CAPPS Notes - November 12, 2003

I. Welcome (NFC North) - We reminded everyone to sign-in and discussed the evacuation procedures in the event of an emergency. Upon notification that there is an emergency situation requiring a "shelter-in-place," everyone should go to 3rd floor of this building. In all other emergencies, everyone should vacate the building via the back ramp, go around the building and meet in front of the American History Museum on the Mall for roll call.

II. W-2's for 2003 (Debby Tatum) - We completed the testing for PP 20 and everything looks good. The results have been mailed and agencies should have received them by 11/7/03. They are on blue paper. Please review them and call to identify any issues. Q: If we have not received them, when can we expect them? A: Due to the Anthrax scare last week in DC postal facilities, there could have been a delay. However, these were sent FedEX and you should have them by the end of the week. If not, contact your CSR. Q: When are comments due? A: Not later than 12/5/03.

III. Archiving SF113 A/G Reports in the Reporting Center (RC) (Steve Cunningham) - Please being thinking about data that can be rolled off of the Reporting Center. It can be sent to tape or copied to DVD. This will make it slower to access but still available. The less data we have to keep on disk the better the response time will be and it's better from a maintenance standpoint as well. We need comments from CAPPS on the archiving requirements for various data in the Reporting Center. Think about the categories, e.g., for personnel action driven reports we only go back 6 years once in a while - do we need to create a cut off period on how far back to go? Within the mainframe, we're limited to 26 pay periods but because of warehouse methodology we can keep the data forever in the Reporting Center; however, practicality becomes an issue. We will implement this strategy of seldom-used data and burn on DVD's and help with storage issues. FYI - these are still Oracle database tables but it will be slower.

Some concerns: "how many people can 'hit' it at once?" "Will it take some time?" Cliff indicated George will coordinate comments with CAPPS. George asked if there are three different databases or will all hits against a particular set of data be on one database. Steve replied they proved the technology works but don't know how a 'jukebox type' situation will work. We don't know the number of "hits" which will be acceptable? If you have to wait a few extra minutes to pull a file up, is that ok? The data can be stored. We've talked about implementing a BATCHFOC type process with an email request when it's completed. Q: Any time-line? A: Looking to implement mid-2004. We are working with IRMD to set up the database. We began looking at this because of an agency inquiry. There is a dynamically generated drop down in one of the SF113 reports and because of the size of the data, it takes a long, long time to create it. Q: DOC - on detail data, how far back do you currently go? A: Depends on when the agency signed up to receive the detail data; it starts when the agency signs up and nothing has been rolled off, maybe up to 2 years.

IV. 1% Retro Followup (Lynda Wilson) - The reports that you picked up today were generated with Steve's help. One report is for active employees with salary records on the database that did NOT receive the 1%. One report is for separated employees with salary records on the database. Some of the employees on this report should receive the 1% Retro but the majority should not. We looked at the geographical percentage and compared it to the table and if they did not match, we had them printed to the report; exceptions are agencies having their own rate, e.g., FDIC, OCC. You should be able to look at the reports and see who did not receive the 1%. The employees on the separated report not entitled to the 1% Retro should be reviewed for leave errors, bond carryover, etc. They need to be removed from the database as they are costing you money. Still outstanding are those separated employees who returned to work either in their prior agency or with another agency. We have not run a report to look at the Jan 12th time frame to determine who received the 1% for the losing agency portion. Mose has a report for those who received their lump sum payment but the report won't give information on transfers, reassignments, etc. Those are missing from the reports and there are plenty of these.

Q: USDA - Didn't Mose give the separated employees their 1%? A: These are two different issues. Mose paid manually the retroactive adjustment for the lump sum payment of separated employees. He has not paid any of the 1% on the employees work time unless you have processed an action in the system that did not pay and you sent a request for payment. He is not going to process separated employees actions. A personnel action must be done by the agency. Q: Treasury - We have a number of employees that remained in Suspense from PP 17 while NFC wiped out the 1xx and 2xx IRIS screens, they may have had legitimate messages before but now in SINQ with an error message reflecting SSNO not on database. We know they have to be deleted because cancellation not built correctly but what we run into with LEO is an action failing because we need to code the 6C retirement data and can't sandwich in the 120 Doc in the package. I thought this message was bypassed when canceling a separated employee. A: If you let it go thru 10 passes of PINE, it'll go away...per Lynda. There is a long history to this and we have asked that the error message be bypassed for HCUP packages. You are talking about processing packages for employees without salary records: these handouts today include employees with salary records. FQ: This does not include the PP 17 folks? A: For the ones you are talking about, when we ran 17 the first time, they did; but not now. FQ: Your report covers the PP 10 operation. Yes, it does along with anyone on the database with a salary record even though that person may have separated.

