w_OM_FAQ

Q: The training class stated that the fund is not associated with the position. Is this referring to the "default fund"? Will there be some way to associate fund to position?

A: Yes this is a generic default fund based on agency. Infotype 1018 shows the actual funding source.

Q: If the salary entered for an employee is higher than the budgeted amount, then will someone have to go in and change the budgeted amount or will it be updated automatically once the higher salary is entered?

A: The Agency Funding Approver will need to make the change to the Budgeted Salary. He/she will receive the PA action, and will have access to display and make necessary changes to the Position Budgeted salary as part of that action prior to approving the action. These changes will feed over to the Salary Control System via a nightly interface. BI report B0149 will also show you the position salary, employee salary and the difference between the two.

Q: If a position goes from being a federally funded position to a state funded position will the federally funded position still need to be abolished and a new state funded position be created as it is today? Or can a change be made in SAP to the federally funded position that would make it a state funded position?

Q: How would a position transfer that affects two different units' Salary Control Systems be handled? Which agency/org. unit's funding (and other) approvers would approve the workflow?

A: The agency receiving the position would approve the workflow, as the approvers are based on the Org Unit the position is going to.

Q: Page 16 on the Position Creation Workflow indicates that after the creator initiates workflow the next position in the workflow process is the salary control officer (also noted as the agency position funding approver). The class is not sure who this is or how this applies to their current process. Please explain.

A: Depending on their agency, the funding approver will be the next in line to process. This would typically be the same person(s) who was responsible for approving PD105 and PD118 actions in the "Budget Queue". In some agencies one person fills more than one role within the Workflow process.

Q: Under Organizational Unit there is a Max Budget tab. However, when you click on the Position, there is not a Max Budget tab. A student who works with budget says that there should be a Max Budget tab under position as well. Will we have one after go live?

A: No. We do not use the Max Budget field. The budgeted salary of the position is stored on Infotype 9018, and is available to display via the PO13 transaction and BI reports.

Q: Is there a maximum number of budget splits allowed? Currently PMIS has a max of 10.

Q: How can you determine if the funds for a position are "receipts" or "appropriations"?

A: Beacon will utilize more funding sources than PMIS. The funding source is indicated by the last two positions of the Fund field in the cost distribution. The Fund field length is 9-positions. Positions 1-2 indicate the agency. Positions 3-6 are the budget fund number codes assigned by OSBM. Position 7 is a placeholder (0) to allow for future growth in the OSBM assigned budget fund codes. Positions 8-9 indicate the funding source. Valid funding source values are listed below:

· 01 - General Appropriations

· 02 - Appropriations - State Match (optional)

· 03 - Appropriations - Local Match (optional)

· 04 - Federal Funds

· 05 - Other Receipts

· 06 - Gen Fund Application Bond

· 07 - Revenue Bonds

· 08 - Other Borrowing

· 09 - Local Funds

· 10 - Highway Funds

· 11 - Appropriations/Tuition (university use only)

Q: How will temporary employees be funded? Will Agencies be given Delegation of Authority or go through OSBM to do this?

A: Temporary positions being established will not require funding approval by OSBM. Funding to cover these positions must have been identified, approved and located in the temporary salaries (5313xx) accounts. If the above account line items are used, salary control does not need to approve any further. Consult with your agency budget analyst to determine the appropriate codes and if additional BD 606 work is necessary.

Delegation of Authority for specific job classes from an HR classification standpoint will be decided by the Office of State Personnel. Positions using established classes for which the agency has delegated authority can be approved at the agency level. If positions are to be established using non-delegated classes, OSP approval will be required.

Q: Why isn't the funding source the cost center? The fund number shows up in the cost distribution tab for position details and is different than the cost center. What is the purpose for this change in "terminology"?

A: Because of ongoing requests for statewide data by source of funds, OSC and OSBM had always planned to create a statewide method to identify funding sources when the legacy financial and budget systems were replaced. We configured the system based on recommended SAP practices with an eye towards the upcoming project to implement the full financial and budget functions. Even though the names are similar to fields in some of the legacy systems, the Fund and Cost Center fields are used a bit differently in SAP. Each field integrates with a different SAP module. The Fund field allows you to see payroll activity in the Funds Management (FM) module which is where SAP performs budgetary controls. In FM, the Fund field represents the funding source. To meet additional budgeting requirements, we have also incorporated our "budget fund" concept into the Fund field values. Cost Center passes payroll activity to the Controlling (CO) module. The CO module is where cost accounting and allocations occur in SAP. Because we have not fully implemented the financial and budget functions, agencies will not have access to see the FM or CO postings. All payroll activity will be interfaced back to the legacy financial systems (NCAS or DOT-SAP). The interface programs include logic to crosswalk the Fund and Cost Center values to the appropriate legacy system values.

