University of Wisconsin–Madison
Human Resources

How to Enter Hires in Workday: Cutover Hire Scenarios and Instructions

Overview

The status of your recruitment or waiver will determine how it is entered in Workday. Please review the cutover hire scenarios listed below and follow the instructions that best fit the status of your recruitment or waiver to properly enter your hires in Workday at go-live. 

These instructions are intended for Faculty, Academic Staff, Limited Appointee, University Staff, and Temporary Employee hires completed via recruitments or waivers. 

For the purposes of these instructions, a 'completed' recruitment has a completed background check, completed professional and misconduct (formerly known as sexual harassment/sexual violence (SH/SV)) reference checks, and an accepted offer via legacy systems (TREMS, JEMS PVL, JEMS Hire).  

An 'incomplete' recruitment has an applicant pool in the legacy system, TREMS, where a final candidate has not been determined and/or an offer has not been sent. 

   

Completed Recruitments and Waivers: Processed in Legacy Systems (TREMS, JEMS PVL, JEMS Hire, HRS)

Completed Recruitments and Waivers in Legacy Systems

For the purposes of these instructions, a 'completed' recruitment has a completed background check, completed professional and misconduct (formerly known as sexual harassment/sexual violence (SH/SV)) reference checks, and an accepted offer via legacy systems (TREMS, JEMS PVL, JEMS Hire).  

The instructions listed below should be used for completed recruitments and waivers based on if the hire was processed in HRS by 6/27/2025 or not.  

Important: These hires MUST be entered in Workday by August 19, 2025.

Processed in HRS by 6/27/2025

As a reminder, the Person and Position information will be available in Workday if:

  1. the hire effective date is 6/29/2025 or later,
  2. the Person and Position effective date in JEMS Hire is 6/1/2025 or earlier, AND
  3. the hire was pushed and processed in HRS no later than 6/27/2025
How to Enter Hires in Workday: Completed Recruitments and Waivers Processed in HRS by 6/27/2025
Step 1: Find Existing Position in Workday

Hires with effective dates of 6/29/2025 or later that were processed in HRS by 6/27/2025, will have the person and position information converted to Workday to complete the hire after go-live. The position number is needed to complete the hire.   

To find the position number in Workday:

  1. Type "SUP: followed by the name of the sup org or manager" in the search bar.  
  2. Click the Staffing tab
    1. This will show a list of open positions for the sup org
    2. The position number is the number listed in the Position Restrictions column
  3. Or click the Members tab
    1. This will show a list of all workers and positions for the sup org
    2. The position number is the number listed in the Position column
Step 2: Complete Hire

First, please confirm if a prospect/candidate record already exists in Workday. In the search bar, type "Cand: the candidate's name" (example: Cand: Clara Candidate). A full or partial name may be entered.

If the hire is a current UW System employee, please follow the instructions to either:

  • Change Employees Job: use if the employee has an existing job that will end when they transfer into the new job
  • Add Additional Job: use if the employee has a current job and they will be hired into an additional, concurrent job

If the hire is a new UW System employee, please follow the instructions to complete the:

  • Direct Hire: use if the employee does not have an existing job

Note: The 'Generate Document' step cannot be skipped for the Change Employees Job or Direct Hire business processes. Talent Acquisition recommends using the following language for this document:

Dear Employee Name,

This is to confirm your acceptance of the offer of employment as Business Title with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division/Department/Operational Area. We are excited to welcome you to the team and look forward to the contributions you will bring.  

While your offer terms and acceptance remain unchanged, we wanted to inform you that UW-Madison is currently transitioning to a new human resources and payroll system called Workday. As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance administrative systems and improve the employee experience, Workday will help streamline many employment-related processes.

Some of your onboarding tasks and employment documentation may be completed through the Workday system. You will receive further instructions and support to guide you through this process.

If you have any questions or need assistance during this transition, please do not hesitate to contact HR Contact Name at HR Contact Email or Phone Number.

