The e-News is a semimonthly electronic newsletter sent to users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems. In this issue, we provide the key information you'll need to start using the University's new PeopleSoft systems: payroll, time reporting, human resources, and benefits.

HIRES Goes Live: Several modifications have been made to HIRES in conjunction with the PeopleSoft go-live. Here is the HIRES Go-Live Announcement, sent this morning to HIRES users, which discusses these changes.

Click on the links below to learn more about . . .

Who Needs to Start Entering Time, and When?    top

Different groups of overtime-eligible staff should begin using the PeopleSoft Time and Labor system to record their hours on different dates, depending on when the first paychecks from the new system are produced for them.

Weekly-Paid OT-Eligible Staff

Overtime-eligible employees who are paid weekly (students and other temporary workers, as well service & trades workers in departments other than Dining Services and University Operations Services) may begin to enter time now for the workweek of September 22-28.

Because we will be loading payroll balances into the new system during the weekend of September 28, time for the week of September 22-28 should be entered by 5 p.m. on Friday, September 27. This is a special one-time-only change: normally the deadline will be midnight Saturday, as discussed in training.

The first approval deadline for this group is Monday, September 30 at 5 p.m. and their first payday from the new system will be Friday, October 4.

Semimonthly-Paid OT-Eligible Staff

Staff members who are paid semimonthly (HUCTW and non-union clerical and technical workers) should begin to enter time on October 1 for the full workweek of September 29 - October 5 (you cannot enter time for that week earlier than October 1).

Note: Staff in this category will have already received their regular pay through September 30 in the September 26 paycheck. However, to properly trigger the weekly overtime threshold for this week, please enter all hours worked and paid time off used for Sunday (Sept. 29) to Saturday (Oct. 5), by midnight Saturday. Assuming time approval and adjusting deadlines are met, reporters should see overtime for this week in their October 26 paycheck.

The first approval deadline for this group is Monday, October 7, at 5 p.m., and their first payday from the new system is Friday, October 11.

Note: To process overtime worked prior to September 29th that may not have been submitted or paid from the old system due to timing issues, local units should submit signed paper time entry sheets to FAD Payroll for affected OT-eligible staff by October 1.

What to Expect during Week One:
Problems with Temps and PINs    top

Many of the weekly-paid staff entering time during the first week PeopleSoft is live will be non-student temporary workers. These employees, especially those who have only been at Harvard for a short time, often do not have PINs.

Since PINs are required to use the system, please be prepared to have time for temporary workers (particularly new hires) entered by a timekeeper or adjuster, based on a signed paper time entry form. Employees who do not have a PIN by now may find it too late to get one in time for this week's time entry, particularly if they have no e-mail address. (The PIN is e-mailed if there is an address on file in a central system. If not, the PIN is sent by University mail, which can take a while.)

We expect this to be a continuing issue with non-student temps, especially in the first two weeks of their employment. On the other hand, the PIN service tells us that virtually all Harvard students have PINs. Increasingly, we are hearing that many of you are asking students to enter their own time, and are providing brief training sessions to enable them to do so.

Time and Labor FAQs    top

By now, most Time and Labor users have attended at least one role-based training course. Others are signed up to receive training over the next week or two.

For those who have already attended training and are now thinking of more complex questions, this document may provide the answers. It is based on questions asked during training that we needed to research. It addresses issues such as:

• Why tubs should not run the time administration process locally (except for individual employees)
• What PeopleSoft does and does not do about holidays
• Time reporting codes (time types) for longer-service bonus vacation days, floating holidays, and the December 2002 winter recess
• How unreported scheduled hours (and the "NOREP" time type) work
• The time types that "count" toward the 40 hour/week overtime threshold
• The need to "enroll" reporters in Time and Labor who take on a second, concurrent overtime-eligible job, and
• What categories of temporary workers need to enter time.

The full text of the these FAQs are online at: http://www.hrproject.harvard.edu/documents/ T_and_L_FAQ_9-10-02.pdf. In addition, brief instructions on how to report time for work-study students are now available.

Clarifications, Corrections, and Updates    top

While we do everything we can to ensure the information you receive is accurate, we will probably need to issue frequent clarifications, corrections, and updates during the three to six month stabilization period after go-live. This is necessary because:

• Problems, unexpected results, and bugs are sometimes discovered in final system testing, or in the stabilization period by users.
  
  
• Situations arise that we did not foresee, or there are "disconnects" between systems, policies, and procedures that could not fully be seen or reconciled until we have all worked with the system for a while.
  
  
• System performance or usability problems require adjustments in how people work, or better explanations about how to do things. We'll try to put items of this nature in this section as a regular feature of the e-News. Here are the items for this week:

Desktop Standards for PeopleSoft    top

Speaking of desktop standards, the latest ones for using the financial and HR applications are online at: http://able.harvard.edu/other/standards.shtml. If you encounter a problem on a computer that does not meet the desktop standards, we may not be able to help you. Your computer may not be powerful enough to use the systems easily, or your operating system or browser may be in conflict with the applications themselves. In particular, using the Internet Explorer web browser is an absolute requirement for using PeopleSoft. Call you local IT department or desktop support if you do not have IE on your desktop.

HR Reports That Are Available Now    top

Operational reports to support the Time and Labor and local payroll processes can be run now in PeopleSoft. These OLTP (OnLine Transaction Processing) system reports provide real time data.

Here is a list of the reports available now:

Although provided in training, here again is a generic quick reference guide to running OLTP reports in PeopleSoft. Although the sequence of screens you will work through are the same for all the reports, each report has different parameters you will need to set.

AWS3 Scheduled to Go Live on September 30    top

The Administrator's WorkStation 3, which will provide additional reports to those in the table above, is projected to go live on September 30. End users will be notified by email when the system goes live, and provided with basic information about how to use the system (training is planned to start in early October).

The current AWS, which draws data from the Information Utility, was updated (as it usually is) overnight on Friday, September 20. It will be updated again on Friday, September 27. Human resource officers are urged to use the Job Profile Lookup in AWS during the next week or two to to validate the newly converted data in PeopleSoft. When AWS3 goes live, it is expected to contain the following reports:

Personnel Actions in PeopleSoft    top

Effective immediately, a wide range of personnel actions (hiring, job data changes, leaves of absence, terminations) will be initiated using PeopleSoft-enabled "smart forms," which draw picklist data from the PeopleSoft database in real time. Information about how to use these forms is available at http://atwork.harvard.edu/hradmin/hiring.jsp. In addition, brief instructions on how to process a New Hire form for college work-study-funded student employees are now available.

In addition to the PeopleSoft-enabled smart forms available in the system, there will be a small number of paper-based forms available on ABLE at http://able.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ forms.pl?dept=HR. One of these is the Time Entry form, which can be used when a signed paper timesheet is submitted to a Timekeeper for entry into PeopleSoft.

This timesheet has been designed to facilitate entry of hours into PeopleSoft, or to request a retroactive adjustment. If your department is going to use paper timesheets, we recommend using this one.

HR-Related Policies Available Online    top

A reminder that these new HR-related policy papers are available online:

In addition, we urge you to consult the HUCTW Personnel Manual if in doubt about time reporting and approval situations. In response to many questions on this topic, OHR's Department of Labor and Employee Relations has provided this quick guide to how holiday benefits work for overtime-eligible staff.

A Review of PeopleSoft's Action/
Reason Codes    top

Each personnel action in PeopleSoft is coded with an effective date and an action/reason code. These codes, which explain what action is to take place and why, are of great importance. More than just a reporting attribute, they can trigger other system actions, including benefits eligibility. Because of this, it is crucial that the correct action/reason codes are entered for all personnel actions.

The final list of action/reason codes for go live is located on the HRAdmin web page, at http://atwork.harvard.edu/hradmin/hiring.jsp. For those who attended the Understanding HR Data course in August, please note that this list was updated on September 6.

Important Local Differences for Staff at FAS (and
Its Affiliates), SPH, and HMS/HSDM   top

Three of Harvard's largest schools will continue to use local HR systems after PeopleSoft goes live. Please note these important differences in which system to use if you work at one of these schools.

Getting Trained    top

Over the past six weeks, hundreds of people have been trained on how to use the PeopleSoft system. If you still need training or would like to participate in a hands-on lab after go-live, here are some resources.

How Hands-On Labs Will Work

In the month after go-live, many hands-on computer-classroom labs will be available for new users of the Time and Labor system (specifically, time reporters, approvers, and timekeepers), as well as labs for new users of the PeopleSoft-enabled personnel action forms.

These labs are meant to supplement the lecture-based training you should have already received. Here's what to do:

Getting Help    top

As people begin to use the system, and as the new paychecks come out in October, inevitably questions and problems will arise. These are the phone numbers to call.

Staff who are confused about their paycheck changes or amounts, but who are not having an urgent issue, should consult the inside of the large red brochure sent to all staff entitled "We weren't kidding. The new system is ready." It explains the new paycheck format and minor changes to expect. If you are still confused or unsure whether your paycheck is correct, call your local HR office or your local payroll coordinator.

Reminder: It is important for PeopleSoft users to call one of the numbers listed above as their first point of contact for any system problems, rather than a central business unit directly.

We use the UIS Helpdesk to track problems and issues as they arise, and to provide the necessary communications and fixes. Without good information from the Helpdesk about what people are experiencing, we will not be able to solve problems efficiently or communicate consistently, particularly given the size of Harvard's end user community.

How to Access the PeopleSoft System    top

News for Financial Systems Users    top

Changes to completion of the ST-5 Form (Sales Tax Exempt Purchaser Certificate: Form ST-5 - Massachusetts Department of Revenue)

There has recently been an update to the ST-5 form. Formerly, the certificate included the signature of the Director of Procurement. Now, when a supplier requests a copy of the ST-5 certificate, the Department of Revenue (DOR) requires that Part I of the form be signed, dated, and submitted to the supplier by the authorized Harvard purchaser on the date the purchase is made.

In addition, when a Harvard School/department authorizes an individual outside the University community to purchase goods on Harvard's behalf, this "agent" must complete and sign Part II and submit it to the supplier at the time the purchase is made. Examples of "agents" would include general construction contractors or subcontractors employed by the University to purchase supplies used to repair Harvard buildings. In this case, Part I must also be signed by the authorized Harvard purchaser (see above).

AWS2/HUDINI Reports Change

Several financial reports have been modified to accommodate data changes resulting from the HR Project. Minimal changes were made to the reports that incorporate payroll transactional data. If you use the reports listed below and notice anything you think might be incorrect, please contact the UIS Helpdesk at 6-2001.

About the e-News   top

The Financial Administration publishes this semi-monthly 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: fad_communications@harvard.edu