A: These fields are already set up by the BEACON team in preparation for go-live. These fields represent a minimal load of financial data so that payroll can be run. They will be expanded in the next BEACON phase when the Financials Module is rolled out.

Q: In the new system who handles salary reserve or how is salary reserve handled? What is the workflow? How is it tracked? (i.e. we have $60k in a position but we only pay $40k. Where does the $20k in reserve show up)

A: The Funding Approver handles salary reserve, but not in the way they did in PMIS. They will need to maintain the Budgeted Salary on Infotype 9018, which comes up immediately after hitting enter on Infotype 1018 as part of the funding approval process in workflow. The information is fed over to Salary Control each night via an interface, so the Funding Approver does not have to make any updates there. They will be able to verify in Salary Control that the information has been updated.

Q: On the OM Workflow slide and the PA workflow slide there is mention of the Agency Position Funding Approver. Is this the same person for both or is there an OM Position Funding approver & a PA funding approver? Would it be possible for us to have a person who only sees the OM piece without seeing all the PA stuff?

A: There is not a separate Relationship for OM Funding Approver vs. PA Funding Approver. Nor is there a separate Security role to control this. However, the Funding Approver could sort the items in the inbox and only select the position actions to approve (or vice versa). Will this be a workable solution?

Q: How will the system work in workflow if you are the creator and the approver?

A: After creating and initiating workflow, the PCR would be routed back to your inbox. You would then perform approval on the PCR. Depending on your role, you might be responsible for several of the approvals in the workflow approval process.

Q: Can you see salary of employees not assigned to your agency? This is used for promotions, postings or recruitment requirements.

A: Users will only see within their Agency, potentially Division depending on where they are - we have implemented structural security, so you can not see data outside of your area.

Q: Can anyone other than the OM Maintainer create and approve a supervisory change?

A: The OM Position Requestor can submit a supervisory change via workflow, and the OM Approver can approve it. The only other role that can make these changes is the BEST Shared Services OM role.

Q: Does the system track dotted line supervision, where one person may be the administrative supervisor (timesheets, performance reviews) and another person is the programmatic supervisor? If so, how?

A: We have not configured the system for dotted line relationships. There is only one "reports to" relationship between the employee's position and the supervisor's position. This supervisor will be the one to approve time entered, as well as receive leave requests.

Q: Is there a Beacon comparison to the Salary Plan Book for the State? If so, where can an employee generate the Job ID or the new position number for the former schematic codes listed in the State Salary Plan book.

A: There is a BI report, B0165, which lists all Jobs and their Salary Ranges. The old schematic code can be added to the report by right clicking on Job column, selecting "Properties", "Characteristic", and then the "Attributes" tab. You may then select the Schematic Code from the list of available fields and click Add.

A: There is currently not a way to mass change settings on positions. However, if an agency encounters a scenario where many, many records are incorrect, the Beacon Production Support and BEST teams will work with that agency to determine the best method for correcting the records.

Q: Course identifies 200 positions as being the threshold for mass updates? Will it be possible to use the spreadsheet to do updates to less than 200 positions (example: 75 positions). If not, who can users talk to regarding the threshold for mass updates?

A: If you have mass update requirements you should contact the BEST service center.

Q: Can a mass update for budgeted salary and employee actual salary be requested at the same time (on the same spreadsheet)?

A: No. We do not have a program for mass updating budgeted or employee salaries. The legislative increase will be run in mass each year by the Beacon team.

Q: The training materials mention "mass edits of budgeted positions" as a BEACON activity. What are some examples of "mass edits"?

A: Some examples of mass edits are mass changes in position cost distribution information, mass position transfers, the addition of many new org units, or the movement of many org units. Mass edits may occur when an agency is undergoing a reorganization or opening a new facility.

Q: If a user enters a wrong Valid From date and saves, we noticed that the user cannot change the date even if Workflow has not been generated. What will be the business process for this? Will the record be deleted and need to be recreated?

A: Yes. Due to the fact that the OM changes are saved in Planned Status in SAP, it is currently not possible to change the date once the PCR has been saved. A fix for this is on our list of future enhancements. Until that time, the workaround is a call to BEST Shared Services, who will then open a ticket requesting that the changes in Planned Status be deleted. Then a new PCR can be created.

