December 2008 previous issue back issues index by topic e-News home Contact us at: admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu or via the UIS Helpdesk at 6-2001 The Administrative Systems e-News is a monthly electronic newsletter for users of Harvard's financial, human resources, and reporting systems. HR Release - PeopleSoft Availability and Enhancements: Fixes, Phones and Forecasting! HRMS Updates: Enhancements to CREW HRMS and Changes to Objects in the Harvard Data Warehouse (DWHRPRD) Reminder: Oracle Financials Outage for Hardware Upgrade Enhancements to Online Vendor Request Form Get Your New High-Tech ID Card University Financial Services Winter Recess Deadlines When and How to Approve Time During the Winter Recess in December 2008 2009 Mileage Rates Upcoming Releases About the e-News

HR Release 22 - PeopleSoft Availability and Enhancements: Fixes, Phones, and Forecasting!    top

Due to HR Release 22.0, PeopleSoft will be unavailable starting on Friday, December 5th at 5:00pm until Monday, December 8th at 8:00am. Additionally, HIRES transmissions to PeopleSoft will not be possible during this outage.

Here is the list of PeopleSoft enhancements included in this release:

HR Data Related

Employees Can Update their Phone Number via Self Service

• What:
• Employees can now update all of their non-Harvard business phone numbers (e.g., home, cellular, etc.) in PeopleSoft Employee Self Service (ESS).
• Learn More:
• Visit the Eureka task page to view a detailed work instruction at: Eureka>Self Service (employees)>Personal Information
• Bottom Line:
• Employees can now be directed to updating their own phone numbers via Employee Self Service.

Changes to the Salary Increase Process (SIP)

• What:
• Two new informational columns have been added to the SIP Excel template that will display the employee’s grade minimum and how much below the minimum an employee’s salary is (displays only for those employees whose increase salary falls below the minimum).
• A new input field has been added called ‘Proposed Comp Rate’ that allows the user to update the salary template with an employee’s new compensation rate (before, users could only enter the increase amount or percent). This field is not available for HUCTW increases.
• Learn More:
• Visit the Eureka task page to view an updated work instruction at Eureka> Personnel Actions > Salary Increase Process.
• Bottom Line:
• SIP Excel template will display the dollar amount of those employees whose increase-adjusted salaries fall below the minimum for their salary grade.
• Provides greater flexibility in adjusting an employee’s salary to a specific amount (administrative professionals only).

Changes to the Personnel Action History Report

• What:
• As requested in a prior User Group meeting, page breaks have been removed from the Personnel Action History report. Now, report users will see only section breaks within the page whenever there is a change in department/paygroup.
• Bottom Line:
• Decreases the number of pages of the report – reducing waste.

LHTs added to the Appointment End Date Update process

• What:
• To cleanup inactive job records, less-than-halftime employees (LHTs) have been added to the weekly process that populates an appointment end date for any employee who has had no payroll or T&L activity for the past 180 days. On the 180th day of no activity, a future dated appointment end date (30 days out past the current system date) is created that will automatically terminate the employee.
• This process will run for the first time starting on January 1st. Departments should closely monitor the HRTRMDP038: Departmental - Term Appointment Report in CREW to ensure the accuracy of this process.
• Bottom Line:
• Adding LHTs to the inactive job cleanup process will improve the University’s ability to accurately capture overall employee count and improve HR metric data.

Payroll, Time Labor, Absence Management Related

Text Added to the Employee Self Service W4 page about extra 2009 Payrolls:

• What:
• The following text was added to the W-4 page in ESS: “Please be advised: There are 53 weekly and 27 biweekly payrolls in 2009 instead of the regular 52 and 26. Because of this extra paycheck, your taxable earnings will be more in 2009. Please review your federal and state tax withholding allowances and make any necessary adjustments for 2009”.
• Bottom Line:
• Message on ESS W-4 page will alert employees that there will be an extra payroll period in 2009 and they should adjust their withholding as necessary.

New Link Provided on Absence Management Self Service Pages

• What:
• A new link has been provided on the Manager Self Services pages (after a group has been selected) that enables a user to return to the Select Group page.



• Bottom Line:
• Improves navigation, and a significant time saver.

