The Questions on this page relate to the ESS Leave Tool and is intended largely for those involved in the implementation, . The questions are divided into categories. You can either select a category and go directly to your area of interest, or scroll down the page and see them all.
About Implementation
Q1. How Does DES determine the release date for agency implementation?
Once an agency completes the
prerequisites and submits the ESS
Leave Implementation Request Form, the agency will be considered for implementation. The ISD Resource Planning Team will determine an implementation go-live date. It should be noted that the requesting agency’s change management needs are considered when determining the implementation date.
Q2. Is it possible to phase in implementation? Could we try it in a single group first, or does the whole agency have to implement at one time?
The ESS leave Tool is implemented by Personnel Area. For agencies with multiple Personnel Areas a separate ESS Leave Implementation Request Form is required.
Q3. What is expected of my agency as relates to assisting other agency implementations?
The expectation of the agency is to help support the change management process of up to two other agencies. This will include attending the initial 2 hour kick off meeting and then to make a resource available to answer questions and provide guidance during the implementation.
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Access and the ESS Portal
Q1. What is required for employees to log into the Employee Self Service Portal?
Employees will need access to the internet. They must also know their HRMS Personnel numbers and ESS passwords to login in at the ESS Portal.
See detailed instructions.
Q2. How long does it take to reset my password and be ready to log into the portal? Do you anticipate that resets will take longer as more agencies begin using the leave system?
ESS password resets (using the “Forgot Password” link on the HRMS Portal logon page) usually take less than 1 minute. DES does not anticipate slower response time on password resets due to more agencies using the ESS Leave Tool.
Q3. How often has ESS been down during the day for either scheduled or unscheduled reasons? Has downtime increased as more agencies started using the ESS Leave Tool?
Scheduled system maintenance is between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm every second and fourth Sunday of the month. ESS may not be available during these periods.
We don’t foresee increased system down time as more agencies start using the ESS Leave Tool, a DES communication will be sent to notify agencies when any unscheduled system down times occur.
Professional users have no access to ESS during the following scheduled "HRMS lock outs:"
- Daily from 6pm – 6am
- All day on Payroll Day 4
- During scheduled system maintenance
All other users have 24/7 access except during scheduled system maintenance.
Q4. How do agencies verify the employee email addresses that are on file in HRMS?
Employee email addresses are stored in HRMS infotype 0105 subtype 0010. Agencies can run the Flexible Employee Data Report ZHR_RPTPAN02 to verify email addresses are correct.
It is highly recommended to use an employee’s work email address. This email address is used for password resets and the leave request notification process.
If an agency has any employees who do not have a work email address, the agency will need to determine an internal business process to notify employees of the status of a leave request.
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Setting the Agency Organizational Structure
Q1. What if an agency's org structure crosses Personnel Area lines? Will this create problems?
All positions within an org unit must be assigned to the same personnel area for the leave request and approval processes to work correctly.
An agency’s Org Structure should be set up the same as your Leave reporting structure. See instructions for setting up an agency org structure.
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Functionality of the Leave Tool
Q1. Will ESS leave requests show in the CATS Screen in HRMS? Will leave entries in CATS show up in the ESS Leave Tool?
The CATS screen and the ESS Leave Tool are alternate methods for populating Infotype 2001.
ESS Leave Tool does not populate data into CATS.Absences entered outside of the ESS Leave Tool will be displayed in ESS and cannot be changed or deleted in ESS.
Q2. Are there training materials and tools developed we can use to train employees and supervisors?
Detailed user instructions are available for employees, supervisors, and leave administrators. In addition, there is a video demonstration of the leave request and approval process.
Q3. What leave types can be processed through the ESS Leave Tool? How do you enter leave types that are not available in ESS?
The majority of leave types are configured in the ESS Leave Tool. See the complete list of leave types available in ESS.
Each agency needs to determine its internal processes if it chooses to use leave types that are not available in ESS, or it chooses not to process certain leave types in the ESS Leave Tool.
Agencies will continue to have access to CATS and PA71 (Quick Entry of Time Data) for manual leave entry. Absences entered outside of the ESS Leave Tool will be displayed in ESS and cannot be changed or deleted in ESS.
Q4. What if our agency does not want certain absences (such as LWOP or Shared Leave) to be processed in the ESS Leave Tool?