A: The dates that actions are performed in the system are available via the workflow tracker, as well as via the 'Change Information' available on the OM infotypes.

Q: If a position is a new position because there's no PMIS history, what impact does Validity Period have? What exactly does the Validity Period for the position mean?

A: Validity period means different things on different screens but always follows a basic principal. Since position detail information can change, validity period refers to the time for which the data on the existing screen is valid. For example if a FT position was created on 8/15/07, its valid from date will be 8/15 on all of the tabs. However, if there was a change to the position, such as it was filled on 9/15, the valid from date for certain tabs like Basic Data or maybe Work Schedule will change to 9/15. That basically means there are 2 time limited records for that position because of a change. You can use the arrow button directly over the date to see the details for the different validity periods. It doesn't effect every tab because not all of the tabs are affected by the change (i.e. account assignment will not change due to filling a vacant position)

Q: Will a position show unoccupied if a report is run to show unoccupied positions on 9/27/07 even though someone has been approved to start in that position on 10/01/07 and that 10/01/07 action has already been approved?

A: Because the system is date driven, the position will show unoccupied on 9/27/07. The action will show up in the system on 10/01/07. Also note that a report can be run for a date other than today. If the report is run for 10/01/07 or later, the position will show as occupied.

A: SAP accommodates the entry of future changes. For example, if a particular position is going to be changed at the end of the month, the change can be entered prior to the end of the month, with the appropriate validity dates specified.

(Note: Often you can select the field and hit F1 to see field functionality description.)

A: If a key date is displayed in the detail area, an icon indicates whether changes to the currently displayed data exist in the future.

· no periods: there are no changes to the data

· periods available: data has been changed

Q: When choosing the employee Group, some of the drop-downs have a letter in the name of the group name. For example, instead of "SPA Employees", it displays as "A SPA Employees" - where does that letter come from & can we turn it off?

A: The letter is the code for the Employee Group. (Employee Group A = SPA Employees). This can be turned off, but will be helpful to users in that they will begin to memorize the codes and will be able to simply type in the code, rather than choosing from a drop down.

Q: When creating a position, why does the drop down menu for the EE subgroup matchcode include probationary as a choice when you would not create a probationary position?

A: The drop down includes Probationary because the Employee Group and Employee Subgroup settings are shared between the position and the employee (there is only one table of values). The EG and ESG are set on the position and default onto the employee record. Since employees may need to be set to Probationary, this Employee Subgroup is included in the list so that employee's can be changed to the Probationary Subgroup when they are hired into the position.

Q: How were Employee Groups and Employee Subgroups determined? Was this through PMIS records, discussion between OSP and BEACON staff, or both?

A: Employee Groups and Subgroups were determined by looking at PMIS records, as well as through discussions with OSP, OSC, Agencies, and Beacon staff. The Employee Groups and Subgroups were created primarily for grouping employees according to specific Time, Payroll and Benefits rules configured in the SAP system. These groups are also required for HR reporting purposes.

Q: Will DOC certified positions be coded B-SPA Law Enforcement for Employee Groups and Subgroups as per the definition in the Employee Group/Subgroup job aids? (Example: Correctional Officers, Probation/Parole Officers)

A: No, neither the Correctional Officers nor the Probation/Parole Officers will be included in this group. They are a part of the Teachers and State Employees Retirement Plan and would be included in Employee Group A. Employee Group B is used for those Law Enforcement Officers who participate in the Law Enforcement Retirement Plan.

Q: For Personnel Area/Sub-Area: What's the difference between 7-day norm and 7-day interface? Does this have to do with DOT and the NCAS interface?

A: 7-day interface means that the time is not entered directly into BEACON, it is coming via an interface to the agencies existing time system. DOT, State Highway Patrol and ESC are interfacing their time data

A: Beacon categorizes Jobs by type, and this allows us to designate Jobs as Graded, Banded, Flat Rate, T-Grade or X-Grade. Within those types there are further breakdowns. One can see the Type on the Planned Compensation infotype on the Position.

A: Basic Pay infotype 0008 on the employee, or Planned Comp infotype 1005 on the position

Q: Will the icon legends automatically change in SAP based on actions done on the position? Example, if an employee goes on LOA, will the icon legend for that position change from filled to vacant?

