A Newsletter From the Core-CT Project

October 2002

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Core-CT HRMS System Benefits

A list of benefits of the Core-CT system identified by the Core-CT project team and state agency representatives

Module: Human Resources

Process: Administer Salary Plans

• Automated Mass salary increases. 
• Automated Step Progression. 
• Effective dated salary plan histories available to HR, Payroll, Time and Labor. Process: Hire workforce 
• Single point of entry processing - all employees are integrated with payroll, time and labor, and benefits at the time of entry. 
• Applicant information is integrated with employee information to ease applicant hire sub-process. 
• Employee appointment/transaction history can be easily viewed due to effective dating within the Core-CT HRMS application. 
• Use of Core-CT HRMS checklist functionality will allow Agency HR staff to avoid errors in the hiring process by giving them an online standardized checklist of required steps to be completed for the various hire transactions. 
• Integration with the State's highly customized ATC system for Reemployment, SEBAC and Examination processing.

Process: Maintain Workforce

• Core-CT is an integrated system with a single point of entry, so if a job change occurs as a result of the Select & Recruit process (for example), the new position information already exists for the employee and does not have to be re-entered. 
• In Phase 2, Retroactive job changes trigger retroactive payments upon entry for payment using the delivered Retroactive pay functionality. This function will be implemented once payroll history as of implementation is available in Core-CT.

Process: Manage job class and positions

• Job Classifications will be maintained in the system 
• Position Management - all employees receiving paychecks will be associated with a position number 
• Full Time Equivalent - all positions will be counted towards the FTE, if applicable, for better state accountability and budgeting

Process: Meet Regulatory Requirements

• Applicant Flow Report will enable agencies to report on recruitment efforts for Affirmative Action.

Process: Select and Recruit, e-recruit

• A centralized applicant database will exist that is accessible at the agency level, to ensure screening of applicants state-wide. 
• Applicants may apply online or through submission of a paper resume or application. 
• Utilizing the Select and Recruit process feeds the Hire Workforce process. Data entered during the Select and Recruit business process does not need to be re-entered if the employee is hired.

Process: Manage Competencies (Phase 2)

• Ability to establish, maintain and report on detailed competency information. 
• Ability to notify supervisor and employees of job-specific competencies and determine training needed in order to meet each competency. 
• Self service functionality of eRecruit is integrated with competency functionality and allows candidates/employees to document competencies and accomplishments on-line which enables Agency HR Specialists to match employees with appropriate job codes.

Process: Administer training (Phase 2)

• Ability to create a course, create session(s), and post the training schedule(s) 
• Ability to enroll participants in course(s)/session(s) 
• Ability to store participant training requests on a waiting list until course is scheduled 
• Ability to track training completed by employee 
• Ability to tie course(s) completed to employee competencies/accomplishments data

Process: Plan Workforce Successions (Phase 2)

• Ability to plan workforce successions for key managerial positions within State agencies. 
• Ability to review key position and key position incumbent career plan information to assist in planning/developing retention strategies.

Process: Manage Workforce Careers (Phase 2)

• Core-CT delivers Employee Review pages on which the Agency HR Specialist can record the details of employees' performance reviews. 
• The Employee Review pages are linked to the Plan Careers pages to assist Agency HR Specialists with career counseling meetings. 
• The Employee Review pages are linked to Employee Development Activities pages so that the recorded training can be incorporated into the employee's review as appropriate.

Module: Payroll

Process: Administer Post Confirm

• Automated extraction and interface to accounts payable of tax deduction deposit.

Process: Calculate and Confirm On Cycle Payroll

• Due to the iterative nature of pay calculation, everyone involved with the payroll will be able to validate and correct data at a much earlier stage than the current legacy system. Specifically, Agency Payroll Specialists and Central Payroll Specialists will be able to see the results of the payroll calculation several days before the pay confirm occurs.

Process: Calculate Manual Checks

• Manual check processing within Core-CT allows the State the flexibility to report payments that are made outside of Core-CT directly into the Payroll System.
• By linking the State's manual check process to an on-cycle calendar, the State will be able to send one set of outbound interfaces that are accurate and complete.

Process: Calculate On Line Checks

• Core-CT online check functionality provides a method to produce an on-demand check within the system. 
• Core-CT online check functionality provides a method to produce a model check to ensure correct calculations that are occurring both inside and outside of the system.