The majority of leave types are configured in ESS Leave Tool including LWOP and Shared Leave. The agency will need to review the complete list of available leave types. If the agency does not want to use certain leave types in ESS, they will need to define an internal business process for handling the leave types.
Q5. Will the agencies currently using GAP1 to feed time and leave data to HRMS be able to use the ESS Leave Tool?
Yes, agencies that currently submit leave using GAP1 (Time and Leave interface) can still use the ESS Leave Tool. The ESS Leave Tool has no impact on GAP1 submitting time worked entries.
NOTE: Once employees start to enter leave using ESS, the agency should not send leave data through GAP1 as there is a risk of overlaying leave data.
Q6. Will the ESS Leave Tool prevent an employee from submitting a leave request if the rquested hours exceed their scheduled hours on file in HRMS?
The ESS Leave Tool uses the employee’s work schedule on file in HRMS to validate that they do not enter a leave request that would exceed their daily scheduled work hours. It is the agency’s responsibility to ensure the employee’s work schedules are accurate in HRMS.
Q7. Does DES have plans to add more work schedules to help accommodate agencies that move to ESS Leave processing?
Adding work schedules is not included in the ESS Leave Tool implementation effort. If an agency requires additional work schedules to support their ESS implementation, the agency will need to submit a ticket to the DES Service Center.
Please be aware that the request for additional work schedules may impact the date of your implementation.
Q8. Will the system recognize when state holidays occur? For instance, if an employee wants to request leave the day before and the day after a holiday, can he/she do that on one request for 16 hrs over those three days, or need a separate eight-hour request for each day on either side of the holiday?
For salaried employees with valid work schedules (for 24/7 work schedule see question #9) in HRMS, the holidays are inherited in the ESS Leave Tool. This prevents employees from submitting a leave request on a scheduled holiday.
For a leave request that crosses over a holiday, separate requests are required for the days before and after the holiday.
Q9. What should be considered for employees with 24/7 work schedules in HRMS?
Employees with 24/7 work schedules must submit a separate request for EACH DAY of leave taken. If an employee's shifts cross over days (i.e. 10:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.), two leave requests must be submitted for one shift.
Q10. Will employees and supervisors be able to view real time leave balances in ESS?
Yes, employees and supervisors can see real time leave balances in the ESS Leave Tool. The ESS screen can be refreshed to view the most current Leave Balances. See User instructions for details.
Q11. Can leave requests be submitted or approved for employees whose leave balance is less than the amount of leave requested?
No, employees cannot submit a leave request that exceeds their current balance.
Q12. How far into the past or future are leave requests allowed in the ESS Leave Tool?
Leave may be submitted, changed, or deleted up to 30 days after it was taken (past), or up to 12 months in advance (future) of it being taken. Agencies with Represented Employees should review bargaining agreements and may need to manually manage employee leave requests in cases where bargaining rights exceed what the system allows.
Q13. Will the approver be notified when his/her employee changes or deletes leave requests that were already approved?
Yes, the approver will be notified that the employee has requested to change or delete approved leave requests. Those requests will go through the approval process again.
Q14. If the supervisor/approver is gone, how is the request escalated for approval?
If the supervisor/manager is not available to approve leave for payroll cutoff, the higher level supervisor/manager (based on the HRMS Organizational Structure) can approve the leave request on his/her behalf using a feature called “Approve leave on behalf of my employees”.
NOTE: In the situation above, the higher level supervisor will not receive email notification of the submitted leave request. Agencies will need to define a business process to outline the escalation process and to identify outstanding leave requests that need to be approved.
Q15. Are payroll staff able to manually approve a leave slip in the ESS Leave Tool?
Payroll staff will not be able to submit/approve leave request in the ESS Leave Tool for employees. If the supervisor/manager is not available to approve leave for payroll cutoff, the higher level supervisor/manager (based on the HRMS Organizational Structure) can approve the leave request on his/her behalf.
Agencies will need to define an internal business process to outline the escalation process and how to identify outstanding leave requests that need to be approved.
Q16. Do leave slips get bumped back to the employee if not approved in "X" amount of days, or are they automatically approved and processed if they are waiting for supervisor approval for a specific period of time?
The unapproved leave requests will stay in the Supervisor’s work list until they are approved. The unapproved leave requests will not be bumped back to employee or be automatically approved/processed by the ESS Leave Tool.
