I. Welcome - (PPSPS) - Cliff, George, and Lynda were unable to attend. However, Jerry Lohfink and Penny Forbes participated in person. Participants were briefed on evacuation and shelter-in-place procedures. Participants were reminded to sign the roll sheet that circulated.

II. NFC Updates (Jerry Lohfink) - Jerry indicated that during the November 2003 Customer Briefing there were items raised that required follow-up. His agenda was to provide updates on those five items. The following narrative is not intended to replace the presentation. Clients wanting specifics should review the slide show presentation found with the January 2004 notes

A. Cost and Pricing - Jerry explained that this item covered NFC costs and the prices to customers for use of NFC services. He indicated that NFC's goal is to be a best service provider. Based upon the surveys that were conducted last summer, it was clear that NFC clients did not always understand the dollar equivalents that they were being charged. Jerry indicated it appeared that this process was clearer 7-8 years ago. However, in 1999 NFC changed its billing algorithm and it appears that the process is now much harder to understand. NFC has proposed a change in the methodology for this algorithm to make it transparent so everyone involved would understand NFC charges and/or client payments. Jerry stated NFC's goal is to move to all applications to a web format and discontinue maintenance of mainframe, client server, or stand-alone applications. (Note: We will not be discontinuing mainframe "batch" processing.) He encouraged all of the clients to move to the newest technology because it benefits everyone - NFC staff will only have to maintain the application on one platform which will result in lower client costs. Jerry acknowledged that different clients use the system differently. For example, in 1988, NFC offered one choice to use the system and one price was established. In today's environment new technology has been incorporated and the goal is to get everyone up to speed with this new technology and hopefully price out the system accordingly. He indicated that this should result in a lower cost.

Jerry indicated that the proposed system would operate on a 2-year budget cycle. It will be used to track cost that NFC and/or clients care about vs those we may currently be tracking which neither cares about. He informed the clients that this will involve pricing model changes. Several unique costs can be tracked and 17 were identified on the slide (i.e., T&A processing, error correction, pay processing, personnel record processing, paper check issuance, mailed ELS, Pay Reconciliation, systems maintenance, etc.,). Jerry requested feedback from the CAPPS community on such issues as "What is important for you?"; "What reports do you want and in what format (i.e., on the web page or a quarterly report to the Reporting Center?"; "Financial staffs prefer fixed costs because they are to budget while HR folks may want a variable cost because they do not want to pay for errors they do not create."; "Are you comfortable with moving to a mixed environment - some fixed and some variable?"; "What are the meaningful metrics - T&A corrections?"; "How do you want us to tell you how well you are doing?" Jerry indicated that Randall Tabor has "volunteered" to coordinate the client feedback and requested that the CAPPS community share this information with the folks who care about it and send feedback to Mr. Tabor at randall.tabor@usda.gov.

1. Treasury - Sometimes things just happen and everyone must pay for them but clients object and want to know why they have to pay for them. For example, NFC made a mistake and now agencies have to pay for NFC to clean it up. This type of "cost" is just rolled into everything else. A: Jerry - Okay, so you are looking for a discreet cost for those situations. You realize that it is one of the costs of doing business, but would like to see it as a separate line item.

2. USDA - How is this process being handled for USDA clients since NFC also provides our services. Is there a group of individuals that NFC is working with on this? A: Jerry - Jon Holliday and Bill King at OCFO are the people NFC is dealing with on this issue. NFC will be making this presentation to USDA in March 2004. FC: USDA - This presents an awkward situation for the HR side because they have to walk a fine line when paying for Working Capital items but operate without service agreements. What should we do? FA: Jerry - In fiscal year 2005 everyone in USDA will be on a service agreement basis with NFC just like the non-USDA clients. FQ: USDA - USDA HR officers will have to budget for these service agreements and they need to understand what is covered in a service agreement. How can this be handled? FR: Who does NFC need to talk to on this? FC: NFC should present this process to USDA's Mission Area Personnel Offices (MAPO's). FA: Jerry - NFC will gladly do this. Please work with him to establish a date.

3. Treasury - When do you want us to respond back? A: Please respond by the March 17th CAPPS meeting.

B. Request Tracking - Penny Forbes - Penny indicated that GESD frequently receives inquiries from clients wanting more information about projects that they or their agency has submitted to NFC. Agency representatives wanting this type of information can either contact Marty Curole on the GESD staff or access the information on the reporting center. Access to this information on the reporting center does require security access to the PATS6B report under the Administrative Reports area. The items any user can see under PATS6B and/or the reporting center in general are tied to the user's security. Penny walked the group through the log-in and report request process during the presentation. Penny explained that a user would be able to see all of the requests that have been forwarded to his/her agency. The current report is somewhat cumbersome and NFC plans to convert the information to an Access database. Penny informed representatives that if they have any questions about the information in their agency reports they should contact Marty Curole for specifics.

1. DOJ - How often is the report updated, weekly? A: NFC meets once a week with the developers to review these items and updates the report accordingly.

2. Q: How long is an item available on the report? A: Any incomplete projects from the previous year and all projects from the current year are available on the report. If the project was closed in a prior fiscal year, you will need to contact Mary Curole for information on it.

C. Status of 2003 1% Retro - Jerry provided a brief background on how the clients and NFC got to where they are as of January 2004. Jerry explained that at this point NFC staff is waiting for the agency representatives to notify them if the agency needs assistance (including manual pay) to get that 2003 retro-active pay issued and on the system. He reminded clients that if the process is done manually without updating the official automated records, then it will not be available on the system for future reference.

