State Agencies Bulletin No. 905

Subject
Payroll System Upgrade
Date Issued
April 24, 2009

Purpose

To provide payroll system users with the following information to assist in the transition to the upgraded PayServ system:

  • Implementation schedule
  • Changes to system functionality
  • Transition tools available to users
  • Contacts for questions or assistance

Overview

On June 8, 2009, New York State will begin using a more current release of the PeopleSoft Payroll application. The current system using version 8.3 (PayServ 8.3) will be upgraded to version 8.9 (PayServ 8.9).

  • The last payroll processed in PayServ 8.3 will be the Administration cycle, Pay Periods 4L and 5C with the paycheck date of 6/10/09.
  • The first payroll processed in PayServ 8.9 will be the Institution cycle, Pay Periods 5L and 6C with the paycheck date of 6/18/09.

While most of the functionality of the system remains the same, there are a few differences such as navigation, the hire process, the Federal Tax Data page, the Automated Interface and PS Query. To assist in transitioning to the upgraded system, several resources will be available for users.

Implementation Schedule

In order to convert all PayServ 8.3 system data to the upgraded version of PayServ 8.9, the system will be unavailable starting at 12 Noon on Wednesday, 6/3/09 through Sunday, 6/7/09. PayServ will be available at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, 6/8/09. As a result, the agency submission schedule has been compressed.

  • For Administration Pay Periods 4L and 5C, paycheck date 6/10/09, the on-line transaction cut off has been changed to Tuesday, 5/26/09. Back end splits will need to be done before 12 Noon on 6/3/09. Paychecks, direct deposit advices and reports will be produced in PayServ 8.3 as usual.
  • For Institution Pay Periods 5L and 6C, paycheck date 6/18/09, the Automated Interface cut off has been changed to Monday, 6/1/09, and the on-line transaction cut off and the Time Entry File submission dates have been changed to Tuesday, 6/2/09. Changes to deductions must be done by 12 Noon on 6/3/09. Due to the limited processing time available, agencies should submit only essential transactions.
    PayServ 8.3 will be unavailable after 12 Noon on 6/3/09. OSC will resume processing of this payroll cycle once PayServ 8.9 becomes available on Monday, 6/8/09. Agencies may do back end splits on 6/11/09 and 6/12/09 as usual. Paychecks, direct deposit advices and reports will be produced in PayServ 8.9 in accordance with the regular schedule.
  • For Administration Pay Periods 5L and 6C, paycheck date 6/24/09, on-line transaction entry may take place until 12 Noon on 6/3/09 in PayServ 8.3 and can resume Monday, 6/8/09 in PayServ 8.9. The agency transaction cut off will be Wednesday, 6/10/09 as usual. For agencies using the Automated Interface, files may be sent until 12 Noon on 6/3/09 through the usual process. During the black out period, only one (1) AI file may be sent. It will be processed by OSC as part of the upgrade process. If an agency sends more than one file in this period, the new file will overwrite the earlier file. After PayServ 8.9 becomes available on 6/8/09, AI files may be submitted as usual.
  • For Institution Pay Periods 6L and 7C, paycheck date 7/2/09, PayServ 8.9 will be available for transaction entry as soon as the new system becomes available. To ensure quality system performance and a smooth transition to the new system, OSC asks that agencies refrain from entering transactions until 6/11/09, if possible.

This implementation schedule supersedes the dates in Payroll Bulletin No. 883.

Changes in Navigation

The most significant change in PayServ 8.9 is the organization and navigation among the pages. The menu structure and the names of some pages are different, but the page structure itself is nearly identical in most situations.

The menu structures are different. For example, to get to Paycheck Data, click Payroll for North America from the main menu, then Payroll Processing USA, Produce Payroll, and then Review Paycheck.

To assist in locating a page, a “Search” box is available in the application enabling users to locate a page by searching all or part of the page name.

A “Favorites” option is available where users can save the path to pages that are frequently used.

A navigation guide has been created and is accessible from the PayServ bulletin board page.

Changes in the Hire Process

When hiring new employees, the rules regarding effective dating are new.

When entering data onto the Personal Information page to process a new, future dated hire, the effective dates no longer can be future dated. All the dates within Personal Information (Name History, Address Detail, and Biographical History) are still required to be equal. Retroactive dates continue to be acceptable.

When entering data into the Job Data page to process a new hire, the effective date of the Hire transaction on Job Data must be equal to or greater than the Personal Data effective dates. Job Data rows can be future dated.

If the effective date on the Job Data page is prior to the effective date on the Personal Data rows, the user will receive the following error message upon tabbing out of the Effective Date field: ‘Effective date must be greater than or equal to employee’s first Personal Data effective date.’

Change in Federal Tax Data Page

A change has been made to values that can be selected from the Country field in the Tax Treaty/NRA section on the Federal Tax Data page.

The selection option $S (Other Country) currently used by agencies to populate the Country field for a country that does not have a treaty with the United States has been replaced with the selection option of UNK (Unknown).