Headcount Data Now on Cost Center Register by EE report and Off-Cycle Register

• What:
• Added employee counts (by headcount, not FTE) by paygroup on the subtotal page.
• Bottom Line:
• Provides departments a snapshot of their headcount as of the pay period the report was run. Information can be used by Financial and HR administrators in verifying their payroll controls as part of their SAS 112 compliance.

Improved Sort Order for Review Paycheck

• What:
• Two changes have been made to the Review Paycheck page:
• The sort order for an employee’s paychecks is now newest to oldest.
• Review Paycheck search page now defaults the cursor into the EmplID field instead of Company (value of HPF is now defaulted).
• Bottom Line:
• Improved search and sort order for viewing an employee’s paychecks.

Two New Reports Absence Management Reports

• What:
• Two new Absence Management reports have been created:
• The Absence Balance Summary Report lists data similar to the Absence Balance Detail page. Using a start date and end date, departments can view a summary of their employees’ takes, accruals and balance adjustments broken out by absence type. The report provides summary totals for what was earned and taken for the period specified. This report can be used in conjunction with the Absence Balance Detail page in researching balance discrepancies.
• The Vacation Accrued vs. Taken Rpt displays the percentage (amount taken/amount earned) of vacation time an employee has taken for a specified period of time. Running this report (as a CSV file) from the start of the fiscal year to the current day allows departments to filter on employees who are accruing time, but not taking time off.
• Learn More:
• Visit the Eureka task page to view a detailed work instruction at: Eureka>Absence Management (Managers) > Run Reports.
• Bottom Line
• Two new reports have been created, one to assist departments in researching discrepancies, and the other to help monitor the amount of time employees have taken vs. what they have earned.

Forecasting Tool in Absence Management is Now Available for Managers

• What:
• Forecasting is a tool that assists managers (Absence Approvers, Adjusters, Keepers, and Administrators) in determining whether an employee will have a sufficient balance at the time of a future-dated absence request.
  
  In straight forward terms, the tool will forecast the employee’s balance by adding in any future accruals and deducting any unprocessed requests and balance adjustments (positive) that will occur prior to the Start Date of the forecasted request.
  
  Some key points when using the tool include:
  • Only applicable to Vacation and Sick time (not turned on for Personal or Longer Service Vacation).
  • Only available for absences that have a Start Date equal to or greater than the current system date (e.g., if the absence Start Date is 1/25 and the system date is 1/27, managers will not be able to use the forecasting feature.)
  • Can be used for both approving and requesting absences for employees.
• Learn More:
• Visit the Eureka task page to view a detailed work instruction at: Eureka>Absence Management (Managers) >Approving Absences.
• Bottom Line:
• Managers now have a tool to assist in determining whether an employee will have a sufficient balance to cover the absence they are requesting.

HRMS Updates: Enhancements to CREW HRMS and Changes to Objects in the Harvard Data Warehouse (DWHRPRD)  top

CREW HR REL 22.0 Release Notes

CREW HR Release 22.0 will be deployed into production on 12/8/2008.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the UIS Helpdesk at 496-2001 or uis_helpdesk@harvard.edu.

Thank you,
The Harvard Data Warehouse and Harvard Human Resources - Information Systems & Analytics Reporting teams.

Reminder: Oracle Financials Outage for Hardware Upgrade       top

On Monday, December 15, the University will release an upgrade to the hardware supporting Oracle Financials. To minimize impact on the business community, the upgrade has been scheduled beginning Thursday, December 11, 6 pm to Sunday, December 14.

IMPACT:Oracle Financials will be unavailable from 6:00 pm Thursday, December 11, until the start of the business day Monday, December 15.

To determine what impact this might have on you, please review the November e-News for more information, including a table of key dates and deadlines for affected business areas.