1. DOJ - We are confused about the information that we received from NFC. We were told to do HCUP packages preferably by PP-26. If you could not make it in PP-26, we were told to do them in PP-02. We were not told that NFC would help. USDA - ditto, we will need more help due to CAMS. A: Jerry - Yes, we are willing to help you. DOJ - We received the report on the Monday before PP-26 closed and we did not have time to do much. However, we are ready for PP-02. TR - Who do we contact for assistance? A: Jerry - Please call Mose on 504-255-3570 for assistance on these issues.

D. Web FOCUS - Jerry indicated that NFC has received requests for web FOCUS over the past 18 months. Because of those requests, NFC has stepped back and reviewed the NFC reporting environment which consists of mainframe FOCUS, the Reporting Center, and various system/CULPRPT reports. A team was established at NFC to study the value added of implementing web FOCUS (costs, benefits, etc.). The USDA procurement office helped with this endeavor. Jerry informed the group that there are currently 8,000 mainframe ID's with FOCUS access although only 1,400 of those are regular users. He explained that if approximately 4,000 people (anticipating an increase in usage over mainframe FOCUS due to ease of use) want to use it, the software purchase would be between $300 and $400 per user with an additional $60-80 per user for yearly maintenance. This is in addition to the CPU costs of actually running the reports. Jerry requested assistance from the clients for the final stages of the business case. The true client interest in using web FOCUS must be determined to ensure that it will be cost effective. Specifically, Jerry requested feedback within 45 days by agency/department on: 1) "How many people will be using it?"; 2) "What are the benefits to your agency /environment?"; 3) "What will it do for you?" - intuitively it is more user-friendly, etc., but exactly what it will do for you. Patricia Hanks will be consolidating the data for the business case.

1. Smithsonian - How do we identify the benefits if we do not use it? A: Jerry - approximately five agencies have seen the demo or brochure and have requested that NFC offer the service. If you are not familiar with the demo, you should do some research on the IBI FOCUS website. In brief, the data is accessed via the web and reports are created via clicks and drop down menus with the data fields and calculations. The cost for mainframe is approximately $3.06 per year per employee. Web cost is more expensive.

2. DOJ - Next Wednesday, Nancy Atherholt (USDA) will be doing a demo during the FOCUS users group. It will be held here in the Shared Access office. A: Jerry - Great, please make arrangements to attend this demo if you need additional information on Web FOCUS. DOJ - Reps should talk with the individuals doing their mainframe FOCUS to get their input. They should also bring these individuals to next week's meeting.

3. SM - How does security to web FOCUS compare to mainframe reporting? A. Steve Cunningham - You cannot access web FOCUS via the 3270 line. All web traffic is SSL encrypted via the browser.

4. TR - Can information on the FOCUS users group be shared with the CAPPS community? A: Yes, Penny will take care of this. DOJ provide the detailed information for the January 28th meeting so additional information is not needed.

5. FCA - Is web FOCUS 508 compliant? A: Jerry - IBI, the vendor, must have a certificate that declares that they are 508 compliant. NFC will not buy it otherwise.

E. Customer Service Improvement Project - Jerry discussed the overall results from the client interviews that were conducted by the independent contractor in 2003. He also informed the group of some of the steps that NFC is taking to address issues raised during these interviews. Some additional examples provided were: placing technicians on the phones on a rotating basis - their goal is to resolve your issue the first call; improving the post BEAR reporting - many users post the same data (both short and lengthy) over and over on these post BEAR reports which can be done in a more efficient manner. On the BEAR issues, NFC will actually have a consult with IBI on mainframe FOCUS to determine where improvements can be made (i.e., how to lower the costs, speed up the report and provide good advice on the reporting information that has been requested). Jerry notified the group that NFC was establishing a Customer Support Improvement team that would eventually include client involvement to establish a communication channel for input and feedback.

1. Q: In the process of forming that communication team, is it to be made up of select people or volunteers? A: The reps from NFC are from a select pool, some individuals have volunteered and others were drafted. FC: What group are they from? A: Currently the team consists of reps from only NFC. However, NFC is looking for contacts from the CAPPS community. NFC would like a volunteer team from CAPPS to serve as the go-between for feedback, direction, guidance, etc. with the NFC team. The work involved would be reviewing items that NFC identifies to determine if the ideas for improvement are are ok, sufficient, etc. This group would also be involved in the ranking of items based upon importance/ urgency. NFC plans to set-up the first meeting for March 2004. This meeting and a majority of the subsequent meetings will be held here in DC.

POST MEETING UPDATE: Any CAPPS reps who are personally interested in participating (or are "volunteering" a member) should provide Penny Forbes with the participants name, phone number, and e-mail address by submitting an e-mail to NFC.GESDREQUEST@usda.gov.

2. Q: Joe Glenn - Has NFC given consideration to using Oracle with the Reporting Center (RC) and/or making it accessible to other agencies tools. A: The way data is currently stored in the RC, this would present some challenges. However, NFC can create a repository with the same info that can be identified and accessed by whatever tools we can make it work with. This as an on-going project and we need to provide an update. Steve will provide an update to be added to the notes. NFC would have to re-engineer the back-end of the RC to be more organized to make the jump over to the data warehouse. Currently the data resides in several places and therefore does not lend itself to adding another tool. Before this could be supported, the system and data repositories would need to be reorganized and restructured. This could be done, if clients wanted this for their own ad hoc reporting. Steve indicated that this is assuming a migration would be from batch mode to a web-based system, and if yes, then data would be changed around. If the back-end were re-engineered then maybe NFC could provide most of the data, but not all, because of where it is stored in the production system. Currently, the RC process is to wait for several hours to ensure all other actions are completed.

