Notifications and the inbox
What the platform sends your people and when, how the inbox works, and how each person turns email off and keeps the inbox copy.
Anything the platform needs someone to see lands in their inbox inside the employee app. Most notifications also go out by email. Each person decides for themselves whether they want the emails, and the inbox copy stays either way.
Where to find it
Inbox in the employee app, in the menu on a computer and in the bottom bar on a phone. Email preferences are under Settings, and the same switches appear on the Preferences tab of My Profile.
The inbox
The inbox lists tasks and actions waiting for you. Each one shows what kind of item it is, a title, a short description, a link where there is one, and a due or completed date.
There are two tabs, To Do and Completed, each with a count. Press Mark Complete when you have dealt with something, or Reopen to move it back. Your inbox is yours alone, and nobody else can tick off your tasks.
What sends a notification
- An announcement, when your employer publishes one to a group you are in.
- A new company event on the calendar.
- Your Total Reward statement, when your employer publishes it.
- A task an admin adds to your record.
- Leave, where Time Off is switched on. A request goes to the person's line manager, and the decision goes back to the person who asked.
The wellbeing check-in sends its own invitation and reminder. The check-in explains those.
Emails go out in batches every 15 minutes, so one can arrive a few minutes after the inbox copy. Each notification is emailed once and never sent twice.
Turning email off
Open Settings in the employee app.
Switch Email notifications off. It is on unless you change it.
From then on the emails stop and everything still arrives in your inbox. Switch it back on at any time.
Settings has two more switches. SMS notifications covers urgent alerts and reminders by text, and is off unless you turn it on. Marketing communications covers offers, news and updates from benefit and wellbeing providers, and is also off unless you opt in.
Sending someone a task (admins)
Open the person's record in Employees and add a task. Give it a title, and add a message and a link if they help, for example "Complete your beneficiary form" with the form's link. The task lands in their inbox and is emailed to them, unless they have switched email off. You can see when they have completed it, and remove it if it is no longer needed.
Good to know
Email is each person's own choice, made in their own Settings. Announcements and company events go to groups of people, so they are the emails you control. The rest concern one person, such as their own leave or their Total Reward statement.
Emails go to the address on each person's employee record. If a whole group seems not to hear from you, check the addresses on their records.
Questions
Platform notifications still appear in your inbox. Only the email copy stops.
Emails are sent in batches every 15 minutes. The inbox copy appears straight away.
Roles and who sees what
The roles on the platform (employee, organisation admin, HR admin and line manager), what each can see and do, and how access is given or taken away.
Accessibility options
Change text size, spacing, contrast and colour, or turn on the focus band, from the Accessibility tab on every screen of the employee app.