Oracle HCM - My playground

Oracle R12.1.2 HCM New Functionality Part 1

2010-01-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

EBS R12.1.2 is released and much awaited gap in the OTL and Absence Management product is closed in the current release.
OTL timecard is integrated with the SSHR Absence Management, with this new functionality Absence entered in the Oracle Core HR/ ESS or MSS will be populated in OTL Timecard.Similarly Absence time entered in OTL can be viewed in Core HR and SSHR. This new functionality helps to maintain the data integrity and this new functionality also eliminates much of the custom work that need to be done by the consultants to validate the time entered in OTL against the Absence Management

To understand how to setup Absence Management refer the blog http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/07/leave-management.html

Archiving OTL Timecard

2009-02-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

The Timecard archive process in OTL helps to archive the timecard which are no longer needed and to improve performance of the OTL. Once archived the timecard summary information is available for the users but not the detailed view. Users will not be able to edit or modify any details of the timecard

Following are the process that need to be performed for the archiving the OTL timecard

1) Setup following profile option

OTL: Archive Restore Chunk Size
OTL: Minimum Age of Data Set for Archiving
OTL: Max Errors in Validate Data Set

2) Run 'Define Data Set Process' -This is the first step in the overall process of archiving timecard, This processes helps to identify the date range of the timecard that need to be archived. This process will move the data set to temporary tables in preparation for archiving.
Note: Make sure not to select too much data at once, the process may fail.
If the process fails the data can be restored using the 'Undo Data Set process'

3) Next step in the archiving process is run 'Validate Data Set Process' - This process checks for error on the timecards in the data set.This process returns a validation warning message if the process finds the timecard with the status: working, rejected, submitted, approved, or error.

Note:The validation process may encounter some errors during processing. To restrict the number of errors reported at one time, you can set the OTL: Max Errors in Validate Data Set profile option to a maximum number of errors. The process stops running when it reaches the number of errors you define.

4) Final Step in the Timecard archiving is to run the 'Archive Data Set Process' - The archive process moves the defined data set of the validated timecard data from active tables in the OTL application to archive table.

In my next blog I'll write the details of restoring the archived data back to OTL application

Try this out!

Employee Directory

2009-01-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Most of company have a separate team or a department to handle the Organization Development or Organization Design (OD). The companies use Software Packages to design the new Org chart or to re-org the chart.These software package will get the data from the ERP system or HRIS or will be maintained as a separate stand alone package which will be accessed by the employee via intranet.Once the organization design is done the changes will be done in the ERP or HRIS reflecting the new Org design

In this blog I am trying to explain how we can use Employee directory function in Oracle which will allow employees to view the company's Organization structure and browse the employee details. Small company's who are not having any Org charting tool can use this functionality in Oracle which will enable the employee to view the Organization structure,their subordinates and the reporting relation within the organization

Setup:
Attach the function "Proxy Page" to the Self Service Global Menu with a prompt

The data can be refreshed using the concurrent request "Refresh Employee directory" with following parameter

Try it Out!

R12 Maintain Employee Data using a Single Responsibility in Multi Business Group

2008-10-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

There will be always a question from the customers who are in an Global environment (in an multi Business Group environment) " How to maintain employee data using a single responsibility"

---Yes this was a constraint in 11.5.10, now in R12 this is made possible. Now customers will be able to maintain employees using the single responsibility across business group.

This functionality is Out of box with the product.
To leverage this functionality following are the pre-requistes/ Setups

HR module should be in Multi Buisness Group Environment
HR Organization hierarchy should be using Global hierarchy
HR Security Profile should be defind using the Global Security Profile form
Attach the global security profile to the HR: Security Profile at the Responsibility level

Once the above setup steps are completed, follow the below navigation

Global HRMS Manager > Maintaining Using Template > Maintain Employees

(M) View > find

Using the Find screen, In the Business Group Name field you will be able to select the Business group that you want to access the employee data and click find to retrieve the employee information.

Important Note: Using this method you will only be able to maintain the existing employee data. If you create any new employees using this responsibility, the employee data will be created in the default BG to which the responsibility is attached

Adding Cost Center value to the OTL Timecard

2008-08-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

The common requirement in any timecard configuration is to have a cost center field to charge the time against. By default in OTL Oracle provides the cost center field but for displaying the values in the Timecard you need to configure the ltd file and create a View to hold the cost center value

Following code can be used to create the view
CREATE OR REPLACE FORCE VIEW HXC_CUI_CUSTOM9_V ( display_value ,value ) AS select fv.flex_value'-'fv.DESCRIPTION display_value, to_char(flex_value_id) value from fnd_flex_values_vl fv, fnd_flex_value_sets fvs where fv.flex_value_set_id = fvs.flex_value_set_id and fvs.flex_value_set_name = 'GL_COA_COST_CENTER'

Following are the three layout needed to be modified

Payroll layout - hxczzhxclayt0000.ldt
Payroll Review page - hxczzhxclayt0005.ldt
Payroll Confirmation page - hxczzhxclayt0001.ldt

