Setting Up the Benefits Administration Run Control Process
This section discusses how to set up the Benefits Administration run control process.
Note: To access the run control pages, you need to create a run control code or use an existing one. The COBOL program that runs the Benefits Administration process, PSPBARUN, deletes this run control only after the process is successfully completed.
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Page Name |
Definition Name |
Usage |
|---|---|---|
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BAS_RUNCTL1 |
Specify a process to run by identifying the Open Enrollment, Event Maintenance, or Snapshot schedule for which you're planning to run the Benefits Administration process. |
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BAS_RUNCTL2 |
Add participants to a schedule you're processing, or process a specific set of employees. |
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BAS_RUNCTL3 |
Set up open enrollment or Snapshot routines. Capture new participants for a specific Open Enrollment or Snapshot schedule already in progress. Finalize and apply defaults for participants in the schedule who have been processed with errors. |
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BAS_RUNCTL4 |
Process passive events for Event Maintenance schedules. Identify the passive events that have occurred in a defined period of time and create an entry of the events in the BAS_ACTIVITY table. |
Use the Schedule and Chkpt Restart (schedule and checkpoint restart) page (BAS_RUNCTL1) to specify a process to run by identifying the Open Enrollment, Event Maintenance, or Snapshot schedule for which you're planning to run the Benefits Administration process.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Schedule and Chkpt Restart page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Schedule ID |
Select the schedule to run. When the schedule is selected, the page displays the BAS type (Open Enrollment, Event Maintenance, or Snapshot). The BAS type of the schedule determines which features you can access on other run control pages. The page also displays the company and BAS group ID defined on the Schedule table. |
EM Process Mode (event maintenance process mode) |
If you selected an Event Maintenance schedule, select the EM Process Mode:
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Chk Point Interval in Minutes (check point interval in minutes) |
Indicate a number of minutes between commits; 60 is a reasonable number. If a job terminates abnormally, values for the last record processed appear in Restart Position. |
Record Eligibility Results |
Use to troubleshoot benefits processing errors related to eligibility. When this option is selected, the system checks eligibility for all benefit programs and for all options within the benefit programs for which the participant is eligible. It records the results of these checks on the Review Eligibility Results page. In normal processing, the system stops checking eligibility the first time a participant fails an eligibility check. Note: You should run processes with Record Eligibility Results selected only for small processing populations because the act of checking and recording all types of eligibility can result in long process run times. |
Clear |
If a job terminates abnormally, values for the last record processed appear in Restart Position and the run control is locked (all fields are disabled, because the parameters should not be changed when the process is restarted). During implementation, you may encounter many instances of runs that end abnormally as you test your table setup. You may decide not to complete an interrupted schedule—the Clear button will unlock the schedule and its run control. This feature would not normally be used in a production environment. |
The EM Process Mode allows for more efficient processing of very large participant populations. The Scheduling process is very fast, but it does not allow for multiple concurrent batch runs because of its updating of the BAS Activity table. The assignment, option preparation, validation, and finalization activities are slower and more intensive, but do allow for concurrent processing. Thus you can achieve maximum throughput by performing an initial Schedule Only run followed by several simultaneous Process Existing runs using multiple schedule IDs.
Use the Participant Lists page (BAS_RUNCTL2) to add participants to a schedule you're processing, or process a specific set of employees.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Participant Lists page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Additional fields appear on this page when you select the Process From Participant List check box.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Process From Participant List |
Select to use the remaining features on this page. |
Schedule Only Employee(s) |
Indicate which specific employees should have new events added to an Open Enrollment or Event Maintenance schedule. |
Process Only Participant(s) |
Use to process a list of specific participants with existing events (rather than processing all participants within the schedule), sorted by benefit record number (for employees with multiple jobs) and event ID. You may need to go to the Event Status Update page and indicate the phase to process for this employee (update the Process Indicator field). |
Use the OE/Snapshot (open enrollment snapshot) page (BAS_RUNCTL3) to set up open enrollment or Snapshot routines.
Capture new participants for a specific Open Enrollment or Snapshot schedule already in progress. Finalize and apply defaults for participants in the schedule who have been processed with errors.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the OE/Snapshot page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Use this page to reset the entire population in your Open Enrollment or Snapshot schedule to the selected action.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
None |
This is the default. |
Schedule |
Select if you've made changes to scheduling criteria or mass changes to job data that could affect schedule assignment, and you need to run through the Open Enrollment process again, beginning with that step. All existing participant records for the schedule will be deleted. |
Assign Benefit Pgm (assign benefit program) |
Select if you've made changes to eligibility rules for benefit program assignment and need to run through the Open Enrollment process again, beginning with that step. |
Prepare Options |
Select if you've made changes to eligibility rules, event rules, or rate schedules that affect how the system determines eligible options, defaults, and the costs associated with each option. Any elections posted are deleted. All data entry for affected participants is also deleted. Closed and voided participant events are excluded. |
Elect Options |
Select if you've made changes to the validation rules stored on the Event Rules table. All participants are set back to a process status of PR, but any completed data entry on them is preserved. Any elections posted are deleted. |
Schedule New Participants |
Select if you missed a large group of participants in your initial run of Open Enrollment—participants who did not get scheduled and therefore do not have records on the participant file for this schedule. Rather than use the Participant Lists page to add the employee IDs one at a time, this check box forces the system to reevaluate all employees against the schedule parameters. If the participant fits that selection, and if the participant does not have a record on the participant file for this schedule, the system creates the record. Note: The Schedule New Participants option should not be used for the initial Open Enrollment run. |
Finalize/Apply Defaults |
Select when you are ready to complete Open Enrollment processing. The system performs the same validations against participant election information but also assigns defaults for participants who still have errors or who have not returned their election forms. This closes open enrollment for data entry. To reopen it, you need to reprocess selected participants. Note: The Finalize/Apply Defaults option is not typically used for the initial Open Enrollment run. |
Use the Passive Event Processing page (BAS_RUNCTL4) to process passive events for Event Maintenance schedules.
Identify the passive events that have occurred in a defined period of time and create an entry of the events in the BAS_ACTIVITY table.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Passive Event Processing. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Passive events are not initiated by data entry, but are the result of the passing of a predefined period of time. For example, you might have an eligibility rule set up that enables employees to enroll in a benefit after 10 years of service.
Once you set up the parameters here, the system looks at every employee's job data (regardless of schedule) to determine whether a passive event has occurred. If a passive event is found, an entry is made to the BAS Activity table. If the employee has multiple jobs, an entry is made into the BAS Activity table for each job that meets the eligibility criteria.
To control mistakes with scheduling passive events multiple times and creating redundant data, history records are created that record passive event processing. When scheduling passive events on the run control, the history is referenced and warning messages are displayed if overlap occurs with a prior passive event process. You can ignore the warning and schedule the repeat passive event request; however, the Benefits Administration process triggers passive events only for those employees who were not picked up previously.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Trigger Passive Events Only |
Select to trigger the passive event types indicated in the Passive Events To Process group box for the specified date range. The system triggers all passive events currently in your database for that period, but does not process any events. You can then review the triggered events in the Review Bas Activity page and delete any erroneously triggered events. |
Process |
Select after you have run passive event processing using Trigger Passive Events Only and have reviewed the triggered passive events in the Review Bas Activity page. The system triggers and processes the passive events that belong to the schedule you selected on the Schedule and Checkpoint Restart page. |
From Date and To Date |
Indicate the time frame during which you want to have the system look for passive events. The system warns you if you create a time frame for a particular passive event ID that overlaps a previously recorded time frame for the same event ID. |