A: A position will not automatically change to vacant. The user will need to select "Yes" to create the vacancy infotype as part of the LOA action. A position is either `Vacant', `Filled' or `Not Filled'. The icons represent these 3 status options.

Q: Is there any infotype or transaction other than PPOSE that we can use to see if a position is vacant?

Q: The training material states BSS will be responsible for posting position vacancies for "small agencies." How will an agency know if they are a small agency or not? Is there a list?

A: These are primarily the agencies that currently have those tasks performed by someone at OSP. It includes most of the Boards on central payroll

Q: Will the position posting be created automatically from information entered into SAP? If so, where will the posting information pull from?

A: Yes. The Job Vacancy Posting information entered into SAP will be extracted 5 times daily and will be posted on the same website as today (OSP Job Vacancies site). There is an interim posting transaction to create postings in SAP. It will interface with OSP's, vacancy website.

Q: The Continuous Posting exercise calls out a selection box at the end of the exercise where you can select the Continuous Posting box. This box is no longer there. Is there a reason why? Is this no longer applicable?

A: This box has been removed. It was decided that we would use PMIS for continuous postings.

Q: How long will completed actions stay in the Business Workplace inbox/outbox? A year from now, would I still have work items in my inbox/outbox that I completed today? (I believe the students are hoping that the answer is no!)

A: Until they are removed or deleted. There are no plans to automatically remove items from a user's Outbox.

Q: Will users see a history of all positions when viewed in OM, or will users only see positions/history for their agency positions?

A: Users will only see within their Agency, potentially Division depending on where they are - we have implemented structural security, so you can not see data outside of your area.

Q: Personnel Analysts, etc. may want to run reports to show all positions in their agency/division with a certain SOC Code, all employees over the age of 50, all females, all positions with a certain job class, etc. They can currently run reports like this using PMIS. Is there a place to run these reports (and others like them) in SAP?

A: SAP does not have a standard report with all the data they are looking for, there are several position and employee reports available in BI. Please view the BI BPPs for information about how to manipulate the BI reports by filtering, sorting, and bringing on additional data elements.

Q: Will HR departments keep Position History files now that we have workflow? If so, what sort of documentation will go in those files and will they get that documentation from SAP or elsewhere?

A: OSP will need to answer this question, as this is not in the scope of BEACON.

Q: DOT currently has the functionality to scan and upload documents into the financial module of SAP. Will they have this functionality for the HR/Payroll module as well?

A: No, there is currently no document scanning in scope for BEACON, however you may scan documents using an external method and attach the documents to actions or workflow items. SAP does have the capability, so in the future this may be an added functionality.

A: No. Only one action on a position can be in Planned status at a time. It is necessary to process the action all the way through Shared Services before initiating a second action.

A: A vacant position requires staffing now or in the future. A person is assigned to the position but may not be in a payroll status.

Amy: This is a duplicate. Perhaps we can combine this answer with the previous answer in this document?

An unoccupied position does not have a person currently assigned to the position.

· The position of an employee going on maternity leave is vacant from the time she takes her leave.

· An employee resigns and leaves the company. You do not have a replacement. That position is unoccupied at that time.

Q: Will the percentage in the organizational plan always be 100%? The state currently has some overfilled positions.

A: Yes. We are controlling the percentage a position is filled in another way. We are using the actual employee Weekly Working Hours from Infotype 0007 - Planned Working Time.

A: The system is configured to allow multiple employees to occupy a position, so overlapping records will be allowed. The user will get a message warning that the position is more than 100% utilized, but they will not get the message "Overlapping records will be deleted".

Users should always check the effective date on any change, though, and pay attention to the warnings that are being displayed. If the start dates are exactly the same, and the user received the "Overlapping records will be deleted" message, they should click "No" and correct the date and save the record. If, however, they want to replace the existing record with one of the same date (when correcting information), they should click "Yes". For example, when the cost center is changed, and the user realizes they made an error. They could create another infotype with the exact same date, and it would overlay the previous one that was incorrect. When the dates are not exactly the same, the user will get a message stating that the previous infotype will be delimited. For example, if one record is from 03/01/2008 - 12/31/9999 and the user creates a record with start date 03/05/2008, when they receive the message that the previous infotype will be delimited, and they click 'Yes', the previous infotype will be changed to 03/01/2008 - 03/04/2008 and the new infotype will be 03/05/2008 - 12/31/9999.

Users will need to pay attention to the dates and to all warning messages to ensure that the change they are attempting to make is what they really mean to do. It will just take some time for everyone to become accustomed to using the new system.

