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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Ascentis (discontinued)

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AAscentis HR uses web-based management programs to help automate complex HR processes. Ascentis’ other services included customizable payroll, time and attendance and recruiting modules. Ascentis was acquired by UKG in March of 2022, and will be discontinued.N/A

    Paylocity

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/APaylocity provides 24/7 access to your online payroll and human resource data management. Paylocity offers highly customizable payroll functionality, as well as HR, benefits administration, and time and talent management programs.N/A
    Pricing
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
    We selected Ascentis over Paylocity because we were frustrated with a lack of support from Paylocity and because we could have additional functionalities like recruiting and LMS in our HRIS at the same price we were paying for Paylocity.
    Incentivized
    Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
    Ascentis is more integrated and Paylocity is easier to use as it has the advantage of creating customized reports when needed. Paylocity downloads all tax returns and with Ascentis i have to request them, download and rename all the files. Paylocity's quarterlys are done in 2 …
    Incentivized
    Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
    ADP is mostly likely the status quo for HRIS systems, their CS and 24/7 support is incomparable to other systems, including Ascentis. There are often manual corrections needed, negative changes to user view, and other very odd things that happen with Ascentis that I have …
    Incentivized
    Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
    We selected Ascentis because the features and price were a reasonable match for our business objectives at the time. What stood out about Ascentis was the ability to customize and integrate with our internal tools.

