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AndrewK
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
With every release, there are important features and changes to the user experience that both Employee Central administrators and employees will need to be aware of. For the 2H 2021 release, we have consolidated a list of features that are “Must Know” items for Employee Central Core, Time Off, and Global Benefits. All of the features listed below will also include links to related information that will provide additional details regarding that specific feature.

Please also review other release related information at SAP SuccessFactors Release Information as well as specific features coming in the 2H 2021 Release in the What’s New Viewer.

 

















Centralized Services: Data Import and Export


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Updates to Centralized Services ECT-173254 Universal

Centralized services now universally support Address Imports, Work Permit Imports, and Social Accounts Information Imports. These services are applicable to data imports initiated from the Import Employee Data page or APIs.

Centralized services are applicable for Address Imports, Work Permit Imports, and Social Accounts Information Imports, and are no longer governed by a configuration switch.

This enhancement brings several improvements to these entities by default. You can now configure business rules, suppress identical records, raise error messages, and so on as applicable to each entity.

Please also review the following, which displays a list of all Opt-out features in the 2H 2021 Release that you will need to be aware of for Centralized Services:


Special Note: Please review the blog highlighted below for additional information about all changes coming in this release related to Centralized Services.

Related Information:

 

















Centralized Services: Work Permit


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Centralized Services Support Work Permit UI Save ECT-161690 Admin Opt-out

Centralized services are enabled to support users editing and saving work permit data in People Profile.


The new option in Admin Center  Company System and Logo SettingsEnable Centralized services for Work Permit to save changes on Editing UI, is selected by default to allow users to take advantage of Centralized services. A validation ensures the UI fields used to generate business keys, which are Country, Document Type, and Document Number, all have values and business keys generated are unique. When this option isn’t selected, you can use another option, Enable Validations on the Work Permit Editing UI (Applicable only when the option "Enable Centralized services for Work Permit to save changes on Editing UI" is disabled), which was introduced in 1H 2021, to control validation of business keys.

Centralized services offer consistent and robust validations that improve data integrity of work permits.

Related Information:

 

















Centralized Services


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Removal of ‘Enabled Centralized Services’ setting in Admin Center ECT-174420 Universal

We have removed the "Enable Centralized Services" setting from the Admin Center.

Many HRIS entities are either universally supported on Centralized services or have their own setting for Centralized services.

 Related Information:

 

















Manage Business Configuration Validation


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Enhanced Validation for Background Element Configuration ECT-164264 Universal

We've included a validation message to notify the users not to configure the same values for the Data Field ID and the Background Element ID. This enhancement prevents misconfigurations from being made in the system.

The new validation will appear as follows when the Data Field ID is the same as the Background Element ID:


Related Information:

 

















Employee ID Generation


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Deprecation of Employee ID Generation Based on the System Configuration Setting ECT-173694 Universal

Employee ID generation based on the system configuration setting will reach end of maintenance on November 19, 2021 and will be deleted on May 18, 2022.




Key Dates


Future dates are subject to change.





Deprecation Details


To simplify the employee ID generation process, we will remove the option of generating the employee ID based on system configuration (from the Admin CenterCompany System and Logo SettingsEnable Database Sequence to generate next Employee Id setting).


The Next Person Id Assigned text box remains and after migration, the value will be generated based on the database sequence.


Employee ID generation using the system configuration creates the employee ID based on the SYS_CONFIG table whereas using the sequence uses the database sequence.





The following options for employee ID generation remain:

  • Database sequence will be the system default

  • Business rules using the Generate Employee ID For Hire/Rehire rule scenario



This change helps prevent any discrepancies within the sequence in your system.


If you use the system configuration option, then after migration, the system defaults to the new option of using the database sequence. For example, if the previous user ID was 101, then the system will automatically resume the sequencing and the next user ID will be 102.


If the employee ID generation rules option is currently configured, then that continues to take precedence. Only in systems where it is not configured, the database sequence option will be used.


 

















Manage Pending Hires


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Internal Hires with New Employment Using Manage Pending Hires ECT-148148 Universal

You can now use the Manage Pending Hires tool to hire internal employees with new employment when the pending hires are from Recruiting and Onboarding 1.0.