Post Meeting Update: NFC has begun working on a project named Data Access Strategy. Direct customer access to NFC data stores is one of the requirements being looked at. As it is envisioned now, NFC will establish a consolidated data structure that will be used to support both the NFC Reporting Center and access by customer query tools. Currently, an Oracle database is used by the Reporting Center but that database cannot be considered a warehouse to be opened up to outside access. Further requirements definition and analysis for the Data Access Strategy will be completed in FY04. This includes gathering customer input and obtaining consulting expertise.

III. PL 108-136 Pay Changes (Jo Bonner) - There were several changes in the DOD appropriations that affect the payroll/personnel area for civilians.

A. VIP Conversion from a Monthly to a Bi-weekly pay schedule became effective on November 30th, 2003, (PP-24, 2003) since that is the first bi-weekly processing cycle after the November 24th enactment. Under this new regulation VIP pay is computed in accordance with 5 USC 5504 which uses the 2087 divisor. This amounts to use of an hourly rate computation, rather than an Annual Salary under 5 USC 5505. Because the monthly system used a divisor of 2080, most VIPs will receive a bill since they were overpaid in November and December. NFC has received numerous calls on whether these bills can be waived. Who can waive the overpayment of an agency head? These questions can only be answered by the agency's General Counsel office.

1. Jerry provided additional information that he had received from OPM last Friday, January 16th regarding this issue. Several agency heads had contacted him to express their concerns over this pay change and how UN-excited that they were. Most individuals felt that it should be waived. Some individuals contacted OPM reps who did not know the answer. Eventually, the issue made it to OMB and the White House. NFC supplied the White House with a list of the affected VIPs and how much they owe . At that point the White House was going to notify OPM about what should be done with the debts. As of Tuesday, January 20th, NFC had received no guidance on this issue. NFC will hold these bills until further notice. The White House's stance, and rightfully so, is that no one can make a decision to waive his/her overpayment.

OPM has indicated that those non-legislative agencies who have considered themselves "Executive agencies" for the purposes of premium conversion will be considered "Executive agencies" for VIP purposes.

B. SES Changes became effective on January 11, 2004 (pay period 1). Those changes involved the 1) elimination of Locality Pay for SES, 2) elimination of Pay Levels for SES, and 3) an increase in the pay ceiling on SES basic pay. NFC will process the conversion action to set their basic pay. However, the 2004 Pay Adjustments must be done by the agencies since NFC cannot determine if the employee has received an equivalent increase within the last 12 months.

1. DOJ - Are we maintaining minimum and maximum salaries on Tables 055 and 98 to prevent overpayments. A: Glenda - NFC will convert the individuals over to the pay band and will edit against the minimum and maximum values.

2. DOC - On conversion activity, are we building new PMSO? A: NFC is simply generating an 894 and ensuring that base salary = new salary. There are no PMSO changes involved, just money changes.

C. Senior Foreign Service Changes also became effective on January 11, 2004 (pay period 01). For the NFC clients, this only affects DOC, 2 individuals in DOJ, USAID, and USDA. At present the clients are awaiting further guidance from the Department of State to see if the DC locality can be incorporated into the conversion. This has been a longer standing request from DOS.

D. Over Time (OT) Rate Increase (for individuals whose base rate of pay is above the 12 step 6) became effective on the date the public law as signed (November 24, 2003 - the middle of PP-23). NFC implemented the change in PP-25, 2003. Retroactive payments will need to be made for any OT earned in PP 23 (after 11/23/03) and for all of PP24. Reports (sorted by Dept, Ag, POI, and T&A Contact Point) were distributed that identified the individuals that might be affected by this OT rate increase. Across all three CV's there were 3,703 individuals identified for the 2nd week of PP-23 and 6,305 for PP-24.

Agencies must:

1. Review the PP-23 reports and identify any OT worked on Sunday, November 23rd. Sunday hours worked, although recorded on week 2 of the T&A, are not eligible for retroactive payment. Agencies must then prepare corrected, split T&A's for PP-23 for employees eligible for the retroactive OT payments. The 1st half of the split day will cover days 1 through 8 (November 16-23) and the 2nd half will cover days 9 through 14 (November 24-29). The split T&A's for PP-23 can only be submitted in PP-04, 2004. Otherwise, the correction must be processed manually.

2. Review the PP-24 reports for concurrence with employees identified. In PP-04, 2004, NFC will automatically generate the corrected T&A's for PP-23, 2003, in accordance with the report. If there is someone on the report that is not entitled to this, please notify NFC.

3. Corrected T&A's for PP-23 and PP-24 that are submitted after PP-03, 2003, will be processed using the "old" O.T. rates. Therefore, if a corrected T&A is needed for an affected employee in a subsequent pay period the correction must be processed manually.

