Hooters of America Builds Efficiencies and Strategic Value with Ultimate Software's UltiPro

Ultimate Software (Nasdaq:ULTI), a leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, announced today that Hooters of America is achieving strategic benefits and efficiencies with UltiPro’s workforce analytics, online open enrollment, and Web self-service for managers and employees. The restaurant chain has also purchased UltiPro Recruitment and plans to roll that out in 2008. Prior to implementing UltiPro in 1996 when it had just over 4,500 employees, Hooters of America had used a combination of multiple service bureau accounts and a small LAN system to manage its payroll and human resource needs. Today, the company has grown to more than 7,000 employees working in 125 restaurants. As Hooters of America expanded, staying on top of key workforce analytics has become more critical. Executives and store managers have used UltiPro routinely for business intelligence reporting to analyze labor trends that affect the bottom line. "Restaurants must carefully monitor metrics related to overtime and reasons for termination because manpower is a significant part of our budget. The industry has a relatively high turnover rate that we need to try to control as much as we can,” said Doug White, vice president of human resources for Hooters of America. "For instance, UltiPro allows us to get a better perspective on turnover by helping our leadership evaluate the common reasons for termination and determine if we are hiring the right people and managing performance effectively. UltiPro’s reports often point to issues that we can turn around by making relatively minor changes. It’s a 2008 goal to give managers access to reports using UltiPro’s manager self-service so they can get information on their own as needed.” One way that restaurants take advantage of UltiPro for additional gains is by standardizing and streamlining employee-related processes using the Internet. Ultimate Software offers a range of human resource, payroll, and benefits solutions that handle the entire employee life cycle, including the cumbersome benefits enrollment process. The Hooters of America’s benefits department piloted UltiPro Open Enrollment for more than 600 corporate and management employees in 2007. Now, new employees use UltiPro to sign up for benefits as they become eligible. "Our associates love it, and the benefits team can spend time on more meaningful projects rather than devoting days to entering data manually,” said Sheila Walker, benefits director for Hooters of America. "It used to take 2 people about 8 days to manually enter benefits information each year, but with UltiPro employee changes are fed directly into the system and we can export the information to benefits providers electronically. This is faster, reduces the opportunity for errors, and provides for a significant reduction in the use of paper – good for the company and good for the environment.” In 2007, the company migrated to a paperless payroll using the UltiPro portal and pay cards for employees who do not wish to enroll in direct deposit. Using UltiPro’s employee self-service, employees can see their personal HR details. According to Tina Lance, payroll director for Hooters of America, the company is planning to give employees the ability to update information with approvals using built-in workflow this year. "The number of calls coming into our department continues to drop as we go ?live’ on more of UltiPro’s functionality,” said Lance. "The UltiPro portal and our paperless payroll have been big hits with everyone.” For many restaurants another time-consuming process is handling tips. Like many restaurant enterprises, Hooters of America includes tips as part of server wages. When gratuities are low and the hourly minimum wage isn’t met, employers pay workers the difference. Referred to as "makeup pay,” this type of compensation must be carefully monitored. UltiPro handles the calculation of tips for Hooters of America and other challenges such as correctly compensating employees who work in multiple jobs within a single pay period. "I’ve used UltiPro for five years and I love it. UltiPro takes care of it all,” said Tina Lance, payroll director for Hooters of America. "The solution manages the unique payroll complexities of the restaurant industry very well.” "Hooters of America is one of many restaurant chains that has been with Ultimate Software for many years, and we are pleased to see that they are growing with us and using UltiPro to benefit their business,” said Greg Swick, senior vice president of sales for Ultimate Software. "We look forward to the future with them as we continue to extend our technologies and expand businesses together.” About Ultimate Software A leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, Ultimate Software markets its award-winning UltiPro products as on-demand services through its software-as-a-service offering, Intersourcing, and as licensed software. Based in Weston, FL, Ultimate Software employs more than 700 professionals who are focused on developing the highest quality products and services. Ultimate Software’s IT team won a first place award for its management of Intersourcing, from the American Business Awards in 2007, and its customer service team won two first-place awards for service excellence in 2006, one from the Service & Support Professionals Association and another from the American Business Awards. Ultimate Software was named a "Leader” in Forrester Research Inc.’s 2006 U.S. Midmarket HR solutions Wave ranking and ranked #3 on the 2006 and 2007 lists of the Best Medium-Sized Companies to Work For in America by the Great Place to Work Institute. Ultimate Software customers represent diverse industries and include such organizations as The Container Store, Elizabeth Arden, The Florida Marlins Baseball Team, The New York Yankees Baseball Team, Nintendo of America, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and SkyWest Airlines. More information on Ultimate Software’s products and services can be found at www.ultimatesoftware.com. UltiPro and Intersourcing are registered trademarks of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.