    We are currently starting to evaluate other software and are …
    Incentivized
    Paylocity
    Chose Paylocity
    Much more simplistic to navigate and makes overall more common sense. The reporting functions as well as data analyst tools are much more user friendly. Training time to navigate the software and have it accomplish tasks at hand take very little time and their make team much …
    Incentivized
    Chose Paylocity
    As good or better than any of the above, overall. Every HRIS system has strengths and weaknesses. Paylocity does some things better than others, but overall it is a great platform.
    Incentivized
    Chose Paylocity
    UKG and Paylocity were fairly similar, but we thought the user experience seemed simpler with Paylocity. Paycom did not have as great of customer service and was much more expensive.
    Incentivized
    Chose Paylocity
    We used QuickBooks Time, and migrated from that to Paylocity Time & Labor. We attempted to use Ascentis, but after 4 weeks of back and forth, we made little progress, despite a rigorous set of Demo's were we tried to make sure they could deliver what we needed in time tracking. …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    78%
    Would buy again
    40 Answers
    87%
    Would buy again
    1105 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    90%
    Delivers good value for the price
    35 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    1029 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    91%
    Happy with the feature set
    1163 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    65%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    76%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    674 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    65%
    Implementation went as expected
    24 Answers
    66%
    Implementation went as expected
    608 Answers
    Features
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    7.1
    150 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.8
    1146 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Employee demographic data6.7137 Ratings8.41088 Ratings
    Employment history7.3140 Ratings8.21050 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration6.9128 Ratings8.0980 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.6.7126 Ratings7.6993 Ratings
    Organizational charting5.290 Ratings7.2923 Ratings
    Organization and location management8.0109 Ratings7.8899 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)8.8102 Ratings7.7770 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    7.8
    125 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Paylocity
    8.1
    1115 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Pay calculation7.1115 Ratings8.61087 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors6.162 Ratings7.2533 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.328 Ratings8.4822 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration6.7108 Ratings7.6752 Ratings
    Direct deposit files9.2100 Ratings8.91084 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management8.692 Ratings7.9866 Ratings
    Reimbursement management8.851 Ratings7.8543 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    7.8
    105 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.5
    943 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Approval workflow7.999 Ratings7.3841 Ratings
    Balance details7.099 Ratings7.5900 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment8.484 Ratings7.7709 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    7.0
    153 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Paylocity
    8.4
    1127 Ratings
    4% above category average
    View and generate pay and benefit information7.8138 Ratings8.61097 Ratings
    Update personal information8.6151 Ratings8.91117 Ratings
    View company policy documentation5.4110 Ratings8.0899 Ratings
    Employee recognition6.061 Ratings8.2811 Ratings
    View job history7.3108 Ratings8.5963 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    5.8
    33 Ratings
    33% below category average
    Paylocity
    6.9
    349 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Tracking of all physical assets5.833 Ratings6.9349 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    6.3
    147 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.4
    1038 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Report builder7.0144 Ratings7.5993 Ratings
    Pre-built reports7.5142 Ratings7.51013 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data4.673 Ratings7.3645 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    5.1
    98 Ratings
    43% below category average
    Paylocity
    8.3
    975 Ratings
    5% above category average
    New hire portal5.398 Ratings8.5969 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools4.976 Ratings8.1778 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    7.2
    57 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.6
    536 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Corporate goal setting6.743 Ratings7.7422 Ratings
    Individual goal setting7.653 Ratings7.5493 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility7.138 Ratings7.6371 Ratings
    Performance tracking7.250 Ratings7.7499 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    6.0
    63 Ratings
    26% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.5
    678 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Performance plans5.659 Ratings7.3614 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans5.650 Ratings7.4526 Ratings
    Review status tracking5.857 Ratings7.4625 Ratings
    Review reminders6.555 Ratings7.8629 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency6.650 Ratings7.5526 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    5.9
    27 Ratings
    28% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.1
    352 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Create succession plans/pools6.421 Ratings6.4235 Ratings
    Candidate ranking6.421 Ratings6.8289 Ratings
    Candidate search5.027 Ratings7.8322 Ratings
    Candidate development5.823 Ratings7.3261 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Ascentis (discontinued) and Paylocity
    Feature
    Ascentis (discontinued)
    5.5
    89 Ratings
    34% below category average
    Paylocity
    7.9
    644 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Job Requisition Management5.485 Ratings8.0550 Ratings
    Company Website Posting5.279 Ratings8.2573 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media5.659 Ratings7.9451 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting5.871 Ratings7.8546 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention5.657 Ratings7.5466 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking5.783 Ratings8.1595 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts5.369 Ratings7.9592 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Small Businesses
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.2
    (164 ratings)
    8.4
    (1213 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.3
    (12 ratings)
    9.3
    (118 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (44 ratings)
    9.4
    (78 ratings)
    Availability
    6.7
    (5 ratings)
    9.9
    (17 ratings)
    Performance
    7.1
    (4 ratings)
    9.7
    (17 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.2
    (150 ratings)
    7.7
    (105 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    7.8
    (15 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.3
    (5 ratings)
    7.9
    (55 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (13 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (15 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    6.7
    (4 ratings)
    9.6
    (16 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.8
    (9 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    8.8
    (17 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (16 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Ascentis (discontinued)Paylocity
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    Paylocity appears to be well-suited for startups to large businesses. As with any product, finding the right price point for the services provided is the challenge. Always remember that one small company that would really appreciate the "benefits essentials" or some other part of the platform but can't afford them right now, may be the ones to get you that large company through word of mouth...IF they had been able to experience that part of the product and refer it to others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn!
    • Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims!
    • User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    • Payroll is made pretty easy. I love that we have the ability to log into payroll, we just upload the information from commissions, things like that where there are exceptions to a regular payroll run. It may make it very easy to do that, just a quick upload. Additionally, when we're in the payroll grid, it gives us the ability to just make quick changes to people's pay or their tax schedule, tax withholdings, things like that without having to go through a lot of different screens. It's just very easy to access just for the click of a button. Love that.
