Initialize new hire records to Vista after they have been reviewed and you are ready to add those records to HR Resources or PR Employees in Vista.

1. Go to Employee Tools > Onboarding Dashboard.
2. From the Employee column, select the new hire's name.
   The Onboarding Details page displays.
3. If needed, update the Expected Hire Date. This field automatically populates with the date entered in the Employee's first day of employment field, which admins fill out while completing Section 2 of the I-9.

   Changing the Expected Hire Date here will not change the date on the I-9.

   Note: If this date is in the future, the Vista record will not be marked as active and must be updated manually on the employee's official hire date.
4. There are two options for initializing employees to Vista, depending on if your employee is a new hire or a rehire:
   • For rehired employees, go to this step: Initialize Attachments Only.
   • For all other new hires, go to this step: Initialize to Vista.
5. For new hires, select Initialize to Vista.

   The Initialize to Vista popup window opens, allowing you to enter information required to create the new HR Resource or PR Employee record. Complete all required fields (display with a red asterisk).

   1. The HR Company and Payroll Company fields (and dependent fields such as PR Department and Default Earn Code) depend on the following:

      • The PR Companies set up in HR Company Parameters in Vista.

      • The PR companies enabled in the portal setting PR Company and PR Groups to be included in the Portal under Admin > Portal Settings > Administration / Initial Setup.

   2. For the HR reference number (HR Ref), note the following options:

      • You can use the Auto Generate HR Ref feature to create a new HR Reference number based on the next sequence in Vista. If you prefer to enter your own number, enter it in the HR Ref field.

      • You can enter an HR Reference number in Expected HR Ref (on the Onboarding Employee Details page) for new hires who should have a specific number assigned to them. This number will then be skipped when using Auto Generate HR Ref.

      • For rehires, the HR Ref and other fields prefill based on the record linked in the Rehire Employee field on the Onboarding Employee Details page.

   3. If you enter a value in the Hourly / Salary Amt. field, upon initialization, this value flows to Vista HR Resources only, not to PR Employees.

      • In HR Resources, the Hourly / Salary Amt. value flows to the Salary History tab.

      • In PR Employees, you must enter a Salary or Hourly Rate manually on the Add'l Info tab.

   4. If you choose an Occupation Category from the dropdown, this value flows to PR Employees in Vista.

      The selection options are dependent on the occupation categories set up in PR Occupational Categories in Vista.

   5. If you choose a Position Code from the dropdown, this value flows to HR Resources in Vista.

      The selection options are dependent on the position codes set up in HR Position Codes in Vista.

   6. If you want to save the information for later, select Save & Close. Otherwise select Initialize to create the new HR Resource or PR Employee record and attach all completed forms.

      The Initialize Date is added to the attachment file name to prevent duplicating attachments. You can also see this date on the Onboarding Employee Details page.

   Note: When you initialize a new hire to Vista, the Federal Tax Exempt checkbox on the PR Employees and HR Resources forms updates automatically based on the exempt status that the employee selected on Form W-4 during onboarding.
6. For rehired employees only: With rehired employees, you have the option to just initialize attachments to Vista, since they may already have an existing Vista record from their previous employment at the company.
   1. To send attachments to an existing Vista record, select the dropdown arrow next to the Initialize to Vista option, and select Initialize (Attachments Only).
   2. In the Initialize Attachment popup window, select Confirm.

   This action will initialize the attachments but will not create a new employee record in Vista. The Initialized Date is added to the attachment file name to prevent duplicating attachments.

   

   Tip: If there are issues when initializing attachments, the Status on the Onboarding Dashboard displays as Initialized, attachments error. In this status, you can still send attachments to Vista using the Initialize (Attachments Only) option.