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.
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.
Record 1 — Termination
Harbor Point Logistics (204410)
Payroll ID E0176 · Term date 10/01/2026
Record 2 — New hire
Harbor Point Services (204425)
Payroll ID E0412 · Hire date 10/01/2026
✅
Both records sent to Employee Navigator.
EN will not act on the termination right away — it holds it and
watches for the matching record from 204425.
Your payroll system
⏱Step 2 of 3 — Employee Navigator holds the termination for 24 hours. You'll see Jordan under Payroll → Integration Health → We're On It with the category Transfer Hold. Click the ⋮ menu to see your options, then click Fast-forward 24 hours to watch the matching record arrive.
Integration Health i
View the sync status for employee data between Employee Navigator and your payroll system.
← Back to Payroll Dashboard
We're On It −▼
2 unique employeesActions History
Search Transmissions 🔍
Employee ▾
Most Recent Date
Category
Code
Status
Instructions
Actions
Jordan Rivera (Harbor Point Logistics 204410)
10/01/2026 10:45:27 PM EDT
Transfer Hold
We're On It
23h 58m remaining
This employee may be transferring between connected companies. We're holding their termination for up to 24 hours while we watch for a matching record; if one arrives we'll complete the transfer automatically. Use Confirm Termination to process the termination now instead of waiting.
Confirm Termination
View Transmission
Demo control: simulate the matching new-hire record arriving from Harbor Point Services (204425) within the 24-hour window.
Confirm Termination ×
Use this only when you know the move is a real termination,
not a transfer. It processes the termination immediately instead of
waiting out the 24-hour hold — the employee is terminated in EN and
carrier/COBRA notifications go out as normal.
For this demo, Jordan is transferring, so we'll let the hold run.
✅Step 3 of 3 — Done for you. On Profile → Employment, EN inserted the new Payroll ID (E0412), marked Harbor Point Services as the Primary, and kept Preserve Hire Date checked so Jordan's original EN hire date stays put. The former group drops below, no longer Primary. Nothing to click here.
Jordan Rivera✎ Add a note
Employee last name, first name, or full SSN 🔍
Employee Management
Profile
Benefits Summary
Documents
Timeline
Integrations
Employee Record ▼
Profile
Employment
Leave Status
Addresses
Contact
Compensation
ACA
Scheduled Changes
Employment
Scheduled Hours ⓘ
Employee ID
Payroll Integrations
Your Payroll Partner ✓ Set by EN
Group: Harbor Point Services 204425
ID: E0412
Exchanged Hire Date: 10/01/2026
✔
Your Payroll Partner
Group: Harbor Point Logistics 204410
ID: E0176
Former Primary — kept for history, no longer drives hire/term dates
✓
Transfer Complete — automatically
Jordan Rivera moved to Harbor Point Services with no manual steps in Employee Navigator.
EmployeeJordan Rivera
From groupHarbor Point Logistics (204410)
To group (new Primary)Harbor Point Services (204425)
New Payroll IDE0412
Hire date05/10/2023 (preserved)
Carrier / COBRA notices✓ None sent
Status in EN✓ Active — coverage intact
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:
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.
Click the employee's Employment link
→ check off the Payroll Integrations
box for their new company → click Save.
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.
ADPYOUR LOGO
🔍
What's New
Things to Do
Support
Marketplace
Home
Resources ▾
Myself ▾
My Team ▾
People ▾
Process ▾
Reports & Analytics ▾
Setup ▾
Profiles
All people ▾
◄ 3 of 1183 ►🔍 Search for people
View position details
Add another position
Change position
Rehire
Terminate
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
👆Step 3 — The new company code is selected. Click Set as Primary position, then Add position.
Add another position — Daniel Scott Aaron
Company code
311 — East Region ▾
Position start date
01/15/2026 📅
Set as Primary position
EN reads the Primary for hire date,
term date & compensation
✓
Position added
Daniel Scott Aaron now has company code 311 as their Primary
position.
EmployeeDaniel Scott Aaron
New company code311 — East Region
Primary position✓ Company code 311
Hire / term / comp sourcePrimary record (311)
Status in EN✓ Active — no termination sent
✓
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.
👆Step 2 — On the employee's profile, click Switch Primary EIN and set the new EIN as Primary.
👆Step 3 — Now terminate the employee in their original EIN (208).
Original EIN — 208 ·
Terminating
→
New EIN — 311 · ★ Primary
✅
Termination processed in EIN 208. Because 208 is
no longer the employee's Primary in UKG, this termination
is not sent to Employee Navigator.
✓
Transfer complete
Tank Address has been moved from EIN 208 to EIN 311.
EmployeeTank Address
From EIN208
To EIN311 (Primary ★)
Original EIN terminationNot sent to EN
Status in EN✓ Active — benefits intact
✓
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.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.