Replace the cost center segment with the below code

Modify the Payroll layout - hxczzhxclayt0000.ldt

BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS "Payroll Timecard Layout - Cost Center"OWNER = "CUSTOM"COMPONENT_VALUE = "COSTCENTER"REGION_CODE = "HXC_CUI_TIMECARD"REGION_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC"ATTRIBUTE_CODE = "HXC_TIMECARD_COST_CENTER"ATTRIBUTE_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC"SEQUENCE = "190"COMPONENT_DEFINITION = "CHOICE_LIST"RENDER_TYPE = "WEB"PARENT_COMPONENT ="NEC Payroll Timecard Layout - Day Scope Building blocks for worker timecard matrix"LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24"
BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS "NEC Payroll Timecard Layout - Cost Center"OWNER = "CUSTOM"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY = "CHOICE_LIST"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE1 = "Custom9VO" ########Changed to Custm9VO ##############QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE4 = "N"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE8 = "DisplayValue"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE9 = "Value#NUMBER"
QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE10 ="oracle.apps.hxc.selfservice.timecard.server.Custom9VO" ########Changed to Custm9VO ##############
QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE11 = "TIMECARD_BIND_END_DATETIMECARD_BIND_END_DATE"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE17 = "OraTableCellText"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE20 = "N"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE21 = "Y"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE22 = "L"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE25 = "FLEX"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE26 = "Dummy Cost Context"QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE27 = "Attribute2"LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24"END HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS
END HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS

Modify the Payroll Review page - hxczzhxclayt0005.ldt

BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS "Payroll Review Layout - Cost Center" OWNER = "CUSTOM" COMPONENT_VALUE = "COSTCENTER" REGION_CODE = "HXC_CUI_TIMECARD" REGION_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC" ATTRIBUTE_CODE = "HXC_TIMECARD_COST_CENTER" ATTRIBUTE_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC" SEQUENCE = "160" COMPONENT_DEFINITION = "CHOICE_LIST" RENDER_TYPE = "WEB" PARENT_COMPONENT = "NEC Payroll Review Layout - Day building blocks - matrix layout" LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24" BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS "NEC NEC Payroll Review Layout - Cost Center" OWNER = "CUSTOM" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY = "CHOICE_LIST" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE1 = "Custom9VO" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE8 = "DisplayValue" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE9 = "Value#NUMBER" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE10 = "oracle.apps.hxc.selfservice.timecard.server.Custom9VO" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE11 = "TIMECARD_BIND_END_DATETIMECARD_BIND_END_DATE" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE17 = "OraTableCellText" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE20 = "N" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE21 = "Y" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE22 = "L" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE25 = "FLEX" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE26 = "Dummy Cost Context" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE27 = "Attribute2" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE30 = "Y" LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24" END HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS END HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS

Modify Payroll Confirmation page - hxczzhxclayt0001.ldt

BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS "Payroll Confirmation Layout - Cost Center" OWNER = "CUSTOM" COMPONENT_VALUE = "COSTCENTER" REGION_CODE = "HXC_CUI_TIMECARD" REGION_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC" ATTRIBUTE_CODE = "HXC_TIMECARD_COST_CENTER" ATTRIBUTE_CODE_APP_SHORT_NAME = "HXC" SEQUENCE = "210" COMPONENT_DEFINITION = "CHOICE_LIST" RENDER_TYPE = "WEB" PARENT_COMPONENT = "NEC Payroll Confirmation Layout - Day Scope Building blocks for worker timecard matrix" LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24" BEGIN HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS "NEC NEC Payroll Confirmation Layout - Cost Center" OWNER = "CUSTOM" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE_CATEGORY = "CHOICE_LIST" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE1 = "Custom9VO" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE8 = "DisplayValue" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE9 = "Value#NUMBER" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE10 = "oracle.apps.hxc.selfservice.timecard.server.Custom9VO" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE11 = "TIMECARD_BIND_END_DATETIMECARD_BIND_END_DATE" #QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE17 = "OraTableCellText" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE20 = "N" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE21 = "Y" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE22 = "L" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE25 = "FLEX" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE26 = "Dummy Cost Context" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE27 = "Attribute2" QUALIFIER_ATTRIBUTE30 = "Y" LAST_UPDATE_DATE = "2004/05/24" END HXC_LAYOUT_COMP_QUALIFIERS END HXC_LAYOUT_COMPONENTS

Line Manager Time Entry funtionality

2008-07-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

This post in the continuation of the Previous posts Various way of entering time into OTL

Oracle Time & Labor Line Manager functionality is available with the product out of Box, The User Function name is Timecard Mgr (Function -HXC_TIMECARDS_MGR).

This function is included in the Seeded Manager Self Service menu HR_LINE_MANAGER_ACCESS_V4.0

IMPORTANT CATCH

By default this function will allow the manager to enter his own time, which most of the customer wont prefer the Manager to put in his time in the same place where the Manager can enter time for his direct reports.

there is an very simple way to restrict Manager for entering his time using the Timecard Mgr function

we will be able to limit by setting an additional parameter on the Timecard Mgr function (Function - HXC_TIMECARDS_MGR). To limit the manager from entering their own data, the parameter - pManagerEnabled should be entered at the end of other parameters (connector is &) with an N being 'Not Enabled', and a Y equaling 'Enabled'.

Example - to disable Line Manager entry of their own time using the Line Manager functionality, the parameter is added as: &pManagerEnabled=N

Try this out

Identifying Descriptive Flexfield in the Form

2008-07-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Descriptive Flexfield are used to gather additional information about the business entity beyond the information required by the Oracle application

Or we can also define the descriptive flexfield as the configurable fields which we can used to capture the additional information

Descriptive flexfield appears on a form as a field enclosed within Brackets

Many time I get the question from my functional users how they will be able to identify the descriptive flexfield name in the form.

There is an easy way to find this

Navigate the the Form where you want to find the Descriotive flexfield
The select the following Menu

Help > Examine

In the Block Select ‘$DESCRIPTIVE_FLEXFIELD$
In the field select the Form in which you are looking for example “ PERSON.DF’. The Value field will display the Descriptive flexfield that you are looking for.