If you select a pending internal hire who is inactive, or has a termination record in the future, you see a new pop-up message with the choice to hire either as an Internal Hire or hire as a Rehire. When you choose to Rehire, the next screens are for adding a new employee that also take into account the permissions that you have.

When transferring an employee with new employment, companies using Employee Central first need to terminate the employee. Also, in Employee Central integration scenarios with Recruiting and Onboarding 1.0, the employees show up as internal hires in Manage Pending Hires tool since they’re applying as internal candidates.

International transfer with new employment is an essential business practice for many international companies. In many companies, even internal transfer within the same country/region results in new employment. We now give your user the choice to rehire such candidates as hires with new employment or proceed to hire them as internal hires as was possible before.

Related Information:

 

















Job Information


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Prevention of Special Record Creation in Job History ECT-130989 Universal

You can no longer create new records or edit existing records for specific Hire, Rehire, and Termination events using the Job Information History UI. Instead, these transactions must be made using the Take Action page for such events. This ensures that the status of the employee, along with their employment and/or termination details, is updated correctly.

Here is the list of affected events:

  • Hire (H)

  • Termination (26)

  • Rehire (R)

  • Leave of Absence (10)

  • Return to Work (22)

  • No Show (NS)

  • Add Global Assignment (GA)

  • Away on Global Assignment (AGA)

  • Obsolete (OGA)

  • Back from Global Assignment (BGA)

  • End Global Assignment (EGA)

  • Start Pension Payout (SPP)

  • End Pension Payout (EPP)

  • Discard Pension Payout (OPP)

  • Surviving Spouse Start (SSS)

  • Surviving Spouse End (ESS)

  • Work Order End (ECWK)

  • Add Higher Duty/Temp Assignment (HD)

  • End Higher Duty/Temp Assignment (END_HD)

  • Obsolete Higher Duty/Temporary Assignment (OHD)


We implemented this validation to avoid data inconsistency across Employee Central entities.

Please Note: This only impacts the creation of new records or editing existing records in the Job Information History UI. You can still make changes using these events via Take Action or when completing a full purge import.

Related Information:

 

















Job Information


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Behavior Change for Job Information Fields in the Succession Data Model ECT-134794 Universal

Several fields in Job Information must now be correctly configured and enabled in the Succession Data Model to be used across the system in APIs, rules, or reports. These fields are affected:

  • change-reason

  • change-reason-external

  • department

  • division

  • eeo-class

  • employee-type

  • expected-return-date

  • hr-manager

  • job-code

  • job-title

  • location

  • manager

  • manager-id

  • notes

  • radford-jobcode

  • seq-number


This closes a gap where these fields were visible in APIs, rules, and reports although they were not enabled in the data model.

Configuration Requirements

Check your data model configuration in the Business Configuration UI. In the jobInfo element, search for one of the impacted fields. If the field is not listed but required or listed but not yet enabled, then you can enable it in the Details section and save your changes to update the data model.

What's Changed

In the current version, you must configure and enable all fields explicitly to use them in the system. In the previous version, certain fields were available to use without being enabled in the data model.


Related Information:

 

















Job Information


Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
Deprecation of Job Information Model Fields ECT-175639 Universal

Several fields in the data model for Job Information will reach end of maintenance on November 19, 2021 and will be deleted on May 20, 2022.




Key Dates


Future dates are subject to change.





Just as we add new fields for new features when required, we also ensure that we remove fields that are no longer required, for example, if a feature is deprecated or replaced.



The following fields are deprecated:



  • additional-manager

  • address

  • amount-of-financial-plan

  • custom-manager

  • ERN-number

  • govt-grant-amount

  • hr-manager

  • international-org-code

  • is-primary

  • manager

  • manager-employment-id

  • matrix-manager

  • pay-group

  • second-manager

  • time-account-profile-code

  • track-id




    Please Note: Since we have heard major concerns about the deletion of the field PAY GROUP in Job Information, we decided not to delete this field. If you use Employee Central Compensation, we continue to strongly recommend using the pay group field in the Compensation Information entity. If you do not use Employee Central Compensation Information, you can continue to use the pay group field in Job Information – however you cannot expect any field -specific logic, validations, or any kind of maintenance (bug fixes or patches). Please also do not expect any enhancements here. Note that this field has been marked as not to be used since Q1/2017.

