What Is a Freeze Date?

As we phase out Lawson and prepare to launch Workday in July, we must halt certain activities temporarily so that we can get the data transitioned from one system to the other. The dates for which each activity is halted is called a Freeze Date.  It is important that you familiarize yourself with these dates so that you can plan accordingly for your upcoming activities.

We have done our best to keep these freeze periods as short as possible, and we appreciate your support and patience with this effort.  Should you have an urgent business need during a freeze period, please have your Vice President reach out to the Workday leadership team: Beth Schmidt, LaKami Bryant, John Kott, and Myranda Miller. 

For most items, you can still submit requests during this timeframe, but we cannot record the changes until we are live in Workday.

First, starting June 5, employees will no longer be able to make self-service changes to their information in Lawson. You can still view your information in Lawson, even after Workday goes live. But if the need arises for urgent changes involving W4s or direct deposits between June 5-30, the link to the forms can be located on the CookNet Payroll Department home page.  Please complete the form and either scan to the CPayroll mailbox or fax to 682-885-1313.   For any questions, you should contact Cook Children’s Payroll.

Second, a freeze in changes to benefits will be in place June 10-30. For current employees, there will be no impact unless you have a Qualifying Life Event (for example: changes to household such as marriage, birth of a child or death in the family) that makes you eligible for a special enrollment period outside of annual open enrollment.

Per federal regulation, benefit elections may not be changed until the next plan year’s open enrollment, except for instances of a Qualifying Life Event. A full list of exceptions can be found in the Benefits Guide, but the more common changes are mentioned above.

If you have a qualifying event during the blackout period, contact Cook Children’s Benefits for assistance. For new hires, the last day for enrollment in Empyrean is June 9.