We’re pleased to announce the launch of Version 17 of Crown Workforce Management.
This release marks a significant step forward, not just in terms of new functionality, but in how the platform is built, performs and supports your organisation as it grows.
A major part of this release has been dedicated to upgrading the platform to .NET 10. This is a foundational change that strengthens security, improves performance and ensures the system is scalable and future ready. It creates a more resilient platform, capable of supporting increasingly complex workforce requirements without compromise.
Alongside this, Version 17 introduces a key new capability: employee document signing.
A simpler, more controlled approach to employee document signing
Employees can now review and sign documents directly within the system.
This removes the need for manual processes, disconnected tools or chasing confirmations via email. Documents can be issued, accessed and signed in one place, giving you greater control and a clear audit trail of who has signed what and when.
For HR and operations teams, this means less administration and more confidence that important documents such as policies, contracts or compliance updates have been seen and acknowledged.
For employees, it creates a more straightforward experience, with everything accessible through the same self-service environment they already use.
A platform that continues to evolve
Alongside employee document signing, Version 17 brings together a wide range of enhancements introduced since the last major upgrade across self-service, mobile, compliance and manager experience.
These updates are designed to give you greater visibility, reduce administrative effort and provide your workforce with a more intuitive, responsive system.
Greater employee transparency and self-service control
A key theme in Version 17 is expanding what employees can access and manage themselves.
Employees can now access and download personal documents directly from their profile, including absence-related records such as return-to-work notes and fit notes, alongside other linked documentation. This reduces reliance on HR or line managers for routine requests and improves transparency across the workforce.
In addition, absence-related documentation can now be linked directly to periods of absence and surfaced within self-service. This provides employees with clearer context around their records and ensures relevant information is available in one place when it is needed.
Mobile capability designed for operational reality
Version 17 continues to extend mobile usability for frontline and shift-based workforces.
Geofencing controls have been introduced to support more accurate and policy-aligned time capture. Clockings can now be restricted, rejected or reported on depending on whether they occur inside or outside defined geographic boundaries. This strengthens location-based compliance and improves the integrity of attendance data.
Push notifications are now available across mobile and desktop, allowing employees to opt in to alerts for key actions such as approved or declined requests and outstanding tasks. Notifications are designed to be relevant and non-intrusive, ensuring employees are only prompted when action is required.
A dedicated notifications area in the mobile experience allows users to filter, review and act on items directly. Where appropriate, notifications link through to the relevant workflow screen, reducing time spent searching for actions or updates.
Smarter manager visibility and control
For managers, Version 17 focuses on clarity, configurability and faster decision making.
A new filter within the Working Time Regulations enquiry screen allows managers to exclude records where no infringements exist, making it easier to focus on exceptions and reduce time spent reviewing compliant data.
Since the last major upgrade, rolling entitlement tracking has been introduced to support more complex absence policies. It allows organisations to model layered allowances such as full and half pay sickness structures or staged entitlements within maternity policies. Remaining allowances can be tracked through the existing compliance framework, providing greater visibility over workforce cost and policy adherence.
The Manager Today Page has also evolved into a fully configurable dashboard. Organisations can tailor what different user groups see on login, building role-specific views that surface relevant operational information without unnecessary noise. This supports everything from high-level oversight to detailed operational monitoring.
Strengthened compliance and auditability
Version 17 enhances governance and audit capability across the platform.
Future timesheet booking controls have been enhanced. You can now define whether bookings, expenses and notes can be entered into future periods, either unrestricted, limited to the current week or restricted entirely to past and current dates. This ensures organisations can enforce consistent operational policy across workforce submissions.
Processing of leavers has also been refined to remove future-dated bookings, expenses and weekly notes beyond an employee’s leave date, reducing the risk of orphaned data.
Working Time Regulation reporting has been refined with improved filtering of infringement data, allowing managers to focus more effectively on non-compliance cases.
Already in place as part of earlier updates, all changes to people linkage records are fully audited, including additions, updates and deletions. Users can view a complete historical record of changes through an audit interface, including the ability to review deleted records where applicable. A summary view consolidates audit activity across record types, providing a clearer governance overview.
Security and platform integrity enhancements
Security improvements are a core part of Version 17.
Password handling has been strengthened so that all stored credentials are fully encrypted, removing the ability to store or access non-encrypted passwords in the database. This aligns the platform with modern security expectations and reduces risk across user and employee authentication data.
The licence key and software distribution process has also been modernised. Licence keys are now generated as secure text-based files, improving both usability and system compatibility during upgrades and configuration changes.
Improved system housekeeping and data governance
A new system housekeeping framework replaces legacy configuration-based maintenance tools. This centralises housekeeping activity within the manager environment and allows organisations to define scheduled maintenance processes more consistently.
As part of this change, housekeeping configuration is now mandatory at upgrade, ensuring organisations actively define data retention and system maintenance rules from the outset.
In addition, entitlement calculation data has moved from on-demand processing into stored database structures. This improves performance and opens the door for more advanced reporting and analytics use cases, particularly for organisations using operational planning data at scale.
