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Payroll: Transferring an employee between companies

  • Updated
Payroll: Transferring an employee between companies — Employee Navigator Help Center
Moving an employee from one company to another? For companies using Subscriber Groups, Employee Navigator now completes the transfer for you — no manual steps in EN before the move in payroll. ADP and UKG Ready each have their own multi-entity handling. Pick your path below.
Most partners
Companies using Subscriber Groups
Automatic transfers with a 24-hour Transfer Hold — see what EN does for you.
ADP
ADP customers with multiple company codes
Add a position & set the new company code as Primary.
UKG Ready
UKG Ready customers with multiple entities
Hire into the new EIN, then Switch Primary EIN.
Table of Contents
  1. For companies using Subscriber Groups (all other partners)
    1. Interactive demo — what happens automatically
    2. FAQs & troubleshooting
  2. For all ADP customers with multiple company codes
  3. For all UKG Ready customers with multiple entities

For companies using Subscriber Groups

This applies to all partners except ADP and UKG Ready. If your company has multiple subscriber groups (multi-EIN), transferring an employee from one company ID to another — or terminating them in one and adding them in the other — no longer requires any manual steps in Employee Navigator first. Make the move in payroll the way you normally would, and EN handles the rest.

✓
What changed: previously you had to assign the new subscriber group and mark it Primary in EN before the transfer in payroll, or the employee risked being terminated by mistake. Now, when a termination arrives for an employee in a company using subscriber groups, EN holds it for 24 hours and listens for a matching record from the employee's other company ID. If that record arrives, EN completes the transfer automatically — the employee stays Active, coverage stays intact, and no carrier or COBRA notification is sent.
YOU · STEP 1
Transfer the employee in payroll
→
EN · STEP 2
24-hour Transfer Hold on the termination
→
EN · STEP 3
New ID, new Primary, hire date preserved
→
RESULT
Active, benefits intact
You do this Employee Navigator does this
Interactive Demo

Watch a transfer complete — step by step

Follow the highlighted instructions inside each step. This mirrors the real Employee Navigator interface — transferring Jordan Rivera from Harbor Point Logistics (204410) → Harbor Point Services (204425). The only step you take is the first one, in payroll.

1
You — Transfer in payroll
2
EN — Transfer Hold
3
EN — Employment updated
✓
Complete
👆Step 1 of 3 — In your payroll system, move Jordan to the new company ID and enter a termination date in the original company ID. Nothing needs to be done in Employee Navigator first. Click Process Transfer.
Your Payroll System
Dashboard
Employees
Payroll Runs
Reports
Transfer Employee — Jordan Rivera

Transfer Jordan from Harbor Point Logistics (204410) to Harbor Point Services (204425). Payroll will send Employee Navigator two records: a termination from the original company ID and a new hire in the new one.

🔄 Employee Transfer
Terminating from
Harbor Point Logistics
Company ID 204410 · Payroll ID E0176
Transfer
Hiring into
Harbor Point Services
Company ID 204425 · Payroll ID E0412
⏳
Click "Process Transfer" to send both records to Employee Navigator. You don't need to change anything in EN beforehand.
Your payroll system

FAQs & troubleshooting

QDo I still need to assign the new subscriber group or change the Primary in Employee Navigator before the transfer?

No. Make the transfer in payroll as you normally would. When the termination arrives, EN holds it under Transfer Hold and completes the transfer itself once the matching record from the new company ID arrives — new Payroll ID, new Primary, hire date preserved.

QThe move is a real termination, not a transfer. Do I have to wait 24 hours?

No. Go to Payroll → Integration Health, filter to We're On It, open the employee's ⋮ Actions menu, and choose Confirm Termination. The termination processes immediately. If you do nothing, it processes on its own when the 24-hour hold ends with no matching record.

QWhat if the new record didn't arrive within 24 hours and the employee was terminated in Employee Navigator?

This is fixable. Follow these three steps:

  1. Go to the employee's Profile in EN → find the Termination Actions box on the right-hand side → click Undo Termination. This reinstates the employee.
  2. Click the employee's Employment link → check off the Payroll Integrations box for their new company → click Save.
  3. Go to your Payroll tab → Integration Health dashboard → find the employee's Inbound Demographics category → Actions icon → Pull from payroll.
QWhat happens to the employee's hire date?

EN keeps the employee's original hire date for eligibility purposes — Preserve Hire Date is checked automatically on the new Primary group. The hire date payroll sends for the new company ID is shown as the Exchanged Hire Date but doesn't overwrite the EN hire date.

QWill the employee's deductions continue to send to payroll after the transfer?

Yes. Once the transfer completes, deductions send to the new company ID using the new Payroll ID. Coverage is never interrupted, and no carrier or COBRA notification is generated.

For all ADP customers with multiple company codes

In ADP you don't terminate and rehire — you add another position to the employee's existing profile and choose which company code is their Primary. Click through the walkthrough below.

1
Take action
2
Add position
3
Set Primary
✓
Done
👆Step 1 — On the employee's Employment Profile, click Take action.
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◄  3 of 1183  ►🔍 Search for people
DA
Daniel Scott Aaron
Active
Position ID
208000875
Hire Date
06/06/2016
Department
102000 — Engineering
Company Code
208
Worked-In Country
United States
Personal
Employment
Retirement
✓
Why the Primary matters: the Primary record is the single source Employee Navigator looks at to determine hire date, termination date, and compensation. With the new company code set as Primary, the employee continues seamlessly and no termination is sent to EN.

For all UKG Ready customers with multiple entities

In UKG Ready, transferring an employee between EINs is a three-step sequence. Order matters: the new EIN must be Primary before you terminate the old one. Click through the walkthrough below.

1
Hire into new EIN
2
Switch Primary EIN
3
Terminate original
✓
Done
👆Step 1 — Hire the employee into the new EIN first. Click Hire into this EIN.
🏢 New EIN — 311 East Region
TA
Tank Address
Employee ID 8347
The employee will then exist in both the original EIN and the new EIN.
✓
Because the original EIN is no longer the employee's Primary in UKG, the termination is not sent to Employee Navigator — exactly as intended. The employee stays Active with their benefit enrollments and deductions intact.

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