OTL - Authorized Delegate

2008-07-05T22:55:00.000-07:00

Authorized Delegate: This functionality is similar to the timekeeper functionality but has few difference

Timekeeper uses the PUI where as Authorized Delegate uses Self Service
Timekeeper can access the people who are assigned to the Timekeeper group where authorized Delegate is controlled by the HR:Security Profile
Timekeeper has seeded responsibility where the authorized delegate the user must build the custom responsibility using the Seeded Menu 'Authorized Delegate Timecard Entry’

This functionality is good to use when a single person need to enter time for fewer number of employees, if there are more number of employees it is always advisable to use timekeeper

Try it out

OTL Time Keeper

2008-06-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

There are multiple ways you can enter time into OTL

Self Service time - employee entering his own time
Line Manager time Entry - Manager Entering time for his direct reports
Timestore Deposit API - Time import using the interface from the third party system
Timekeeper - one person entering time for the group of employees based on the group assigned to them
Authorized Delegate - One person entering time for the group of employees based on the security profile attached in the user/responsibility

In this section I am going to explain how to setup Timekeeper module for entering the time for the Group of employees

Before starting the Timekeeper configuration , if you directly go the Responsibility OTL Super timekeeper and click the function timekeeper Entry you will get the following error msg,

The above error message will clearly tell you what are the setup steps you need to do to enable the Timekeeper

The first two steps are to be done in the OTL Application developer Responsibility
1. Timekeeper Misc Setup Items
2. Timekeeper Layout attribute

The third step should be done in the OTL super Timekeeper Responsibility
3. Timekeeper Group is created

The Forth step should be done in the System administrator, this step should be done at the user level and it is only for the super timekeeper
4 Profile OTL: Allow Change Group Timekeeper

I'll be explaining each of the above steps in detail in my next post

Accrual Balance Display in Self Service HR

2008-04-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

One of the comon requirement that often times come in the Absence Managment is HR team want their employee to be able to see their available accrued/PTO balance.
As an employee it is always good to know how much vacation balance an employee is left with

Here is a simple setup that can enable your employee to view the available balance through the Self Service absence Management

Step 1: Define the Absence element
Step 2: Link the Element based on the Eligibilty Criteria
Step 3: Define the Absence Type
Step 4: Define the Accrual Plan
Step 5: Attach the Accrual Plan to the Employee
Step 6: Complete the setup for the Self Service HR
Step 7: Make sure employee is able access the absence Management Functionality

Setup steps to enable the Entitlement Balance in the Absence Management

Step 1: Create an Element set with the type as ‘Run Set’
Step 2: Attach the element set to the Profile option HR: Accrual Plan Element Set Displayed to User at the Responsibility level (Employee Self Service)
Step 3: Bounce the Appache

Now Navigate to the Employee Self Service > Absence Management > (T) Entitlement Balance

Try this out

Job Vs Position

2008-03-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

As a Functional consultant the first thing that we should decide before we can design the solution for a customer is whether the system going to be a Single Business Group or Multi Business Group.

The second main important thing we need to decide is whether the customer is going to use Job or position.

When we put this question to the customer the first expected question for the Customer side would be what is the difference between Job and Position

The content in this blog is more of my own view and the simplistic approach I always like. review the documentation before you can decide on the approach you want to take

To explain it in a very high level
Jobs are Generic Title or Role within a Business Group, independent of any single organization. Required. Usually more specific if positions are not used.

Position are Specific occurrence of one job, fixed within an organization. Not required

If you are in US legislation your job will drive you FLSA and EEO reporting. Personally I feel maintaining the Position is hard in an unstructured organization. Position Hierarchy will suite for the University/college/School and Government Organization

The Maintenance is more in the Position hierarchy than in the Job. If your customer feel they need less maintenance activity then you should recommend Job not the Position

R12 Suitability Matching functionality

2008-01-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

Suitability Matching Functionality is the new functionality available in both Employee and Manager Self Service.
To explain this is in a very common language - this function helps the employee to find the opportunity in the organization that suites his role and competency.The employee can compare the various competency that is desired and essential for a particular role
For the manager Self service this function helps them to find the employee / applicant based on the competency and the role

List of Options available in the Manager Self Service

In the manager Self Service lets take an example of searching the employee/contingent worker/an applicant based on the competency profile and View it in a Graph for analysing the competency for the Job

Start with the option 'Find Suitable People by Competency'

Add the list of competency that you want to search for

Once you select the continue button, you will be able to list of people that match your competency requirement

Click the button Graph people by Competency button that will help you out in the viewing the graph based on the Min , max and the personal proficiency level

Try this out!!!

R12 Global Deployment functionality

2007-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

It is a common Operation process in any industry to move people around or transfer employee’s temporary basis for a particular project or Assignment. Or transfer them permanently to a different country.

Though this functionality was available in 11i for the HR professionals to do it manually if the cross business group is enabled they can update organization and location in the assignment form, or another method of doing this is to terminate and hire the employee in the new business group.

Now in R12 this functionality has been made as a standard functionality in the Manager Self Service Responsibility Under the function 'Transfer'

Manager Self Service > Transfer

Select the employee you wanted to transfer, follow the wizard which will take you through complete process like new salary change, new direct report, New Location Change, Time card approver, work Schedule etc., finally you will receive a Review summary page where you can review and submit for the approval

Note: if you are a Oracle Payroll Customer you need to take necessary actions when changing the work location for the payroll Taxation

Try this out!!!

HRMS PFK RUP2 Global name Search

2007-10-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

Mainly in the multi BG environment we end up in creating duplicate employee name, the current HRMS search functionality some times the duplicates are missed out due to the localization and the Name format used in each legislation.

In the Family Pack K Rup 2, System Uses Global Name format to Search for the Duplicates Across Business Group.
The Global name format is independent of the Legislation which helps us to avoid the duplication.

To Enable this Functionality we need to enable the profile HR:Cross BG duplication Person Check.