We moved changes in on Monday night and if you have packages with a separated action as part of the package you must delete and re-enter this. Q: IN & BB problems at DOJ are still outstanding. A: Not sure what to do with them; will discuss offline. All 3 agencies are trying to process simultaneously and this is a huge issue. Q: Will this problem be the same in other departments, like USDA agency and USDA agency? A: There are a number of different issues including the way they are processed - from CV 6 to 5 back to 6. From EPIC to non-EPIC. Q: What do we (agencies) do? A: When you migrate to EPIC, you can process them. Eventually these folks will get a large pay adjustment if the next pay adjustment gets processed. We can only adjust up to 26 pay periods. Q - We experienced a 1% adjustment problem and the employee didn't get paid. Started as an adjustment on our side but when it applied the last action didn't activate her T&A and it kicked out. Reflected in history but not on current database. A: Will discuss this after the meeting so can review the details. Q: From USDA - Employee moved from AMS to FS, didn't get the retro from AMS side, who does the action? A: If the starting action didn't start with the 01/12/03 period, then the losing agency has to process the action. Lynda mentioned that when a USDA employee on CV5 moves to TR CV7 a copy of the history on the date of the move to TR is copied to CV7 so that TR can look at the CV5 history. When USDA makes a change to history, the change is retained on CV5 and does NOT move to CV7. Treasury users want their record to look correct and they are going back to the USDA record on CV7 to make is correct. A process to move updated history has not been set up. It is a larger problem when both agencies/departments on same CV, because there is only one history record.

Security ensures it's read access only in EPIC; however, when the user goes to create a history package, the entire history record shows up and agencies are selecting records for which they do not have access. A suggestion was made that it would be beneficial to distinguish between the read only records and the records for which update is available. Old HCUP didn't allow the read only records to be seen. USDA does not have a department wide access person to work this out. George mentioned Patty Moore is working on the folks on LWOPUS and how the 1% will affect them. Cliff gave her number 720-8629. Lynda suggested that USDA contact NFC South and set up a reimbursable agreement to have the department wide packages processed. These are not just EPIC issues but PINE issues. When the separation action is processed late or isn't processed at all, PINE treats the record as a dual appointment and won't accept the separation action for the losing action once the gaining agency has begun processing. Additionally the separated employees are costing the agency money because they are considered errors. We did discover a problem with the creation of history correction packages with separation actions. The action code used was 2 but should be a 3. PINE has different paths for each of the codes. Lynda is setting up a conference call with NFC South to discuss how to process for employees where there is no salary record. Some seem to be applying but others are not. If you are attempting to process a separation and TSP Code was other than a 9 that was the last TSP code on the database, PINE doesn't handle correctly. A suggestion was made to bypass those edits when separating employees in these circumstances. Two issues, if you are processing history packages to correct a code and the separation is not cancelled officially, we can bypass the codes; but if the employee action is being cancelled and you want to restore the employee, this is a huge issue - what if they had TSP & FEHB when separated, what do we code them now since it all was canceled and stopped? System only processes the personnel side, not the PAYROLL side, that's why the edits are there...you need to be aware of the actions needed for the employee. Q from USDA - what about the court order FEHB issues that are still outstanding? A: PINE edit 828 is being fixed and should be OK for W-2. Lynda says to verify that HCUP packages apply and the FEHB and TSP doesn't get cancelled. Q re FEHB - Today there are many documents in Suspense with status code 3, what does status code 3 mean? Lynda will send message to programmer especially on DD/EFT because some are duplicates, others you don't see the duplicate. On the FEHB side, error messages are blank but IR225 and 115 show they applied. For the record, we've not held up any actions in EEX. LLW will work with Cliff M. Separated status code - when doing the retro, we returned someone and gave the 1% and corrected and reapplied the 3xx and status code is zero, they'll not fall off. LLW says this is how we found out the incorrect action code was being generated. If you reprocess the history correction package, the codes should switch.

January 2004 Pay Raise (Cliff Lee) - let's cross our fingers and hope no 1% retro occurs in 2004. H.R. 2989 (S.1589), Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies 2004 Appropriations Act, was sent to the conferees. Both the House and Senate versions call for a 4.1% civilian pay raise in January 2004.