Welcome to UW-Madison! We are thrilled to have you join us during this exciting time of growth and innovation!

Sincerely,

HR Representative Name

Title 
Step 3: Record Misconduct Reference Check

The misconduct (formerly known as the sexual harassment/sexual violence (SH/SV)), reference check will need to be recorded on the Worker profile. Please follow the Recording Results of Misconduct Reference Checks on Worker Profile - After Hire instructions in the Record Reference and Misconduct Check via SkillSurvey.

Note: Background Check results should have been converted to Workday and recorded with a 'completed at conversion' package.

NOT Processed in HRS

How to Enter Hires in Workday: Completed Recruitments and Waivers NOT Processed in HRS
Step 1: Create Position

The position needs to be created in Workday first. Please follow the instructions to Create Position.

Please note the position number as it is needed to complete the hire.
Step 2: Complete Hire

First, please confirm if a prospect/candidate record already exists in Workday. In the search bar, type "Cand: the candidate's name" (example: Cand: Clara Candidate). A full or partial name may be entered.

If the hire is a new UW System employee and does not have a former worker record, please follow the instructions to complete the:

  • Direct Hire: use if the employee does not have an existing job. This process will have you Create New Pre-Hire first. 

If the hire is a current UW System employee, please follow the instructions to either:

  • Change Employees Job: use if the employee has an existing job that will end when they transfer into the new job
  • Add Additional Job: use if the employee has a current job and they will be hired into an additional, concurrent job

Note: The 'Generate Document' step cannot be skipped for the Change Employees Job or Direct Hire business processes. Talent Acquisition recommends using the following language for this document:

Dear Employee Name,

This is to confirm your acceptance of the offer of employment as Business Title with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division/Department/Operational Area. We are excited to welcome you to the team and look forward to the contributions you will bring.  

While your offer terms and acceptance remain unchanged, we wanted to inform you that UW-Madison is currently transitioning to a new human resources and payroll system called Workday. As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance administrative systems and improve the employee experience, Workday will help streamline many employment-related processes.

Some of your onboarding tasks and employment documentation may be completed through the Workday system. You will receive further instructions and support to guide you through this process.

If you have any questions or need assistance during this transition, please do not hesitate to contact HR Contact Name at HR Contact Email or Phone Number.

Welcome to UW-Madison! We are thrilled to have you join us during this exciting time of growth and innovation!

Sincerely,

HR Representative Name

Title 
Step 3: Record Background Check and Misconduct Reference Check

The integration with HireRight for background checks and SkillSurvey for misconduct reference checks can only be used through recruiting. However, these checks can be conducted directly in the appropriate system and recorded on the Worker profile in Workday. 

If you need to initiate or record a background check or misconduct (formerly known as sexual harassment/sexual violence (SH/SV)) reference check, please review the following for instructions:

Background Check:

Misconduct Reference Check:

 

Incomplete Recruitments: Initiated in Legacy Systems (TREMS, JEMS PVL)

Incomplete Recruitments Initiated in Legacy Systems

An 'incomplete' recruitment has an applicant pool in the legacy system, TREMS, where a final candidate has not been determined and/or an offer has not been sent. 

Once a final candidate is selected from a recruitment in TREMS, follow the instructions listed below to complete their pre-hire checks, extend an offer and complete the hire. Applicants who have applied in TREMS do not need to re-apply for the same job in Workday.  

Please continue to manage, assess, and exhaust applicant pools in TREMS through October 31, 2025. TREMS will be view-only starting November 1. 

If there are no viable applicants for your recruitment in TREMS, please disposition them appropriately and send a request to cancel the PVL to Talent Acquisition at uwjobs@wisc.edu.  

How to Enter Hires in Workday: Incomplete Recruitments
Step 1: Create Job Requisition

Follow the instructions to Create Job Requisition. 