Still the HRMS uses the same existing functionality to search the employee in single business group

Try this out!!!

Regards
Ramesh Kumar S

Payroll Reversal Pack K Rollup 2

2007-10-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

HRMS Family Pack RUP 2 was released on Jun 2007.
Due to current project schedule i didn't had much time to test the new functionality.
This week i had the chance to install the PF K RUP 2 to my test instance, the lot of functionality which i was expecting is here now...

The first thing which i would like to highlight is Payroll Reversal functionality.
If you want to reverse assignments that have been processed as part of a payroll run or QuickPay run, you can now reverse them as a group by assignment set instead of reversing by individual assignment only. Any assignment sets that you use for reversals can also use the normal assignment set features such as:

Include or exclude specific assignments
Make formula-based amendments

The original reversal by single assignment is still available, and you can continue to access it from the Assignment window.

Payroll Reversal Details http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/09/payroll-reversal.html

Defining Assignment Set http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/08/assignment-set.html

Try it out!!!

Changing Salary Basis

2007-10-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

An interesting scenario came in one of my current projects with my customer who are already using Oracle HRMS for past three years
They wanted to change the salary basis from Monthly to Period (Biweekly). It is a common scenario that many company may change their Salary basis from monthly to biweekly or Bimonthly, but the interesting thing in this project is they wanted to modify the history salary information for all the employees from Monthly to Biweekly.

The first thing that came in my mind was the Auditing issue that we might run since we are touching the most sensitive information of the employee data (SALARY), But the HR Users clearly informed us they can provide us with the exact data that need to be loaded.
Another advantage was the customer is not using Oracle Payroll,Oracle HRMS system is not a transactional system

We followed the following approach

Remove the salary proposal for the employee for whom we need to modify.
Update the Assignment with the new Salary Basis in Correction mode
Reload the salary with the same Change date as we unloaded

We used WebADI for unloading Salary information, updating assignment with the new salary basis and loading the salary proposal for the new salary basis.

We used WebADI custom Integrator with the following API

HR_MAINTAIN_PROPOSAL_API.DELETE_SALARY_PROPOSAL
HR_ASSIGNMENT_API.UPDATE_EMP_ASG_CRITERIA
HR_MAINTAIN_PROPOSAL_API.UPDATE_SALARY_PROPOSAL

Try this out!!!

Balance Adjustment

2007-09-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

When we process the payroll, there are times that the users might have deducted excess tax or other deduction, So we might need to correct the Balances for the correct YTD and the for year end reporting

There are two methods of doing it.
By defining an Balance Adjustment Element or if we know the exact amount to be corrected then we can able to adjust using the Adjust Balance Form. The latter one is very simple and it is an easy option to adjust the balance

Follow the below steps to adjust the balance using the Adjust Balance form, if we know the exact amount to be adjusted

Fast Path > Adjust Balance > Select the Assignment for which we need to adjust the balance
Set the Effective date

Select the element who's pay or the Input Value need to be adjusted
Select the Consolidation set to control the further Post-run Processing
Check the costing Check box if you need the balance adjustment to be costed
Save the work

Try this out!!!

Payroll Reversal

2007-09-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

After running the payroll and if post run processing has already occured we cannot correct the payroll by Retry, even in case of roll back we need to roll back the complete Payroll for correcting an entry for one or two assignment.
In these cases we can use Payroll Reversal. In short Payroll Reversal helps to correct the run result for an single assignment

To Reverse the Payroll run for an assignemnt
(R) US HRMS Manager
(N) Fast Path > Reverse Payroll Run
Select the Assignment that you need to reverse from the LOV, Tick the Reverse Check Box for the Payroll that we need to reverse and save the work. Consolidation set for the run will be automatically displayed for the Reversal
Now the Run Result is been reversed to the Value before the payroll Run. Now you can modify the Entry and start processing your payroll again.

Try this out!!!

Payroll Rollback

2007-09-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Once the Payroll /Quick Pay process is completed if there is some issue or if some correction need to be made. We can either

Retry
Reverse
Rollback

In this blog i am trying to explain how to rollback a Payroll process.

What Rollback does?

In simple word to explain Rollback process reset the Run Result and the Latest balance back to the value before running the Payroll Process.

Rollback process has to be run in the same reverse sequence of the Payroll Run. for eg. for processing the payroll, we run the following process in sequence Payroll run, Prepayment, costing, Transfer to GL. Similarly for the Rollback we need to run in the reverse sequence Rollback Transfer to GL, Rollback Costing, Rollback Prepayment, Rollback Payroll Run.

Note: if the costing details are imported into GL then we cannot rollback the process.So it is always advisable to run the Transfer to GL process after all validation and checking are done and run this process when we feel no more modification are needed

List of Process type that can be rolled back in PF K RUP1

Advance Pay Element
Balance Adjustment
Bank or Post office Payment
Batch element entry
cheque writer
Costing
Costing of Payment
Estimate costing
ext/Manual Payment
Magnetic report
Magnetic Transfer
Pre-Payments
Purge
QuickPay Pre-Payment
Quick Pay run
Report Generator
Retro Costing
Retro Pay
Retro Pay by Action
Retro Pay by element
Reversal
Run
Transfer to GL
Void Payment

Quick Pay Process

2007-09-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

For processing the payroll for a single employee we can use Quick pay
For employee who is leaving and for whom we need to pay by check or cash
When an employee is joined after the payroll run has been completed for the period we can use Quick pay to process only for this particular employee instead of completely rollback the Payroll Process and starting it again.