    Related Information:

     

















    Conditional Defaults


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Manage Conditional Groups and Defaults ECT-155716 Universal

    With the release 2111 we introduce in Employee Central the feature called “conditional defaulting” which allows companies to configure default values for different HR masterdata fields according to employee organizational criteria and in combination with their employment classification.

    This allows you to autofill employee data and position attribute values based on organizational and employment grouping criteria. With this feature, you can configure complex selection criteria (conditions) without any code in business rules to achieve conditional defaults.

    Please note: This feature is available in ALL Preview environments as of the 12th November and will be available in all Production Environments with the Production release.

    Related Information:

     

















    Data Import and Export


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Enhanced Forward Propagation on Import of Addresses, Personal Information, and Global Information ECT-170144 Admin Opt-out

    Forward propagation of a changed field value is now supported when you insert a new record to modify the field value of an existing record through import of Addresses, Personal Information, and Global Information.

    Here's a screenshot of the enhanced feature:


    The enhancement helps ensure consistent data propagation of effective dated records and reduces maintenance efforts.

    Related Information:

     

















    Data Import and Export


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Removal of Compound Non-Effective Dated Entities Option ECT-166786 Universal

    The Compound Non-Effective Dated Entities option has been removed from the drop-down menu of the Select an entity list in the Import Employee Data screen.

    The Compound Non-Effective Dated Entities option has been removed from the Import Employee Data page because importing data entity by entity offers more flexibility. You can instead continue using the single entity import of Biographical Information, Employment Details, National ID Information, Email Information, and Phone Information.

    Related Information:

     

















    Employee Central Compensation


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Improved Comparison in Salary vs. Team Widget ECT-166636 Universal

    For teams with employees in different locations, the system shows the currency of the selected employee for all employees. All prerequisites for Compensation Widgets must be met for the widget to show all the data.

    Showing only one currency allows for better comparison of the salaries for team members. This allows better performance of the widget with more consistency for users since it is clear which currency is shown and why.

    Related Information:

     

















    Employee Central Compensation


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    One Time Deductions Allowed for Inactive (Terminated) Users ECT-166635 Universal

    Administrators can now create one time deductions for terminated users with the status Inactive for any period after the hire date, including after the termination date.

    This allows admins to create a deduction, for example, for cases where a laptop isn’t returned to the company or union membership fees are due.

    Related Information:

     

















    Organizational Management


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Position Matrix to Job Relationship Sync Enhancements ECT-140702 Universal

    We’ve enhanced the processing for Position Matrix to Job Relationship Sync during Job Information Imports and transition period.

    The enhancements include:

    • Transition Period - The Position Matrix Relationship to Job Relationship sync is now triggered even when an incumbent is assigned to a position with matrix relationships during the transition period.



    • Job Information UI - The administrator now has the option to choose whether to trigger Position Matrix to Job Relationship sync or, to retain all existing relationships when a position is changed or assigned.

    • Job Information Import - You can now trigger the Position Matrix to Job Relationship sync during job information imports. You can enable this from the Imports tab in the Position Management Settings.


    This enhancement maintains the consistency of Position Matrix to Job Relationship sync across all the channels.

    Related Information:

     

















    Organizational Management


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Support for Mass Changes to Matrix Relationship ECT-164619 Admin Opt-in

    With this feature, you can now add or update matrix relationships for multiple positions using Mass Data Management.

    You can perform the following actions:

    • Add a new matrix relationship for multiple position records.

    • Update the existing common matrix relationship records of the same relation type.

    • Add Matrix Relationship as an additional column to your search results table.

    • View the matrix relationship changes using the Modified link in the Position column.


    We've introduced this feature to support mass changes for matrix relationships in Mass Data Management.

    Related Information:

     

















    Organizational Management


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Display Inactive Records in Mass Data Management ECT-166868 Universal

    You can now view inactive records for all the filterable fields and in the Position result list that is found using a filter criteria.

    With this enhancement, we're closing a gap in the software by displaying records where the status is set to inactive in Manage Data.

    Related Information:

     

















    API


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Restrictions on the API Fields for the Last Modified Date and the Snapshot Date ECT-146284 Universal

    Queries that pull data from the last_modified_on or snapshot_date fields of the Employee Central CompoundEmployee API are now restricted to a maximum of 3 months in the past in ALL instances - preview and production.

