Six ways to prepare for Sequoia before July 6
With Sequoia, our new HR and Payroll system, launching next month, now is a good time to start preparing for what’s ahead. Take a few proactive steps so you can hit the ground running and jump into Sequoia with confidence on day one.
Ways to prepare before July 6
1. Bookmark Sequoia
Save sequoia.stanford.edu so you can easily access our new HR and Payroll system when it goes live on July 6. Sequoia will be your home base for initiating and completing HR and payroll activities such as updating your time card, viewing payslips, and verifying your personal information.
2. Complete Sequoia training
Self-paced training resources are available to help you prepare for Sequoia before go-live. Start with foundational learning to become familiar with Sequoia and key concepts in the new system. If you’re a people manager, there are other recommended trainings based on your role.
Browse through Sequoia training on Cardinal at Work
3. Learn how to submit your time card and record time away
Time entry in Sequoia will look and feel different than the current experience in Axess. Non-exempt employees will enter time using a horizontal time card (instead of vertical view) that scrolls right-to-left. Exempt employees will move to “exception-based entry,” meaning you will only take action when requesting absences or using time off, such as sick, personal time off (PTO), floating holiday, or vacation. This is a change from the current process, in which exempt employees are expected to submit a time card each pay period, regardless of whether leave is recorded. Remote employees who normally work outside of California, both non-exempt and exempt, will use the time card to report time worked in California.
New training to help you prepare for these changes is now available.
Take the Payroll, Time, Labor, and Absence Training on Cardinal at Work
4. Review system outage and key deadlines
Starting June 5, several systems you typically use, including Axess and StanfordYou, will have limited functionality or planned downtime as Stanford prepares for Sequoia’s launch. Review important system outages, payroll deadlines, and key dates ahead of go-live.
Learn more about Axess and other system outages
5. Get familiar with Sequoia changes
After Sequoia launches, Axess will still be available, but most HR and payroll functions will move to Sequoia. Only historical documents, such as older payslips, tax statements, and work agreements, will continue to be available through Axess. Sequoia will also be your primary entry point to tools and programs such as EDGE, our new performance management tool, as well as STARS and the Tuition Grant Program.
Other non-HR functions in Axess used by students, graduate students, instructors, and other populations will continue and will not be affected by this change. For SLAC employees, Sequoia will replace the functions in MyHR Employee Self-Service and MyHR Manager Self-Service.
6. Know what to expect when you first log in
When you log in to Sequoia, skip past “user name and password” and select “sign in with SSO.” Use your SSO credentials to log in and complete two-step authentication.
Once logged in, you will receive a notification that a Welcome journey* has been assigned to you. A journey is a guided checklist in Sequoia designed to help you complete important tasks. Select the notification on your homepage to open the Welcome journey and begin completing your tasks. Steps will include reviewing your personal and contact information, checking your leave balances, and other helpful setup steps. You'll have 30 days to complete the Welcome journey after it is assigned.
If you have questions after launch or need help completing a task in Sequoia:
- Browse the Services & Support portal for guidance related to Sequoia, benefits, leaves, I-9s, and more. You can browse various topic areas to review help articles or submit the appropriate HR Service Center request form for your inquiry. New help articles and resources will continue to be added ahead of go-live.
- For time card, absence, and payroll questions, submit a request through the Financial Support Center. Both centers are working together to support the full range of Sequoia functionality.
*Certain job groups, for example, faculty and clinician educators, will not be assigned a journey.