Here are the key pieces of information to keep in mind concerning this outage:

• On Friday, December 12, General Accounting and University Financial Services including Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Purchasing, PCard, Travel and Reimbursement services (including Web Voucher Travel Authorization forms), Cash Management, and Cash Receipts will be open and fully staffed, but will operate without access to Oracle Financials
• There will be no access to Oracle Financials at any time on Friday, December 12 and throughout the weekend of December 13-14
• On Monday, December 15, the URLs to access Oracle Financials and the Chart of Accounts Validator will change. To access these sites, open your web browser and navigate to the Financial Applications page (http://vpf-web.harvard.edu/applications). Click on the Personal Homepage link for Oracle and the Chart of Accounts Validator under Chart of Accounts Tools.
• On Friday, December 12, CREW financial, student and sponsored reporting and ad hoc access to DWCENPRD will be available with data as of the close of business Thursday, December 11. CREW will have a brief outage Saturday morning to accommodate patches and will be available at 2pm. A special Sunday night load on December 14 will refresh CREW with the latest financial, student and sponsored data. Please note: with the exception of the CREW Saturday morning outage, human resources reporting is not affected by the upgrade.

Questions should be referred to the UIS Help Desk, 6-2001 or via email.

Enhancements to Online Vendor Request Form  top

With the release of the new Online Vendor Request Form in November, we have added some additional functionality to the form. This includes:

1. The addition of ‘Phone’ and ‘Fax’ fields
2. The addition of a ‘Notes to CRT’ box where you can communicate to UFS any additional information you feel is needed to process the request (i.e. make new site the tax site)



3. The ability to change and resubmit a request rejected by your Approver or UFS.
   To do this:
1. Open the ‘Vendor Request’ Form:



2. Click on ‘List of My Requests’ at the top of the form.



3. At the far right of your requests, you will see a new column called ‘Resubmit’. If the request was rejected, this field will either populate with ‘Site’ or ‘Supplier’ depending on the type of request it was. Click on the link, and your original request will open for you to make changes before resubmitting. The request will be designated with a new Request ID.

Get Your New High-Tech ID Card  top

Harvard University is switching to a new high-tech ID card. The new ID card features an embedded microchip, antenna and second magnetic stripe. If you have not already received the new card (recognizable by its two magnetic stripes on the back), you will need to personally exchange your old ID card for a new one at one of several sites around campus.

If you do not have the new ID card, plan to swap your existing ID card for the new one at one the following events:

• Tubs/Schools: FAS, GSAS, GSD, HGSE, HDS, HLS, HUL, SEAS, SOA, Museums, Radcliffe, Athletics, ART, Central Administration & Retirees
• Location: Northwest Building, 52 Oxford Street, near the Harvard Museum of Natural History
• Dates:
  • Monday, December 8, 2008: 11am-6pm
  • Tuesday, December 9-Thursday, December 11, 2008: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, December 12, 2008: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: Harvard Kennedy School, Radcliffe, Athletics, ART, Center for Astrophysics, Central Administration & Retirees
• Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman Rotunda
• Dates:
  • Monday, December 15, 2008: 11am-6pm
  • Tuesday, December 16-Thursday, December 18, 2008: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, December 19, 2008: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: Harvard Central Administration, Extension School, Retirees, Athletics, ART, FAS, GSAS, GSD, GGSE, Radcliffe, and HUL
• Location: Cambridge Queen's Head (Memorial Hall Basement)
• Dates:
  • Monday, January 5, 2009: 11am-8pm
  • Tuesday, January 6-Thursday, January 8, 2009: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, January 9, 2009: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: Harvard Medical School and Longwood Hospitals
• Location: HMS New Research Building
• Dates:
  • Monday, January 12, 2009: 11am-6pm
  • Tuesday, January 13-Thursday, January 15, 2009: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, January 17, 2009: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: Harvard Business School
• Location: HBS Shad Basketball Court
• Dates:
  • Tuesday, January 20-Thursday, January 22, 2009: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, January 23, 2009: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: Harvard Kennedy School & Retirees
• Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman Rotunda
• Dates:
  • Monday, January 26, 2009: 11am-6pm
  • Tuesday, January 27-Thursday, January 29, 2009: 8am-6pm
  • Friday, January 30, 2009: 8 am-2 pm

• Tubs/Schools: All Remaining
• Location: Holyoke Arcade
• Dates:
  • Monday, February 6-Friday, February 10, 2009, times to be determined

Don't see your school or program? Check the New ID Website for more information, as additional events are being planned.

