What is a preferred name?
Preferred name is an additional team member field in Deputy that allows your team members to nominate what they'd like to be known by at work, especially if that name differs from their legal name.
How do I enable or disable preferred name for my business?
The ability to display and have team members set their own preferred names is a feature you can control in Business Settings of your Deputy account. You will need to be a System Administrator to configure this setting.
Note: Preferred names will be set to ON by default for all new Deputy accounts.
To enable:
1. Click on Business Settings in the drop-down menu under your name.
2. On the People tab of Business Settings, click to toggle ON the Display preferred names option. Then click Apply Changes.
3. You can disable it again by toggling the option to OFF.
Note: if you are turning the feature OFF after some team members have already set a preferred name in their profile, their previously added preferred name will still appear. You will need to remove or update their preferred name from their profile.
How can team members change their preferred name?
When the preferred name option is enabled in Business Settings of your Deputy account, your team members will have their nominated preferred name displayed within your business.
Note that changing your preferred name in your global profile means that for team members associated with multiple businesses on Deputy, this name will be accessible to all businesses you are a part of on Deputy if they have enabled the preferred names setting in their business.
On Deputy's web application:
1. Click on Account overview in the drop-down menu under your name
2. Click on Edit Profile.
3. Type your preferred name in the field indicated and click Save.
On Deputy iOS mobile app:
1. Tap on the Me screen and scroll down to select Edit Profile.
2. Type your preferred full name in the first name field and click Save.
Note: the second and third name fields listed on this screen should represent your first and second legal names respectively.
On Deputy Android mobile app:
1. From any screen on the android app tap on the menu 'hamburger' icon.
2. Tap on the drop-down arrow next to your email address.
3. Type your preferred full name in the first name field and click the tick to save.
Note: the second and third name fields listed on this screen should represent your first and second legal names respectively.
When does Deputy use a preferred name (if enabled)
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When starting or ending a shift on the web, mobile or Kiosk and Timeclock apps
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In the Schedule
- In Newsfeed posts
- In Tasks lists
- On the People page (however you can still view a team member's legal name when you click on their profile and view their personal information)
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In the timesheet list of Team Members (however the legal name will appear in brackets next to the preferred name)
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In a timesheet export, the preferred name is shown in the field "Employee Name" but the legal name is still exported as "First Name" and "Last Name" fields.
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In any reports that are generated, both the preferred name and the legal first and second names are displayed.
I have disabled preferred names for my business, so why do team members' preferred names still appear?
If you disable the preferred name feature after team members have already added preferred names into their profiles, their previously added preferred name will still be shown in your business until you remove or change it.
To remove or update preferred names, go to People then click on the team member whose preferred name you want to change. In their profile, select the Personal tab and then click Edit.
Remove or update their Preferred full name and then click Save.
After disabling this setting, if a team member adds a new preferred name in their Global Profile, this name will not display in your Deputy business. Instead, their legal first and last name will show.