Note: In the Recruiting Details, Reason field, please select Create Job Requisition > Recruitment Completed in Legacy ATS

The Post Job task will be skipped because the final candidate has already applied in the legacy system (TREMS).  
Step 2: Add Candidate to Job Requisition

First, please confirm if the prospect/candidate record already exists in Workday. In the search bar, type "Cand: the candidate's name" (example: Cand: Clara Candidate). A full or partial name may be entered.

Please follow the appropriate steps below based on if the candidate exists in Workday, or if an account needs to be created. 

Candidate Account Exists in Workday:

  1. Type "Cand: and their name" in the search bar.
  2. From the Candidate Account, click Action, then Job Application, and Create Job Application. 
  3. On the Create Job Application pop-up window, enter the job requisition number in the Jobs field. Select Manually to fill out the job application, and click OK. 
  4. Click on the Application Materials tab to view what has been uploaded to their account; these should be the same materials from their most recent application. If a more recent resume/CV and/or cover letter should be added, click Upload and add documents accordingly. Otherwise, click OK.
  5. The Candidate Profile will open and they will be in the pool for the job requisition. Proceed with moving the candidate through the proper steps to finalize the hire as outlined in Step 3 below (Complete Recruitment on Job Requisition). 

If a Candidate Account does not exist, a Prospect must be created before a job application can be created on the candidate's behalf. The process differs whether the candidate is a current UW System employee (internal candidate) or if they're an external candidate.

Create a Prospect for External Candidate:

  1. Search Create Prospect in the search bar and select the Create Prospect task.
  2. Click on Create New Prospect and enter their details. At a minimum, enter their first and last name, and a valid email address. Click OK.
  3. On the next screen, enter any other biographical details you have. When done, click OK.
  4. The Prospect Account page will open. Click Actions, then Job Application, and Create Job Application. 
  5.  On the Create Job Application pop-up window, the Candidate field automatically populates. Enter the job requisition number in the Jobs field. Select Manually to fill out the job application, and click OK.
  6. Click the Application Materials tab, and upload the prospect's resume/CV. Click OK.
  7. The candidate will be in the pool for the job requisition. Proceed with moving the candidate through the proper steps to finalize the hire as outlined in Step 3 below (Complete Recruitment on Job Requisition). 
    1. The prospect will receive an email to create their Candidate Account. If the candidate says they're unable to find the automated system email to create their candidate home account, you can find this by navigating to their Candidate Profile. Click Recruiting History, then on Automatic Message Sent under the Timeline heading. You can copy and paste the URL in the message and send it to the candidate directly.

Create a Prospect for Internal Candidate:

  1. Search Create Prospect in the search bar and select the Create Prospect task.
  2. Click on Create from Existing Workers and type in the employee's name. Click OK.
  3. The Create Prospect screen will open. The Source, Status and Type fields will auto populate. The other fields are optional. Click OK. 
  4. The Prospect Account will open. Click Actions, then Job Application, and Create Job Application.
  5. On the Create Job Application pop-up window, the candidate field automatically populates. Enter the job requisition number in the Jobs field. Select Manually to fill out the job application, and click OK.
  6. Click on the Application Materials tab to view what has been uploaded to their account. If a more recent resume/CV and/or cover letter should be added, click Upload and add documents accordingly. Otherwise, click OK.
  7. The Candidate Profile will open and they will be in the pool for the job requisition. Proceed with moving the candidate through the proper steps to finalize the hire as outlined in Step 3 below (Complete Recruitment on Job Requisition). 
Step 3: Complete Pre-Hire Checks and Employment Agreement

Now that the candidate is in the pool, please complete the pre-hire checks and send the employment agreement via Workday, as you would with a standard recruitment. 

Assessment (professional and misconduct reference checks):

Background Check:

Employment Agreement:

Questions?

Contact Talent Acquisition at uwjobs@wisc.edu.

Updated: Jul. 02, 2025
Source URL: https://hr.wisc.edu/hr-guides/for-hr-professionals/how-to-enter-hires-in-workday-cutover-hire-scenarios-and-instructions/

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