A: There is not a way to copy position actions, but there is a way to copy the comments that would be attached to an action.

Q: The RE_RHDESC10 transaction is used for position infotype display in OM 210. When you go into the report to look at individual infotypes, the title of the infotype does not display the infotype number. The infotype number is displayed next to personnel infotypes when viewed in PA20. Is there a reason for this? Is there a way to see infotype numbers next to the titles for position infotypes in RE_RHDESC10?

A: When in the infotype under the SAP menu select GOTO>INTERNAL INFORMATION, and a screen will display with the infotype on the top.

Q: Please clarify the difference between unoccupied and vacant positions. There have been conflicting definitions.

A: Vacancy Filled vs. Open is used primarily for designating that a position is marked for recruitment purposes. This setting is an attribute on the position. A position marked as Open is to be recruited for, while a position marked as Vacancy Filled is not being recruited for. This setting will be important when we implement e-Recruitment. Occupied vs. Unoccupied is used to indicate whether a position has a holder or not. If a person is in the position, the position will automatically show as occupied, regardless of whether the Vacancy Filled attribute is set.

Think of a chair. If someone is sitting in the chair, it is occupied. Otherwise, it is unoccupied. Marking a position as "Open" is like putting a sign on the chair indicating that it is available. Marking a position as "Vacancy Filled" is like putting a sign on the chair saying that it is taken or reserved.

A: There is not a way to reallocate multiple positions at once. If an agency has a need to do mass changes to positions, a meeting with BEST Shared Services to determine the best approach is recommended.

Q: Will we have a standard list of job abbreviations (short list job title) set by OSP?

Q: Are the job class titles changing? Since we no longer have a schematic structure how will a job be defined?

A: Job titles are not changing. The Job will be identified by the object id and its title. You can search on the Job title as well as the object id.

Schematic codes contained logic in the numbering, whereas object id's will not. However, Job Family and Branch categories have been defined in the system, and reports by these groupings will be available (BI report B0165).

Q: How do I see the pay scale or pay group for a position if no one is hired into it?

A: The Planned Compensation infotype on the Job will define the pay scale or pay group for a position that is related to that job. You can display a job using transaction code [PO03]. If it is a career banded rate, this will be defined on the Position directly.

Q: The Basic Data tab for Org unit details contains the names of the Holders of positions within the org unit. Can the holder's names be listed in order by Last Name, First Name MI? Currently, the names are displayed First Name, MI, Last Name. Also, can holders be listed in alphabetical order by Last Name in the Basic Data tab?

A: To sort the list in alphabetical order right-click on the Holder column and select the desired sorting. There is not a way to sort by last name on this specific tab.

Q: For extended duty, what should we enter if we use a dollar amount instead of a percentage?

Q: The workflow term "Reserved" - more definition was requested by course participants

A: Reserved just means you've touched the workflow item, so no one else will process it. If you don't want it reserved anymore, click the "reserve" button again to make it white - gray means it's yours, white means it's available to all who see the inbox.

Q: Questions had to do with why a transferred workflow item no longer is displayed in the inboxes of any other recipients and if that is the case, course participants wanted to know how long the workflow item could remain in the reserved status.

A: Any item in reserved status in workflow will remain in that status unless it is processed and moved to the next step (reject or approve), or released to the rest of the viewers at that level.

Q: Participants wanted to know whether a reserved item would be available to be viewed by the initiator.

A: The reserved items can only be seen in the Inbox of the person who has reserved it. Any item that an Initiator has created will remain in their Outbox for viewing the latest status on in the future.

Q: From the workflow inbox - can an item be deleted, i.e. - if a person being routed to as part of workflow, completes an activity and then changes their mind before it goes to the next person can the activity item be deleted from workflow by the person who created the entry?

A: A PCR workflow item can not be deleted, but if the person processing the item does not save and send it to the next person in the workflow, they can release it from their inbox (white box is release, gray box is "theirs"), then others sharing the inbox can see the item.

Q: How do you find a position number that you just created if you have saved your entry but forgot to write the position number down? How do you retrieve it if it has not been sent to initiate workflow?

A: If the position has not been sent to workflow (initiated) you will be able to search the "planned" OM actions to locate the position. There is also standard infotype reporting available that will show you the outstanding Personnel Change Requests (PCR's) and the workflow status. Also, You will be able to search on effective date and initiator name.

Q: Is the initiator the only person who can update/process OM/PA workflow actions? What happens if the initiator is out of the office?

