Understanding Self-Service Time Entry

You can streamline and simplify the process of entering and reviewing employee timecard information by using self-service features. You can use the self-service approach for time entry to eliminate, or greatly reduce, the need for paper time sheets. You can also increase the accuracy and efficiency of your data entry by eliminating the need for a time entry administrator to manually transfer data from paper timecards into the system.

Self-service time entry applications enable you to configure the user interfaces that employees use to enter timecards. You can create multiple interfaces to accommodate the different business requirements of employee groups within your organization.

When employees use self-service time entry, the system displays a welcome form called a director. You can configure this form to include user instructions for the time entry process, or to include information that employees need in order to complete their timecards for the specified pay period. The director form also includes links to the Employee Daily Time Entry (P051127) and Employee Summary Time Entry (P051128) programs, and a link to the Manager Review and Approval program (P051129) that managers or delegates can use to review and approve employee timecards.

When employees click the appropriate link from the director form, the system displays a time entry form where they can enter their timecard information. You can configure this form to include only the fields that you want employees to complete. Using the ESS Time Entry Setup program (P051123), you can select from over 50 predefined fields to appear on the employee time entry form. This program enables you to quickly and easily create custom time entry forms to meet your business requirements. You can also define the pay types that each employee can use to enter timecards, which helps to ensure the accuracy of the timecard data.

Note: Employees can enter timecards only for themselves using self-service time entry programs. Similarly, employees who are not managers are able to review only their own timecards. Managers can review their own timecards and those of their employees. If an employee needs to enter timecards for another employee, these timecards must be entered using standard time entry programs.

See "Entering Timecards for Employees" in the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Applications Time and Labor Implementation Guide.

After an employee enters timecards into the system, those timecards can be reviewed and then approved, changed, deleted, or rejected by the employee's manager. You can also set up manager delegates to perform the review and approval process in the event that an employee's manager is unavailable. Manager delegates are employees that are assigned permission to review and approve timecards on behalf of a manager. In addition, you can generate email messages directly from the Manager Review and Approval program, which enables managers to automatically notify employees about the status of their timecards during the approval process.

When employees enter timecards using self-service applications, the system stores the timecards in the Employee Transactions - Batch File table (F06116Z1), which is a temporary workfile. After the timecards have been reviewed and approved, you can run the Time Entry Batch Processor program (R05116Z1I) to transfer the timecards from the workfile into the Employee Transaction Detail File table (F06116). When the timecards are in the Employee Transaction Detail File table, they can be included in payroll cycle processing.

Note: Because the system stores self-service timecard information in the Employee Transactions - Batch File table (F06116Z1), you can enter timecards while the system is processing a payroll cycle without affecting that payroll cycle. Only timecards that are saved in the Employee Transaction Detail File table (F06116) are included in the payroll cycle.

The Time Entry Self Service Director program (P051125) serves as the entry point for employees and managers to access self-service time entry applications. You can adapt the text that appears on this form and enter time entry in two formats. It can be based on pay period dates or labor period dates. If you enter the time entry based on pay period dates, the system will automatically populate the pay period end date. However, for the time entries based on labor period dates, the labor distribution period tables will control the valid labor period date selections.

Employees access the time entry applications by clicking links that appear on the Time Entry Self Service Director. Employees can click the Summary Time Entry link or the Daily Time Entry link. In addition to the time entry application links, a link to the timecard review and approval application is provided for managers who must review and approve timecards.

Note: The Summary Time Entry, Daily Time Entry, and Manager Review/Approval links always appear on Time Entry Self Service Director. The Summary Time Entry and Daily Time Entry links are always active for all employees; however, the Manager Review and Approval link is active only for managers and their active delegates who can review employee timecards.

When you click the Daily Time Entry link from the Time Entry Self Service Director, the system displays Employee Daily Time Entry (P051127) with all timecards for the specified pay period or labor distribution period. The user will be able to modify only those timecards that have a status other than 'Approved' or 'Waiting for Approval'. The fields that employees must complete are determined during the setup process. The format of the form is determined by the pay frequency of the employee who accesses the program. For example, when an employee who is paid weekly or has a weekly labor distribution period entry accesses Employee Daily Time Entry, the system displays summarized information for the seven days for which the employee can enter timecards. Similarly, when an employee who is paid biweekly or has a biweekly labor distribution period frequency accesses the form, the system displays summarized information for the 14 days for which the employee can enter timecards.

To enter timecard information, you use a time entry grid that contains a column for each day in the pay period. You can enter all timecards for the same pay type on one line in the grid for the entire pay period. A separate line in the grid must be used for each pay type that is used during the pay period. For example, if you work eight hours of regular time each day and also work two hours of overtime each day, enter two lines of time entry to track the time for the pay period. You should enter one line and designate the pay type as regular pay. You then enter normal hours that you worked for each day of the pay period on the same line. You should also enter a second line and designate the pay type as overtime pay. You then enter overtime hours that you worked for each day of the pay period on the same line.

Note: Only employees who are paid weekly, biweekly, or semimonthly can enter self-service timecards using Employee Daily Time Entry. Employees who are paid monthly must use Employee Summary Time Entry to enter self-service timecards.

When processing options for the Time Entry MBF Processing Options program are set appropriately, administrators can designate timecards as public or private. When public timecards exist for employees, the system displays them for review. Employees can click a link on the director form that displays the public timecard. Employees cannot modify a public timecard, but can enter an additional timecard for the same work date.

Self-service time entry works together with global leave administration so that employees can view available leave balances when they are entering timecards. To access leave balances, employees can select the Leave Balances Review option. After reviewing balances, they can continue entering their time.

Administrators can set up a time entry option to pay for certain types of leave in advance of actually taking the time off. When this option is enabled, the Time Entry Self Service Director program displays a Request Pay In Advance link. Employees can select this link and can then enter time in advance. For example, an employee who is planning to take vacation time could enter the time in advance. In a payroll prior to the scheduled vacation, the employee would receive payment for the vacation time.

When the organization sets up rules for taking sick leave that include certification of sick events, the timecard applications display this requirement, including a field where you can specify that you have submitted a certification.

When an employee enters or updates timecards and clicks Submit, the system displays a Submit Confirmation window. If the employee clicks the OK button, the system stores the timecards in a temporary workfile called the Employee Transactions - Batch File table (F06116Z1). The system automatically assigns a status of 0 - Waiting for Approval to these timecard records. This enables managers to easily identify timecards that must be reviewed and approved. The employee cannot modify these timecards:

• Timecards that have a status 0 and are waiting for manager's approval.

• Timecards that have been approved by the manager.

However, when an employee enters or updates timecards and clicks Save, the system assigns a status of 5 to the timecard. The user can still modify these timecards.

After the timecards are approved, the Time Entry Batch Processor program (R05116Z1I) is used to move timecards from the Employee Transactions - Batch File table into the Employee Transaction Detail File table (F06116). After timecards from the workfile are stored in the Employee Transaction Detail File table, they can be processed in a payroll cycle.