November, 2017

From the Editor

Happy Thanksgiving! As a manager/timekeeper, you may sometimes need to enter/release hours on behalf of a weekly paid employee. As a manager, you may also need to enter/edit an absence on behalf of a monthly, salaried employee. This newsletter will focus on how you can accomplish those tasks. In addition, we will discuss how a manager/payroll coordinator can look up vacation and sick balances for a weekly paid/monthly paid employee. Managers can benefit by creating a substitute employee in the department for approving/rejecting requests on their behalf. This can happen if the manager is unexpectedly absent at work or is expecting to be out for a temporary absence for which the dates are known ahead of time.

Eligible employees accrue vacation time for each full calendar month of service completed at Boston University. Vacation accruals are credited to employees on the first day of the month following each full calendar month of completed service. Accrual rates vary according to salary grade/ payscale and years of service and can be found in the employee handbook . Please keep in mind that during the first three months of an employee's service (probationary period), an employee is not eligible to take vacation and any sick time that needs to be taken must be unpaid sick time.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the current newsletter or suggestions for future HCM newsletters, please email me at srao22@bu.edu

Thank you,

Shuchita Rao

FAQs about Time Management

1. I am a manager. How can I look up vacation and sick time for my direct report?

A. As a manager you may be interested in viewing time balances for your direct reports before you approve a request for an absence. Click here  to see instructions on how to view time balances for an employee.

2.  Can I enter and release hours on behalf of a weekly paid employee if I am a Manager or Timekeeper?

A. Yes. Sometimes a weekly paid employee may not be in a position to enter weekly hours in a timesheet. As the employee's manager/timekeeper you can enter and release hours for the employee. If you are a manager, click here (and if you are a timekeeper, click here) for instructions on how to enter and release hours on behalf of a weekly paid employee.

3. As a manager, how can I assign a substitute in my department who can approve/reject an absence on my behalf?

A. It is always a good idea to assign a responsible person in your department to be your substitute who can serve as a backup to approve/reject items in your worklist. A substitute should be able to confirm the hours worked by a weekly paid employee in your department. Click here to see how to assign a substitute who can approve/reject an absence on your behalf.

4. I am the payroll coordinator/timekeeper for my department. How can I view the days an employee was absent in a given period of time? Can I also approve/reject a request for an absence made by an exempt employee?

A. As a payroll coordinator or timekeeper you can view accrued sick and vacation balances as well as actual absences for one or all employee(s) in a given time period in your Org. Unit via the Employee Absence Verification Report. Click here for instructions on how to use the TORSTA transaction to approve/reject request for an absence made by an exempt employee. If you are a timekeeper, you would go to the WebGUI tab in BUworkscentral and look at quota overview. Click here for instructions on using transaction PT50.

5. How can I process a vacation payout for a weekly paid employee who has resigned?

A. As a payroll coordinator, after you have processed the termination for a weekly paid employee,  you need to look at unused vacation hours using WebGUI. PT50 transaction will help you look up time balances and the PT61 transaction will help you process the unused vacation payout.  Click here for instructions on how to process a vacation payout for a weekly paid employee.

6. What about processing unused vacation payouts for monthly paid, exempt employees?

A. When you use the termination form in BUworks to terminate an exempt employee, the form will give you an estimate of vacation payout. If no vacation is taken by the employee between the time you process the termination form and the last day worked by the employee, the vacation payout will happen automatically in the month of termination, provided the termination form is processed before the payroll deadline that month. Click here for instructions on processing the Termination form.

Training Calendar

Click here for Instructor Led Training schedule in November and December, 2017

These sessions present to new employees - or employees assigned a new business role - the important BUworks forms in the Human Capital Management(HCM) module. The sessions are a great way to review material, too. Even if you previously attended an intro session, you are likely to learn new things about HCM or to be reminded of concepts that you had forgotten.

Here are course descriptions for upcoming trainings:

HCM Overview: This training gives you an understanding of Boston University's Enterprise structure, OM & PA forms, Time and Hiring functions.

Display Organizational Chart: Nakisa Org Chart tool/PPOSE transaction allows a user to see Organization Staffing and Display within Boston University. Learn how to search by Org name, position id or position name, employee name, how to navigate and print the Organizational chart.

Hiring: This training show how compensated as well as non-compensated staff/faculty as well as international scholars can be hired into SAP. The need for pre-requisite of open/vacant position to exist before hiring can begin is discussed in the training. The Create/Maintain Position OM actions will be demonstrated in a test environment.

OM & PA forms: This training takes a detailed look at the purpose of OM (Org Management) actions such as Create/Maintain/Delete Positions and PA (Personnel Actions) related to Employee Position Update/Employee Movement/Salary Changes and Additional/Secondary Payment. Pre-requisite OM actions to certain PA actions and what documents to attach to the forms are also discussed in this training.

Tips & Tricks

Click here for more FAQs and tips related to Time Management. Training documents such as videos and Quick Reference Guides can be found under the Time Related tab of the HCM Training Resource Website.

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