This memorandum is intended to clarify procedures attendant to establishing and maintaining employee work schedules and the reporting of time as provided for in the newly implemented Time and Labor Module in PS/HR. The roles and responsibilities of employees, supervisors, timekeepers, and approvers are also addressed. The new Time and Labor Module went into effect on the Northridge campus on July 1, 2001. This module is currently being used in Administration and Finance and Student Affairs. The module will be reopened to additional campus departments over the next several months.

Employee Work Schedules

Supervisors have the responsibility of establishing business and office hours for all employees. Employees holding non-exempt positions who are eligible for overtime have fixed work schedules that equate to their time base. Employees paid on an hourly basis also generally have regular work schedules. Exempt employees who are ineligible for overtime compensation also have established business schedules and office hours. Employee work schedules and business and office hours may be adjusted by the supervisor pursuant to applicable provisions in collective bargaining agreements, which have certain notice requirements, or other CSU or campus regulation if appropriate, and the general needs of the department.

Employee Time Reporting Responsibilities

Employees have the responsibility of requesting their supervisors' approval for planned absences. When an unanticipated emergency or illness causes the absence, employees are responsible for notifying their supervisor as soon as possible and for keeping their supervisor informed as to the possible date of return. Employees are also responsible for promptly reviewing and signing their absence report at the end of the pay period and for submitting the same to their supervisor in a timely manner. Each employee who has worked and is due positive pay, whether straight time or overtime, must complete the appropriate time-sheet or other required payroll administration form and have the same approved by their supervisor. This obligation is considered complete when employees, using the Time and Labor Module, submit their own time in that system and as discussed below, their immediate supervisor approves their time.

Supervisor Responsibilities

Each supervisor is responsible for seeing that employees comply with the regulations governing absences from work and that such absences are properly approved and documented. Designated supervisors include Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, MPP Supervisors, and Supervisors in Bargaining Unit positions. For employees paid on a positive pay basis for either straight time or overtime, shift differentials, or other special pay, supervisors must be sure that such work is approved and that the proper supporting documentation is completed. As discussed below, documentation using payroll administration forms can be modified by adjusting the way time is entered into the PS/HR time and labor module and the level at which approval is done.

Timekeeper Responsibilities

Each department on campus must identify a Timekeeper who is responsible for monitoring the reporting of departmental employees' time. This is done by either directly entering monthly leave and positive pay in the PS/HR Time and Labor Module or supervising the direct entry by employees. (Note that only department timekeepers may enter student pay and shift differential pay.) Timekeepers should utilize appropriate reporting forms completed by employees and approved by supervisors in entering time into the Time and Labor Module. Exceptions to the use of written documentation can be made, as discussed below, when employees directly enter their time into the PS/HR Time and Labor Module and their time is approved by their immediate supervisor. In order to ensure appropriate and timely reporting, departments should identify alternate Timekeepers, whether within their own department or in their supervisor's department, so that transactions can be processed in the absence of the regular department Timekeeper.

Approver Responsibilities

Each college and/or department is responsible for identifying Approvers who have the responsibility for approving department monthly leave and positive pay transactions. Timekeepers cannot be Approvers and Approvers may not be Timekeepers. In addition, Approvers cannot approve their own time in the PS/HR Time and Labor Module. Approvers should confer with their Timekeeper to determine the accuracy and appropriateness of the time that has been reported prior to its being approved. Colleges and/or departments are encouraged to identify Approvers, wherever possible, who are directly responsible for approving the time of their employees. Alternate Approvers should be identified in order to provide coverage in the event of the absence of the Approver. Alternate approvers should normally be at a similar level of authority to act as the primary approver.

Employees who submit their own time, Timekeepers, and Approvers, must adhere to the schedule of actions that are conveyed in the university's payroll calendar. In order to meet department needs, department supervisors are authorized to establish department specific deadlines to ensure that the campus-wide deadlines are met.

The Rules for All Time Reporting Codes (TRC's) in the PS/HR Time and Labor Module can be found at http://www-admn.csun.edu/hrs/Payroll/index.html. Appropriate Payroll Administration forms can be located at the same web address.

Application for Access to the PS/HR System

The new SOLAR HRMS Application for Access forms are now on the web at the following address: http://www-admn.csun.edu/ps/hrs/.

There are two forms available. One form is to request access for an individual operator, and the other is to request access for a group of employees. Instructions for completing the forms are accessible from the web page. All forms must be signed and received in HR before access will be verified and granted.

How to Become Almost Paperless in the PS/HR Time and Labor Module

With the recent implementation of PS/HR, there have been concerns expressed by the campus community regarding the continued necessity of preparing various payroll forms, in particular the monthly Absence Report and Authorization for Extra Hours Worked forms.

In most campus departments, the designated Approver of time entered into PS/HR is typically a manger or director. These individuals typically have supervisors, and their supervisors are usually more directly aware of their staff's leave usage time and any CTO or overtime earned. In effect, the manager or director may be one or more layers removed from knowing the details or legitimacy of the leave time they are approving.

With this type of security setup, the designated manager or director Approver needs documentation to ensure that he/she knows what he/she will be approving online within PS/HR. In these situations, a backup document approved by their supervisor will substantiate their approval. If campus departments wish to decentralize their PS/HR approval process and give Approver access to their supervisors, the completion of the Absence Report or Authorization for Extra Hours Worked forms will no longer be necessary. Employees can enter their own leave usage or CTO or overtime into PS/HR and their direct supervisors can approve it online.

In this context, it should be noted that Deans, Directors, and heads of other administrative units can be provided with reports on a regular basis, which convey all time entered into the PS/HR system for any particular month. It should be noted that it is the policy of this campus not to provide PS/HR user identification numbers to student employees and, as a consequence, the campus timesheet will continue to be a required form for time worked by student employees. The hours worked will need to be entered into PS/HR by a designated Timekeeper and approved online by the department's Approver. These timesheet records will continue to be retained by your department for a period of five years.

Managers in colleges or departments who may wish to make a modification in their financial and human resources trees in the SOLAR system should contact Dawn Stanley at x2214 to discuss changes in their financial trees, and HR systems at x7335 to discuss changes in their human resources trees. These discussions should focus on the most effective way to make changes that accomplish the objectives sought. Changes that result in any modification in the actual organization of a college or department must be conveyed by the submission of an organization chart that has been approved by the designee of the appropriate vice president. To ensure that the financial and human resources trees are kept in sync, the financial and human resource system staff will coordinate both the nature and timing of these changes.

Future Plans for a More Paperless Campus

The campus is actively pursuing other ways in which we can eliminate using paper to process transactions while still satisfying the requirements of campus auditors and state policies.

In future phases of PS/HR we will introduce an online Master Payroll Certification process that will eliminate the need for campus departments to submit a signed and approved Time and Attendance Report (Form 672) to Payroll Administration. Department Approvers will be able to approve their faculty and staff attendance online through PS/HR and this electronic signature will be the official record of your salaried faculty and staff's entitlement to a monthly pay warrant.

It is currently anticipated that by the end of this academic year other available features within PS/HR Self Service Module will be launched. Faculty and staff employees will be able to go online into PS/HR to change their address or tax withholding information without filing a paper document. These changes will be submitted electronically to Human Resources where they will then be processed.