    This improvement increases the performance and enables faster synchronization between Employee Central and target systems.

    Related Information:

     

















    API


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Date Time Fields of Employee Central OData Entities Represents UTC Time ECT-164175 Universal

    After the server migrates to UTC, the date time fields lastModifiedOn and createdOn of Employee Central OData entities will represent date information in UTC time.

    We built this feature to keep date and time information consistent after the server migrates to UTC.

    Related Information:

     

















    Time Off


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Cancellation of Leave Payout Requests After Approval TIM-25097 Universal

    It is now possible to cancel leave payout requests after they've been approved.

    We now show the Cancel button in an approved request. The Delete button no longer appears on the UI, but deletion is still possible using Manage Data. For the mail notification, the workflow status has been added to the existing template.

    The Payout object isn’t deleted. You can view the request in the workbench where it has status Cancelled.

    We built this feature to improve the traceability and auditability of leave payout requests.

    Related Information:

     

















    Time Off


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Option to Configure Additional Restrictions to the Target Population for the Employee Time Object TIM-18758 Admin Opt-in

    You can now define target criteria on the Employee Time object under the role-based permissions, in addition to the target population.

    We're addressing certain use cases with this change. For example, you can now configure the system such that a work council member can access only the absences of type Overtime Compensation for all users in their location. This enhancement is from a Customer Community idea .

    Configuration Requirements

    Under Permission Role Details  Employee Time, restrict the target population with the setting Restrict target population to.

    Under Configure Object Definitions  Security Settings, the Employee Time object is set to Secured.


    Related Information:

     

















    Time Off


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Deprecation of External Time Record TIM-11585 Universal

    External Time Record will reach end of maintenance on November 19, 2021 and will be deleted on April 8, 2022.

    Key Dates

    Future dates are subject to change:


    Deprecation Details

    We’re deleting External Time Record (MDF object and API) and its composite API External Time Segment. You can use External Time Data instead.

    External Time Data supports a wider range of time data than External Time Record. You can use External Time Data to import both clock times and durations. External Time Data also supports cost centers and time types. You can even distinguish between attendances and breaks.

    Related Information:

     

















    Global Benefits


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Employee Self-Service for Reporting a Life Event BEN-8547 Admin Opt-in

    Employees can change their benefit enrollment outside of open enrollment periods if they experience a life event, such as childbirth, legal adoption, change in marital status, death of a dependent, and so on.

    Employees can now report their life events themselves using the Report a Life Event form. The life events that can be reported are based on the company or local regulations. On submission and approval of a life event, the system triggers the process to automatically create, update, end enrollments or create benefit exceptions.

    This feature automates the process of changing benefit enrollments to manage life events. This enhancement is from a Customer Community Idea .

    Configuration Requirements

    • Define qualified life events for specific legal entities using Define Life Event for Benefits.

    • Configure Benefit Event Determinationfor system event Life Event.

    • Create Benefit Work/Life Event Configurationfor the relevant Benefit Work/Life Events.


    Role-Based Permission Prerequisites

    To report a life event on behalf of the employee, the administrator should have the Administrator  Manage Benefits  Manage on behalf of Employee permission.

    Related Information:

     

















    Global Benefits


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Rerun Job from Admin Center BEN-9617 Universal

    The administrator can rerun the Create or Update Benefit Enrollments for Employee Master Data Changes job from the Admin Center using Scheduled Job Manager.

    We developed this feature as it simplifies the process of rerunning the Create or Update Benefit Enrollments for Employee Master Data Changes job in case of any failure. Note that the first run of the job happens in Provisioning. However, if the job needs to be run again or for any ad hoc run the customers can run the job from the Admin Center instead of requesting the job run in Provisioning.

    Related Information:

     

















    Global Benefits


    Feature Name Reference Number Configuration Type
    Support onSave Rules in Compensation for Benefit Type Allowance BEN-4197 Universal

    Global Benefits now supports the onSave event type for rules associated with Compensation Information when you save an Allowance benefit enrollment entry.

    We've introduced this enhancement to meet customer requirements for onSave rules in the Compensation block that should be triggered when an entry is saved in the Compensation block.

    Related Information: