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University HR and Payroll Systems News
Nov. 12, 2003
Volume 5, Issue 10

HR Release 5.0 in December: What to Expect     top

Release 5.0 of Harvard's PeopleSoft HR systems is planned for the weekend of December 13, 2003. Users should expect a total system outage from 3 p.m. Friday (not 5 p.m. as previously reported) until 8 a.m. Monday. This will require hours to be entered in the Time and Labor system by Friday at 3 p.m. for the workweek ending Saturday, December 13.

Here are the system enhancements that go live at that time.

The HUCTW salary increase process has been altered to merge the best features of Progression and Structure into one spreadsheet. Bonuses in lieu of increases (BILs) will be automatically uploaded this year, saving one week of data entry by four people. Errors will be reduced because of changes in effective-dating logic and the bypass of certain action/reason codes.

The Auto Term process will now bypass certain action/reason codes (such as DTA/ABR and DTA/FIC), reducing the number of people who fail to get auto-terminated. Primary job reassignment will now be automated, reducing problems encountered with Web Voucher and the ID system. Inquiry pages will be greatly simplified with more helpful error messages. Lastly, old Appt End Dates will be nullified.

The Term Appointment extract will contain more information, including future-dated rows, to better assist the user. Like Auto Term, it will also bypass certain action/reasons when appropriate, and offers the user a choice of the normal JOB row insertion, or just an update of Appt End Date without inserting a job. The latter alternative will reduce warehouse rows and loads to tub systems. Lastly, this process will feature improved error messages and inquiry pages.

The Salary Admin Plan lookup has been modified, so only those SAPs valid for that Job Code/ Employee Class will appear in the search results. The Salary Grade field is no longer editable and this value will be populated based on the Job Code chosen. A change to the lookup for SAP and a non-modifiable grade will eliminate any data inconsistencies between the two fields. It also eliminates the Blank Grade issue that we have been experiencing with the HIRES/tub feeds.

Quick Hire: I-9 on file. A new field has been added to both the Quick Hire preparer and submitter roles when searching for requisitions. Users can now view the "Eligible to Work in US" status on the "Find an Existing Value" page. This eliminates the need to open each requisition to see if the "Eligible to Work in US" field has been checked when the I-9 has been received and entered by FAD Payroll. Preparers and submitters will now see a "Y" or "N" for this status.

The Business Title field on all Quick Hire pages has been expanded to a maximum length of 254 characters. Although the Title will default based on the Job Code, the field is freeform, allowing users to enter a more specific title up to 254 characters.

Process Steps and Timeline for January 2004
HUCTW Progression Increases   top

 

Date
What will happen
Monday, December 1

Schools will receive their HUCTW spreadsheet indicating planned increases by individual as well as data on individuals who will receive bonuses in lieu of increases (BILs). Schools will need to verify the increases, make corrections, and provide 33-digit costing for BIL payments.

Please add this activity to your calendar now so that you and others in your organization can plan for timely distribution and collection.
Monday, December 8, by noon

Schools must return the spreadsheets with pertinent changes and costing information. This is a hard deadline due to the large volume of data that needs to be entered and uploaded.

Week of December 8 The BILs will be uploaded to the system for processing effective January 1, 2004.
Week of December 15 The progression increases will be uploaded to the system effective January 1, 2004.
Weeks of December 15 and 22 Any necessary cleanup in the system will be completed.
Friday, January 9 HUCTW employees will receive the first paychecks that reflect their progression increases and BILs.

 

When and How to Report and Approve Time
During the Winter Recess    top

Due to Harvard's winter recess, it is necessary to shift the deadlines for the submission of paperwork and the reporting and approving of time. Below is a highlight of important deadlines. For a full schedule, please see the Payroll and Time & Labor Closings Calendar (which includes closing deadlines for personnel actions).

By this date and time This must be completed

Monday, December 8 at 5 p.m.

Approve time and labor for:

  • weekly check of 12/12
  • biweekly check of 12/12

Paper deadline for:

  • weekly check of 12/19
  • monthly check of 12/23

Wednesday, December 10 at 5 p.m.

Paper deadline for:

  • weekly check of 12/23
  • biweekly check of 12/23
Friday, December 12 at 3 p.m.

Time entry deadline for:

  • weekly check of 12/19

Paper deadline for:

  • weekly check of 1/2
Monday, December 15 at 5 p.m.

Approve time and labor for:

  • weekly check of 12/19
Tuesday, December 16 at 5 p.m.

Time entry deadline for:

  • weekly check of 12/23
  • biweekly check of 12/23
Wednesday, December 17 at 5 p.m.

Approve time and labor for:

  • weekly check of 12/23
  • biweekly check of 12/23
Thursday, December 18 at 5 p.m.

Time entry deadline for:

  • weekly check of 1/2

Paper deadline for:

  • weekly check of 1/9
  • biweekly check of 1/9
Friday, December 19 at 5 p.m.

Approve time and labor for:

  • weekly check of 1/2
Tuesday, December 23 at 5 p.m.

Paper deadline for:

  • teaching fellow check of 1/15

The normal schedule will resume immediately after the winter recess, with a time entry deadline of 5 p.m. on Friday, January 2 and time approval/adjusting to be completed by 5 p.m. on Monday, January 5.

Paydays for overtime-eligible staff will be adjusted as follows:

This group

Will pe paid

Clerical/technical workers

Tuesday, December 23 (last full business day prior to normal 12/26 payday). This pay will be for the period from 12/07 to 12/20.

Student and non-student temporary workers

Tuesday, December 23 for the workweek ending 12/20.
Service and trades workers Tuesday, December 23 for the workweek ending 12/20.

Many users have also asked which time types to use when reporting time over the winter recess. Here are some guidelines for clerical/technical workers.

Date If you do not work

If you work

 What you are entitled to if you work

12/24 a.m.

Note: The morning of December 24 is regular work time.

 VAC, PER, or Comp Time used

REG

Your regular hours

12/24 p.m.

 HOL

HWK

 Time-and-a-half for those hours. You have a choice of being paid for the holiday at your regular rate in addition to the time-and-a-half for hours worked, or you can take this time at a later date. If you choose to be paid for it now, report your hours worked as HWK and also report the time as HOL.
12/25 HOL HWK Time-and-a-half for those hours. You have a choice of being paid for the holiday at your regular rate in addition to the time-and-a-half for hours worked, or you can take this time at a later date. If you choose to be paid for it now, report your hours worked as HWK and also report the time as HOL.
12/26 HOL REG A floating holiday to be taken later
12/29 HOL REG A floating holiday to be taken later
12/30 HOL REG A floating holiday to be taken later
12/31 HOL REG A floating holiday to be taken later
1/1 HOL HWK Time-and-a-half for those hours. You have a choice of being paid for the holiday at your regular rate in addition to the time-and-a-half for hours worked, or you can take this time at a later date. If you choose to be paid for it now, report your hours worked as HWK and also report the time as HOL.

Notes

  • The grid above refers to HUCTW and nonunion, overtime-eligible, clerical/technical employees only. For exempt employees, temps, or service/trades workers, please refer to the relevant personnel manual, union contract, or your local HR office.

  • "A day's pay" means one-fifth of the employee's pay for the week.

Reminder: Extra hours for a holiday worked are not paid automatically. If an employee works a holiday, they should report HWK to be paid at a rate of 1.5 times their normal pay for the holiday hours worked. The employee is also entitled to their regular pay for the holiday, or they may take time off at a later date.

If the employee wishes to receive pay for the time, they should report HOL for all hours not worked as well as HOL and HWK for all hours worked. If they wish to take the owed time at a later date, they should report HWK to receive pay for the hours worked. At a later date, when the time is taken, they should report HOL with a comment that it is time owed for working on the holiday.

Don't forget that employees who enter their time into PeopleSoft must do so before they leave for the Thanksgiving break.

The time approval deadline for that week remains the same: Monday, December 1.

 

A Reminder about Hiring and Paying
Work-Study Students    top

The new "Quick Hire" process for students makes payroll processing easier. It also, however, allows administrators to overlook an important requirement of the Federal Work-Study Program (FWSP): the referral card.

The referral card confirms a student's eligibility and is a requirement for every student with work-study earnings. Besides providing important information about the student and their FWSP award, it plays a crucial role in the annual University-wide audit. Undergraduates obtain referral cards at the Student Employment Office and graduate students from their financial aid offices. Many students think they are eligible for work-study when in fact, they are not. As an employer, the referral card is your only confirmation. (For more information go to www.seo.harvard.edu/federal.)

When you set up a student employee in the payroll system or Asperin, you are asked for a job code. For term-time, on-campus work, that code is 700030 for all students. Then you are asked to fill in the rest of the coding.

When you enter time for a student in Peoplesoft, you have a choice of earnings codes:

  • REG is non-work-study (and generates object code 6110, but you do not see that.)
  • WST is work-study (and generates object code 0139; you do not see that, either.)

Either code will work and the choice is up to you.

The summary report of wages paid in September confirmed that at least 25% of the undergraduates paid on work-study object codes are not eligible for work-study. Incorrectly charged wages present many problems for financial aid offices and those responsible for federal reporting. The referral card is the only way you can make sure your student is eligible for work-study.

Please make sure you have a referral card for every student for whom you select WST. Fixing an incorrect object code is a multi-step process and results in the employer paying 100% of the student's wages. Please make every effort to do it correctly in the first place.

A wealth of information about the work-study program is available on the Student Employment Office web site.

 

AWS3 Users Need to Upgrade Their
Brio Software Plug-in    top

Due to a recent Windows Security Patch conflict with our current version of Brio, the Harvard Data Warehouse team implemented an emergency upgrade to AWS3 on November 4. Now that it is complete, all Windows Brio users must download and install the the newest Brio plug-in (version 6.6.4) prior to using AWS3. “How to” instructions are provided on atwork.harvard.edu/hradmin/aws3.jsp.

Please call your local desktop services group or the UIS Help Desk (6-2001) if you need assistance with the upgrade.

 

e-News for Users of Financial Applications Systems    top

Please follow this link for news of interest to users of Harvard's Financial applications.

 

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