    • We talked about performance reviews, talked about payroll with benefits administration, it allows us to utilize EDI feeds with our benefit vendors so it creates a seamless, but we just enter the information into Paylocity and then it seamlessly provides that information to our vendors. That's been really helpful. And adjusting benefits is also very easy within Paylocity. I love the recent edition of compensation analysis information, so I'm able to go into the compensation module and look for jobs that are similar to a job title at our company. I can enter the job description, I give them what state that the person or the job is in, and it pops out compensation data. It gives me different options, so titles that might be similar. So if there's not something that's an exact fit, I'm able to find something really, really close. It's been a huge upgrade because before that I was having to use a different vendor and paying $400 per job and now it's significantly less expensive to Paylocity and I'm still getting great quality data. It's been very helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • Updating the system so it is one platform and not two.
    • Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes.
    • Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas.
    • When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue.
    • System needs updates to support AAP reporting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    • We have had lots of year end issues specifically with Partners W2's.
    • We had an accrual issue that was causing 2 additional vacation/sick accruals per year.
    • When updating accruals- the paperwork to do so is confusing at times. I feel there is little support to assist you in filling the paperwork correctly to reflect what you need the accrual to actually do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    There are several technical issues we have experienced this past year with the employee onboarding process that we are still waiting to have resolved. Overall our experience with Paylocity has been positive, and we love how user-friendly and easy to navigate the system is. It has made all of our HR processes much more streamlined and efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    I'd give it a 7.5. If the modules were easier to access and not so buried (or placed in left field to find), I would give it a higher rating. As I said, as the potential to be great if ACCESS to other modules was easier.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    I would give it that overall rating because we implemented in 2023 and so although that may feel like a lot of time, it still is, we still have a lot to learn and so I'm optimistic that as we learn more that rating will increase.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    Over the last 3 years, we've only had one major service issue that rendered Airbase unusable for us for about 24 hours. That said, they navigated the SVB bank crisis very well and made sure funds were available during that time.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    Yes, this pages do load pretty good but there are times when things are slow and I believe that's because they are sometimes trying to do updates.
    Read full review
    Paylocity
    We had some minor hiccups throughout the year but they have all been fixable. Paylocity integrates well with our 401k provider, Principal, and our benefits, OneDigital. It makes it simple to house everything and have it all connected. It doesn't slow anything down to have Principal integrated. It makes it more efficient
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    It is very hard to get answers to your questions, you cannot speak to someone without days of requesting assistance or answers and then eventually can get a call back and then it is usually resolved fairly quickly. But NOT easy to get that help.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Discontinued Products
    First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    I didn't have in-person training, but I'm sure it was just as great as any other training/assistance Paylocity provides. Paylocity customer service is always available. You never have to be on hold and their answers are always accurate and timely. Documents in the help section are helpful as well. My in-person training was conducted y one of our employees who was involved in the initial set-up and training of all employees. She was excellent.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    The training was live online, but was with a group of other companies. We did not receive any personalized training with our team. Whenever we would ask for training, we would be sent a peak article link or a video. It felt like the reps we dealt with didn't know the answer to the questions.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    Implementation was a bit bumpy and Paylocity team not always available for next steps and/or questions. I feel like Paylocity could have done a better job in their fact finding as far as what we were currently doing, our payroll policies and needs, etc. so that we would have run into less issues as we moved forward.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    We went through demos five years ago and we evaluated ADP and UKG in the past, and we used Paycor previously. In the past, I've used ADP and Kronos when it was still Kronos at other companies. So several different ones. One of the main reasons was that it was all one platform and you didn't have to log into other platforms for it to communicate with each other. Payroll talks to time that talks back to payroll and you don't have to log into anything separate. The reporting was also really easy and you didn't have to have a master's degree to do it.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Paylocity
    I didn't help but I like the pricing
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    We have gone from a medium sized company to a larger company with no issues whatsoever with Paylocity being able to keep up or do what we need it to do for the size of our needs. In fact, it does more than we even use at this juncture
    Incentivized
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    Professional Services
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Paylocity
    They are thorough, care about quality and success, take the time needed to implement properly, answer questions, build data feeds. A professional, caring, very skilled team there.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • HR DPT. is much more effective, as we can assess any employee information no matter where we are, etc. This helps to provide information immediately when requested!
    • Employees have access to Ascentis, and therefore to their timecard, open enrollment, etc., from anywhere at any time!
    • Time, PTO requests, employee goals, and evaluations can be approved from anywhere at any time!
    • Recruiting can be accessed any where at any time, and this helps with hiring, internal communication, etc.
    Incentivized
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    Paylocity
    • So when I first found Paylocity back in 2013 and was pitching it to the senior leadership company, my PowerPoint presentation, our return on investment was reducing errors in time and labor. We did paper time sheets back in the day back in 2007, 2008. So we were always running paper time sheets, Microsoft Excel or other standalone products, printing them out and hand keying them into a payroll system. So my ROI to our company was to save money and time on data entry and also to better manage the taxes. So we pay for the tax service, we're in 27 states having to manage that. Previously we were responsible for knowing what every state tax codes were, what every state tax compliance rules were. So with Paylocity we signed up for a tax service and that has been a huge return on investment.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Ascentis (discontinued) Screenshots

    Screenshot of Access all of your details including, paychecks, personal file, timeclock, etc via our mobile app.Screenshot of Punch-in and punch-out on the go.Screenshot of Centralized location for everything related to a user or admin.Screenshot of Every employee has access to their personal information in one location.Screenshot of Pre-built reporting along with Ad Hoc reporting gives you the ability to understand your business as a whole.Screenshot of Benefit enrollment made easy for your employees.

    Paylocity Screenshots

    Screenshot of a view of real-time employee data and performance metrics used to uncover and analyze trends. This creates an impactful understanding of the business, increase retention, understand labor costs, and plan for changes.Screenshot of where to automate manual processes with Paylocity's self-serve automation engine, Workflows. Users can implement routines for time-consuming manual tasks.Screenshot of where to manage and comply with employment law. Paylocity's HR Compliance solution helps users to stay on track and view important employee compliance items, from Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), healthcare, and compensation.Screenshot of how Paylocity Recruiting can automate hiring processes. amplify outreach, showcase a company's culture, and build stronger candidate connections to swiftly fill positions.Screenshot of recognition and rewards in Paylocity.