Follow the process to run the Quick Pay(N) Assignment > (B) Others > Quick Pay

Set the effective Date for the Quick pay
Date Paid and Date Earned will be defaulted to the effective date
Select the consolidation set
Select the Run Types (it varies from Legislation to Legislation)
Save the Quick Pay Definition
Submit the quick pay by pressing the start Run Button.
Status should be changed from un-processed to Complete.
If any errors fix the error and press the retry button
Once the Quick Pay run is completed we need to process the PrePayment
We can run the Prepayment from the Quick Pay window by just clicking the button start PrePayment Or combine it in the Batch PrePayments processing for the assignment’s Payroll (this can be used when a new employee is joined after the payroll run is completed so we can run the quick pay separately for this employee and combine it with the batch or the prepayment.)

Try it out!!!

Payroll Retry

2007-08-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Once the Payroll run is completed there may be chance that few assignment may end up in some errors or few assignment may be processed with some old element entries or payroll department would have processed with limited information or the payroll analyst would have forgotten to modify the formula for earning/deduction element which will affect certain group of Employees, We can uses retries for correcting these mistake which occurred in the Payroll Run provided there are no Post run process taken Place

We can retry a single assignment, set of assignment, or Mark a large payroll Process for Retry

To retry Single assignment

It can be done in the quick Pay form by clicking the Retry Button, this is the convenient method for retying if we have very few employees to be corrected

To retry for small number of process

In the Payroll Process window, Query the process based on the payroll and the Action type, Mark the process for retry by checking the Retry check box
This effectively marks all the assignment attached to the process

To Mark a Large Payroll Process for Retry

If we need to retry the payroll, run the Process 'Mark Payroll Run for Retry' this has two parameters Payroll run and the Assignment Set

Note:

If any post run process has occurred then we need to rollback the Post Run Process and then mark the process for retry
Any assignments having a status of Error after a payroll run, those assignments are automatically retried when you run the payroll again

Try this Process!!!

Payroll Processing

2007-08-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

Before we start the Payroll Run. We need to assign the necessary element for the employee

For the normal payroll run we will include all the elements and process all the assignment
But under certain circumstance we may need

Include or exclude certain element or assignment
Include or exclude certain group of assignment
Include or Exclude certain classification of element

For the above conditions we may need to create an Assignment set or an Element set

Creating Assignment Set

Example for the use of assignment set is. We need to process the payroll for the night shift employees before the day shift employees as they need to receive the Pay advice the night before the rest
For complete details of setting up the Assignment set please refer the blog http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/08/assignment-set.html

Creating Element Set

Enter the Element Set name
Choose the classification as ‘Run Set’
Save the work
Select the Include button and add the required element to the set

The Payroll Process

Quick Pay
Payroll run

Quick Pay

Follow the link for the Quick Pay in Detail

http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/09/quick-pay-process.html

Follow the steps to run the Payroll Process
1) Payroll Process
Parameters: Payroll Name
Consolidation Set
Element Set
Assignment Set
Date Earned
Date Paid
Run type
2) PrePayments
Parameter: Payroll Name
Consolidation set
Start Date
End Date

3) Run the check writer Process (Enabled for few legislation)
4) Run the Direct Deposit Process
5) Payslip Archive Process

If the costing is enabled then
6) Run the costing Process
7) Costing of Payments (if you want to cost at the payment method level)
8) Transfer to GL

From the GL side, import the Journal Entry

Try it out!!!

Assignment Set

2007-08-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

Assignment set are to be defined for the following purpose

For processing only the subset of the Assignment for the payroll processing eg: Payroll for the People who work in the night shift need to be processed first as they need to receive the pay advice before the day shift employees
For generating the quick paint report for the set of assignment
Can be used in the BEE for creating the identical entry for all the assignment in the Assignment set

Before we start defining the Assignment set we need to decide whether we are going to use Assignment set for the payroll process or for some other process like reporting etc.

Defining the Assignment set

Enter the name of assignment set (Only Char, ( _ ) and Numbers are allowed and NO SPACE allowed)
If you need to use this assignment set only for the payroll then select the Payroll from the LOV Otherwise it is an optional field we can leave it blank.
Save the work

If we want to use the formula criteria for defining the Assignment set choose the button Criteria from the assignment set window

Enter the Seq Number
Leave the Condition field Blank for the first line, you can choose either AND / OR depending on the criteria
Choose the Database Item as the variable for the criteria (all the Database Item will be prefixed by '&')
Choose the Operator (=, <=, >= , etc..,)
Enter the Value or choose the Database Item
Keep entering the other criteria from the second line
Save the work

If you specifically want to include or exclude any assignment choose the button Amendment button

Choose the option Inc/Exc from the LOV
Select the Name from the LOV
Save the work

Select the Generate Button for generating the Fast Formula for the criteria defined above. The Fast formula will be created with the same name as the assignment set

Try it out!!!

Cost Allocation flexfield and Costing process

2007-08-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

Following are the important Key flexfield in HR and Payroll

HRMS

Job Flexfield
Position flexfield
Grade Flexfield
People Group
Cost Allocation
Competence Flexfield
Personal Analysis Flexfield
Soft Coded KeyFlexfield

Payroll

People Group Flexfield
Cost Allocation Flexfield
Bank Details KeyFlexField

Setting up of Cost allocation flexfield is an mandatory setup step for the Payroll Setup

Cost allocation Flexfield is used to accumulate the employee costing information, if we use Oracle Payroll we can accumulate the cost associated with the payroll and transfer to GL and if we are not using Oracle Payroll we can able to interface the costing information to the third Party Payroll system

Few important points which should be taken care before creating the Cost allocation flexfield.

If we are planning to integrate with the GL, then the number segment in the cost allocation flexfield should be same or more than the accounting flexfield.