The Agency’s ESS Leave Request Administrators will be able to capture leave requests waiting for approval for the upcoming payroll cutoff by running the ESS Leave reports .
Q17. How frequently do the ESS Email notification and posting programs run?
The email notification program runs every hour sending emails to approvers of pending requests and to employees notifying them of approved or rejected requests.
The posting program runs every 15 minutes to post approved requests to HRMS infotype 2001 (Absences).
Q18. Will the Leave Administrator be notified of errors during the leave request posting process?
Leave Administrators will get email notification if there are errors during a posting run. They need to run ZRPTARQERR program to identify and fix the error. Refer to the OLQR for detailed instructions.
Q19. Will we still be able to run the same reports we get when we run leave manually? Are there other reports provided for leave requests processed through the ESS Leave Tool?
Yes, your agency users will continue to have their current access to HRMS leave reports. There is an additional security role “ESS Leave Request Administrator” that will provide access to three additional reports:
- ZRPTARQERR (Leave Requests: Process Posting Errors)
- ZRPTARQDBVIEW (Display Leave Request (Database of Requests))
- ZRPTARQLIST (Leave Requests: Check)
The reports are run in HRMS and provide detailed information for leave requests processed through the ESS Leave Tool.
Refer to OLQR for details.
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Leave Tool Security Roles
Q1. What are the security roles we will need for the ESS Leave Tool?
There are three security roles for ESS Leave Tool:
- SR3P_SOW_ESS_LEAVE_REQUESTOR (ESS leave requestor role): The ESS LEAVE REQUESTOR role provides employees with the appropriate access to submit / change / delete their leave requests using the ESS Leave Request Tool. This access is only allowed for agencies that have been configured to use the ESS Leave Request Tool. It is assigned at the agency organizational unit level to authorize the leave requestor functionality for the employees belonging to the organizational unit.
- SR3P_MSS_LEAVE_APPROVER (MSS approver role):
The ESS LEAVE APPROVER role provides supervisory staff with access to manage their employees leave requests. This access is only allowed for agencies that have been configured to use the ESS Leave Request Tool. It is assigned to the supervisor/chief’s position for each organizational unit to authorize the approver functionality.
- SR3P_DE_ESS_LR_ADMINISTRATOR (Decentralized Leave administrator role): The ESS LEAVE REQUEST ADMINISTRATOR role is provided to the professional users in each agency who are responsible for troubleshooting and resolving ESS Leave Request errors and issues. This access is only allowed for agencies that have been configured to use the ESS Leave Request Tool.This is a supplemental role to SR3P_DE_T&A_PROC (Decentralized Time and Attendance Processor role).
Q2. How do we request the ESS Leave Tool security roles for implementation?
One of the items on the
ESS Leave Tool Checklist is to update the security spreadsheet.
Q3. After the implementation, how can we request on-going ESS Leave Tool roles based on position or responsibilities in our agency?
After an agency starts using the ESS Leave system they must continue to provide the information when supervisor and time & attendance processor positions' responsibilities change. These requests are part of centralized security and should be sent to the DES Service Center by the Agency Security Requestor using the Professional
User Access Request process and form.
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Business Processes to Consider
Q1. If an employee is off on a state holiday based on his/her work schedule and chooses a different day for an alternative holiday, what leave type should be used in the ESS Leave Tool?
The recommendation has always been to use Absence Type 9072 to designate an alternative holiday for employees who have scheduled days off on holidays.
Q2. How are prorated personal holidays, personal leave days, and Holiday pay processed for hourly employees?
Because payroll staff intervention is required in these cases, our recommendation is to process hourly employees' Personal Holidays, Personal Leave Days, and Holiday pay through CATS.
Q3. Should payroll adjust the leave requests submitted through ESS Leave tool?
The original requestor adjusts requests submitted from ESS.
- Before the 30-day limit, the request/approver should initiate the change in ESS.
- After the 30-day limit, an incident will need to be sent to the DES Service Center requesting assistance from the HRMS Functional Team.
Q4. How does a retroactive work schedule change affect leave rquests that have already been submitted/processed in the ESS Leave Tool?
All ESS leave requests dated after the effective date of the work schedule change will need to be deleted from ESS by the requestor and approved for deletion by the supervisor.
The agency should review their internal business processes to ensure employee work schedules are kept current in HRMS and changes are done timely.
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