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New Action/Reason codes top
As described in the last issue, a new list of action/reason codes is now available on ABLE. Please note the creation of these new code combinations:
- DTA/DTA, which replaces seven codes used previously
for different kinds of HR data changes.
- PLA/HCT to denote paid leave provided to HUCTW members during the period of work security, which may follow a layoff notification period.
HR Release 6.0 in March to bring expanded employee self-service, improvements to PeopleSoft personnel action forms top
The next planned upgrade to Harvard's PeopleSoft system (a.k.a. Release 6.0) is scheduled for the weekend of March 27-28. A complete system outage will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 26, with a resumption in service planned for Monday, March 29 at 8 a.m. This will require that time worked during the week ending 03/27/04 be entered no later than 2 p.m. on Friday (03/26/04). As always, local deadlines may be earlier.
As shown below, employees will be able to enter or update their own information directly within PeopleSoft, including:
- home address
- emergency contact information
- direct deposit account information
- W-4 (federal tax) and M-4 (Massachusetts state tax) withholdings
As with accessing other PeopleSoft functions, employees will need to use the Internet Explorer browser, their HUID, and a Harvard PIN. (The PeopleSoft log in button is located on the home page of harvie.harvard.edu.)
Once in PeopleSoft, employees should follow the navigation path Home > Self Service > Employee > Tasks to reach these functions.
Here is a series of screen shots that illustrate each of these functions:
To enter or update this information ... |
Use this screen ... |
emergency contacts |
 |
home address |
 |
direct deposit |
 |
federal withholding allowances; Massachusetts state withholding allowances |
 |
In addition to these enhancements in employee self-service functions, users of the PeopleSoft-based personnel action forms will find significant improvements in the Personal Data Change and Job Data Change forms, including the following:
- The forms are no longer separated into separate tabs/pages.
- Based on the user's departmental security, the effective date
entered, and the HUID number of the employee whose record you are
updating, current PeopleSoft data is displayed on the form.
- Hyperlinks on the Personal Data Change form let
you go directly to the information to be changed.
- Based on the Action/Reason code selected on the Job Data Change form, several job data fields will be highlighted. These are the suggested fields to be changed based on the personnel action being taken for the employee.
These changes are intended to improve the usability of these forms and reduce processing errors. Please note that due to changes in the structure and function of the forms, users will not be able to retrieve forms that were previously created or saved in the old format. Please print out any forms you wish to keep before March 26.
We'll provide instructions on using the new Personal Data Change and Job Data Change forms in the next edition of the e-News, and ABLE will be updated with new quick references to coincide with Release 6.0.
Paper advices to be discontinued in July for most employees top
As illustrated above on the Direct Deposit screen, employees can request suppression of their paper pay advices (pay stubs) beginning in late March. However, this is a prelude to a bigger change.
Beginning in July, the University will stop printing and sending paper pay advices to most employees who have their pay directly deposited to their bank accounts. The change will affect faculty, exempt staff, clerical and technical staff, teaching fellows, and temporary employees (including student temps). Service and trade workers will continue to receive paper pay advices.
Employees will instead be directed online to PeopleSoft to view pay information. This information is already available online and employees can view pay information back to October, 2002 by using the navigation path Self Service > Employee > View > View Paycheck.
This change will save several hundred thousand dollars per year in printing and delivery costs and is a more environmentally friendly practice. It also brings the University in line with increasingly common business practices that deliver financial information online. The online system offers employees several advantages, including the opportunity to view pay information two days before payday and when they are away from the office.
Employees will hear more about these changes through a number of channels, including the Resource, Gazette, HARVie, payroll stuffers, emails, and local newsletters.
If your school or department has not done so, this is a good time to encourage faculty and staff in your area to acquire a Harvard University PIN from www.pin.harvard.edu.
PeopleSoft and AWS3 reporting updates top
New Reports
AW008: Departmental Emergency Contacts
These reports let users look up emergency contact
information for employees in a particular department. The information
can then be used to perform a data audit of emergency contact information
for employees, which can be entered via self-service beginning on
March 29. You will need the HDW^HR^TUB^Reports
User role to access the reports.
Report 1: View all employees with or without contact information
Report
2: View employees with emergency contacts
Report 3: View employees with
no emergency contacts
Enhancements
Departmental Directory Listing: Office Address
This report displays department-level or University-wide office
addresses and directory information for employees. It does
not restrict access to data based on department-level
security. A discrepancy report can also be produced that identifies
instances where the department location code for the employee on
the personal page in PeopleSoft is different from the department
location code on the job data page.
The report produces discrepancies in locations that may or may not need correction via a Job Data Change form (there are legitimate reasons for discrepancies in some cases). You will need the HDW^HR^TUB^Reports User role (not HDW^PUB^TUB^Reports User as previously reported) to access the report.
Departmental Directory Listing: Home Address
This report lets users view home address information including
HUID number, name, business title, department, departmental address,
miscellaneous phone numbers, and home email address. You will need
the HDW^HR^TUB^Reports User role to access the report.
Salary increase processes top
A reminder that the annual salary increase and HUCTW structure increases are coming up; increases will be effective July 1. Department contacts will be receiving more detailed communications regarding these processes at the beginning of April.
A hint for Oracle users with multiple responsibilities top
With the February FINDINI release, Oracle has introduced a small change in navigation for those of you with multiple responsibilities. You may continue to "switch responsibility" from either the personal home page or from the File drop-down menu when at the Oracle Navigator window. But once you have selected a menu item from the Navigator and are in a specific Oracle form (e.g., Enter Journals), you will no longer be able to "switch responsibility" from the File drop-down menu. You will now need to either return to the Oracle Navigator window or to the personal home page.
To quickly return to the Navigator window from any place within
an Oracle form, click the 
button
on the toolbar.
New AR report available top
Based on user feedback and business needs, Accounts Receivable has added a new report to the Harvard Data Warehouse (HDW).
The new report is called the Bad Debt Recoveries report. It lets Accounts Receivable users view all invoices that have been written off to bad debt and subsequently paid. Users can view the original invoice amount, the amount written off to bad debt, the date of the write-off, and any payment subsequent to write-off as long as that payment was deposited in the AR lockbox.
The report lets users view and sort their bad debt recoveries from a list of values that includes customer name, customer number, date of the recovery, the customer's receipt number, and the recovery amount.
We hope this report will add value to your AR duties and provide information that many of you have requested. If you have any comments or feedback, please call 495-4182 or email ed_feldman@harvard.edu.
Procurement Department issues list of strategic vendor partners top
In response to recent requests from users, Financial Administration's Procurement Management Department has issued this at-a-glance listing of Harvard's strategic vendor partners. Administrators are strongly urged to use these vendors when purchasing so that Harvard can better consolidate and leverage its buying power.
About the e-News top
The Office of Human Resources publishes this semimonthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. Generally, the e-News is published on or around the 12th and 26th of each month.
It contains:
- updates on projects underway to build or improve University administrative systems;
- information about new University policies, procedures, and forms;
- reminders about upcoming deadlines and cut-over dates;
- tips and tricks for working more easily or productively.
We welcome questions and suggestions for improvement from readers. If your questions are of general interest, we will answer them in future issues.
Please send comments, questions, or suggestions for improvement by email to us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu