I. Welcome - Cliff Lee reminded attendees of the emergency procedures in the event of an evacuation and/or "Shelter-in-Place" crisis situation. He also reminded attendees to sign the sign-in sheet, review the CAPPS representative listing, and update the CAPPS list as appropriate.

II. Impact of Hurricane Katrina -

A. Jerry Lohfink - "I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for your trust and patience during this challenging time. It is truly appreciated. We know you expect the best possible service and that is our goal as well. During the recovery from such a devastating disaster, we prioritized services to get our systems up and running and to pay all employees. Then we have continued working on adding the rest of our systems. Despite our employees' loss and grief, they have been working around the clock. I am very proud of the NFC staff and their goal of providing quality service to you. It will be a long recovery process until we return to full operations. However, we remain committed to providing good service to you. I would also like to say a special thanks to PPSPS (NFC North) for all they have done. They have provided support and coordination, going above and beyond the call of duty. It has been a vital and critical part to our progress to date and I thank them."

One of the reps stood up and responded with "I think we should thank you, Jerry, and your staff for all you/they have done." There was general applause throughout the room.

B. Alternate Work Sites - Jerry indicated that employees had been dispatched to Philadelphia (PA), Grand Prairie (TX), Alexandria (LA), Kansas City, and indicated that there were plans to disperse to other areas as well. He thanked everyone for their patience and understanding. He indicated that NFC does not have a target date to return to the Center in New Orleans but hope it will be soon.

Cliff added that there was a handout in the back of the room which listed the telephone numbers of our folks at the current alternate work sites and indicated that this listing can be shared with agency staffs.

Penny Forbes reiterated that employees are at multiple sites. The data center is located in Philadelphia, PA with operational units in Dallas and other sites. She indicated that TSP operations have moved to Smyrna, GA, and that the Customer Support staff will be heading to both DC and VA. She indicated that NFC is continuing to staff up and currently have about 500 employees deployed within all of the sites. She pointed out that while NFC is bringing more employees back to work, they have limitations based on the number of PCs/workstations available, as well as, space issues at these sites. We're expanding to other sites and continue to bring on additional sites to accommodate our employees.

1. Q: FCA - Have you heard from all of our folks? A: Grand Prairie - As of Tuesday afternoon, 1386 had made contact and 34 had not contacted us.

Post Meeting Update: Thankfully all NFC employees have been located and are safe.

C. Diedre Charlot would like a list of priorities on what clients need to have done. She indicated that NFC is only three weeks into this and many operational issues will be limited until such time that we are back to being fully operational. There will be things we can and cannot do and this will have an impact on service level agreements (SLA's) and unit costs. Currently our top priorities include fiscal year-end, the 2006 pay raise, and 2005 W-2's. Other interagency-agency agreements (IA's) may need to be delayed. She reminded clients of the e-mail that Cliff sent on her behalf earlier this week. The FY 2006 IA's should be at the agency no later than Friday. Any and all questions regarding IA's or those packages should be directed to the FMORequest mailbox. The full e-mail address is in the e-mail Cliff forwarded to you.

1. George Morris mentioned the reorganization package from DHS to GESD and asked how agencies should proceed with such requests. A: Grand Prairie indicated that NFC still wants agencies to send their requests to NFC.GESDREQUEST mailbox. They are anticipating that the Project Control Office will be up and running soon - possibly located in the DC area. This mailbox has not been worked for three weeks and thus no automatic responses have been received regarding requests submitted during this time period.

III. Leave Not Paid on 2nd Pass of PP 16 - Jo Bonner indicated that some of the clients may have already realized that there was a problem with the payment of leave for some employees in PP-16. The problem was limited to 449 employees on CV 06. An NFC programmer ran a report of the affected individuals and Jo requested that CV06 reps see her after the meeting to pick up their report. The problem resulted from a bug in some recent programming changes for the automation of the TC-68 off-set. There was a record which appropriately resulted in zeroing out the $ value of TC-68 for one employee. The problem was that the $ value of all leave on all T&A's after this one also was zeroed out. The problem was discovered and the bug was fixed for PP-17. Jo pointed out that some employees may not have noticed that there was a problem if they had only used a small amount of leave. Others who had taken 80 hours obviously did. Agencies reps in the later cases have already contacted manual pay for those employees and checks were issued. However, if the agency had not contacted NFC about a specific case, those adjustments were made through manual pay yesterday and are expected to be on today's (September 21st) schedule. The employee can expect to receive his/her money within a few days. Again it was only 449 employees who had leave and the T&A was paid in the 2nd pass of PAYE.

IV. 2005 Pay Changes (Cliff Lee) - The following projects are a result of various changes to OPM pay regulations in 2005:

A. 3R's - Project # 50463

B. Retained Pay - Project # 50569

C. LEO's Pay Plan GL - Project # 50570

Post Meeting Update: OPM is delaying implementation of the proposed pay plan "GL" and SF-50 changes for LEO's covered by Pay Table 0491 until October 1, 2006.

D. Special Rate Supplement - Project # 50571

E. Temp Prom to Perm Prom - Project # 50572

Cliff continued with Deidre's theme above and indicated that NFC is going to give priority to system changes mandated by law. He indicated that NFC will give first priority to those changes that will affect pay first (e.g., changes to retained pay (no longer entitled to locality pay), 3R's, pay formula changes, etc.). As time and circumstances permit down the road, NFC will migrate other changes into the mix as appropriate.

As far as new agency requests, continue sending to GESDREQUEST box. Marty will be available to handle these shortly. As additional staff arrive at the various sites, we will get them up and running. NFC is focusing on those projects that were set for PP 16, 17, etc. However, some of the files relevant to those projects were saved on media that has not been restored as yet and/or related hard copy information is still in New Orleans. As a first step, NFC is working as quickly as possible to get the Project Control Office re-established.

Q: GPO - We sent in a request in PP-14 or 15 and the request was never completed. We have been contacting Donna Speed about this. However, we have received no reply. Any idea when will this be done? A: Randy G - If you have talked to Donna, she will follow-up on it and get back to you. FC: Penny - Do you have a project # or IA#? A: GPO - No, I just have a copy of the System Change Request, I never got a number. C: Penny suggested that GPO forward the request to Johanna at Johanna.Heller@usda.gov and she will follow-up on it.

Jo reminded clients that they will not get the turnaround that they are used to on projects. She thanked clients for their patience through this process and requested that they continue to bear with us as the details are worked out. Penny added that, in addition to the limited staff onsite, the development, test and training environments are not up and running yet. NFC's first priority was to get the critical production environments up in order to get everyone paid. The others are being prioritized. Randy indicated that fiscal year-end, W2's, and Pay Raise are #1 priorities. After that NFC will look at other mandated items and agency requests. NFC is hoping to be back in NOLA soon. However, no one has a date or is even guessing at one, but hopefully by the beginning of the calendar year.

Penny indicated Building 350 is currently housing about 1400 Marines, who are sleeping in conference rooms, hallways, etc.. NFC is working on having a convoy back to the building to gather things staff need for processing, but we're having problems with that because of issues with logistics with lodging in the NOLA area; some people needed for the convoy are in Philly, Dallas and an assortment of other places; there is only one bridge open across Lake Pontchartrain; timing; etc. There are a lot of things in motion that clients may not be aware of.

Q: What is the Temp to Perm Project? A: Cliff - In the old regulations, an agency had the option to move an employee on a temporary promotion back to his/her former grade prior to making the promotion permanent and/or permanently promoting the employee to a different position. For example, the agency processed a Change to Lower Grade (CLG) action, then permanently promoted the employee. OPM's new pay regulations prohibit an agency from changing the employee back to a lower-grade if the promotion is continuous. We are looking at all the programming required for this change, including changes to PMSO. FQ: Are these projects included in EmpowHR? A: All projects are covered thru all NFC maintained systems.

V. Benefits Update - Jody Nyers

A. TSP Changes -

1. TSP Sweep - As you know NFC was planning to sweep the system to correct dates for agency TSP contributions. This deals with the employee's getting the TSP Open season contributions one open season period too soon. A report relevant to this sweep was to be generated on August 29, 2005. However, Katrina affected that. At this point NFC does not have an update on this project. Jody was not sure if Lisa has had an opportunity to get to this item since she had been deployed. Randy Gonzales indicated he would check with her.

2. Posting of PP-16 & PP-17 contributions - Again, due to Katrina, PP-16's TSP postings were delayed. They were posted as of September 15, 2005. PP-17's TSP postings were done last night (September 20, 2005). There was NOT a delay of 30 days or more in this posting. Therefore, there are no lost earnings involved.

3. TSP Loans - NFC has not received the tape from TSP to update the loans. Staff are expecting this tape today. If received they should have it processed within the next couple of days. As for those loans withheld from payroll, that file is not at TSP and thus has not been posted to the employee's TSP account. NFC is in the process of getting this file to TSP.

4. TSP Quarterly Meeting - TSP indicated that they do have a toll free fax number that employee's can use to submit forms to them. TSP is strongly encouraging employees to fax all TSP forms to this 1-866-817-5023 number. Please do not send a cover sheet. The data is faxed into a scanner, which automatically creates an electronic record of the data. If you must add a cover sheet, TSP requests that it be the final page in the transmit and not the first. TSP was very excited about the L funds as 102,000 employees have already signed-up for this fund.

B. Long Term Care Insurance ELS Insert - This insert was originally to be included in the E&L statements for PP-16. However, it has been delayed for now. Jody discussed this with OPM and luckily the inserts had not been mailed to the Center. They are still at OPM. NFC is hoping to resume E&L statement distribution in PP-19. We will decide at that time when the insert will be included, maybe in PP-20 or 21. Penny added that NFC is working with a Mail Guard facility north of Philly. Please check the NFC homepage for further information regarding the resumption of E&L distribution.

C. FEGLI Open Season Actions - these actions are effective PP 18 and agencies were reminded to enter them, make corrections, etc., to ensure they apply before PAYE runs this week. Jody asked Penny if this was all set? Yes, these will apply as scheduled. Penny indicated the schedule for running PAYE for PP 18 is listed on the web site.

D. Dental/Vision Benefits - have been delayed until December 2006 to coincide with the Fall 2006 FEHB Open Season.

E. EPP/ESS PIN Letters - Approximately 70,000 PIN letters were issued for users who signed up since Katrina hit, as well as, our new clients (TSA and U.S. Coast Guard). Penny added that NFC has completed the backlog of the PIN letters. They expect to have more folks signing up due to the inability to print the E&L.

F. FEHB Open Season - Jody reminded the attendees that the dates are November 14 thru December 12. OPM has issued BAL 05-404 discussing this year's open season.

VI. TMGT - Jody Nyers reminded everyone that NFC is currently only working on critical table changes only, e.g., FWS pay changes and others that affect pay. George added that the requests for additional school codes are not deemed critical.

A. Q: (USDA) - Are union dues critical? A: Yes.

VII. 2005 W-2 Testing and Processing - Ron Andrus requested that agencies submit W-2 SSN's by COB on September 30, 2005. He indicated that an e-mail would be sent out later this week (i.e., the week of September 19th) which will include the contact info of whom to send the info to in order to populate the test database. Therefore, NFC is expecting by September 30, 2005, a reply from ALL agencies that wish to participate in testing.

Regarding the envelopes NFC will be using for mailing out the W-2's - this was a follow-up issue from last meeting- we will be using plain white envelopes that GPO has in stock for us. These are the same window envelopes NFC currently uses for mailing hard copy E&L Statements. Be aware - there will be NO "W-2" markings on these envelopes, please alert your employees not to toss them!

VIII. Masking of SSN on SF-50b's for FCC - Debbie Berry discussed FCC's plans to have the SSN masked on FCC's SF-50b documents. She indicated that NFC denied their claim and sent them to OPM. OPM and OMB approved it their request. So now, they are preparing a request for GESD to do the programming for this. If others are interested in getting OPM approval, they can contact Debbie for additional information.

A. Q: (Smithsonian) - do we all need to receive individual approval from OPM? A: Jo - Yes, the agency must have approval to do this. She also reminded clients that Debbie did ask CAPPS reps a few months ago if any other agencies were interested in going in on the OPM request with them. There were no takers at that time, so now you have to go on your own.

IX. Employee Express Update / Employee Self Service - George Morris was not available for the EEX meeting this week. However, it was his understanding that EEX was planning to discuss the pending changes. He will try to get a summary from one of the client agencies. No update on ESS.

A. Q: Was there any affect on EEX with Katrina? A: Yes, there was a delay with communication lines, but everything is now up and running.

X. DOL's Proposals - The DOL CAPPS rep discussed the proposed changes to the E&L. Did you receive a copy of the notes? Yes. What are your questions/concerns? Keep in mind DOL has already gone to an electronic only version of the E&L so this is only for the ESS version. Did anybody

A. What does it look like if I print from the EPP? Randy Gonzales - The back-end programs for the mailed E&L and the EPP printed E&L are the same. So the data may appear on the screen, but making a change to the printed copy would be much more time consuming and costly. George reminded clients that the code for this was maxed out and it would require a new package.

B. Treasury - Why doesn't DOL request that the links be expanded in EPP and not alter the printed version?

C. DOJ -The regular person cannot look at the E&L and figure out the W-2 data to see how it appears. DOL's proposal addresses that. Yvonne we arrived at our last E&L based up on trial and error and union participation. We agreed to make a request based upon employee/union requests. DOL's employee's want to see this data when they print. We will pay for all of it unless somebody wants to make donations towards this end.

D. Smithsonian - The comments received from the last meeting, are they incorporated in the DOL proposal. Not yet, the committee is expected to review them later this week and decide whether they will or will not be included.

E. Treasury - We are not 100% on board with the changes. We don't have any objections to additional information, but feel it should be done via the EPP. The paper copy is too busy.

F. DOJ - If you are modifying your original proposal to incorporate our changes we would be okay with it. Are you? A: Our LMR office is considering the additional requests. FC: DOJ wants the final proposal before they vote.

G. CSOSA - We need it by our unions, too

H. FEC - Do we vote on this in here? A: Yes. FC: FEC then I want the final product to see what the commissioner wants.

I. DOL Rep - Can I get a general feel for the proposal? R: Liked it, would like minor changes.

J. FCA - We need to know if the paper version will vary from the ESS printed version. If they differ, we do NOT want the changes. R: The DOL Rep wants to make sure there are no other critical issues.

K. Smithsonian - if you go into ESS and open a drop-down can you print that screen. A: Yes.

L. ? - The feedback we've gotten is not more, but more/better understanding and/or sorting of what is there. Only 25% might appreciate that. Most are confused by the current version. We need to run it by our unions, too.

M. Smithsonian - Could you submit a request to NFC and have them do it just for them. DOL Rep - Already denied, there is only one print program.

N. Has DHS weighed into this? DOL - DHS has not weighed in on this.

O. FMCS - Would this affect previous E&L statements that are printed via ESS and/or EARN.

P. What next:

1. Timeframe is COB today. The DOL rep will take the issues to DOL's LMR and give us a final proposal for CAPPS. Please e-mail 202-693-6933 or e-mail sims.yvonne@dol.gov .

2. If you need a copy of the printed copy, contact Yvonne and she will mail you a hard copy.

XI. Child Support/Garnishments for PP-16. - George indicated that the folks at OCSE put out a request that NFC notify folks that there was a disruption in the flow of these payments for PP-16. NFC is back in business and the money is going out to the state disbursing units. If reps get comments concerns from the field and you receive communication that they were not received, please notify George and your Customer Support Representative. Johanna indicated that NFC is getting the calls from the custodial parent looking for the funds.

XII. User & Work Group Updates

A. Awards - (Jo Bonner) - Next Quarterly meeting is November 9, 2005

B. Benefits - (Jody Nyers) - Next meeting will be scheduled for Fall 2005

C. EPIC - (Gary Gaspard) - No September meeting. No update

D. EPP - (Randy Speed) - No update

E. FESI (Donna Speed) - No update

F. PMSO - (George Morris) - on the shelf.

G. T&A - (Jo Bonner) - Meets 1st payday Thursday each month - next meeting is Oct 13th. STAR 5.0 Testing scheduled for November is postponed. If you want to have testers participating and have not notified me, please do so by October 1st.

XIII. Potpourri

A. We are in the process of entering our awards and they will be going in PP-19. How do we ensure that they are paid with the appropriate FY funds? A: Include the accounting on the award document.

B. CFTC - I have several report questions. When will the reporting center reports be back on-line? We normally get a CD with BEAR report data, when can we expect that? JO - NFC is working on getting reports like the leave error back on-line. NFC is also aware that some agencies received hard copy or media data on a regular basis and we are working to re-establish those distribution channels. One of the issues for CD's is that they had to order a burner(s) for Texas. They had the data for some of you, but no way to get it to your requested medium. NFC is working on these issues and will supply the data as quickly as possible. For those of you that responded to the call for PP-16 data, we do hope to be able to provide this to you, but we have to get to NOLA to get to the data first. Q: Is this affecting our TALX, Retirement calculator, unemployment? A: Unsure some of these may be electronic updates such as if you use "Dashboard". Let us know if there is a specific issue where an external recipient for you is not getting his/her data.

C. Please note a copy of the CAPPS rep listing was provided with the sign-in/out sheet. Agencies should make sure their contact information is up-to-date. George reminded everyone that it is ONE rep and ONE alternate.

D. SF-50B's Print problems: GPO we tried printing them and they weren't there. BPD we tried to print pass 1 of PP-17. Several other agencies chimed in with varying scenarios on what did or did not work. R: JO requested that CAPPS rep double check after the meeting and let her know what does or does not work as of right now. She will then pursue it with the appropriate personnel.

POST MEETING UPDATE: Despite the number of agencies responding during the meeting with varying SF-50b print problems, only DOC-Census, FCC, FMCS, Smithsonian, TR-BPD provided e-mails regarding the status of their SF-50b print issues. The data was compiled and forwarded to NFC staff. The response provided was that AT THIS TIME clients can only print SF-50b's from PP-17 forward. The PP-16 and earlier data is at NOLA. NFC plans to pull this data on the scavenger hunt to NOLA and will load it for client use at some point after their return. A time frame for when the data may be available to the clients has not been established at this time.

E. We are having trouble printing reports. JO - Please submit a trouble ticket to OCC. Their number is on the sheet of numbers distributed.

F. When can we do a HCUP package? Cliff - Not sure, we have to wait for history to be loaded.

G. When will the SPPS web be back on-line? JO - Unknown. If you recall when SPPS web came on-line back in the Spring there were problems between STAR and SPPS working on the same server. In theory, they were supposed to be fine, but in reality this did not happen. SPPS was moved to a development server in the interim. However, in the big scheme of things, development servers are not normally considered critical and thus are not routinely backed-up. We will not be able to bring SPPS web back up until we can send a team into the center to scavenge the server and/or data that SPPS web used.

H. Treasury - Since NFC does not have printers, bills are not being printed. Are these ABCO bills going to be delayed? What about pending issues with bills that have already been mailed? A: JO indicated that there has been general talk about the ABCO bills, but was not sure of the final outcome of those discussions. She will check after the meeting and send out a notice to CAPPS reps.