4. Q&A

a. TR - Does this affect comp time rate as well? A: Yes, the corrected T&A will correct the Comp Time rate stored, as well as, the OT rate paid. FQ: Could this be an issue if the compensatory time was used and they have maxed out and now pay changes occurred, how does this affect the employee? A: You will have to find those employees in that situation and handle them manually. FQ: Can someone go to OPM to determine if they will globally make the decision to not adjust (i.e., bill) the employee in these cases? A: Agency Head can make the call to waive this so there is no need to go to OPM to ask permission. FQ: If we processed CT payments already for separated employees, how do we handle them? A: Process those manually.

b. Does anyone have a CT report for earned and used? If so please share with the other clients.

c. TR - If employee has maxed out under old rate, will the system pay them? A: Glenda - No, the employee will be maxed out. NFC will still do the biweekly cutbacks. If they were over the max, they will get more.

d. Penny - the date scheduled is for PP-03, if this is too soon it can be moved to PP-04 but no later because it impacts the 2004 retro. We want to process 2004 retro ASAP after we get the go ahead. A: The clients unanimously agreed to delay until PP 04!!! - the notes above have been modified to reflect the PP-04 to avoid confusion.

e. Q: Will NFC have staff available if corrected T&A does not apply? A: Yes.

f. FDIC - What day is the deadline in PP04? Technically the answer is as soon as possible and definitely before Thursday when PAYE runs. NFC is recommending that agencies submit them early (by Mon/Tues). NFC plans to generate the corrected T&A's for PP-24 on Sunday, March 7th. Therefore, Monday, March 8th is the date agencies should submit the split T&A's

IV. PL 108-136 Military Leave Changes (Jo Bonner) - There was also a clause in the DOD appropriation that increased the pool of employees eligible for the 22-Day, military off-set leave. In the past this leave has been referred to as "Emergency Military Leave". Now that employees are eligible in other situations we will refer to it as 22-day, offset leave. The T&A Work Group is developing requirements for automation of the offset process.

A. NFC has been in touch with DOD on this issue. We have requested that they try to issue information on eligibility and that they should contact their civilian HR office.

B. The critical issue with this leave is that it is offset military leave. For example, an individual earning $20/hour from his/her federal position and $10/hour from his/her military position would only receive $10/hour from the federal sector for these hours ($20 - $10 = $10). Jo recommended that this payment not be made via the T&A at this time because TC-68 will pay at the full federal rate ($20 using the above example). Which means that agencies will have to manually bill the employee. Instead agencies should prepare an AD-343 for anyone who was active for the period November 24, 2003 thru December 31, 2003, AND qualifies for the additional 22 days offset leave. If the individual returned prior to November 24th and/or his/her period of qualifying service during this period does not entitle him to the full 22-days, it CANNOT be made retro for any period prior to November 24, 2003. If the employee was out for the entire coverage period for 2003, the 22-day leave should start on November 26th and run through December 31st. This will ensure that the employee receives the full 22-days plus the 4 holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, day-after Christmas, and New Year's).

C. Regardless of which method ((T&A and AD-343) or (AD-343 and TINQ)) method used, the employee must provide the HR office with a copy of the orders to prove that s/he was participating in a qualifying activity AND a copy of his/her DOD pay statement(s) that includes the day(s) for which the employee is using the 22-day offset military leave. The HR offices are asked to attach an estimate along with the necessary paperwork (military orders and appropriate DOD pay statement(s) when submitting the AD-343 for payment OR for billing. DOD has a website that provides guidance on how to compute the offset and that URL was e-mailed to the CAPPS and T&A Groups in December.

1. Q: Does everyone activated qualify? A: No. Probably anyone overseas, but most likely not those stationed locally (i.e., within the US) HR offices will have to check the order to see if they meet the requirements.

D. Effective January 1st, qualifying individuals became eligible for another 22-days. This leave type re-cycles on a calendar year basis and not on a fiscal year basis. It is referred to as 22-day leave, but technically it is 176 hours of leave since it can be used in 1 hour increments.

1. Q: Can unused leave be carried-over into the next calendar year? A: No. If the leave is not used, no portion of it will carry forward. There four distinct differences from regular military leave: 1) specific active duty requirements, 2) civilian pay must be offset, 3) operates on a calendar year basis in lieu of a fiscal year basis, and 4) it is use-or-lose.

2. Q: Since it does not carry forward, can they still use it for 2003. A: Yes. Because there was a change in the law some employees may not even be aware of their entitlement yet plus they have to get the paperwork to the HR office. Reasonable efforts must be made to work with the employees after the fact because of the active duty situations. The employee would most likely win on appeal so why go through that.

3. Q: What is the time frame for using the 2003 leave? A: DOD has not set a time frame, but it is in the agencies best interest not to drag it out. If time frames are established in the agencies, they should be reasonable.

4. Q: Will a bulletin be coming out? A: Unsure because the NFC procedures have not changed. The only new factor is that a larger number of employees are now eligible to use it. As mentioned earlier, the T&A community is trying to get the processed automated and a new bulletin would definitely be issued at that time. Currently some clients want do input the military rate to be used in the offset via the personnel system and others via T&A's.

5. DOJ - If use the 22 days and you put them back, they receive leave accruals right? A: Yes, Annual and sick leave is accrued for time in pay status due to usage of 22-day, offset military leave. Even though we are recommending that you do not use the T&A to record this time right now, the agency must TINQ the 22-day time used and any leave accruals for which the employee might be eligible. NFC will not do this for you. Do NOT TINQ the 22 days used for the 2003 period because this time has already past. Only TINQ that field for leave used after January 1, 2004. The leave accruals for 2003 should be TINQed in the carryover balance. If this would place the employee's annual leave carryover balance above 240, the 2003 accrual must be placed in the current year's accrual. If TINQed above 240, it will re-set the employee's personnel leave ceiling and you do not want to do this.

