Early education provider Affinity Education has implemented SAP SuccessFactors’ Employee Central vaccination portlet to achieve compliance with mandatory state-based COVID-19 vaccination requirements and to offer reassurance and support to its network of childcare workers, parents and families.

Having implemented human experience management solution, SAP SuccessFactors in 2013, and the employee self-service modules in 2017, adding the vaccination portlet was a seamless next step.

With the majority of employees using the SAP SuccessFactors mobile app to add their vaccination certificates, uptake of the vaccine portlet was fast and straightforward. In just a couple of weeks, Affinity Education achieved 100 per cent compliance with vaccination requirements in NSW’s ‘LGAs of concern’.

Use of the portlet was also rapid among Affinity Education’s Victorian employees. Seven in ten (70 per cent) workers across the state uploaded their vaccination certificates within two weeks of the portlet being made available. Affinity Education has been able to achieve 100 per cent compliance by each Public Health Directive due date.

“With fast access to realtime vaccine tracking information, we have peace of mind that we’re compliant with legislation, and that we’re doing all we can to provide our community of educators, workers, parents and families with as much support as possible during what can be quite a stressful time,” said Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer, Affinity Education.

“When we moved our HR system to SAP SuccessFactors several years ago, we immediately experienced the benefits of an automated system freeing up staff to spend more time with children. As a result, everyone from the CEO to our educators are very comfortable with the SAP SuccessFactors platform and implementing the vaccination portlet was an easy way to help employees manage their health information.”

Tailoring the SAP SuccessFactors vaccine portlet to the needs of individual employees was another key benefit. For example, Affinity Education added each type of vaccine to the ‘pick list’ option ahead of going live. This enabled each employee to add their respective vaccine to their profile – AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna. The organisation also added an attachment field to the portlet so employees could easily upload their vaccine certificates to comply with public health orders.

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, SAP Australia and New Zealand said: “At a human level, providing Affinity Education with a connected HR platform means that we’re supporting a safe transition back to individuals place of work, and making it as seamless for employees as possible. At the same time, we’re helping Affinity Education manage government vaccination requirements, which is especially important in the childcare sector, and critical in building confidence among the communities in which it operates.”

The rollout of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central vaccine portlet has enabled Affinity Education to achieve compliance with government vaccine mandates and ensure a safe return to the workplace. Affinity Education is planning to add the Onboarding and Recruiting modules to its SuccessFactors platform to ensure consistency from hiring to onboarding and lighten the load on the HR team.