 A.M or 24:00) as its day cut.

Prototype - OT DT Daily, Weekly, 7th Day Anytime, Min Hours Off work rule has been removed  (13977)

The Prototype - OT DT Daily, Weekly, 7th Day Anytime, Min Hour Off work rule has been removed from the Hours Distribution work rules category. This rule can be replaced with the Daily, Weekly, Day Off Consec Days OT With Min Break work rule, which has been modified to include a Pay OT on Unscheduled Day parameter. Users can select this parameter to ensure that employees are paid overtime (OT) if they worked on a day for which they were not scheduled. 

Modifications to the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule

The Prompt for Fixed Hours work rule (System Setup > Work Rules > Post Punch) includes the following improvements:

  • Prompt messages for various punch types (13882)—In previous releases, the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule allowed users to configure a prompt message only on an Out Punch punch type. In this release, the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule has been modified so that users can configure a prompt message for one of the following punch types: Back Punch, Break Punch, In Punch, Out Punch. If a punch type is selected, when employees punch with one of the selected punch types, they receive a prompt message. If employees enter a response of "No," an earning of a fixed amount is added to their time cards.
  • Recording employees' responses to questions (13879)—In previous releases, employees' responses to Prompt For Fixed Hours Earnings punch questions were not recorded. In this release, all employee responses (including both Yes and No) are recorded.
  • Allowance for 0 minimum hours worked (13968)—In previous releases of , the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule required a minimum hours worked value of at least 0.1. In this release, to accommodate the new In punch configuration, the the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule now accepts a minimum hours worked value of 0.
  • Minimum break time (13880)—Users can now configure a minimum break time. If employees' break is less than the minimum break time, the Time Clock will display the configured question.
  • Only prompt question if there is no break (14108)—Users can now configure the the Prompt For Fixed Hours Earning work rule so that the Time Clock only displays a configured question if an employee did not take break.

Bug Fix 

Earning appearing in Time Off approval (11583)

In previous releases, if an earning was set to be used in employees’ time off and the user did not have access to the earning that was to be applied, the earning incorrectly appeared as an option for employees’ distributed hours in the Add Time Off Request dialog box.

In this release, if an earning is set to be used in employees’ time off and the user does not have access to the earning, the earning no longer appears as an option for employees’ distributed hours in the Add Time Off Request dialog box.

Time Clock

Smaller batches sent in Modify Offline Punch Process  (13670)

In previous releases, when a Time Clock went offline, the offline punch processor sent all punches to the server at once to the server, causing both a large backlog of punches and a system timeout. In this release, when a Time Clock goes offline, punches logs are grouped into smaller batches, which reduces both backlog and system timeout.Â