A: The Initiator is the only person who can create and maintain the actions apart from the Funding approver who can create and update the Cost Distribution information. If the initiator is out of the office, the agency should called BEST Shared Services for assistance.

Q: Can a workflow approver change information after workflow is initiated or does the approver have to reject the action for the initiator to make the change?

A: Once the workflow has been initiated even if not approved, the approver would have to reject for changes to be made.

Q: How long can items that are in the `ready' status remain in Workflow without any activity by recipients?

A: There is no limit on how long an item can remain in a "ready" status in workflow. The system does not automatically escalate or remove items that have aged with no action being taken.

A: There is not limit on how long an item can remain in process in workflow. The system does not automatically escalate or remove items that have aged.

Q: Workflow: If an approver needs to make a change after workflow has been initiated, do all people in the approval line have to approve it again?

Q: How do the data entry personnel (creating a new position, for example) get the information needed to create the new position?

A: The process would be the same as how they get the information needed today (to enter into PMIS).

Q: Where can an agency find the specific location of an employee? Previously it was the section code in PMIS. Example: A DOC employee works at the Shore Building in Personnel, section code 1007. Where can this be found in SAP?

A: The work address is supposed to be stored on the position. The agency and the org unit can be found in PA on the Organizational Assignment infotype.

Q: In the PPOSE screen just above the org. chart display (overview section) there is a "Date and preview period" button. What does [current date] + 3 months indicate?

A: PPOSE displays the org structure for a distinct period of time. The default is today + 3 months. If there are assignments that are dated up to 3 months in the future PPOSE will display them. This is also useful to see if there are any new positions that are being created. You can change the display period clicking on the calendar button.

Q: In PPOSE when the person is selected, ie Robert Daly, (under the basic data tab) what does the heading Existence mean?

A: BEACON will maintain the names for departments and divisions that have been provided to the BEACON project team by the agencies themselves.

Q: Is there a clearer way to show supervisory relationships than "Relationship Text"?

A: The best way is using the PPOSE transaction. You can view it by org structure, position, or job. In the near future you will also be able to view org charts in an easy html link. This functionality will be available in early 2008. There is also a BI report that show Supervisor Relationships.

Q: The manager of an org. unit can be designated as a chief. (Displayed in org. charts in PPOSE) Does the "chief" designation serve any other purpose within SAP other than to see who the manager of the org. unit is when looking at the org. chart?

Q: What is the "object to be added/removed" with the arrow symbols used for in the icon legend? We assume it is to add new icons & descriptions and if so, who will have the authority to do that?

A: The legend is a standard SAP legend and not all of the objects in the legend will be used in BEACON, including the arrows and some additional icons. The key icons for agency users are positions, jobs, org units, and persons.

A: The numbers to the right of the box are the short "text" describing the text directly below. Agencies generate the numerical descriptions for the Org Key.

Q: Will the agencies in the selection of the object manger ever be listed alphabetically?

A: No. In the PPOSE transaction, the org structure in the search box is sorted by Org ID, not alphabetically.

Q: Students want to know if this transaction PQ13 Action 35 & 36 is linked before or after to any kind of workflow. There is no reference in the material to any workflow. If the answer is "NO" than the question is does anyone see my entries to either review or approve before it is posted to the internet? And the final question is when does it get posted to the internet?

A: There is no Work Flow with PQ13. Users should obtain appropriate approvals for their agency (different for different agencies). They could use the same process they did for PMJOBs (the PMIS vacancy posting system). No one reviews it before it is posted on the web. Entries are posted to the website at Midnight, 10AM, Noon & 2PM. (These times are the same as always with PMJOBS.)

A: The Job Vacancy Posting Functionality in SAP is live in production today. What this means is that users can enter vacancy posting information into SAP (via PQ13 transaction), and it will appear on the OSP Job Vacancies site. Users can also still access the PMJOBS functionality in PMIS for those vacancies that were created there and may need to be modified. We are also allowing agencies to continue to post new vacancies there. Allowing them to continue to use PMJOBS will enable us to continue to generate the old job vacancies file (PM380) out of PMIS until further notice. Agencies should choose one method or the other - do not post vacancies in both systems.

Here are some key things you may need to know in order to address questions:

1. Beacon Job Vacancy posting functionality is up and running, and vacancies entered there will go to the OSP vacancy site 4 times per day (12:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm).

2. PMJOBS functionality is still available. Vacancies entered there will continue to be posted to the OSP Vacancies web-site and will be sent at the same times as Beacon data.