Process: Commitment Accounting

• This process allows for position level fiscal year budget controls. 
• Integrates the budgeting process with the HRMS functions.
• Allows for a more detailed budget to actuals reporting structure. 
• Greater flexibility to define default funding source information within the HRMS system. 
• Greater flexibility to override funding source information on a pay period by pay period basis.

Process: Manage Employee Data

• Core-CT has the built in functionality to automate non-resident alien taxation once specified in the Employee Tax Data page. 
• PeopleSoft has the functionality to reduce from state withholding amount as well as add an additional state withholding amount. 
• Core-CT maintains bond balances at the employee level.

Process: Manage Adjustment Processing

• Core-CT's check reversal functionality allows the State to reverse a check issued out of Core-CT and automatically reverse gross pay, taxes, deductions and employer contributions. 
• Core-CT's check adjustment functionality allows Central Payroll to perform partial reversals or adjustments that result from additional processing that occurred outside the system.

Process: Manage Employee Garnishments

• Core-CT's functionality will allow the State to process garnishments centrally rather than at each agency. 
• Increased garnishment functionality, automation of processing, and delivered State and Federal regulations will help ensure consistent processing and adherence to State and Federal regulations. 
• Core-CT's built in functionality to distribute available funds between garnishment orders by priority will eliminate manual calculation and distribution between orders. 
• Core-CT's ability to provide online historical information will greatly aid both the Central Payroll Specialist and the Agency Payroll Specialist in tracking garnishment processing per employee.

Process: Manage Quarterly and Annual Payroll Reporting

• Core-CT has the ability to reprint individual W-2's. 
• Core-CT can keep multiple years of payroll balances and W-2 data. 
• Core-CT has the ability to print individual W-2c's.

Process: Manage Reprints

• New check numbers for dead paychecks are automatically assigned by Core-CT from a different set of check numbers than the normal pay cycle. 
• Core-CT maintains a record of Dead Paycheck numbers that have been replaced with active check numbers. 
• Core-CT provides complete check stub information in the reprint file.

Extras

Process: Administer Retroactive Payrolls (Phase 2)

• PeopleSoft has the capability of automating retroactive pay for individuals

Module: Time and Labor 

Process: Administer Time Validation and Approval

• The Time Administration Process allows for the identification and correction of exceptions prior to the final Load Time and Labor process. 

Process: Administer Time Reporting

• This functionality supports self-entry of employee time in Phase 2.

Process: Distribute Labor Expenses

• Ability to track time at the level of task detail agencies require and allocate costs accordingly. 
• Task profiles enable the State of Connecticut to specify how to distribute reported time across tasks: by quantity, by percentage, or by distributing time equally across all tasks. 
• Ability to override Chart of Account information at the point of time entry. 
• Ability to publish estimated and actual project-related costs to Core-CT Projects (Projects is part of Core-CT Phase 2)

Process: Maintain Time Reporting Rules

• Time Reporting Rules will assist in assuring that contractually obligated payments will be processed during Time Administration Batch Processing and each Time reporter will be compensated properly as defined by their contract as well as state statutes and regulations. 
• Time Reporting Rules reduce the need to perform manual calculation and entry of exception time in cases where bargaining unit agreements dictate how an employee should be compensated as compared to the actual hours that an employee works. 

Process: Manage Leave Accruals

• Ability to provide leave balances on employees' check stubs and deposit advice 
• Ability to view leave balances on Weekly Elapsed Time page (time entry page)

Process: Manage Time Collection

• Two custom system-generated timesheets will be pre-printed with employee, schedule and balance information. 
• These options will facilitate the transfer of timesheet entries into the Core-CT application in an organized manner.

Process: Schedule Employee Time

• Allows the creation of templates for a variety of workday patterns, this includes rotating schedules and/ or schedules that do not follow the 7 or 14 day period 
• Allows the Agency Specialists to assign a schedule to employees from existing schedule calendars. 
• Allows for Exception time reporting.

Module: Benefits 

Process: Benefits billing

• Core-CT will automatically enroll eligible employees into the Benefits Billing System by means of Benefits Administration. 
• Core-CT allows for employees to be billed for all benefits through one system. 
• Core-CT will automate the Arrears process for employees who miss a paycheck.

