How do I configure Remote HRIS?

It's important to configure your workspace in Remote HRIS, specially before uploading your team data. This helps ensure your company structure, roles, and policies are properly set up, and that everything runs smoothly once you go live.

You’ll be guided through the setup using an in-platform checklist. This article walks you through the same steps so you know what to expect and can complete the setup with confidence.

Here’s how to configure your HRIS step by step:

1. Go to Company settings

From the left-side navigation menu, scroll down to Company and click Company settings.

This is where you’ll define your company structure, add roles, and prepare your workspace for your team data upload.

💡 You’ll complete most of the configuration steps in the Company settings section. Only the last one (Step 9) takes place in a different part of the platform.

2. Review and update your company information

Navigate to Company settings > Company details > Company information.

Here you can:

• Review your head office (main legal entity) details.
• Choose which privacy notice to use: default one or upload your own.
• Configure billing and compliance notifications.
• Find your company Remote ID (useful for integrations)

If needed, click Manage default entity to edit your company name, address, or contact info. Preview associated documents, payment methods.

3. Add or manage legal entities

Legal entities are the office locations or business registrations you use to hire team members in different countries. You will find then under Company settings > Company details > Legal entities.

To add a new legal entity:

• Click “Add new entity ”in the top-right corner.
• Select the country and enter the legal name, registration details, and address.
• Click “Continue” to finish.

Once added, you can:

• Set an entity as the default head office.
• Archive it if no longer active.
• Upload verification documents (you may be asked to do this by email).
• Define payment settings for the entity.

👉 To link payment methods, you’ll first need to define them under Settings > Payroll and Payments > Payment Methods, then return to the legal entity to assign them.

ℹ️ Note: Legal entity address and VAT will show on the invoices.

4. Set up departments

Under Company settings > Company details > Departments, you can create your internal teams.

To add a department:

• Click “Create new department”.
• Enter the department name (e.g. Sales, Engineering).
• Save your changes.

You’ll see how many team members are linked to each department later, once you’ve uploaded your team data.

ℹ️ Note: We currently support only one level of departments. If you need sub-departments, create them as separate departments (e.g. "Engineering – Backend").

5. Build your job catalog

Job Catalog helps standardize roles across your company. It includes job titles, career levels, and job descriptions.

To configure Job Catalog:

• Go to Company settings > Company details > Job catalog.

• Click “Add new” to create a role manually.

  or

• Use the Import option to upload your catalog from a spreadsheet.

Each role can include:

• Job name
• Job family and subfamily (e.g. Engineering > Backend)
• Career track (e.g. individual contributor or manager)
• Level (e.g. 1 = Junior, 11 = VP)
• Job code and label (if your company uses internal codes)
• Full job description and responsibilities

Once your catalog is created, you’ll be able to map team members to standardized roles after you upload their data.

6. Set up roles and permissions

Navigate to Company settings > Admins & Permissions to invite admins & managers and assign access.

You can:

• Add system super admins who can manage the full workspace
• Create user roles to customize individual access

👉 Learn more:

Adding admins to your Remote account

What are the different types of company roles?

7. Configure your security settings

Go to Company settings > Security to define how your company and users access Remote.

Here, you can:

• Set up single sign-on (SSO) if you use an identity provider like Google Workspace or Okta
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra login protection

💡 Tip: We recommend working with your IT team for this step, especially if you're planning to enforce SSO across your company.

8. Configure custom time off policies

Go to Company settings > Time & attendance > Custom leave policies to define time off policies specific to your company.

First, check which default policies Remote offers.

Custom policies are beneficial when:

• No default policy exists for your needs
• A default policy exists but lacks entitlement and spent limits

We suggest naming each custom policy with your Company Name at the beginning to clearly distinguish it from default policies, e.g., Remote: Birthday Policy

9. Add automations and approval workflows

Navigate to Main Menu > HR Tools > Workflows to automate notifications and set up approval flows.

From there, you can:

• Use Automations to create notifications for processes like onboarding, off-boarding, time off.
  💡 Check out the available automation templates - they’re flexible, editable, and designed to help you get up and running faster!
• Set up Multi-level approvals for expenses or contract approvals.

👉 Learn more:

How to set up an Automation

Multi-Level Approvals

Next step:

👉 How do I upload employee data to Remote HRIS?