HR 1588, the DOD appropriations bill, contains several pay provisions that affect all Federal agencies under Title 5. In particular, you may receive inquiries from your SES employees about significant changes to the SES Pay System. The Senior Executive Association sent a letter this week to their members advising them of the proposed changes to the SES Pay System. The proposed changes eliminate the SES pay levels and SES locality pay. However, the pay cap on basic pay would be raised to 142,500, EX-3 Level. No SES employees will suffer a reduction in pay as a result of these changes. Q: Do you have a copy of the SEA letter? A: Yes Cliff will send out to CAPPS along with SES provision of HR 1588. (Update: E-mail send to CAPPS on November 12th with both attachments) (Update: HR 1588 passed the Senate on November 12th and will be sent to the President for signature)

The Federal Salary Council's recommendation to the President's Pay Agent on 2004 locality pay increases may be found on the OPM web site. These locality rates are not official.

We suggest that you dust off your Pay Raise requirements to ensure you have everything in the package for the coming year, especially AD employees that are to receive pay adjustments. The call will be coming out shortly for your requirements.

C. http://thomas.loc.gov/

Q: From Mike Mire, request confirmation that SES provision is in the DOD appropriations bill; what about the EX-II Level pay cap? The EX-II pay cap for SES employees was authorized by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and requires approval of the agency's performance management program by OPM/OMB; no regulations have been issued to date on the requirements for the performance management programs.

Q: From Mike Mire, with the elimination of SES pay levels, how will salary increases and reductions be handled. HR 1588 is silent on this matter, stating only that pay determinations will be subject to regulations to be prescribed by OPM.

VI. Benefits Updates (Jody Nyers) -

A. Flexible Spending Account Open Season runs concurrent with the FEHB Open Season, which is 11/10 thru 12/8/03. Effective date will be pay period 01 (01/11/04).

Post Meeting Note: Jody checked with OPM & SHPS and was informed that the effective date is January 1,2004; however, participants cannot receive reimbursement for services until the deductions are received from the first pay date in January.

B. FSA - The insert was included in PP 21's ELS and is on the Employee Personal Page as an attachment.

C. FSA Dependent Care Assistance (DCA) for state of Pennsylvania (PA) - information from the accounting section of NFC south indicates the state of PA does not tax DCA if the employer pays for the childcare. If does not matter who owns the facility, but rather who pays for the services. For the state of PA, DCA will not be included in Box 16 (State wages, tips, etc.), if the employer pays for the services. It is imperative that we have from you a list of employees, including their social security numbers, who have their DCA paid by their employer for the state of PA and we need this information by December 1, 2003. In tax year 2003, DCA for the state of PA paid by the employee will not be added to Box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation) but will be added to Box 16 (State wages). As of Pay Period 13, 2003, there was 55 employees (within15 agencies) who were participating in DCA for the state of PA. This information was provided at the September CAPPS Meeting.

D. FEHB Open Season (11/10-12/8) - Effective date will be pay period 01 (01/11/04). Rate information has been updated in Tables.

E. TSP Open Season (10/15-12/31) - the earliest effective date is PP 25 (12/14/03).

F. TSP Catch Up Contributions - the effective pay period for 2004 actions is PP 25 and the maximum amount for 2004 is $3,000. The program will be updated to accept these transactions in pay period 25. Since employees can still elect TSP Catch up for 2003 up to PP 24, the system edits cannot be updated until PP 25.

G. TSP Notification Letters via RFQS - Changes went into effect last weekend on this issue and NFC South spot-checked some and the correct dollar amount was reflected. Jody would like for you to also spot-check some letters as well. Go to RFQS and click on Notifications and click on TSP and see if you have any 'catch up' elections that are reflecting incorrect dollar amounts. Let Jody know what you find out.

H. CSRS Offset and OASDI - Last month we discussed this issue and a question arose about this field being automatically updated when an employee transfers from one NFC serviced agency to another. Currently the agency must take positive action to get the figures combined. This was referred to NFC South and they are reviewing it; however, it would be a large job to accomplish. Jody will keep you posted on the outcome.

I. Student Loan Program - there is new legislation that may increase the student loan amount from $6,000 to $10,000. It's pending approval from the President.

Post Meeting Note: The President signed this bill. PL 108-123. NFC North is sending information to NFC South for updating the program to include the increased amount.

VII. Employee Express Update (George Morris) - Meeting is next week (11/18/03) - no report at this time. Some testing done with Macon - favorable outcome; changes made at NFC to accommodate new record layout. If problem, let us know and we'll notify CAPPS. USDA indicated that PlanSmartChoice is available for FEHB purposes if you are looking into FEHB and want to get a comparison. Go thru EEX to access this application. Tied into agency designation; if your agency elected to not participate (pay), two separate tools and asked for plug in data and then would feed back to you the outcome.