Process: Event Maintenance

• Core-CT Benefits Administration functionality will automate eligibility checking and enrollment management, based on the defined eligibility rules.
• Core-CT provides the functionality to automatically trigger events based on job actions. The system also provides the functionality to trigger manual and passive events. Automating event identification ensures that every potential State of Connecticut transaction that could possibly have an effect on benefits is captured. 
• Core-CT provides the functionality to automatically determine coverage begin and end dates and deduction begin and end dates based on rules established on the Event Rules Table. 
• Benefits Administration automatically detects and classifies HR events into Event Classes. Event rules are setup to process each event class differently. For example, only health plans coverage level is available for a change during a Family Status Change event. During a Hire event, all plans are available for change. 
• Core-CT automatically generates benefits enrollment forms detailing employee benefit options. The Core-CT enrollment forms are individualized for each employee and detail all the options, option codes and the costs associated with each option election. 
• The Core-CT enrollment form functionality provides an opportunity for the State to design a "universal enrollment form" and eliminate the many individual carrier enrollment forms currently being used. 
• Core-CT will generate Confirmation Statements. Once employee elections are entered into the system, the confirmation statement is generated and the employee's elections are validated - before payroll is processed. (This is not the case today.)

Process: Administer open enrollment 

• The Base Benefits Audit Report provides a summary of potential employee data error conditions that would otherwise show up when trying to process enrollments or changes. 
• Core-CT's individualized enrollment forms will provide employees with comprehensive current benefits information. This will help employees make better-informed decisions regarding benefit elections while reducing the number of benefit inquiries. 
• The Core-CT system provides ease of entry of employee benefit elections. All benefit elections can be entered on the same page. The system also facilitates the entry of new and changed dependent data, which also can be entered on the same pages as the employee elections. 
• The Benefits Administration process produces a number of reports that will aid the State in managing the progress and status of the Benefits Administration process. 
• Core-CT built-in edits will inform the Agency Benefits Specialist of any errors and data inconsistencies that need to be corrected. This will enable the Agency Benefits Specialist to promptly contact employees to submit corrections. 
• The delivered process allows employee records without errors to continue through the Benefits Administration system while other employee records can be in various stages of processing. 
• Core-CT will generate confirmation statements, which validate employee elections. New employees will be able to validate their elections once their records are processed successfully through the Benefits Administration system. The Agency Benefits Specialist will be able to make corrections to the employee elections prior to payroll processes, which will help reduce the number of payroll adjustments. 
• PeopleSoft provides the capability to differentiate groups of employees and not require all employees to return their enrollment form. The system can be configured to roll their current elections forward. 
• PeopleSoft provides the capability to finalize enrollment for employees who have not returned their enrollment form by enrolling them into their default benefit plans, as dictated by the default event rules setup on the Open Enrollment event. 
• Core-CT provides accurate process status during the Open Enrollment cycle. The Central Benefits Specialist will have up to the minute information regarding percent of completion for all of the open enrollment steps.

Process: Retroactive Benefits

• Core-CT provides functionality that will automatically identify employees who require Retroactive Benefit and Deduction processing, calculate the amount of the Retroactive Benefits and Deductions and load their refunds into their paysheets or amounts owed into their arrears balance. 
• The delivered Retroactive Benefit and Deduction reports can be used to view calculation totals for individual employees before and/or after the load to payroll to ascertain the money owed by or due to the employees, and to audit Retroactive Benefit and Deduction activity. 
• Individual Retroactive Benefit and Deduction requests are generated without user intervention. A change to employee or benefit-related data that has an effective date prior to the current pay period end date of the employee's payroll would trigger the Retroactive Benefit and Deduction request.

Process: Maintain Benefit Plans and Programs

• Core-CT provides the functionality to maintain rates at the table level. In Core-CT, a table rate change will update all records that reference that rate, eliminating duplicate record keeping in multiple systems. 
• Core-CT provides effective dated tables that easily record data changes. As a result historical changes to rates, limits and the addition of plans is easily tracked and viewed. 
• Core-CT provides the functionality to enter benefit-specific vendor information, such as group number, policy number, and vendor contact information, in a single table, regardless of how many benefit plans a provider is tied to. Additionally, the information stored within the Financial system's vendor tables can be automatically synched up to the HR system's vendor tables to ensure that all vendor-related information is correct. 
• Core-CT delivers menu-driven configuration table reports, allowing the end-users to easily generate reports. 
• Core-CT is a fully integrated system and only requires the entry of data once. This data can then be used by any Core-CT application that references that data. The implementation of Core-CT Benefits will eliminate the need to enter information into and maintain information in separate systems to administer benefits processes.

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