Issue 7

Welcome to Workday Watch—a resource designed to keep you informed with timely updates and helpful insights. Each edition is shaped by the questions and feedback we receive through the Workday Support Portal. Whether you’re navigating new processes or seeking clarity on recent changes, Workday Watch aims to provide the guidance you need, when you need it most. 

One of the key benefits of Workday is that we are always working in an up-to-date system, with new releases delivered every March and September. Now that we've successfully navigated our first update, we want to highlight some of the enhancements and improvements included in this release. These updates ensure we continue to benefit from the latest features, increased security, and ongoing system optimizations that support our daily work and long-term goals. Please note that some job aids may need to be updated because of the release. The teams are trying to identify those and make corrections. If you notice a job aid that does not reflect the business process defined in the system, please submit a ticket. 

Notable new features include: 

The change management team will be holding roundtable discussions with stakeholders from across campus. These discussions provide a forum for communicating present challenges, addressing priorities to ensure our efforts align with your key concerns, and facilitating constructive two-way dialogue. Our first stops are listed below. Don’t see your department on the list? Email us at workdayproject@wm.edu to request a visit. Sessions can be held in person or virtually, depending on what works best for your team. We look forward to hearing your questions, feedback and insights as we continue this journey together. 
 
Coming soon:  

Completed:  

The I-9 process verifies employment eligibility. William & Mary uses e-Verify for automated validation, but it's unavailable during the government shutdown. Verification will take longer as staff must complete checks manually.  

Don’t forget, there is a centralized issue log available on the launch website. We have recently resolved some of the ongoing payroll issues, and our team continues to actively work through other outstanding items to keep everyone informed and supported. The issue log is updated weekly. 

Here are some newly published job aids we want to highlight and hope you find helpful. These resources are designed to provide step-by-step guidance for key Workday tasks, making processes easier to understand and complete.  If you notice that a job aid does not reflect the business process defined in the system, please submit a ticket. 

A Payroll Accounting Adjustment (PAA) is the process used to update an employee’s cost allocation (worktags) for a previously completed payroll period. It can be used for things such as correcting funding sources after payroll has been processed.  

Note: Workday does not support distributing benefits across additional positions, so a payroll accounting adjustment is required after payroll processing to correct costing. The UHR and Finance teams are working to find a solution or bring automation to this process, but a solution and timeline for improvement are not yet available.  

Report writers across campus are diligently working on writing reports and implementing enhancements that are needed. The following reports are now available in Workday to those with the proper security roles in Finance and/or HR: 

WM Faculty Verification Academic Workers - This report is designed to give a comprehensive view of faculty data including their worker profile, positions and academic appointment records. This report is intended for schools to evaluate their faculty information and validate the data. 

WM Employee Time Off Plans, Accruals, Time Offs, and Leave Eligibilities - Accesses the Worker as its primary business object and returns one row per Worker. Includes all active and terminated Workers. For active Workers, all related objects are reported as of the current date. For terminated Workers, all related objects are reported as of their last day of work. For trending reports, use the Trended Workers data source instead. 

1. When you encounter a drop-down list in Workday, you can use Control+A to select all of the items. This could be useful when running certain reports.

2. Inbox filters:   

Cash Advance Requests  

Cash Advance requests are submitted on the Spend Authorization.  You must sign the required Acknowledgment of Responsibility Form and attach it to all Cash Advance requests. You can use the same form for the full fiscal year. Visit the Cashiering website for more information on cash advance requests and reconciliation.  

Worktags are Required for all Expense Items on Expense Reports 

The worktag (or index) identifies the funding source for each reimbursement. Please ensure a valid worktag is entered for each individual expense line to prevent delays in processing or approval.  

When you enter your worktag, it must be submitted in the Grant, Project, Gift, or Designated fields only. Once you enter the worktag, the additional worktag fields will automatically populate based on the worktag information (Cost Center, Fund, Program etc). Do not update those additional worktag fields, as they are set in the system and will cause errors if updated manually. 

WIRES for Travel Reimbursements to Foreign Travelers  

At this time, Workday does not support processing travel reimbursements as WIRES for foreign travelers. Unfortunately, this functionality will not be available until Phase II of the Workday implementation.   

External Committee Members (ECMs) are currently paid by check, issued to the address on file, and processed when the ECM record is created in Workday.   

As planned, the second phase of the Workday implementation kicked off on September 22nd. While we will be ramping up in Phase II with the same readiness and planning months as we had in Phase I, the activities and focus will be on business processes that do not connect to Phase I in the HCM and Payroll areas, Employee Learning, and Performance Management. These will not go live until late spring, so campus users will have several months before having to consider changes to related business processes. There are no Finance Phase II work streams, apart from introducing new budget planning tools that will be used by a very small number of staff on campus.