I. Welcome

Dawn Hughes-Morris (NFC) introduced herself as the Client Management Branch (CMB) Chief and welcomed everyone.

Dawn announced the procedures for an “Evacuation” in the event of an emergency and/or a “Shelter-In-Place” crisis situation. Everyone present was allowed to introduce themselves.

II. Updates/Action Items

Customer Notifications.
Dawn stated that thirty-three (33) Customer Notification were emailed by CMB during the past month. All Customer Notifications on the Primary Computing Facility (PCF) migration are housed on the National Finance Center (NFC) website at www.nfc.usda.gov. Also, the Customer Notifications regarding PC-TARE and STAR Client being sunset were sited as being extremely important. NFC has a report showing seven agencies currently using PC-TARE and STAR Client. Effective Pay Period 04, 2008 (February 17, 2008 through March 1, 2008), PC-TARE and STAR Client Reporting Systems will be sunset and no longer available to transmit Time and Attendance (T&A) electronic files to NFC. Penny Forbes (NFC) asked that agencies send any Customer Notification feedback, suggestions, or requests to be added to the distribution list to Customer.Support@usda.gov.

Upcoming Payroll/Personnel System Orientation.
Dawn stated that there has been recent interest in revising the Payroll/Personnel System Orientation. After surveying the community, NFC now plans to have an Orientation on October 23-24, 2007. NFC is working to finalize all the logistics. Some aspects of the old format will remain such as securing a block of rooms for the participants and presenting demonstrations; however, NFC is evaluating the content of the Orientation in terms of materials and presentations. NFC will include any new applications that may not have been covered in past Orientations. This is an orientation to the NFC payroll/personnel systems and organizations of the NFC.

As soon the cost is determined, CMB will send out a Customer Notification to provide the information on the exact date and registration procedures.

Job Aid Bulletin.
Theresa Trentacoste (NFC) stated it appears that this open item represents documentation on when and how NFC generates remarks for SF-50B. Theresa has been working directly with particular agencies and with Randy's development staff to narrow these remarks down. This requires the developers to go through all the code. NFC doesn’t want to provide the customers something so cumbersome that it is not useful or one that is not complete enough. It is taking time to get through this process, but when it is done, it will be very beneficial to the agencies. It remains an open item, and it is difficult to say when it will be finished.

Grindl LeGrand Brewer (DOC) stated they have already been waiting over a year. She stated NFC believed this is the result of the way they were processing personnel actions, and they did not really agree. Grindl asked NFC to provide them with exactly what they need to do to keep this from happening.

Penny Forbes said NFC is looking at code, which has been in the system for some time. NFC is going back to review if some of those requirements are still relevant. Historically it is because at some point somebody asked for this action. So now we are going back to determine whether or not the requirements are valid for the agency. It takes a lot of time. Penny stated everyone should really take a look at what all of the documents will look like for the employee and how many questions will be generated by the reviews. As folks are getting closer to retirement they look much more closely at that data and probably have a lot more questions.

Sheila Fleishell (DOC) asked if the only problem was that it was generating duplicate remarks on the 50B.

Grindl said that it was a variety of issues.

Penny Forbes stated that the remarks that are asked for are not printing. So it is a variety of issues. We have worked through some of the issues, and now we are getting to a point where we can document what is generated.

Theresa stated the particular remarks that are being documented are the ones that we generate for all users. She stated that we are not documenting, at this point, the specific programming requirements for unique remarks on the 50B.

Earning & Leave System Software.
NFC has been waiting to meet with the contractor on the new mailing system software since March 2007.

Grindl stated that some of these addresses aren't new; they have been on the system for 10 years.

Penny stated that in order to be able to get the postal discounts, NFC has to use software provided by the United States Postal Service.

One problem with the software is that there are situations where employees will submit the address, but the system does not recognize it as valid. That has been a long-standing issue and has grown more recently.

Penny noted the paperless Statement of Earnings and Leave (SEL) could be mandated. The SEL’s are available on Saturday after PAYE; so the SEL’s can be gotten more quickly and securely.

NFC recently removed the employee routing and account number from the SEL’s, but NFC will not change the look on the hard copy. NFC has also implemented providing the Government Contributions to Employee Benefits as a link on the Employee Personal Page’s (EPP) Earnings and Leave Statement.

Randy Gonzales (NFC) stated that the full SSN shows and that on the mailed hard copy SEL the last four digits of SSN is displayed.

III. Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act (FERCCA) Cases

Randy Speed (NFC) stated the plan for processing FERCCA cases would be first in first out; however, there may be specific circumstances where an employee will retire, and we have to expedite the case. Customers are asked to limit those to the cases that truly need to be expedited. Randy stated that a lot of information was given about what is required, and it is appreciated what everyone is doing. NFC has noticed in most of the cases where there are issues with data, it concerns employees working in one department now, who were in previous departments or at another agency. Randy Speed asked customers to refer to the NFC Bulletin and make sure they send a complete package to NFC for processing. It would expedite the process to get the packages done as completely and quickly as possible.

Agencies were reminded that for budget purposes and from an agency perspective, they have to be concerned about a potential hit on their budget for agency contributions that may have lapsed for that employee. These contributions are over and above the cost of NFC processing cases. There will be instances where the agency contributions are going to have to be made up, or there will be lost earnings.

Debbie Byrne (NFC) stated the FERCCA cost would be included in the upcoming 2008 agreement as well as the detail of how NFC determined the cost at $2,500 per case. This is the standard cost NFC determined would cover its expenses associated with this processing. The duration is 3-5 years. The memo each agency financial contact personnel will be getting shortly will provide more details a point of contact if you have any concerns or questions.

Jennifer Joyner (CFTC) asked about a case worked last year. CFTC thought that the case was completed. Is there a way that they can be notified once everything has been done, and the money was transferred to the Social Security Number? She doesn’t know when a case is done or whether all of the money has been transferred.

Bob Varnau (NFC) stated that she would be able to find that information in SPPS and find out information as NFC processes the transaction. NFC would tell the customer when the case has been completed, or when it has been sent to the W-2 group or the retirement group to complete the processing. Customers will be able to call NFC and get that information.

An agency representative asked who get the memo referenced by Debby Byrne.
Debby responded that the memo would be sent to each agency’s financial contact from their Interagency (IA) Agreement. It will recapture what has been going on in previous memos.

Dora Lee Rosendorf (Treasury) asked if NFC would send it to the CAPPS community. Bob stated said that it would be sent to them.

IV. 27 Pay Dates in 2008

Joe Henley stated there are only 26 pay dates in Tax Year 2007, and there will be 27 pay dates in the Tax Year 2008. However, both Tax Years will only contain 26 pay periods. Pay Period 25 of 2007 will have an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) pay date of January 2, 2008, and the paper check date will be January 3, 2008. The EFT pay date for Pay Period 25 of 2008 will be December 29, 2008, and the paper check date will be accelerated to December 31, 2008, and as a result there will be 27 pay dates in Tax Year 2008.

Penny Forbes added that a Customer Notification and a follow-up NFC Bulletin that went out February 13, 2007 contain the information. There are 26 pay periods.

An agency representative asked how many pay dates are in 2009.

Joe said there would be 26 pay dates for 2009. The Pay Period 26 EFT pay date is January 12, 2009 and the check date is January 15, 2009. The last pay period of Tax Year 2009 is Pay Period 25. The EFT date is December 28, 2009, and check date is December 31, 2009.

Bob Varnau stated that employees should consider adjusting their TSP deductions to take advantage of the full government matching with the additional pay date.

V. Undeliverable U.S. Savings Bonds

Joe Vitale (NFC) stated that NFC has been working with the Federal Reserve Bank on savings bonds. NFC began concentrating on these undeliverable savings bonds early last year to improve the time in which the Federal Reserve Bank mails them. When they are returned, they are bulk mailed back to NFC. At that point NFC determines the identity of the owner and gets the bonds back into the appropriate hands. There was a backlog with Katrina; however, NFC is not holding any bonds as of today. In sharing some lessons learned in handling this process in the past year, NFC has had about 60,000 employees that have bond deductions. Approximately 1 percent of those bonds are returned by the Post Office. The percent does not sound like a lot, but when you are talking about 74,000 bonds, 1 percent represents 740 bonds on average returned. The savings bonds are returned due to bad addresses. Each month it takes 80 man-hours to research the savings bonds and the owners. If it looks like the resident screen has been recently updated, NFC will mail the bonds to the owner. A letter is generated when these are sent out providing instructions to either the employee or agency point of contact on what needs to be done to prevent future bonds being returned. The processing returns and the volume of bonds that we redistribute to the employee or agency, increases postal expenses about $350 per month. This adds up to a little over $400,000 each year.

In talking with the employees, when they do receive their bonds in response to the letters, NFC has found that in the vast majority of cases the employees changed their residential address but did not realize that they also needed to update their bond address. Many of these employees used their Employee Personal Page (EPP). The employee would input the updated information for their residential address and submit the new information into the NFC system and miss the wording that reminds them that it does not automatically update bond addresses and that it is a separate process in EPP.

One of the things that Joe Vitale recommended is that this wording be moved to the top portion on the screen so that the employees will read it.

Joe said that this is an important message, and it is being overlooked. He hopes these changes will improve the process. He asked that everyone remind their employees whenever they submit hard copy address changes for their residence that they also must change their bond addresses. He also strongly encouraged everyone to consider and use Treasury Direct, which is a secure, safe, and efficient way of purchasing savings bonds.

VI. W-2 Update

Ron Andrus (NFC) stated there were 3 issues regarding W-2 processing. The first issue is timeliness of submission of information after Pay Period 24. Last year NFC had approximately 40 percent of its suspense caused by agencies requesting holds on the W-2’s. NFC is not getting information regarding cash bonuses or awards that affect the W-2’s. Ron requested that the agencies send the information to NFC a day or so after the end of Pay Period 24, which would be no later than December 10th of this year. The second issue is that NFC has a lot of W-2’s that have been returned at the end of the year as undeliverable. 5,000 W-2’s were returned last year. It takes a lot of time to get these W-2’s to the correct person to get them to the respective employee. Ron emphasized that when employees change their address for any reason that they provide the agency with that change. The third issue is the designation of TSP in such a way that it causes a negative balance and bills are generated. Ron just wanted to make those three points so that they could pass that information on. That way we can provide better and timely service to everyone.

An agency representative asked which address is used for mailing W-2’s.

Ron stated W-2’s are mailed to address on IRIS 124.

An agency representative asked what creates a negative balance.

Ron stated that there are certain deductions that must come out such as retirement, Social Security, and so forth. If there is not enough money to make these deductions, it will create a negative balance, and then the person will receive a bill for the amount of money that was not available to pay those deductions.

An agency representative asked if it shows a negative on the PINQ screen?

Ron stated that it doesn’t show negative on PINQ screen (inquiry).

VII. Timelines

The Timeline link can be found on the NFC website on the left side of the screen. There is a link for EmpowHR and Payroll/Personnel System.

VIII. EPIC HCUP Timeline (Grayed-out Fields)

The results from modifications that were implemented based on a request from the EPIC User Group to gray-out Nature of Action (NOA) fields were successful. NFC will continue with its progress to open the remainder of the NOA’s in phases. NFC will continue to work through the EPIC User Group to assess the projected pay periods implemented to ensure the dates are satisfactory to the Payroll/Personnel community. The schedule will also be sent to the Customers. The NOA 100’s modifications are planned for Pay Period 17, 2007, NOA 400’s for Pay Period 20, 2007, NOA 500’s for Pay Period 23, 2007, NOA 700’s for Pay Period 26, 2007, NOA 800-868 for Pay Period 02, 2008, NOA 872-899 Pay Period 04, 2008, NOA 900-947 Pay Period 06, 2008, and NOA 950-999 Pay Period 08, 2008.

IX. Sunset of PC-TARE and STAR Client

Dawn Hughes-Morris will ensure that agencies get information on the sunset of PC-TARE and STAR Client.

X. Customer Forum Recap

A general discussion was held on events at the July 17-19, 2007 Customer Forum.

XI. Performance-Based Cash Award Calculations

Jo Bonner (NFC) stated on that on June 21, 2007 OPM issued policy guidance on “Approaches to Calculating Performance-Based Cash Awards”. There is a section in this guidance that discusses Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Implications. Specifically, “If an agency gives up discretion over the fact or amount of an award and the award is based on hours worked, productivity or efficiency, then there are FLSA implications. Such implications arise when establishing award programs linking award amounts or percentages to specific ratings.” This is apparently not new guidance, but OPM has decided to clarify it for agencies. NFC is your payroll provider and as such does not get involved in an agencies performance plans or awards programs other than to program what is needed. Jo stated that NFC does not know if any of the agencies have performance award programs where this may be an issue but knows that none of its clients have ever requested it. Should an agency decide to implement a performance award program where there are FLSA implications, that agency will need to develop requirements and submit them to the NFC GESDRequest mailbox. If you need more information on the OPM guidance, it can be found at the OPM website under @ http://www.opm.gov/perform/reward.asp#pbca or under the “What’s New” link for June 2007.

XII. OPM Regulatory Changes (OPM Update 46)

Randy Gonzales stated there have been Customer Notifications provided to the customers on the OPM Update 46. One Customer Notification announced the Pay Period 17 testing. In Pay Period 18 and 19 corrections can be made, and it will go to production in Pay Period 20. Be sure that you have access to test or to participate.

XIII. Request to Have NFC Generate Form TSP-41, Notification to TSP of Nonpay Status

Ginny Towe stated when an employee goes on leave without pay and when they return from leave without pay, the agency has to submit a form TSP-41. Right now this is a manual process. The agency may submit the TSP-41, a letter of non-pay status, or copy of the SF50 to TSP to notify them of the leave without pay status. Ginny asked that NFC generate a file to TSP to benefit NFC and the agencies. Also with this process, information would be more accurate and the process would be faster. Ginny is surveying other agencies for interest in having NFC generate the Form TSP-41.

Penny advised that NFC would need to be sure that TSP is able to accept the file.

XIV. Benefits Update – Jody Nyers

Retirement Systems Modernization (RSM)
OPM will be attending the September 19th CAPPS meeting as well as a "Benefits User Group" meeting which will be held at 1 p.m. EDT after the September CAPPS date. OPM will discuss this project and the requirements for the agencies to complete prior to NFC migrating to RSM in November 2008. Jody requested that the agency benefits representatives attend the meeting to ask all the questions they may have for the OPM representatives. She asked agencies to verify that their SCD dates are correct, if they have military data via a DD-214 in the system, and so on. As it gets closer to the meetings, Jody will send out a reminder notice.

FSAFEDS Insert
Jody Nyers received a few comments; provided them to SHPS, and they are awaiting approval from OPM on the insert, which if all goes well, will be included in the Pay Period 21 or 22’s ELS. (It will not be the hard copy, just electronic ones via EPP).

Benefits Open Season
Jody stated that this upcoming "FEHB Open Season" will now be called "Benefits Open Season" since there are multiple benefits that give employees the opportunity to re-enroll or sign-up. These benefits include: FEHB, Flexible Spending Accounts, HSA's, and Dental and Vision Insurance. The FEHB booklet will now include information on all the insurances to include FEGLI and LTCI even though they are not included in the Open Season election period. Open Season dates are November 12 - December 10, 2007. Reminder: the effective dates for FSAFEDS and FEDVIP is usually January 1, 2008 and for FEHB it is the first full pay period in January 2008; however, deductions usually occur with the processing of PAYE for PP 01, which is January 6, 2008. Jody will confirm this as she receives the information.

TSP Auto Enroll
Jody had nothing new to report on this; the next TSP Quarterly Meeting is Wednesday, September 5th, and there will be an update at that time; which she'll share at the September CAPPS meeting.