All privileges and information assigned to your current ID card will migrate to your new card.

Systems around the University – such as Crimson Cash and the Harvard M2 Shuttle – have already begun using the new ID technologies, and while your old ID card will continue to work for the time being, those systems will require the new two-stripe card by February 2009. Likewise other systems and services around the University are beginning to adopt this new, more secure card technology.

You must exchange your ID card in person, and the card you swap should have the same last number (or issue digit) as the card awaiting you. So that we may verify your identity and maintain the security of your card, please be prepared to show government-issued photo ID if your name has changed since you last received an ID card.

If you do not have your current ID card, you will have to visit the ID office to validate your identity and have a new card printed there while you wait.

Questions about the new cards? See the new ID website: www.newid.huid.harvard.edu.

University Financial Services Winter Recess Deadlines  top

Ed. Note: The complete list of Winter Recess deadlines will be published next week in a special edition of e-News. This list contains critical deadlines for financial services.

• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Cash Receipts
• Payroll Services
• PCard
• Travel (Web Reimbursement)

When and How to Approve Time During the Winter Recess in December 2008     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

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

**NOTE:  Checks, designated for university distribution, will be available for pick up from 9:00a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 2nd at the Harvard University Employee’s Credit Union. (16 Dunster Street).  If departments need to pick up checks for local distribution, please contact Ken Toy (ken_toy@harvard.edu) no later than Friday, December 12th.  Employees must show an HUID card to pick up checks.

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.

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 FHP 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.

Holiday Worked Time Reporting Scenarios

Things to remember:

HWK – Holiday Worked

• Paid at 1.5 x Hourly Rate
• Adds to Overtime Hours

HOL – Holiday

• Paid at Hourly Rate
• Adds to Overtime Hours

FHP – Floating Holiday Pay

• Paid at Hourly Rate
• Does not add to Overtime Hours

Note: All scenarios assume 7-hour scheduled workday

Scenario 1: Employee works 7 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

Scenario 2: Employee works 7 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants to take floating holiday on Monday, Jan. 5.

Scenario 3: Employee works 4 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

Scenario 4: Employee works 4 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants to take 4 hours of floating holiday on Monday, Jan. 5.

Scenario 5: Employee works 10 hours on Christmas (12/25), wants holiday paid out on the same day.

2009 Mileage Rates    top

Compliance Update

IRS Decreases Business Mileage Rate to 55 Cents for 2009

The IRS has announced that the standard business mileage rate for transportation expenses paid or incurred beginning January 1, 2009, will be 55 cents per mile, down from the 58.5 cents per mile rate in effect during the second half of 2008 [IR-2008-131, released 11-24-08; see www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=200505,00.html].

The mileage rate may be used to compute the deductible cost of operating a passenger car (also vans, pickups, or panel trucks) for business purposes. It may also be used by employers that elect to use the "cents-per-mile" valuation method for purposes of determining the amount that needs to be imputed to an employee's income for personal use of certain company-owned or leased nonluxury vehicles.

The 2009 standard rate for miles driven for medical or moving purposes will decrease to 24 cents per mile, down from the 27 cents per mile rate in effect during the second half of 2008.

In addition, the standard mileage rate for operating a passenger car for charitable purposes is set by law and will stay at 14 cents per mile in 2009.

Upcoming Releases    top

FY2009 FINDINI Release Schedule

A significant upgrade to the financial applications, known as a "FINDINI release", is done every two to four months. Each upgrade introduces needed bug fixes, enhancements, and technical upgrades into Harvard's financial systems. Generally, releases are performed on weekends to assure maximum availability during the business week. Most outages occur from 6 pm Friday evening-6 am Monday morning.

Here is the FINDINI Release Schedule for the remainder of FY2009:

The Oracle Financial Applications are:

HR Release 22

The next PeopleSoft release is scheduled for the weekend of December 5-6, 2008. See article 1 for more information

About the e-News   top

The Center for Workplace Development publishes this electronic newsletter for users of Harvard University's financial, HR, and reporting systems, policies, and procedures. The e-News is generally published on or around the 15th 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.

For information about subscribing or unsubscribing to the eNews notifications, visit our who gets the eNews page.