Set up HR settings

Create branches, departments, job titles and pay grades, mark public holidays, and set rent relief and recruitment email templates in Settings › HR Settings.

For hr administratorsUpdated 4 Nov 2026

In this article
  1. Steps
  2. The other tabs
  3. What employees and managers see

HR Settings holds the lists every other HR screen picks from. Set it up before you add employees: the employee form can't be saved without a department, branch, job title, employment status and pay grade.

Steps

  1. Open Settings › HR Settings › Configuration

    In the menu on the left, select Settings, then HR Settings, then Configuration.

    1. Public Holidays opens the holiday calendar (step 3).
    2. The tabs group the settings. Each tab is a list of sections you open by selecting them.
    3. Branch: your offices and their country. Select a section to open it.
    4. Department: your organisational units.

    Open a section and select + Add New Item to add to it. Use the ⋮ menu on an item to view, edit or delete it.

  2. Fill in the Organizational tab

    Do these before adding employees, because the employee form requires them:

    SectionWhat to addWhy it matters
    BranchEach office, with its address and countryAn employee's branch decides which country's public holidays are left out of their leave days.
    DepartmentEach departmentRequired on every employee. Used to group leave, expense and appraisal reports.
    Job CategoryOptional groupings of jobsUsed for reporting.
    Job TitleEach roleRequired on every employee.
    Employment TypeFor example full-time or contractRequired on every employee (Employment Status).
    PaygradeSalary grades and rangesRequired on every employee; used by payroll and loans.
    Skill CatalogSkills you trackUsed by learning and performance.
    Rent ReliefOpens the rent relief policy (step 4)Reduces PAYE for staff whose rent relief is approved.
    FormsDefaults for self-service formsUsed by Forms Management.
  3. Mark public holidays

    Select the Public Holidays card (or Settings › HR Settings › Public Holidays).

    1. Country: each country your branches are in has its own calendar. If you have branches in more than one country, choose the country here. Filter the list by Yearly, Monthly or Date Range.
    2. Year View shows the whole year at once.

    1. Move between years and months.
    2. A custom holiday you added (green). Select it to remove it.
    3. Select any blank date to mark it as a holiday. Enter a Holiday Name and a Reason, then select Mark as Holiday.
    4. The list of this year's holidays. National holidays come with WbizManager; select one to see its details.

    A public holiday that falls inside a leave request is never counted as a leave day. Holiday greeting emails use a separate list in Employee Engagement.

  4. Set the rent relief policy

    On the Organizational tab, open Rent Relief and select Configure.

    1. Configuration shows the policy; Relief Calculator previews the relief for any annual rent.
    2. Active Policy: the policy in use, with its Relief Rate, Annual Cap, Effective From and Effective To dates.
    3. Edit or Deactivate the active policy.
    4. New Config starts a new policy.

    A new configuration asks for Relief Percentage, Max Annual Cap (NGN), Effective From, Effective To (optional), Require Proof (documents must be uploaded), Require HR Approval (when off, employees' applications are approved automatically) and a Description. Saving a new configuration switches off the one that was active.

    Relief is worked out as the lower of annual rent × relief rate and the annual cap, divided by 12, and taken off taxable income in each payroll run. HR reviews employees' rent relief applications under HR › Employee Record › Rent Relief.

  5. Set up recruitment email templates (if you recruit in WbizManager)

    On the Recruitment tab, open Email Templates and select Open Email Templates. Select New Template and pick its type: Interview Invitation, Interview Reminder, Offer Letter, Offer Acceptance, Offer Decline, Rejection, Application Ack. or Background Check.

The other tabs

TabWhat's thereGuide
Assets & BenefitsAsset Settings and Leave Settings (leave types)Set up leave
PerformanceRating scales, weights, appraisal automation, KPI templates, competenciesSet up performance
RecruitmentEmail templates, notification details, interview types, stages, pipelinesStep 5 above
PoliciesPolicy documents staff can read in Company Policies
PayrollPayroll settings
ExpenseExpense policy, categories and approvalsSet up expenses

What employees and managers see

  • Employees see their leave days worked out without weekends and public holidays when they apply for leave. A holiday you add later doesn't change requests already approved.
  • Line managers see the same day count on each request in Approve leave.
  • Departments and branches show on every request and in the leave, expense and loan reports.

Next: Set up employees and supervisors.