We should atleast have one segment for the cost allocation flexfield otherwise will run into error when defining payroll or in other form which is having this flexfield

Cost Allocation flexfiled makes use of qualifiers, we can use the segment qualifiers to control the level at which the costing information can be entered in the system.the various level at which we can cost are

Element entry
Assignment
Organization
Element Link
Payroll

If the element is not costed at any level then the final costing information will get accumulated in the suspense account which is defined in the payroll form.

Use the GL Map window to map the cost allocation flexfield with the GL Accounting flexfield, we should map each cost allocation segment with the GL Segment for each Payroll. for the addition segment in the cost allocation flexfield should be mapped to 'Null'

Following are the process that you need to run for transferring the costing information from Oracle to Payroll

Costing process
Costing of Payment
Transfer to GL

Try it out!!!

Assignment action interlock rule failure

2007-08-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

During the Payrol Run Rollback Many time we might come accross with the Error message
APP-PAY-07507: Assignment action interlock rule failure

This May be due to multiple resason but one such reason is, there may be some future sequenced process which has to be rollback before we roll back the current process.

To find the list of all future sequenced process Exucute the following Query

select distinct pact.payroll_action_id, pact.effective_date, pact.action_type
from pay_action_classifications CLASS,
pay_payroll_actions PACT,
pay_assignment_actions ACT,
per_assignments_f ASS,
per_periods_of_service POS,
pay_assignment_actions act1,
per_assignments_f ass1
where POS.person_id = ass1.person_id
and ass1.assignment_id = act1.assignment_id
and ASS.period_of_service_id = POS.period_of_service_id
and ACT.assignment_id = ASS.assignment_id
and ACT.action_sequence > act1.action_sequence
and ACT.action_status in ('C', 'S', 'M')
and ACT.payroll_action_id = PACT.payroll_action_id
and PACT.action_type = CLASS.action_type
and CLASS.classification_name = 'SEQUENCED'

This Query will return the list of all future sequence process which need to be rolled back first before we rollback the current process

Hope this helps :)

Defining Payroll

2007-08-12T02:26:00.000-07:00

Sample Setup Steps for Defining Payroll

Before Defining the Payroll you need to make sure that you have defined the Payment Method.
You can refer the blog for defing the payment method
http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/08/payroll-payment-method-definition.html

(N) Payroll > Description

Set the Effective date
Enter the Payroll Name
Select the Payroll Type you want to Use from the List e.d Bi-weekly, Bi-Monthly, Monthly etc.
Enter the End date of the Payroll's First Period
Enter the number of years you want the Payroll Calendar period to be opened, Note certain process needs this date to be extended to the future e.g PTO carryover process needs payroll calendar to be opened till the end of the accrual term
In the date offset region you can either enter positive or negative values for the number of days before and after the period end date: Check Date: is the date on which the Paycheck become negotiable; Schedule Run: Is the date scheduled for the regular each period Cut off Date: This date provides the information that that final date for entering and modifying any payroll information before the Run Pay Slip: This is always a positive number which Will prevent your employee from viewing the payslip before the actual payment is been made. Note: These Offsets date default for the calendar you can modify the date for each period based on your needs by selecting the period
Select the Default Payment Method. this Default payment method will be used when the employee is not have the valid personal payment method
Select the consolidation set. One consolidation will be created once you create a BG.
In the costing region select the costing account and the suspense account. these segments are based on the Cost Allocation Flex field setup
Select the option Negative Payment check box, if you want the the prepayment process to calculate the Negative amount
Multiple Assignment attribute is enabled only for few legislation, This attribute enables the employee to get single payment for multiple assignment
Further Payroll Information is completely based on the localization, each localization will have their unique attribute. This Further information Will be enabled only for the payroll customers
Save the work
You can select the Valid Payment Method for this employee in the Valid Payment Method form
Select the Period dates form, you can see the periods with the default offset date defined above. If you need to close the payroll period you can change the status which will prevent from modifying the payroll period.

Try this out!!!

Payroll Payment Method Definition

2007-08-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

The first step to start the payroll Setup is Payment Method

In the Planning and Analysis Phases come up with the Plan of type of Payment Method the company is going to follow

Type of Payment Method

Check
Direct Deposit
Cash

Check will be the default pay method for the payroll.
The Direct Deposit varies from Legislation to Legislation e.g NACHA in US, GIRO in Singapore etc..,

We need to also analysis whether we are planning to Reconcile with Cash Management,

Once we freeze the requirement, follow the below steps for defining the Payment Method

Set the Effective date
Enter the Payment Method Name e.g Check, NACHA
Select the Payment Method type NACHA for Direct Deposit, Cash for Cash Payment etc
Currency Will be defaulted to the BG but you can change it if required
If the Payment method controls the payments to third party then select the option Third Party Payment e.g Payment for Benefit Carrier
Country will be defaulted from the BG
Enter the Bank Details, Bank Details field varies from Legislation to legislation. For few legislation the flexfield uses Value Set, for few other legislation it is Free Text

Now if you are in 11.5.10 CU 2 and Family Pack less then PFK.RUP1 the Next step will be select the Set of books and enter the cash account.

If you are in 11.5.10 CU2 PFK.RUP1 follow below steps.

Select the costing Tab you can able to select various option of costing based on your needs and if you need to transfer the payment details to GL select the option transfer to GL
Select the General Ledger Tab, Select the Set of Book Enter the Cash account and Cash Clearing account for the purpose of Reconciliation. Error Account and the Control Account are optional. These segments comes from GL accounting Flexfield
Once we select the Cash account in the General Ledger Tab and save. Automatically the cash account and the Set of book information is populated in the Reconciliation Tab
In Others Tab if we use the Direct Deposit as the Payment Method then we need to enter the details of the Direct Deposit In Singapore we need to enter the Company Code. In US we need to enter few details about the NACHA
Save the work

Note:

From PF.K.Rup1 the payment method can be costed which was not available in the previous release.
The Bank Defined in Payroll should match with the Bank Defined with the AP otherwise reconciliation will not work as expected
For the Third Party Payment always choose the option either Cash or Check

Try it out!!!