BAL 07-203 FEGLI Code Change
OPM issued Benefits Administration Letter 07-203, which modified the description for Code A0 from "Ineligible for life insurance coverage" to "An employee in a position excluded from FEGLI coverage by law or regulation." In addition, they added code A1 which states: "FEGLI coverage as an employee ended due to completion of 12 months in nonpay status...." OPM indicated that the agency is responsible for using the A1 code when the employee has been in nonpay status for 12 months. It will show that FEGLI ended due to the end of 12 months LWOP. NOAC 881 to change the code to A1 should be processed at the same time the Agency Certification of Insurance Status SF 2821 and the Notice of Conversion Privilege SF 2819 are completed. NOTE: This is not used when the employee is going into a LWOP status. NFC has modified TMGT to reflect these changes; however, additional NFC programming is needed; Jody will let everyone know when it's completed.

Mail Handlers FEHB
Jody stated that when an employee covered by Mail Handlers Health Insurance fails to pay their required dues, the carrier notifies the employee of their impending termination. Effective September 1,2007, approximately 200 employees will be affected by this issue. The POI's of the affected employees have been provided a listing along with the Mail Handlers Health Insurance cover letter, and the POI must process an SF-2810 to terminate the insurance effective that date. If the employee pays his/her dues, the FEHB continues. If the termination occurs on or about September 1, 1007, and the employee pays his/her dues, then the FEHB can be reinstated effective September 2, 2007.

Residence Address Concerns for FEHB
Jody stated that when a new SF-2809 or SF-2810 is processed; please make sure the employee's current residence address is correct in the system (on IRIS 124). If there is no address or it's an invalid address, NFC will send the employee's information (eg., ID Cards, etc) to the Agency's Address. To ensure this doesn't happen, please check the system (IR124) to see that the current/correct address of record is present. If it's incorrect and the agency receives the employee's information, they will need to update the address in the system and notify the carrier of the correct address.

TSP End of Year Processing
Jody said that as is always mentioned, it's that time of year when you should notify your FERS employees who are contributing a large amount to their TSP to make any adjustments to avoid losing out on agency matching funds. Once the Elected Deferral Limit is reached, it's $15,500, then the TSP stops and if that happens in PP 21, 22, 23 this means no TSP deduction is taken, and therefore the employee loses out on matching funds.

TSP Loan Information and Data Record Correction

Jody stated that NFC has received many calls and/or emails on loans and data record corrections. If the agency wants to establish a loan for a transferred employee, wants to stop a loan for a current employee, or needs to correct loan payment amounts and/or loan numbers, they need to Fax a written request with a screen print of IRIS 120. Agencies were asked to inform their employees that they are responsible for any missed loan payments.

For data record corrections such as address, name, date of birth, TSP Service Computation Date, Separation/Transfer code that needs to be updated at TSP and that has been corrected in the NFC database, the agency needs to Fax a written request with a screen print of the applicable IRIS screen(s). If the change is pending for the current pay period, then time must be allowed for this change to update at TSP on the actual pay date of that pay period.

The Fax should include the entire social security number, department, and agency. They must sign, date, and include the phone number of the person authorizing the correction, and Fax it to 504-426-9769 with ATTN: BPS.

XV. Primary Computing Facility Update.

Jeanette Richardson (NFC) stated NFC will be conducting connectivity testing for users on August 18th. The Command Center will have staffing from 6 am to 4:30 CDT the week of August 20 – 24, 2007.

Gerald Spears (NFC) stated NFC is in the testing phase for the PCF move to Denver. The internal testing was conducted August 6 – 10, 2007. External testing will be Saturday, August 18, 2007, from noon to 4 p.m. (CDT) online and 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. (CDT) FESI batch testing. Data from the July 29th cutoff is what will be used. If anyone made password changes since July 29th, use the old password.

Ivan Jackson (NFC) answered questions about connectivity. Out of one hundred sixty customers connected via Internet, forty-six customers made transition to Denver. Ivan is working with Client Management Branch to connect the rest of the customers. Some agencies do not have IT Specialist on site. Several people are needed for participation. (Technical – making changes; IT Specialist – making modifications; and Test Coordinators – keep everyone aware of the process.)

