What is the General screen?

This article describes the General screen and how to use it.

The General screen is where one can view or update basic employee demographic and payroll data. Some of the data that is available here is name, address, SSN, birth date, tax locations, employment information and information regarding access to employee self-service (ESS). Here are some specific details that might help you while updating employee information.

Employee Name

You may enter a First Name, Middle Name or initial and Last Name. There are also fields for Prefix or Suffix (Jr., Sr, etc.).
Enter any name change or correction by keying over the existing information. Remember, some name changes create a life event which may change tax withholding or benefit information.
Preferred Name: Enter the name that the employee likes to be referred to as. This is an optional field.

Address

Enter any address changes, including street Address, Zip Code, City, and State information.

Important:
ZIP Code is a required field, as it determines the proper taxation for employees. When updating an address, entering the ZIP Code automatically populates the City and State. If there are multiple selections for city, please select the correct one. It also populates the residence tax information in the taxation location. The ZIP code in the Residence Location field identifies all taxes for state, county or city that apply to this employee.

Personal Information

SSN: The SSN in the employee’s record is listed here. You are unable to change in this field. To correct a SSN, see ID Type and Update SSN below.
ID Type: To make a change to the SSN field, first select an ID Type. The ID Types include “SSN,” “ITIN,” “EIN,” and “Other.”
Update SSN: The data stored in these fields is a certain target for identity theft. An added level of security has been placed on these fields by encrypting the data. Click on ID Type and select the data you will be entering. Once selected, key the correction under Update SSN.
Marital Status: Enter or correct an employee’s marital status. The options available are “Married” and “Single."
Birth Date: The Birth Date in the employee’s record is listed here. You are unable to change this field. Please perform changes in the field named Update Birth Date.
Update Birth Date: If there is an error in the employee’s birth date, please correct by keying or using the calendar icon to change.
Gender: Please enter or correct the employee’s gender by selecting the following options: “Male,” “Female”, “Non-binary”, or “Chose not to answer.”
Military Status: Please enter or correct the Employee’s Military Status by selecting one of the options available: “Active,” “National Guard,” “Reserves,” “Retired,” “Discharged,” “Other,” “None,” or “Unknown.”
Deceased: Check the box, if applicable.

Employment Information

Status: You can change the status from “Active” to “Inactive.” This creates an Employment Status Change with an effective date on the Employment Status History screen. You are only able to enter a change reason on the history screen.
Hire Date: This field is populated with the original hire date, or the rehire date if terminated and rehired.
PEO Start Date: This field shows the date that the PEO became the employer of record. Note: This field is for PEO clients only.
Adjusted Service Date: This field can be populated with a different date than the hire date for purposes of eligibility for a benefit or accrual plan. The adjusted service date may be looked at for length of service requirements.
Employee Number: The employee number is assigned at hire. The employee can be changed, if the existing number is not in use.
Timeclock ID: If you are using TimeForce as your time and attendance system, adding the Timeclock ID number automatically adds the employee to TimeForce upon save. You may also use this field as an informational field for other time and attendance systems.
Include in Next New Hire Report: By checking this box, any changes will be included in the “New Hire” reporting file processed with the next payroll run.

Current Status (as of Today)
An information icon appears on the screen. Hover over this icon to understand the information provided.

Status: This is the Employment Status as of the date of login. If a change was made to the Employment Status with a future date, this status will not change until that date.
Employment Category: This is the Employment Category as of the date of login. You are unable to change this setting on the General screen. Please change the Employment Category under Employee Management > Employee Maintenance > Employment. If the Employment Category is changed with a future date, this status will not change until that date.

Tax Information

Residence Location: This field will populate based on the Zip Code entered in the employee’s address. This number represents a Geocode, which will determine the proper taxation for the employee.
Remote Worker: If the Remote Worker feature is enabled for a company, a check box will appear between the Residence Location and Work Location fields.
Work Location: Remember to select a Work Location. All available work locations set up are available in the drop-down menu. Select the one that applies to this employee. By adding the resident and work location, the system determines the proper taxation for state, local and school taxes.
School District: If your employees are in a state which requires a school district (such as PA or some areas in OH), the School District field populates with the appropriate school districts. If multiple school districts are available, please select the correct one.
Reciprocity Rule: Do not use this drop-down unless there is an exception to the taxation rule determined by the system.

Contact Information

Home Phone: Enter or correct an employee’s home phone number. The dashes are automatically inserted when you click on Save.
Mobile Phone: Enter or correct an employee’s mobile phone number. The dashes are automatically inserted when you click on Save.
Work Phone: Enter or correct an employee’s work phone number. The dashes are automatically inserted when you click on Save.
Fax Number: Enter or correct an employee’s fax number. The dashes are automatically inserted when you click on Save.
Personal Email: Enter or correct an employee’s personal email. This field is for informational purposes only.

Self Service Information

Self Service Email: Enter the employee’s work email address.
Enable Self Service Access: You can add ESS account access here. Add the employee’s email and check the “Enable Self Service” box. The employee will receive an email for instructions for logging in, along with an authentication code equal to the last 4 digits of their SSN.
Self-Service Account Locked: If a user is locked out of their ESS account, a check appears in this box. To unlock, uncheck the box and save.
Last Activity/Last Login Dates: This field allows you to determine if the employee has utilized the site recently. There is an activity log to see all access dates.
Electronic Consent Date: The date prepopulates if Onboarding is used at hire. The employee can consent to sign electronically during Onboarding.
Consent Withdrawn: This field can be used to withdraw that consent.
For more details on troubleshooting ESS issues, refer to “Employee Self-Service Login Issues” under “Help.”
Check out the other “Help” documents available on the General screen as well.

Terminate
The General screen is used to terminate, undo termination and rehire an employee. For more information, please refer to the article named “Terminate and Rehire Employees.”

Reporting

New Employee and Change Audit Report

The “New Employee and Change Audit Report” is available with every payroll during payroll preview or payroll processing. This report produces a list of any employee data that was changed within this pay period. Once the payroll has processed, the report is available in the Reporting Archive.

Client Reports
You may also access under Client Reports by selecting the “Payroll” Report Category, or search for the name or description of the report.