6. Q: Is this in addition to their normal 15 days? A. Yes. However, if you are Capitol Police, this is NOT an additional 22 days beyond the 22-days your employees have been using.

7. Peace Corps - Is there a report to identify these individuals. A: Jo developed a report to identify the number (no SSNs) of employees that are currently active. The report is sorted by department, agency, and CES code. It is titled MILCES and is in the NFC library. You may copy it to your own library and modify it to meet your needs. Employees in CES codes are 1 or 9 to be eligible - 1 = definitely eligible; 9 = maybe eligible.

8. Q: FDIC - Are these an additional 22 days that they would not normally have earned? A: Yes and has no affect on 15 days entitlement. FC: FDIC has been already been paying all of their activated military employees the difference between their military pay and their civilian pay. Is this some additional pay. FA: No, FDIC does not need to be concerned about this new entitlement. Your agency has some flexibility in how it manages the organization and your agency has already made the decision to cover all of time and not just a portion of it. You do not have anything to worry about.

9. Both Jerry and GAO indicated that they have contacts who are activated and the word is getting out about this leave.

V. W-2's for 2003 (Brad Womack) - Brad indicated that as of today (January 21st), everything is looking great. NFC has generated 578,357 W-2's and mailed out 578,338. 5,300 were in-house and 2,300 in suspense. The others are printed but under review and will be e-mailed within the next couple of days. We plan to wrap everything up by Friday and they may not be mailed until a day or so after that. We need help on the VIPS from the agencies as there are manual things that must be added. There are six agencies we need this information from. We plan on starting the W-2c process on February 2nd and we've had a smooth season so far and NFC has received only a few inquiries.

A. Who are the six agencies? A: GAO, TR, HUD, FDIC, DOJ, and DOC.

B. Who was the TR contact? The contacts can call 504-426-1552 to talk to Brad Womack

C. W-2's mailed out between January 14-16

D. Is there a W-2 inquiry line that agencies can call? A: No. Follow the normal inquiry process.

E. In W-2, can print for separated employees? A: Yes.

VI. New Operating System (Joe Weaver) - Joe discussed NFC's plan to implement the latest and greatest mainframe operating system (z/OS 1.4). NFC is in the process of putting it up on the TESTPLEX and plans to do in-house testing in March and April of selected applications. Joe indicated that NFC will be contacting some of the clients to help with this pre-test. He informed clients that on May 16th NFC will put the new version of the OS on the production mainframes and will test it that weekend. Staff at NFC plan to test all of the applications and bring the old OS back on-line. He strongly encouraged clients to participate in this testing. NFC will work on any issues identified and will then repeat the testing process on May 29th. At that point, if there are no show stoppers, the new system will remain in production. The Customer Support Branch will be in touch with CAPPS reps for volunteers for these testing sessions. Joe reminded reps that they will be testing a new OS in a LIVE - not a test - environment. Any processing changes made during the test weekends will apply. The May 29th date is a firm implementation date, due to other applications expecting changes over the summer. In October 2004, the OS NFC is currently running goes out of service.

A. DOC - Thanks for this advanced heads-up. It is always hard to get last minute volunteers to work weekends - especially holiday weekends!

VII. STAR web 4.0 (new interface) (Steve Cunningham/Mark Liegey) - Steve indicated that Larry, Ashlie, and Johanna are working on the next STAR 4.0 web application. Today's presentation is a coming attraction overview. A more in-depth review will be done in the T&A User Group. Steve indicated that NFC plans to begin the live pilot of the new front-end in PP-13 and convert remaining (non-pilot) STAR 3.0 users in PP-15. He also informed clients that the move from STAR web 3.0 to 4.0 will not require changes in security.

A. Q: DOJ - love the new version, very user friendly; however, I was recently informed of this just last week and we are deploring it and setting money aside for STAR WEB, is this correct? A: Johanna says to go forward implementing into 3.0 and the functionality is the same; we feel that with the demo, users will become familiar enough with out additional training. FC: Cosmetically it's changed a lot and we are talking 2500 timekeepers in DOJ. I need to rethink this. 4.0 is definitely going to be implemented in PP 15, right? A: YES. There will be no waiting period; selective agencies will test in PP 13, during the pilot period.

B. Q: Who are you looking for? A: New employee's to STAR as well as seasoned users. NFC can give you pointers on this.

C. Q: Who do you contact for Star Web training? A: Contact your CSR or call 504-255-5230.

D. Q: How do you phrase the request that you want to be a STAR WEB user? A: If 3.0, you don't have to request it, just send your info to security then go thru production. No need to route thru the Customer Support Representatives (CSR's) unless you want training. If you want to be part of the 4.0 pilot then let CSR know as well.

E. Q: Once 4.0 is ready and implemented in PP 15, what happens to 3.0 - it'll just be replaced? A: 3.0 is overlaid by 4.0. FC: DOJ has a concern for the additional training that may be needed for transitional training. FA: Johanna will work directly with DOJ on this.

F. DOJ wants to participate in the pilot but then I'll have to train those timekeepers by PP 15, not sure if that's enough time. NFC will work closely with you; demo will be on homepage and that'll help greatly. If not additional training will be available. NFC feels it's clear language.