The connectivity can be tested until September 15th. If you cannot accomplish a connection, contact Ivan Jackson. The technical point of contact will make changes to the connectivity with NFC. The IT Specialist will make modification to the workstations. NFC wants to work with the test coordinator to ensure everyone involved is notified and to ensure success during the testing. Secure remote step by step instructions will be sent out. EPP will be available, but ESS will not be available.

It is critical that the test coordinator communicate with technical POC and IT staff, or the user will not be able to test.

XVI. User Group Updates and Meetings

Dora Lee Rosendorf provided the T&A User Group update. She stated they discussed the new regulations on compensatory time and how it relates to military duty. A proposal for a report that will list all compensatory time broken out into the individual types available will be presented to the Reports User Group. The group also discussed how Title V and non-Title V agencies would use old verses newly incurred comp time.

Ginny Towe provided a brief update on the EPIC User Group Meeting. The group discussed the expansion of the NOA codes and the “opening up” of grayed out fields. Ginny asked that the users notify her if they experience any issues with these open fields.

XVII. Tip of the Week

As part of the NFC effort to keep customers informed, NFC is implementing a new weekly notification entitled “Tip Of The Week”. The first “Tip Of The Week” will be issued on October 2, 2007. An NFC Bulletin and a Customer Notification will be coming out soon with additional information.

XVIII. Lagniappe

Ashlie Horton (NFC) stated that a new EPIC download is coming in Pay Period 18 and will be in production by Pay Period 20. Dawn Hughes-Morris added a notification will be coming out.

Penny Forbes announced that the November CAPPS meeting will be rescheduled due to the Thanksgiving holiday. (Note: The November CAPPS will be held on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT)

George Morris (NFC/GESD/PPSPS) stated that Bus Codes (Bargaining Unit Status Codes assigned by OPM) will be modified by OPM in January 2008. Prior to January 2008, OPM will provide lists of these modifications directly to Federal Agencies for review and coordination with their payroll providers. TMGT 090 records will have to be modified accordingly. This will require major effort on the part of NFC & clients to review current TMGT 090 records since there are many defunct records which have not been closed and which will now not correlate with redefined bargaining units. This is further complicated by the fact that in the NFC system there is currently no correlation between the BUS codes identified in TMGT 090 and the Union Local dues withholding in TMGT 010. The cleanup of TMGT 010 records and unit identification will be addressed separately once the BUS codes have been clarified. For further info, contact George Morris.

Attendees:

Marjorie Rawls (AG)
Patty Moore (AG)
Linda Gandara (ARC)
Jingie Miller (AOC)
Jennifer Joyner (CFTC)
Paula Burton (CBO)
Gwendolyn Holmes (CSOSA)
Shavon Butler (CSOSA)
Grindl LeGrand-Brewer (DOC)
James Hoebel (DHS)
Linda Reter (DOJ)
Winston Farmer (DOJ)
Reed Walker (DOJ)
LaShonda Terell (DOL)
Lucy McCabe (FDIC)
Gwen Holmes (FEC)
Juwan Samuel (FERC)
David Kaplan (FMC)
Sue McMenamin (FMCS)
Shanyta Ingram (FMCS)
Regina Smith (GAO)
Janet Washington (GPO)
Rosa Dortch (HUD)
Sheila Thompson (LOC)
Phyllis Littles (NEA)
L’Tanya Sesker (NEH)
LaTasha Mason (PC)
William Turner (SBA)
Tom Neumeister (SI)
Ginny Towe (TR)
Dora Lee Rosendorf (TR)
Barbara J. English (USAID)
Jaime Santano (CBP)
Amy Martz (DOJ/BOP)

NFC North:

Jo Bonner
Wendy Moore
George Morris
Jody Nyers

NFC:

Dawn Hughes-Morris
Bob Varnau
Penny Forbes
Randy Speed
Randy Gonzales
Brenda Mandella
Larry Barrecca
Ivan Jackson
Gerald Spears
Kathy Fernandez
Ron Andrus
Carey Turner
Corinne Wingerter
Joe Vitale
Joe Henley
Reggie Hargett
Steve Cunningham
Randolph Gonzales
Mose Lindsay
Candace Letort
Louise Richard
Client Management Branch Customer Service Representatives