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

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

WESTON, Fla.--(Business Wire)--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.

Ultimate Software, Weston
Darlene Marcroft, 954-331-7444
darlene_marcroft@ultimatesoftware.com
or
For Sales Information:
800-432-1729
Web site: www.ultimatesoftware.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008