Can we remove employee emails to prevent letters from being sent?
No. Email is a required field in SimplyMerit and cannot be removed from Employee Information. Removing or blanking email addresses is not supported and is not a recommended method for controlling letter delivery.
Does SimplyMerit generate letters for all employees by default?
Yes. By default, SimplyMerit generates letters for all employees included in the cycle when letters are run, assuming they meet the letter logic criteria.
Is there a way to keep employees in the system but exclude them from receiving letters?
Yes. While SimplyMerit does not provide a manual “exclude from letters” toggle in the system, letter exclusion can be handled through custom letter logic.
MorganHR can implement logic in the letter template to exclude specific employees from letter generation without removing them from the system.
How can employees be excluded from letters?
There are two supported approaches:
1. Group-based exclusion (Recommended)
Employees can be excluded based on shared attributes, such as:
Department
Business Unit
Country or Location
Employee Type
Any consistently populated field in your data
A custom field made solely to determine letter eligibility
This approach is scalable, clean, and easy to maintain, especially for ongoing or future cycles, or running letters in batches.
2. Individual employee exclusion
Specific employees can be directly excluded by referencing:
Employee IDs
Unique identifiers like name or email address
While possible, this method is not recommended because it requires ongoing maintenance if employees change, are added, or removed. It is possible if this is the best way to achieve what you're looking for, though.
Can exclusions be used to send letters in batches?
Yes. This is a common and supported workflow.
For example:
Exclude Group A → Run letters for Group B
Update exclusion logic
Exclude Group B → Run letters for Group A
This allows you to send letters in controlled batches without modifying employee records or email addresses.
What should we do if we need exclusions set up?
If you would like to exclude certain employees or groups from receiving letters:
Contact SimplyMerit Support
Specify how employees should be excluded (by group or attribute, and which ones)
Indicate whether exclusions are temporary (batch-based) or permanent
Our team can implement the appropriate logic in your letter templates to support your distribution needs.
Letter Distribution Options and How Exclusions Are Applied
SimplyMerit provides three letter distribution methods, available under:
Config → Standard Exports → Salary / Bonus / Equity Letters
(or Total Rewards Statements, if applicable)
Regardless of the distribution method selected, letter exclusion logic is always respected. Employees excluded by letter logic will not have letters generated or distributed.
1. Admin Download (Organization-Wide ZIP File)
Administrators can run a letter batch for the entire organization.
How it works:
SimplyMerit generates a ZIP file containing individual PDF letters for each eligible employee.
The ZIP file is made available for download under:
Config → Standard Exports → Salary / Bonus / Equity Letters (or Total Rewards Statements)All standard letter logic applies, including employee exclusion rules.
Exclusions:
Any employee excluded by letter logic will not have a PDF generated.
-
Once the ZIP file finishes generating, admins receive an email notification listing:
Each employee who did not have a letter generated due to exclusion logic.
This method is commonly used for:
Internal review
Secure manual distribution
Offline sharing or archival purposes
2. Send to Managers
This option distributes letters to managers instead of administrators, allowing managers to distribute letters to their teams.
How it works:
Letters are grouped by manager hierarchy.
Each manager receives a ZIP file containing individual PDFs for their direct reports.
SimplyMerit only sends notifications to managers whose teams have approved adjustments.
Manager experience:
Managers receive an email with a link back to SimplyMerit.
If already logged in, the ZIP file downloads automatically.
Otherwise, they are prompted to log in and can download letters via the
“Download Team Letters” button on their My Team page.
Exclusions:
Employees excluded by letter logic will not appear in the ZIP file.
-
If all of a manager’s direct reports are excluded:
The manager will still receive a ZIP file
The ZIP file will be empty
This behavior is expected and confirms that exclusions were applied correctly.
3. Send to Employees
This option sends letters directly to employees via email.
How it works:
Letters are sent as attached PDF files.
SimplyMerit only emails employees whose adjustments are approved.
Letters can be sent in batches, based on approval status or timing.
Exclusions:
-
Employees excluded by letter logic:
Will not have a letter generated
Will not receive an email
No manual changes to employee email addresses are required.
Key Notes on Exclusions and Distribution
Exclusion logic applies consistently across all three distribution methods
Email addresses remain required and unchanged
-
Exclusions can be:
Group-based (recommended)
Temporary (for batch-based sends)
Permanent (via sustained logic)
If you need assistance setting up or modifying exclusion logic for any distribution method, contact MorganHR Support with details on how employees should be excluded.
Disabling Manager Email Notifications Using the Finalize Company Setting
In SimplyMerit, the Finalize Company setting under Config → System Control determines whether the system sends email notifications to managers for system-generated activities, including letter distribution.
When Finalize Company is checked and submitted, SimplyMerit sends emails to managers as intended (approval reminders, letter ready notifications, etc.).
If you uncheck Finalize Company and submit the change, SimplyMerit will reroute all manager email notifications to the primary HR Administrator instead of to the managers themselves. This includes notifications triggered by the letter distribution process.
Managers will still have access to the application and can download letters from their My Team screens, but they will not receive email notifications about those letters while Finalize Company is unchecked.
This provides a simple way to generate letters and control delivery timing or communication cadence without triggering notification emails to managers.
Related Resource
For general letter distribution steps, see:
- Distributing Letters through SimplyMerit
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