3. The vacancies posted on the OSP website include vacancies from both PMJOBS and Beacon. Beacon postings will have an 8 digit position number, rather than a 15 digit position number.

4. The OSP vacancies site now groups vacancies by Job Family (this is how they are entered in Beacon), rather than Occupational Group. Vacancies entered through PMJOBS are being mapped into the Job Families.

5. The How to Apply information is being captured in Beacon, whereas for PMJOBS vacancies this information remains hardcoded in the web program and can not be maintained via PMJOBS.

6. Contact information for Beacon postings is captured via the Mailing Address of the Position the Contact person holds. Users should not enter the Contact information in the "How to Apply" subtype in Beacon. This will cause redundant information on the website. They should double-check the mailing address of the contact person's position when creating a posting. Vacancy postings without a mailing address will not be posted to the website.

7. Users can run ZOMR014 report to view the Job Vacancy Posting to confirm that all information is correct. They will need to enter the Position number, and posting and closing date parameters in order for the Posting to appear.

8. Users should enter the vacancy posting information into only one system, otherwise they will have duplicates on the web

9. As a rule, users should maintain vacancies in PMJOBS that were generated there, and should create new vacancies in Beacon as new vacancy postings are needed.

10. There is an issue with run-together words in some of the text blocks being transferred from Beacon. There is a manual fix, users will need to hit the space bar at the end of every line in the text box of the appropriate description subtype (whether cutting and pasting information in, or typing information in).

Q: When entering data for new positions, what is the difference between the evening and night differential?

A: There is no difference between Evening and Night Shift Premium. It's just a different shift. For example: Evening Shift maybe treated as second shift and Night Shift maybe treated as third shift. It depends on the Agency. If the Agency only recognizes one shift they can pick the one they want to use to be consistent.

Q: For new employees who are full-time with benefits how do you get the personnel number? DOT students in today's class say that new personnel are not in ORBIT until after they get paid so how will the personnel number get assigned if they are not yet in ORBIT.

A: The orbit numbers will be reserved/assigned during the SAP new hire action via an interface with ORBIT. If ORBIT does not yet have a number, they will assign one at that time and pass it back via the interface.

Q: Will schematic codes be used in some way? What will they be called now? Where do we see them?

A: No, they were replaced with object id's that have no logic in the number. The old schematics are being stored on infotype 9031. In the future, you will be able to search by title.

Q: For DOC, how will BEACON affect OPUS in relation to the FS11 screen which contains job codes, position numbers, etc.?

A: Job codes (schematic codes) and positions will be assigned new numbers in Beacon. We will keep the old 15 digit position numbers and 5 digit schematic codes in the system as a cross-reference.

Q: Is there only one job key per classification (job) title? How will the system handle classes with different pay-ranges for the same job class such as site differential, etc.? For example, DOC has different pay grades for nurses and even though they are the same job class, depending on where the position is located in the state they would be paid differently (site differential). We currently have different schematics that populate the pay information into the system. Will we have several job keys for the same class? How will OM data maintainers know which job key to use to represent the accurate pay grade?

A: These will be handled the same way as they are in PMIS. A separate Job Key will be set up for a job class that has a site differential. The title will be the same, but the range and/or grade will be different. OM data maintainers will have BI reports, as well as display capabilities in SAP, to see the salary range of the Job Classes. They will choose the appropriate Job based on this information, or they will be able to key in the Object ID of the job (similar to memorizing a schematic code).

Q: How is a job key different from a schematic? Is there only one job key per classification (job) title? How will the system handle classes with different pay-ranges for the same schematic such as site differential, etc.?

A: Each Schematic in PMIS is a job ID in SAP. There is only one job per Job title. Each Job in SAP has pay grades and levels/ Pay Scales Groups and levels and one can pick up the appropriate one based on the need.

Q: Will positions that have been vacant for a long period of time be brought over to SAP from PMIS? What about temp employees who are still on payroll but haven't worked/been paid in several months?

A: We are bringing over 4 types of positions from PMIS (0-vacant never filled, 1-vacated on: mdy, 2-filled, 4-funded but not established). Depending on whether a position is permanent or temporary have 3 different dates that are being used to determine whether to bring over a "vacant" position. An of course we bring over all filled positions, status 2. Permanent Vacant Positions:

· Position status 0 (Vacant, never filled) - Effective date > or = to 2006/07/01

· Position status 1 (Vacated on: mm/dd/yy) - Date Vacated > or = to 2000/07/01

· Position status 4 (Funded but not established) - Effective date > or = to 2007/07/01

We are bringing over positions that exist in PMIS. There are temporary positions in PMIS that will not be brought over. In the past agencies have been able to establish a temporary in payroll but not set them up in PMIS. Agencies have been instructed to put there temps in PMIS or they will not be brought over.