POST MEETING UPDATE: JO contacted Steve Loeffelholz from Billings and Collections to obtain an update on this issue. The information provided by Steve was e-mailed to the CAPPS reps on September 29, 2005. That e-mail went as follows:

1 - NFC has not generated any bills in PP-16 or PP-17 and is not expect to do so in PP-18. Will the bill collections be delayed?

We are currently operating ABCO and processing checks. We plan to issue the first bill cycle since Katrina next week. When the letters/bills are issued employees will receive the same 30 days to review the debt until offset begins. The 30 days never starts until the issuance of the letter/bill. The first billing will include all receivables that were generated in PP 16 through 18. Many letters/bills will be generated and mailed out. The mailing will be done out of Philadelphia. We have staff to answer inquiries and process 'holds'. Agencies should call 1-800-421-0323 and select option 5. We plan to add additional staff next week.

2 - What happens to paper work I submitted regarding a bill generated in PP-15?

Agencies can view the status of an issued bills in the system. If the agency or employee altered the bill amount and/or the repayment agreement, please verify that the new data is NOT reflected in the system prior to calling. We realize that if the employee elected to write a check to pay the indebtedness, that the check may be at the center in NOLA on someone's desk or "in the mail" somewhere in the New Orleans area and not yet re-routed. (The US Postal Service is working diligently to reduce the backlog of mail in/to the NOLA area. NFC mail WILL be rerouted, but it is possible that we may not get the check until after the PAYE process for PP-19. Therefore, if the system is not reflecting changes that the agency and/or employee initiated, please call 1-800-421-0323 and select option 5. We will work with you to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to avoid complications. Remember, withholdings for bills issued in PP-15 ARE scheduled to commence in PP-19 since they were mailed prior to Katrina!

We ask that you PLEASE verify as much information as possible via the on-line methods before contacting NFC personnel. We are happy to help you, but staff and resources ARE limited and thus should be reserved for those individuals who truly need assistance.

Again we thank you for your patience as we work through this process."

I. Treasury - FY 2006 time schedule for monthly reports for next year's FY since there are 27 pay periods in this fiscal year. Cliff we use the OPM/OMB dates. TR-BPD - we got this too, they wanted to change the 113 A&G. We raised this issue with staff in New Orleans and were told that NFC takes its guidance from OPM/OMB.

POST MEETING UPDATE: This is the most recent info from OPM-

Table 1 - # of Pay Periods	OMB	GSA	NBC	NFC
FY 2006		27	26	26
FY 2007		26	27	27
FY 2008		26	26	26
FY 2009		26	26	26
Table 2 - # Actual Comp Hrs Compensable C
FY 2006	2,080	2,160	2,080	2,080
FY 2007	2,080	2,080	2,160	2,160
FY 2008	2,096	2,080	2,080	2,080
FY 2009		2,080	2,080	2,080
Table 3 - # Hrs WYs/113g compute WY
FY 2006		2080	2080	2080
FY 2007		2080	2080	2080
FY 2008		2080	2080	2080
FY 2009		2080	2080	2080

J. Treasury - Cliff, is there a project number on the new RNO/Ethnicity codes? Cliff - that is George's area. However, NFC already has this as a project, but since the numbering system is not up and running we won't be able to give it to you yet.

K. Deidra Charlot - Remember, We have distributed the agreements if you have any questions, please contact the FMO request mailbox.

1. Who did Smithsonian's go to? Deidra - I don't know off-hand, send us an e-mail and I'll get back to you.

XIV. Attendees

A. Clients

1. In Person - AG, ARC, AOC, CP, CCR, CFTC, CBO, DOC, DOJ, DOL, FCC, FEC, FHFB, FMCS, GAO, GPO, HUD, LOC, NEH, SBA, SI, TR,

2. Via Telephone - FCA, TR, TR-BPD

B. NFC

1. In Person - Cliff Lee (chair), George Morris (co-chair), JO Bonner, and Jody Nyers

2. Via Telephone - Jerry Lohfink, Ron Andrus, Deidra Charlot, Penny Forbes, Gary Gaspard, Randy Gonzales,