Company Announcements

Paycor® Smart Scheduler and Paychex Flex® Time innovations streamline workforce planning

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2026-- Paychex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYX), an industry-leading human capital management (HCM) company, announced today new AI-driven advancements within its Paycor® and Paychex Flex® platforms to streamline workforce management and increase efficiency for businesses. Major enhancements to the Paycor Smart Scheduler and new automated time and attendance features across both platforms embody the company’s commitment to infusing AI technology in its HCM platforms to democratize access to enterprise-grade AI innovations.

According to Nucleus Research, modern workforce management automation can deliver measurable business value, returning an average of $12.24 for every dollar invested due to streamlined scheduling, improved staffing alignment, and reduced errors. Additionally, the research and industry analyst firm reports that automated scheduling can reduce scheduling time by up to 50% and meaningfully improve coverage and labor stability, making intelligent scheduling an essential tool for operational efficiency and workforce retention.

“Our latest product advancements were designed on the premise that when AI is seamlessly woven into HR processes and people operations, it becomes a force multiplier for our customers,” said Ryan Bergstrom, Chief Product Officer at Paychex. “The ongoing evolution of Paycor and Paychex Flex Time solutions empowers businesses to deploy the right individual to the right task at the right time, simplifying complex HR tasks like shift scheduling, timesheet approvals, and PTO management to foster improved business outcomes.”

Key AI-driven enhancements include:

• Paycor Smart Scheduler: AI-powered scheduling updates designed for human-in-the-loop scheduling, utilizing automated, rules-constrained intelligence that matches shifts to employees based on skills, certifications, availability, and business rules. The Paycor Smart Scheduler improves manager productivity and worker efficiency by providing transparency and insights on schedule recommendations, helping organizations place the right people in the right shifts at the right time, reducing scheduling errors and enhancing labor optimization.
• Paycor Agentic Timesheet Approvals: Scores each timecard against defined thresholds, such as missed punches, exceptions, schedule variance, and geo-restrictions, enabling auto-approval. Only anomalies and exceptions are flagged for human review, helping streamline the timesheet approval process leading up to running payroll.
• Paycor Auto-Shifts: Creates optimized shift plans based on pre-set guardrails, including hour limits, rest periods, and fair-workweek rules, resulting in faster schedule builds, fewer errors, and better shift access for employees.
• Paychex Flex AI-Powered Time-Off: Offers historical insights that help to identify peak PTO periods and individual patterns. Intelligent availability introduces AI-assisted recurring availability and min/max hour preferences, simplifying workforce coverage and reducing employee PTO conflicts.
• (Coming soon) Paychex Flex Time-Off Request Agent: Provides an assistant-guided review process for time-off requests, offering recommendations based on factors including holidays, staffing thresholds, availability, and scheduling conflicts. The outputs highlight potential issues and provide the rationale behind recommendations to help avoid friction during the time-off review process.

To learn more about how Paychex leverages AI as a force multiplier—automating routine tasks, delivering personalized experiences, and uncovering actionable insights at scale—visit go.paychex.com/ai.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYX) is the digitally driven HR leader that is reimagining how companies address the needs of today’s workforce with the most comprehensive, flexible, and innovative HCM solutions for organizations of all sizes. Offering a full spectrum of HR advisory and employee solutions, Paychex pays 1 out of every 11 American private sector workers and is raising the bar in HCM for approximately 800,000 customers in the U.S. and Europe. Every member of the Paychex team is committed to fulfilling the company’s purpose of helping businesses succeed. Visit paychex.com to learn more.

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Media
Chelsea Wernick
Public Relations Program Manager
Paychex, Inc.
(585) 216-2974
cwernick@paychex.com

Source: Paychex, Inc.