How it works
- Open Notifications in Settings and click Seed defaults; ready rules are added and existing rules are kept.
- Each rule shows its event, channel, recipient and message; seeded bell rules start on, email and WhatsApp rules start off.
- To add a rule, pick the event, choose the channel and the recipient, and write a title and message template.
- Templates take values from the event, such as {{employeeName}}, and a fallback such as {{leaveType|leave}} fills a missing value.
- Turn a rule on or off, or remove it; a bell sent by the feature itself shows as always on.
- When newer events are missing from your list, the page says so, and Seed defaults adds them.
What you can set
- Event: one specific event, or every event.
- Channel: in-app bell, email, WhatsApp or mobile push.
- Recipient: person who acted, the employee, the employee's manager, HR partner, HR and Company Head, people the post is for, or everyone in the company.
- Title and message templates with placeholders and fallbacks.
- Seeded defaults: bell on, email and WhatsApp off.
- Each rule can be turned on, turned off or removed.
- Live sending switch for the whole company, off by default.
Why rules rather than fixed alerts
An alert that suits a 40-person agency annoys a 900-person plant, and the other way round. Rules let each company choose the channel and the person for each event. They also let HR start small, with bells only, and add email or WhatsApp for the two or three events where people really need a message outside the app, such as an absence or a cancelled leave. Everything else stays in the bell, where it does not crowd anyone's phone.
Worked example: missed punch-outs at a hotel in Udaipur
Housekeeping staff at a hotel in Udaipur work 7 am to 3 pm and often forget to punch out. HR opens Notifications, finds the seeded WhatsApp rule for Punch-out missing to the employee, reads its message and switches it on. HR checks that WhatsApp is switched on for the company and that every housekeeping attendant has a mobile number on record, then turns live sending on. The next afternoon, an attendant still punched in at 4 pm gets the bell and a WhatsApp message asking her to raise a correction with her out time if she has already left, and her supervisor gets a bell too.
Setting up rules without noise
A few principles keep notifications welcome instead of ignored. Every message should reach someone who can act on it, say plainly what to do next and arrive on a channel that person actually checks during an ordinary working day at the office, the site or the ward.
- Start with the seeded bells and add outside channels one event at a time.
- Send each event to the person who can act on it.
- Keep templates short and say what to do next.
- Switch on live sending only after reading every enabled template.
See notification rules in a demo
We show it on a video call with your own shifts, leave types and rules. Free for your first 50 employees.
Book a free demoSee pricingFrequently asked questions
What is a notification rule in HR software?
It is a setting that says who gets told about an event and how. In ZeniaHR a rule joins one event, such as Leave applied, with one channel, one recipient, such as the employee's manager, and a message template. Several rules can share an event to reach different people.
Can the same event notify both the employee and the manager?
Yes. Add two rules for the event, one with the employee as recipient and one with the manager. The seeded defaults already do this for late arrival, punch-out missing and absent alerts, and for approved leave that is cancelled, each with its own wording.
What does always on mean next to a rule?
Some features ring the bell themselves: probation reminders, praise, wall announcements and acknowledgements, and overtime requests. Their bell rules show as always on and cannot be switched off. Their email, WhatsApp and push copies are still controlled by the rules, so those can be turned on or off.
How do I change the wording of a seeded notification?
Add a new rule for the same event, channel and recipient with your own title and message template, then switch the seeded rule off or remove it. Templates can use values such as {{employeeName}} and fallbacks such as {{leaveType|leave}} for values that may be missing.