G. For anyone who is unaware, the training database will be down in February b/c it'll be refreshed and new data will be added. System will be back in March.

H. Q: Does anything have to be changed w/the timekeepers profile, contact point, etc.? A: No, same DB and same mainframe ID - presentation layer will be changed, behind the scenes will remain the same.

I. DOJ would like a clarification on security request - problems w/scheduling classes. Security request - NFC needs 3 weeks; STAR WEB open to entire world and we want everyone to have time to get their request in and processed an distributed to the users and time to test them before they go live. Some scary results so we need this tested. Security can process more quickly but that's not our concern, it's getting access AND ensuring the timekeeper has tested it out before they move to production.

J. Q: Willie Smith - even w/user ID's for regular STAR, new ID will be needed? A: ID's for STAR WEB associated w/mainframe access - and STAR will be added to their profile. FC: What do we ask for, specifically? A: SSN, Name, Access Level, CP. And must come from the Security Officer.

VIII. Pay Issues (Jo Bonner) -

A. The 2004 Pay Adjustment (Project 40012) included an across-the-Board Pay Increase of 1.5% and a Locality Pay Increase will average 0.5%. NFC has already generated these actions and actions that have applied to the database are available for review on the mainframe. If your agency has any of these documents in suspense, you need to work thru them. NFC will not be fixing them for you. In addition, if your agency is responsible for processing any Pay Adjustments manually, you should that process if you have not already done so. The Annual Pay Raise bulletin (04-2) was issued on January 16, 2004.

1. DOJ - They have seen cases where the IR125 displays the 894 pay adjustment twice while in EPIC it only appears once. In these cases, the individuals also had TSP Catch-up. Are the two issues related? It appears that other documents were also duplicated (e.g., 721) in IR125 but not in EPIC. The duplicate documents are identical even down to the user ID. A: This is the first NFC has heard of this problem and we will need some specific SSN examples. Glenda - Please send the SSN examples to the Annual Pay Raise address so they can be researched.

B. 2004 Retroactive Pay Adjustment is awaiting Congressional action. Where possible, agencies may wish to delay discretionary actions to avoid more complex HCUP cases if/when the retro is approved.

1. Q: PC - general comment printed on every 50 to correct all salary items due to 2004 retro. A: We'll do the same but didn't realize it didn't print on every 50. We'll look at this as well on the 002.

IX. SPPS Web (Sharon Giovengo) - Sharon indicated that QA testing would continue through February 6th. Several agencies are participating in this testing - thank you. SPPS web will be implemented on February 23rd for PP-04. Sharon reminded clients that implementation of SPPS web will eliminate the need for MANLOG because it includes 31 different types of payments such as (electronic AD-343, cash award, annual/restored leave, credit hours, compensatory time, settlement back pay, miscellaneous payments (allowances, differentials, etc.), student loans, etc.). The new system will enable users to process many of their own manual payments. Sharon informed clients that if a user currently has access to SPPS client the agency will not need to request additional security for the SPPS web access. On March 16 through 18, NFC will offer 1 day training in the DC CSO training rooms. Additional training will be available quarterly throughout the year. More information is available on NFC's homepage.

A. USDA: Are you taking away the client version? A: Not at this date, but it will eventually go away.

X. Benefits Updates (Jody Nyers) -

A. TSP Open Season ended December 31, 2003; transactions could have been effective any time after PP 24 - i.e., in PP 25 (12/14/03) forward; next Open Season will be April 15 - June 30, 2004. New elected deferral limit is $13,000; make sure your highly paid FERS employees do not exceed this amount; this might mean ½ the year having a percentage deducted and the remaining ½ the year a dollar amount. This isn't new but it is a reminder.

B. TSP Catch Up - Contributions for 2003 ended with PP 24. Catch Up for 2004 began in PP 25 and employees had to take a positive action in order for the action to begin. There was much concern over the use of Employee Express and its affect on Catch Up contributions regarding the effective date. I attended the EEX monthly meeting yesterday and discussed this issue to determine why EEX indicated the effective pay period as PP 26 after we purposely advised CAPPS to notify their employees to enter the documents between December 22 - 31st for deductions to begin in PP 25. Many EEX Reps indicated they too had problems with this issue and wanted a resolution before next year. A suggestion was made that several items be added to this functionality to ensure an employee's election is either a) new, b) change or c) stop and when they wanted the election to occur (e.g., Eff date/PP). One of the EEX Reps volunteered to lead a workgroup to develop requirements and will bring it back to EEX later this year. For now, once the new actions have applied (hopefully in PP 25, 26 or even 01) then they'll be okay for 2004 - until PP 24 when we may run into the same problem we had this year when NFC zero's out the 2004 data. I say come on Employee Self Service!! I'll keep you advised of any EEX changes as they relate to Catch Up contributions.

1. Q: Treasury - If you have a highly paid employee withholding at the highest percentage and they also have TSP Catch-up, what happens if the percentage stops due to the maximum reached; will the catch-up stop? A: No, the transactions are independent and the TSP Catch-up will not stop unless the $3,000 limit is reached.

2. Q: Peace Corp - Is there an edit in place for the re-filing for the new calendar year for the TSP Catch-up? Yes the language on the form is misleading because it implies calendar year Vs calendar year monies received.