VIII. User & Work Group Updates

A. Awards - November meeting cancelled

B. EPIC - Next meeting December 4th from 10:00 to 12:00

C. FESI - FESI Window currently runs through 11/19/03

D. Leave Share - no update

E. RIF (Jody Nyers) - per email from Debbie Berry, the RIF Work Group is waiting on access to the RIFR in the NFC Reporting Center so that members can test the application. The last reply from NFC Security (10/7/03) states, "the programmers are still working on the application. As soon as it is available, you will be able to access it."

F. T&A - User Group meeting cancelled

IX. Customer Briefing (Jody Nyers) - the briefing is scheduled for November 18-19, 2003 and the agenda is on www.nfc.usda.gov.

X. System Corrections Versus System Enhancements (Jody Nyers) - As you know, there is an email box at NFC South, which is NFC.GESDREQUEST@USDA.GOV and there is some concern as to when to utilize this box. This email box is for "non systems problems" to include as examples: requests for reprints of SF-50's, requests for new pay plans, requests for system sweep. This is NOT to be used for system problems. Those should be directed to your Customer Service Rep and/or NFC North. Once the problem is researched and determined valid, it will be sent to NFC South via the Systems Problem Request (SPR) process. Q: When does something become a system problem? A: If it begins as an agency specific request and the originator does some testing and finds the problems are systemic then it should be elevated. If issues arise with testing, the originator should share with their CSR for assistance/resolution, once the customer is okay with the outcome then the request is closed out. If it needs system changes then the customer must work with CSR and/or NFC North to research it then generate the SPR.

XI. TALX Service (Tim Simmons) - Information was shared with CAPPS, in particular their product, "The Work Number." Question from Tim to CAPPS: How many of you are familiar with The Work Number? Many raised their hands, which indicates most of you know about the product but some have not heard about it. Q: Is there a fee to use this service? A: No. We recently renewed contract for an additional 5 years but no fee to the employee/employer. Verifier/lender pays any fees for this info. 90% of Federal agencies are using the service but we don't have the military workforce as yet; however, DOD civilian does participate. Tim hopes to get other non-current agencies on board. 80 million employee records and >40,000 verifiers use the service nationwide. All 50 states use this service. Q: I've heard that you offer the printing of W-2's, do you do this for NFC serviced clients? A: Not at this time; however, Department of Labor is using this service. Tim indicated he has talked to several people at NFC South to put the bug in their ear about their W-2 printing services; however, he is not sure what the outcome will be. Current users are reputable clients and would be able to provide validation for this service (eg., DOL). Tim mentioned that TALX offers a 1-800 number for those employees who don't access the internet. The call center is fully staffed in St. Louis from 7:00am to 7:00pm, Monday-Friday. The 900 number is going away as of 12/31/03 because of changes with AT&T.

XII. Potpourri

GAO - There is new legislation that legislative agencies can do electronic W-2's and it's being worked on for this season. Will this be available for us? A: Talk to Steve Cunningham.

GAO - for CFC they have one office in Dallas that is participating in the pilot and entering CFC actions via EEX as well as hard copy forms. We don't want our headquarters employees able to receive this access, what should we do? A: Call EEX to block the access.

DOJ - problem with NFC system - LIST (the locator system) - we have had many new EOD's which NFC updates; however, NFC has not been updating lately and we have sent messages to Jeanette and we've been told that the SPR has been cleared but we still have problems. Who should we contact? A: Specifically identify the issues and send them to Jeannette.

USDA - When we submit something to the NFC.GESDREQUEST email box, who is supposed to respond to us when a resolution has occurred? A: Marty or PESB/PASB will get back to the agency. These are reviewed at weekly meetings. If you are unsatisfied with the resolution, contact Marty or send a followup to the mailbox again. Remember because you need to refer to the original project number. FC: When the request has been completed, the agencies should be able to test this and should therefore know when the project is completed.

DOJ - We need to access the EPIC training database to train ATF and we have not used it in a long time, we need to send in a list of SSN's and it was my understanding that the EPIC training database area was only updated annually, in PP 01. Who do we send this request to? A: Send in a request to NFC.GESDREQUEST@usda.gov.

NEXT CAPPS MEETING WILL BE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2004 - Have a safe holiday!

Agencies represented:

AOC, DOC, USPTO, DOJ, FCC, FDIC, GAO, NCPC, OSC, PSA, TREASURY, and USDA