Tips & Tricks

Manage Email Notifications
By default, you will receive an email notification for each Workday task and/or approval assigned to you. You can elect to receive one email per day - daily digest at 12:00 PM ET - with a list of the items awaiting your review and/or action in Workday. To manage your Workday email notifications, please refer to the following steps.
  1. Log into Workday.
  2. From the Home screen, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner.
  3. Click My Account, then Change Preferences.
  4. Scroll down to the Background Notification Preferences section.
  5. Next to the Notification Type that you would like to change, click the box under Send Notification via Channels and open the options using the prompt button.
  6. Select the frequency you would like to receive notifications as follows:
      - Immediate Email - Notifications delivered immediately to your @brandeis email
      - Daily Digest Email - Email digest with all tasks will be sent to your @brandeis email at 12:00PM ET
  7. Click OK, and then Done.
For detailed instructions with screenshots, please see the Manage Email Notifications Job Aid.
How do I change my preferred name?
You have the option of having a preferred name in addition to your legal name in Workday. Your legal name is used for all legal documents such as tax forms (i.e., W4) and the preferred name is whatever you generally like to go by, and it does not have to match your legal name
  1. Log into Workday.

  2. From the Home screen, select the Personal Information icon from the list of Applications.

  3. Select Preferred Name in the Change column.

  4. De-select the “Use Legal Name as Preferred Name” checkbox.

  5. Edit the Name fields as applicable.

  6. When complete, click Submit. 

Once preferred name is entered in Workday, it will be visible in other Brandeis systems such as Google Mail. Please note that student employees should review and update preferred name in both Workday and Sage to ensure the information is in sync.
What's the difference between Alerts and Error Messages?

Alert and Error messages will appear at the top portion of the page in Workday. They typically identify the specific field or fields where the information is missing, entered incorrectly, or in conflict with a rule established by Brandeis within Workday. But, what do they mean?

  • Alerts: orange alert warnings are "soft" alerts to a potential problem, but the task can still be completed.
  • Errors: red error alerts display when the system will not allow you to continue until you have fixed the error.