3. Q: Individuals who turned 50 in 2004, when will their catch-ups could take effect? We thought it was anytime in 2004. A: Those actions that failed in PP-25 due to birth year issues actually applied in PP-26. There was a problem and it was resolved in PP-26. Glenda indicated that this was not a program error but rather the information in the TSP bulletin implied that they were not eligible and the programming was made based upon that information.

C. FSA's and deductions for PP 25 - it seems many actions were entered via www.fsafeds.com to be effective in PP 25; however, they did not apply and therefore were not effective in PP 25. Errors may include file transfer problems from SHPS to NFC; hopefully these have been resolved; if not, please email Jody. FYI - SHPS contacted Jody when they discovered that agency 90 (that's NFC) transactions were rec'd as agency code IT. SHPS corrected this and the documents applied but not till PP 26 which resulted in a double deduction back to PP 25.

1. Glenda stated that agencies may have documents in suspense now because the date had a future pay period on it, these documents should be deleted when NFC runs PINE tonight. These are document type 185.

2. Q: TR - if you have information in the future file will those also be deleted? A: It depends on the date (01/01/04); will come in on Monday's pass and should be deleted on tonight's PINE pass 1. We will evaluate those in future before deleting them. FC: IRS was informed that NFC would be clearing future for them. They are not going to be happy if they have to correct it now. FA: Glenda - please let me evaluate this first. This is not a simple process because this is a SHPS error. If it can be done easily, NFC will do it. If it is too risky, then the agencies will be asked to clear the documents.

3. Q: DOC - SHPS over-deducted in 2003 and did provide a refund once it was brought to their attention. Will a1099 be provided to the employee? A: Yes.

4. Q: TR - Is there an issue with FICA and MEDICARE if there was an over deduction? A: Glenda - SHPS probably doesn't know how to deal with this. The agencies should contact OPM to work through this.

D. Retirement Legislation - PL 108-133 allows former members of the DC Police Department, DC Fire Department, US Park Police & US Secret Service to count previously performed military service as creditable service for the purposes of calculating the retirement annuity payable to these members. This may affect some employees within Treasury and DHS (I believe the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service went to DHS). These employees may be currently covered under Retirement Coverage Code Y (DC Government employees) or Z (non civilian Secret Service). I wrote a very basic FOCUS report (located in NFC's library and the report name is retmjody). The only CV that had results was CV 05 with 394 employees, all with the Secret Service. A copy of the report was provided to DHS/SS for their use and to share with their Benefits Officer for proper credit.

E. Transit Benefits - the fringe benefit for parking fees has increased from $190 to $195 and TM055 has been updated to reflect this change, effective as of PP 25. There is no change to the transit benefit - it remains at $100. To read the NFC bulletin on this, go to: http://dab.nfc.usda.gov/pubs/docs/title1/title1-03-16/title1-03-16.html

XI. Student Loan Program -Project 40184 (Jo Bonner/Jody Nyers) -

A. Increase from $6,000 to $10,000 - NFC has updated the system to allow for the $10,000 new amount.

B. OPM established a new NOA 817 to record and report student loans paid via this program. NFC's manual pay section is preparing a report on the volume of student loans being handled at this time so that NFC can determine if this process should be automated when the new NOA is programmed.

1. DOJ indicated that they have their own system for tracking these and generate payments out of SPPS.

XII. Employee Express Update (Jody for George) - in addition to TSP Catch up issues discussed before, EEX discussed the EOD (entrance on duty) process and indicated Air Force will present a demo of their system and this demo will be hosted by EHRI and held at OPM, in Room 1416, on February 6th from 9-Noon. Some Reps are concerned about security issues, didn't sound like all of the EEX Reps were onboard with this requirement. The EEX Group will discuss this topic next month, after seeing the demo. Next discussion topic was about e-Pay dictating to the HR folks on how to do business; HR folks need to make sure their voices are heard. Next topic was the Interactive voice response (IVR) - this system sees very little usage (<5% except for TR who had 23% last month (seasonal employees w/o PC access at home)); many felt this should just limp along b/c DOL does not want to eliminate the IVR b/c unions would need to be involved and negotiations made; most don't see any need to update the system...leave it as is. Problem is OPM says it can limp along until it dies, however, w/o an upgrade it may die off at anytime and that could be a problem, especially if the system dies off in the middle of a FEHB open season. Much discussion ensued about this topic, including who would pay for the upgrade so it was tabled to next month. Next topic was FY04 enhancements; someone mentioned they'd like to collect RNO data via EEX via manual process. OPM indicated there is a list of FY04 enhancements and determined what would be doable for a Spring '04 implementation which include, but not limited to: #1 = employee transaction history (14 mos of rolling history); #2 = display the SSN as all asterisks (*) but this could increase problems b/c of # of calls to HELP desk and whether the employee entered the SSN incorrectly and could possibly invalidate their EEX account with a SSN/PIN combination entered 6 x incorrectly - Q: can we mask/unmask the SSN? A: Yes but we need to vote on mask/unmask? All agreed to NO mask/unmask of the SSN; #3 = EOD info for current employees to view their info; #4 = Life events and self certification - concern over FEHB issues (family members, Child Equity, etc).