Q: When position numbers are transferred from PMIS prior to go live, how will the agency know what the new SAP numbers are?

A: The PMIS position number has been added to all of the BI OM reports. You should be able to pull a report at Go Live.

Q: This is a DOC policy question from one of my students. Some of their officers change shifts fairly often. When they change a shift, they will also report to a different supervisor. Will this be considered a position change that goes through the position processing described in the OM 200 course (slides 91 - 93) or is this considered to be a different kind of change that will follow a different policy? The student's concern is that by the time the change is processed, the employee may have changed shifts again requiring another position action and that the position procedures may not be relevant or efficient here.

A: No, the system is designed so that the "primary" supervisor should sign off on the time. Position changes can be used for long term absences and transitions.

Q: The training material states that a job defines EEO codes. This may have something to do with reporting, but the way it's stated in the materials, it seems like a job determines (defines) what EEO requirements are a part of that job classification. That doesn't make much sense, and some of the students have asked about it. Help?

A: The SOC Codes are assigned to graded jobs by the Office of State Personnel when the job class is established. When banded classes are established, the OSP assigns several SOC Codes from which the Agency chooses the most appropriate.

Q: Why is this called "SOC/Retirement Code"? What does it have to do with Retirement?

A: The SOC code refers to occupational categories used to group all the job classes for EEO reporting by OSP. With the implementation of Beacon and ORBIT, an additional category was added for the State Retirement system for their reporting. This code is referred to as the Retirement Code.

A: The SOC code refers to occupational categories used to group all the job classes for EEO reporting by OSP.

Q: To what extent will agency approvers continue to use paper forms? Some information is typically stored in an employee's paper personnel file.

A: Agencies will have to develop internal policies for which paper forms will be needed for the employee record. However, forms such as the PD -105 and PD-118 should no longer be required due to workflow and Infotype records.

Q: In the OM Student Guide on Page #50 (Organizational Plan), the Org. Unit # is 14200340 and there's another number (42G650000849) next to it. What does this number represent? Does one represent the Agency and the other represents the specific location within the Agency (Division, Dept. Facility, etc.)

A: The Org Unit number is simply a unique 8 digit number with no intelligence built into it, which uniquely represents the Org Unit. The other number to the right of it is the abbreviated 12 character Org Unit name. This field may contain a combination of numbers and letters. Agencies have defined these 12 characters with intelligence to represent their departments, divisions, sections, etc. The first 2 digits of the field represent the legacy (PMIS) department number. The training environment does not follow all of the production naming conventions.

Q: How is the organizational code populated? Are the first 10 digits brought from the PMIS position number?

A: The 12 character organizational code (short abbreviation) is defined by the agencies. A naming/numbering convention was encouraged. The first 2 characters of the code will represent the first 2 digits from the PMIS position number. The remaining characters were defined by each agency to meet their needs.

A: This field is for security purposes. The data for this field comes from the Personnel area and the Cost Center.

A: The agency will be able to assign whatever working title they feel is appropriate. The request to change a working title for Work-Against situations will be sent to BEST Shared Services via workflow (as part of the PA action). For changes to the working title that do not involve a Work-Against, the agency OM Position Maintainer or HR Master Data Maintainer can change the Working Title/Position Title directly via the PO13 transaction. Beacon recommends that the Copy function be used, rather than the Change/Edit function, if history is to be kept.

A: Severances will be handled in a similar manner, in that agencies will still receive OSBM approval prior to processing the severance. Currently, OSP sends employee severance requests to OSBM for approval. However, this approval process will be handled outside of workflow. OSBM analyst researches the available funding and approves the severance, then sends the request back to OSP for processing.

Q: What is the Quota Planning tab used for in the Organizational Unit Details area?

A: The Quota planning tab is not in scope for this roll-out. It is normally used for workforce planning in SAP.

Q: Under the personnel structure area screen, we understand that the "contract" field will no longer be on the screen, but it will be something that will run behind the scenes. However, what exactly does this refer to?

A: The field is not hidden; it is now being used to identify retirees subject to and exempt from earning limits as well as maybe other categories related to benefits.