Volume 7 Issue 5 - April 2024
Subscribe to the SSDT Newsletter by clicking here. Your email will be added to a distribution list.
Employee Self Service
The SSDT team is in the process of creating an employee self-service application, which will serve as a replacement for the existing Kiosk product.
The first production release of the employee self-service application (ESS) will include all existing Kiosk features with the exception of storing performance reviews and Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) functionality. The performance review feature, which allows sharing a document between a supervisor and staff member, has little adoption. Based on its very-limited utilization and a plethora of alternatives, it is not being implemented in the first version of the employee self-service application. Since IPDP functionality is not being replaced in the employee self-service application, access to the existing Kiosk IPDP features will continue until July 2025, providing additional time to explore alternatives. The SSDT is also investigating developing an IPDP product for release in 2025 though this is currently in the initial planning stages. More information will be released as this progresses.
Key dates related to the release of the new employee self-service application and the sunset of the existing Kiosk product include:
May 2024: Employee self-service will be released in “early access” form.
July 2024: Employee self-service will see its first official production release.
May – September 2024: Existing Kiosk users will be converted to the new employee self-service application.
September 30, 2024: The existing Kiosk application will reach end of life for all features excluding IPDP (as detailed above).
The early access stage (running from May to July) will allow those interested to convert before the application reaches its first official production release.
NOTE: Districts currently using Timesheets in Kiosk or Frontline’s Absence Management software will not be eligible for the first early access releases. These features are still under development and require coordination with third parties. This functionality will be added with subsequent releases as development is completed. All features will be available with the first production release in July 2024.
This early access stage will provide the SSDT with an approximate two-month window to gather feedback and correct deficiencies in ESS not detected in internal QA. If you are eligible and interested in adopting early, please contact your ITC. All existing Kiosk users will need to be migrated before September 30, 2024, but how this occurs, and the scheduling of conversions will be at the discretion of the ITCs and their districts.
To help expedite the conversion process, workflow configuration, leave sub categories, user configuration data (including roles) and custom links from the existing Kiosk application will be extracted and imported directly into the employee self-service application, alleviating the need to re-create this data. The user interface will be similar to the existing Kiosk to help mitigate the training burden associated with migrating users to the new application.
The SSDT is also focused on making this new application mobile friendly, particularly in the areas of the user interface for creating and approving leave requests. This will allow users and supervisors to interact with leave requests from cell phones, tablets, etc.
Are you interested in seeing a demo of the ESS application? This month’s video spotlight contains a brief demonstration of the options available to a standard user. You will see that the functionality is consistent with the existing Kiosk application but delivers a more modern and enhanced experience.
Refunding à la USXS
Refunding Payroll Item(s) in USPS
Processing a refund to an employee has never been easier! Whether you need to process a refund to an employee now or wait and include the refund the next time they are paid, process the refund now as a physical check or a ACH payment, we have you covered!
The first step in refunding a payroll item(s) is to create the Error Adjustment.
Go to Core>Payroll Item>Error Adjustment and click Create. -or-
Go to the employee’s dashboard>Payroll Item and click the Edit icon for the appropriate Payroll Item.
In the Error Adjustments area, click Create.
A pop-up window will appear. Enter the appropriate refund information. Click Save.
Amount - Enter the amount wanting to refund as a negative to give the money back to the employee.
Date - Leave this field blank if processing the refund the next time the employee is paid or when using the Processing>Payroll Item Refund option. If the Error Adjustment is to be processed on a specific payroll then the Date field must be a date within the payroll processing period (date range from Beginning Date of a payroll to Ending Date of a payroll) for the payroll you wish to have the Error Adjustment applied.
Description - Enter a description for auditing purposes.
Process the refund.
If the refund is being processed the next time the employee is paid, no further steps are necessary. As long as the Payroll Item>Pay Cycle matches the Pay Cycle selected when the payroll is initialized, the payroll item refund will be included and paid.
If wanting to process the refund outside a payroll - now, then use the follow steps:
Go to Processing>Payroll Item Refund. Click the checkbox on the payroll item you are wanting to refund.
Click Refund Selected Error Adjustments.
Select the option to create a physical check or create an ACH payment.
If you selected the Check Payment option, submit the XML file to your check printing software. If you selected the ACH Electronic Payment file option, submit the ACH file to the bank using your normal upload process.
Items to Consider:
Once a refund is processed, any amount involved with the refund (meaning if an annuity is refunded and now taxes are involved) is placed in the Processing>Outstanding Payables. If these amount(s) should not to affect the payable total(s) then a Payables Adjustment(s) should be created.
If you are wanting a report detailing the refund, go to Payments>Refunds. Click the checkbox for the refund you are wanting the report for and click Detail Report.
For more information regarding refunding payroll items, check our Refunding a Payroll Item checklist in the Useful Procedures section of the documentation, or click here.
Processing Refunds in USAS
In USAS, a refund transaction tracks the process of returning money that was receipted in the system. When a refund is issued, the received amount on the selected revenue account will be reduced by the amount of the refund. Optionally, check ‘Create a Check’ to issue a check with the refund transaction as a means to return that money to a vendor. When the vendor number is entered, it will associate that check with the vendor and automatically populate the 'Refunded To' field with the vendor name. Either a physical check or electronic payment will be posted to the system depending on the default payment type of the vendor at the time that refund is created. After the refund is saved, navigate to the USAS Disbursements grid to print the refund check.
Useful links:
Check out a preview of our new Employee Self Service (ESS) application in State Software! The 15 minute demo includes the options available for a standard user including how to create a leave request and how to view existing leave requests.
Employee Dashboard Has a New Addition
Leave accumulations is now a menu option of its own.
If you are wanting to view an employee’s leave accumulations, simply click on the Accumulations option and you will be taken to the new Accumulations grid (please click on image below for enhanced view).
New Warning Added to New Contract
When saving a new contract, if the system calculates a Pay Per Period that differences from the value entered in the New Pay Per Period field, a warning will now appear (please click on image below for enhanced view).
Tip: Once all the new contract information has been entered, don’t forget to click on the Calculate button before clicking Save.
Requisition Approval Report
If you have the USAS Requisition Approval Workflow module enabled, you have a new report available on the reports menu. This new canned report may be customized via several options provided and will display the requisition audit trail for all requisitions that are currently in the workflow approval process based on the user’s selections on the report. The selections available for this report include:
The Action the requisition has taken may be chosen or this may be left blank to include all actions (Submitted, Approved, Rejected, Recalled, Canceled).
The Status of the requisition may be selected or left blank to include all statuses. The statuses include Pending, InProgress, Approved, Rejected or Cancelled.
A range of requisition numbers may be selected.
The Username may be selected.
Remember that you may also save the report’s parameters and recall the options later.
Here is a sample report showing all actions on requisitions with a Status of Approved.