Maintaining An Element

2007-08-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

As I previously mention in my Blog 'Element are the Building Blocks for both HR Analysis and for the Payroll Processing'
For Element Creation refer http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/07/element-definition.html

After you have defined and used the Element following are the list of changes that can be made:

You can Change the Required Input Value to Not-required
Alter the Sequence of the Input Value to be displayed in the Element Entry Screen
You can Change the Input Value Validation Rule minimum, Maximum, Lookup and Formula
Change your specification of which input values create Database Items. Note, however, you cannot remove Database Items if they are used in any formulas or QuickPaint reports.
You cannot remove existing input values or add new one if you have created any entries for the element

If you wish to delete the element or make any modification you have to follow the below process

Delete the element entries from all the assignment
Delete the Element Link
Date Track to the Element creation Date and modify the details needed or you Can delete the element in the current date itself.

Salary Management and Administation

2007-08-05T17:34:00.001-07:00

This is sample setup for the Salary Management.

Before we start the setup we need to have the plan and the complete analysis of the Business Requirement.

Salary Frequency
Single Currency or multiple Currency involved
Does company follow any grade Scale for the salary etc..,

LOV for the Salary PROPOSAL_REASON

Follow the setup for the defining the salary

Salary Element Setup

Set the effective date.
Define an Recurring Element with classification Earning, Actual Termination, Multiple Entries allowed, and with process in Run option selected.
Create the input value with the Unit as Money.
Link the element based on the Eligibility criteria.
For more details about the element setup refer my previous posting http://ramesh-oraclehrms.blogspot.com/2007/07/element-definition.html

Grade Scale Setup (Optional based on Requirement)

workstructure > Grade > Grade Rate

Define the Name for the grade rate
Select the Unit as 'Money'
Save the header information
Select the grade name and the enter the minimum and maximum value
Save the work

Salary Basis Setup

Salary Basis form is used to define the salary basis for each salary element to be used in the salary administration

Enter appropriate name for the salary Basis
Select the Basis Monthly or Annual or Hourly or Period
Based on Basis we selected, we need to enter the annualization Factor. The annualization factor for monthly and Annual will be defaulted by the system. For hourly and period we need to enter
Select the element name that we defined above or the seeded element name (Regular Salary or Regular Wages)
Select the input value e.g in US legislation for the Regular Salary element choose the option Monthly Salary
Select the Grade Rate defined above
Select the appropriate Grade rate Basis as defined in the Grade rate form
Enter the Grade Annualization factor e.g. for hourly 40 * 52 = 2080 hours
Save the Work

Navigate the People > Assignment (B)

Note: From the Family ack PF K salary PUI form is replaced by the Self Service Screen

Select the Salary information Tab
Select the Salary Basis
Save the assignment
Select the salary button> Add new Salary
Enter the Details in the salary Screen
Once you apply the salary will be automatically approved for the first time entry.
The Salary Element entry will be automatically created once the salary information is saved

Points to be noted

The Salary will be automatically approved during the first time entry and from the second time onwards only the menu or the responsibility having the salary approval function will be able to approve the proposed salary.

Enjoi Implementing!!!

Clearing the Cache from front end

2007-08-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

For the modules involving OA Frame work (Self Service) whenever we do any modification with respect to setup or profile option change etc.., It will not be reflected immediately as you expected due to cache

Another Very common problem is when we add a new responsibility involving the Self Service to the user we will sometimes end up with the following error
'XXX is not a valid responsibility for the current user. Please contact your System Administrator'

The above issue may be due to the cache in the Apache server
we need to request the DBA to bounce the Apache Server for clearing the cache and for the setup to be reflected

I was wondering Is there a way we can do this from front end?

Yes it is simple and easy..... Follow the steps below

Add the responsibility 'Functional Administrator' to the user name
Navigate to (R) Functional Administrator > (T) Core Services > (T) Caching Framework > (M)Global Configuration > (B) Clear all

It will prompt a warning message. Select Yes

Now navigate to the corresponding module, you can able to find the setup reflecting if the previous issue was due to the cache

Try it out!!!

Leave Management

2007-07-22T22:58:00.001-07:00

High Level Setup details for the Leave Management and Accrual Plan Setup

Define the lookup for ABSENCE_CATEGORY and ABSENCE_REASON

Navigate to the element form

Define an element Name and Description
Select the classification as Earning or Information
Select the type as 'Non Recurring'
Select the termination rule 'Actual Termination, final close or Last Standard process'
Select the option Multiple entry,
Process in run(optional)
Enter the qualification condition if needed
Save the Element
Create the link for the element

Absence Type form

Enter the name of the Absence Type (Best Practice same name as the Element defined)

Select the Category of the Absence

Associate the element that is defined above

Select the Input Value

Units get selected same as the one which we defined in the element input value

Select the Balance either Increasing or Decreasing

Select the list of Reason for the LOV

You can end the setup if you want to just use the abscence element as the adhoc abscence type. To define the PTO accrual follow the below steps

Accrual Plan form

Enter the Accrual Name (Same as the Absence Name)

Select the Accrual Category, based on the category that is selected the balance will be displayed in the SOE

Select the Accrual start date, based on the date we select the accrual balance will be calculated

Accrual Units will be same as the Unit the we selected above in the Absence type

Select the Accrual formula provided by the oracle or a custom formula based on the business requirement

Select the carryover formula seeded one or the custom one based on the requirement

Select the Absence information form the list.

