Workday Releases

Current Release: Workday 2022R1

Twice a year, in September and March, Workday – UW’s integrated, cloud-based human resource and payroll operations system – releases major feature upgrades designed to increase functionality and enhance the user experience. On this page, learn about what changes you can expect; what steps, if any, you might need to take to prepare for the new upgrade; and what dates Workday will be unavailable during this routine maintenance.

Just like any major software upgrade, there is necessary downtime while the changes are implemented. Employees and administrators should make plans to anticipate this downtime.

New Features and Enhancements in Workday 2022 Release 1 (2022R1)

Workday’s spring release came out the weekend of March 12-13, 2022. Though like most Workday releases, many updates for Workday 2022R1 center around back-end improvements (which end users won’t notice), some of the changes you may notice include:

• New “Table View” for Workday Reports and Tables: Improving the accessibility and usability of Workday reports and tables, especially for those who use assistive technologies, Workday automatically defaults to the “Table View” option (originally introduced in last March’s release), which spreads report and table results over several easier-to-navigate pages rather than on one result-heavy (scroll-intensive) screen; users can expand or collapse rows to better control how information is displayed in reports and tables, as well as highlight a row for easier review of data. You can always use the “Turn off the new tables view” toggle at the top of a report or table to return to the original report or table layout.
• More Information About Healthcare Plans When Enrolling in Benefits: When enrolling in or changing their medical and dental plans, eligible employees can review high-level summaries of their plan options within Workday, as well as access links to more information about each plan.

And unit administrators might be interested in a few improvements in the HCM space, including:

• Task Pages Now Appear as “Pop-Up”: Similar to how Report pages now “pop up” (a change made in last September’s release), now when you initiate a standalone task (those tasks initiated independently of a larger business process, such as Complete Form I-9, Add Additional Job, Return Worker From Leave, etc.), a pop-up window opens rather than being taken to a new page. Please note: this is a cosmetic change only; all task steps and routing remain the same.