XIII. User & Work Group Updates

A. Awards (Jo Bonner) - Jo indicated that the next meeting is scheduled for February 11th from 9:30 to 11:30. At the last meeting the Awards User group proposed and approved a modification to the "Time-Off Award Hours Used" field in TINQ so that the field would remain editable even after the "Time-Off Award Hours Used" equals the value in the "Time-Off Award Hours Granted" field for any award. This causes a problem when the field is erroneously TINQed because there is no mechanism to correct it. This ability had been removed some years ago due to abuse of the system. The Awards User group felt that this type of abuse should be handled by the agency when it occurred and that the agencies should have the ability to correct an erroneous TINQ of this field. The CAPPS community approved the request.

B. EPIC (Lynda Wilson) - no report

C. FESI ( ?? ) - no report

D. Leave Share (Jo Bonner) - no report

E. RIF (Deborah Berry) - Deborah Berry indicated that there will be a group meeting next Thursday, January 29th. The group will participate in a conference call to NFC to review and walk through the new RIFR program. She plans to have another update at the next CAPPS meeting.

F. T&A (Jo Bonner) - Jo indicated that the next T&A User Group meeting will be held on February 5th from 9:30 to 11:30. The primary topics in recent weeks have been STAR web and how to handle the 22-day, offset military leave. The next T&A Requirements Work group meeting will also be meeting on February 5th from 1:00 to 3:00. The goal at that meeting will be to finalize requirements for automating the 22-day, offset military leave. Jo encouraged agencies to send representatives to both meetings. Jo also indicated that NFC was aware with the problem with the TIME edit 137 which indicates that individuals on LWOP-US must be RTD before a T&A can be submitted. The manual pay staff is forcing those T&As through and a project (#40201) has been submitted to correct the problem.

XIV. Miscellaneous

A. There will be a Payroll/Personnel Systems Orientation in New Orleans on February 18 and 19, 2004. (Click here to see the description of training sessions being presented for the 2nd quarter of FY2004 by the Payroll Operations Section.)

B. The HR Briefing in New Orleans is scheduled for April 27-29, 2004.

C. George has some information regarding the reporting requirements for the 113 Reports and will email CAPPS upon his return.

Post Meeting Update: George emailed this to CAPPS reps on February 4, 2004.

D. New phone Exchange at NFC (Jerry) - The number of phone calls received at NFC fluctuates a great deal - anywhere from 4-5,000 up to 50-60,000. Over the last several months NFC has on occasion received over 125,000 calls (e.g., during TSP conversion to daily rates). When NFC receives these enormous volumes of calls the 255 exchange will overload and shut down. The other citizens and businesses covered by the 255 exchange have appealed to the Public Service Commission to do something about the problem. As a result, NFC will be moving off of the 255 exchange and assigned a 426 exchange. The process will take about two months to complete. The old numbers will continue to work for a while. However, the automatic transfer of the number will not last forever. NFC has been granted permission to keep the main dial-in numbers frequently used by the clients. NFC will let you know which numbers will remain and which will change. The individual employee numbers will definitely change to the new exchange. NFC does not have the final approval from Bell South on the effective date and which numbers will remain even though this was due last Friday (January 16). NFC has already been granted one exchange that did not work. Hopefully, the new one will and NFC will be able to get something to the clients. The new directory of key numbers will be on the web.

1. Q: Will this affect the fax numbers? A: Yes.

2. Q: Are you keeping the main fax numbers? A: Probably not, NFC requested permission to keep about 50 lines. The phone company declined the request because the main numbers are the ones receiving the largest volume and thus creating the problem. NFC submitted an appeal about 2 weeks ago.

3. Q: How is NFC charging for this (i.e., if the clients are charged by the phone call, is it a good idea to put the NFC numbers on the web)? A: It is out there now. If unauthorized persons call, NFC will send the employees back to his/her agency contact. C: DOC's Customer Support is constantly referring individuals back to DOC-HQ for resolution.

Post Meeting Update: The new exchange will be implemented on February 17th.

XV. Potpourri

A. DOC - Mary Arnold is planning on retiring in early March. A vacancy announcement will be open soon! We will miss you Mary and good luck.

B. DOJ - Can anyone provide an update on the Garnishment process? A: Penny - The new garnishment process will be available in PP-07. FQ: Will there be any training for this? FA: Penny - The NFC staff does not feel it will be needed but we can discuss this with you. Jerry - Clients are paying NFC to provide this service manually in 2004. It is currently not in the 2005 budgets as a manual item. If you want us to do it for you in 2005, it can be negotiated.

1. DOJ has to have all new versions of software certified by their IT staff prior to implementation in PP-07. This is also their concern for the new 817 NOA. A: Penny - Something will be issued on this prior to PP-07. NFC had intended to release a letter today, but needed to make a couple of modifications to it first.

2. TR - Should we expect a letter and not a bulletin on the garnishment issue? A: Penny - You will have both. FC: This should go to the CAPPS community and the financial community.

XVI. Participation

A. Attending:

1. Clients - AG, Capitol Police, CCR, CFTC, CSOSA, DOC, DOC-Census, DOC-PTO, DOJ, FCA, FCC, FDIC, FMCS, GAO, NEH, OFHEO, OSC, Peace Corps, PSA, SBA, Smithsonian, TR

2. NFC - Jerry Lohfink, Penny Forbes, Jo Bonner, Mark Liegey, and Jody Nyers

B. Teleconferencing:

1. Clients - AG, IBWC, SBA, TR, TR-BPD

2. NFC - Steve Cunningham, Glenda Dorsey, Sharon Giovengo, Johanna Heller, Ashley Horton, Mose Lindsay, Debbie Tatum, Joe Weaver, Brad Womac,