Based on the Business requirement select the Balance reset date e.g if you need to reset the accrual count on Jan 1st, select the option 1 January. We can also build our custom balance if needed

Select the Period of ineligibiltiy: Legth, units or any custom formula

Save the work.

This will create 5 element and also link will be created automatically similar to the Absence element link

Enter the accrual Band

Optionally you can include Net Calculation Rule in addition to the once which is created during the accrual definition

Save the work

Attach the Accrual Plan to the employee assignment

Following are the elments created autmatically once an accrual plan is saved

Accrual Plan

Acrual Plan Payroll Balance

Accrual Plan Carried over

Accural Plan Residual

Accrual Plan Tagging

Try it out!!!

Element Definition

2007-07-22T22:57:00.001-07:00

Element are the Building Blocks for both HR Analysis and for the Payroll Processing

Elements can be used define Salary, Benefits, Absence from Work etc..

Here is the brief description of creating element in general.

Before we start building a new element we need to identify

Whether the element is a recurring or nor recurring
Whether we need to process it in the payroll
Whether it is deduction or earning or information or non taxable or non payroll payment etc..
What are the input and the output expected from the element
Whether we need to build any formula for processing an element
Whether the element is to be linked to all employees or is there any eligibility criteria that has to be set.
What is the currency that is going to be used for processing
Whether we need to cost the element.
Whether the element is taxable or non-taxable

Once we are able to identity the type of element from the above list of criteria.

List of steps for creating the element

Select the Effective date
Enter the Element Name
Enter the reporting name- The name which will be displayed i the SOE (Optional)
Enter the Brief description about the element
Select the classification of the Element form the LOV-this classification may vary from Legislation to legislation
Select whether the element is Recurring or non Recurring
Based on the termination Rule that you want to set for your element, choose the option Actual Termination, Final close or Last Standard process
Choose Multiple entries for the Non Recurring element Additional Entries if needed from the recurring element, Process in Run for the element that need to be process through payroll.
choose the option closed for entry if want to prevent any new entry for this element, this does not affect the entries which are previously defined.
Select the Currency Input and Output if not using the default currency defined in the BG
Select the Tax With holding rule from the Further Information DFF.
Priority of element processing will be defaulted based on the classification selected
Skip Rule can be selected based on the requirement.
Save the Element definition
Enter the Input Value, Select the Input Value type based on the element e.g Date, Number, money or Time
Select the Option Database Item if we plan to use the Input value in the Fast formula for any processing
Enter the Default Value for the Input Value if needed
Save the Input Value Definition
Select the Balance Feed if we need to feed any Balance in addition to the Default balance created

Defining Element Link

Once we define the element, We need to Link the Element before we can able to use the element for any assignment

Set the Effective date
Select the element from the element link Form
Select the Standard Link if the element need to be attached to all the assignment
Select the Eligibility criteria based on Job, Position, Grade, salary Basis, Payroll , Group, position and Location
Select the costing if the element need to be costed and transferred to GL
Select the qualification condition based on Age and the Length of Service
Save the work

Attach the element to the assignment

Enjoi HRMS implementation :)

Security Profiles Setup

2007-07-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

Once the Business Group is Setup a Default Security Profile will be created with the same name as the Business group with security type as "View All Organization", It is Strongly recommended not do modify the default Security Profile.

Attach this profile option to HR:Security Profile and attach the Business Group to the HR:Business Group at the site level if it is the Base Business Group or attach it to the responsibility if it is the Multi Business Group

In case of the multi Business Group, if we need to enable the Security Group ,
set the Profile option 'Enable Security Groups' to yes at the Application level,

Either we can attach the new security group manually to each responsibility at the time of attaching it to the User or we can able to create the responsibility for each of the Security group defined by running the concurrent program 'Enable Multiple Security Group process'

To Build the Custom Security Profile:

Enter the name of the Security profile and select the Business Group from the LOV. Now three type of security can be assigned

'Secure Organization by Single Operating Unit' or 'Secure by Operating unit and Inventory organization' are for the restricting certain Financial and Manufacturing Business View.Attach this profile option to MO:Security Profile at the responsibility level

'Secure Organization by Organization Hierarchy and or Organization List', this security type is for the restricting the user to access certain Organization based on the hierarchy. Select the Organization hierarchy from the LOV, you can include the top organization in the hierarchy or you can exclude the Business Group. Once the necessary setup is done you can attach this security profile to the Responsibility level in the Profile Option HR:Security Profile.

Note: Once the security is setup we need to run the concurrent program 'Security List Maintenance' and choose the parameters based on the requirement.

Enjoii Implementing :)

Business Group Creation

2007-07-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

To start new implementation or even during planning Phase we need to come up with the plan Whether we need to go for Multi business Group or Single Business Group

The Need to go multi Business Group:

If you are going for the global Implementation with Multiple Legislation
If you going to implement Payroll then we need to have the Localization specific to the Particular country
If suppose the company mainly operates in one country and if they have very few employees in the Other countries we can go for two BG once for the home country and other for the Rest of the World

Single Business Group are advantages if the company operates in only one country.

If suppose the instance in single BG and if the business exist in multiple Legislation.If the instance is already live then we need to do a shared HR to a Full HRMS conversion. The Best Practice to follow for this conversion is

Create the new BG with the required Legislation
Migrate the Employees data to the new business group
Also we need to take care of the migration of Legal entity, Organization and the operating Unit
After the Data migration we need to apply the legislation Patches and the Run HRGlobal.drv

Once the HRGlobal.drv is run, all the legislation specific data will be loaded automatically, Based on the Legislation code the Bank and the Legal entity flexfield get mapped to the BG

To View the data across Business Group use the Profile option HR:CROSS BUSINESS GROUP

Rest in the Next Post.......