Changes in Automated Interface

There are changes to the Automated Interface (AI) file and processing, including the addition of fields and changes in how some fields are mapped and processed.

AI Transaction Type

HIR

  • Currently, AI agencies submit Hire transactions with one effective date which is used for the Personal Data rows and the Job Hire row. New functionality prohibits the initial Personal Data rows for an individual to be greater than the current system date. The term ‘current date’ for AI processing translates to the actual date the AI Hire transaction is applied during transaction entry. If a Hire transaction is submitted and the effective date on the file is greater than the date the AI transaction will be applied, this will be treated as a future dated Hire. The AI process will insert Personal Data rows using the date the AI transaction was applied and then use the submitted date for the Job Hire Effective Date. An informational message noting the change to the Personal Data dates will be generated. If a Hire transaction is submitted with an effective date prior to the date that the AI transaction is applied, there will be no change.

PER

  • The Date of Birth is now available to be populated on the AI file for Hire and Personal Data transactions. The format, YYYYMMDD, will be consistent with the other AI date fields. Date of Birth is in positions 1309-1316 on the AI file. An error message is generated when an incorrect format is submitted.
  • If a Name Change is submitted, only Name Types of Primary (PRI) will be processed through AI. Any other Name Types must be done through manual entry. An error message is generated when other Name Types are submitted.

TAX

The following fields currently exist for on-line processing, and are now available for AI processing.

  • The Non-Resident Alien (NRA) Withholding Rule field for Federal Tax transactions has been added. For additional information on on-line use of the field, please refer to Payroll Bulletin No. 665 (New Procedure for Calculating Federal Income Tax Withholding on Wages Paid to Nonresident Alien Employees).
  • A State Residence field for State Tax transactions has been added to AI processing.

The new positions are listed below for the AI file NHRP573 and NHRP574.

NHRP573 Input File Layout Changes
Field Type Length Start End
NRA Exempt Whrule Char 1 1307 1307
ST Res Ind Char 1 1308 1308
Birth Date Date 8 1309 1316
NHRP574 Output File Layout Changes
Field Type Length Start End
NRA Exempt Whrule Char 1 1319 1319
ST Res Ind Char 1 1320 1320
Birth Date Date 8 1321 1328
Filler Char 134 1329 1462

Changes in PS Query

PS Query also will be upgraded. There will be navigational changes and some changes to the underlying database structures. The major changes include:

  • PS Query will be located under a new menu called “Reporting Tools.”
  • There is no longer a run button used to run a query. Users will have the option to run queries as before by clicking on the “Run to HTML” link or on the “Run to Excel” link to run the query directly into Excel.
  • Queries do not need to be saved before running. It still will be necessary to save a query or changes to a query if it will be needed again.

An updated training guide explaining the database and navigational changes will be issued shortly.

All PS Queries that are renamed following the guidelines in Payroll Bulletin No. 760 will be migrated to PayServ 8.9. All new queries that will be needed after the upgrade is implemented should continue to be saved with the prefix Q89. PS Queries that do not follow this naming convention will not be migrated to PayServ 8.9.

All queries that were renamed within the time frames specified in Payroll Bulletin No. 760 are being tested to assure that they will open and run in version 8.9. Queries saved with the Q89 prefix after the time frame specified in Bulletin 760 will be migrated to the new system, but may not be tested.

Queries that are not currently being used or will not be needed after the upgrade should not be renamed with the Q89 prefix. Users should not rename any of the “Locked” queries.

Training Resources

In order to facilitate users’ transition to the upgraded system, the following resources are available:

  • Navigation Guide - A navigation guide has been created to assist users in locating pages in the upgraded system. The Navigation Guide can be accessed from the PayServ bulletin board page.
  • Training in the Sandbox - The Training Sandbox, which is a full-sized payroll database, provides a safe environment where users can become familiar with the new navigation before the upgraded system becomes available. Since the Sandbox is a test environment only, users are encouraged to explore this database and use it as a learning tool. The Sandbox will be available on Monday, April 27, 2009. Access to the Sandbox will be available through the PayServ log-on page. When users log into PayServ, there will be a link (“PayServ89 Sandbox“) that takes the user into the Sandbox. Users’ security access to the Sandbox mirrors their production access. Users are encouraged to verify that their access is correct in the Training Sandbox. There will be no access to PS Query from the Sandbox.
    While working in the Sandbox, please be advised that the “New Window” feature on each page will be disabled in the test environment. To open multiple pages, the user will need to click on the File menu, and “New Window.”
  • On-Line Help - An on-line help feature will be available in PayServ 8.9. The content of the on-line help will be similar to the current WLA but it will contain additional features. A full description of the new on-line help will be forthcoming in a future payroll bulletin. It will not be available in the Sandbox.

Agency Actions

Prior to the conversion to PayServ 8.9, agency staff should sign onto the Sandbox and confirm their ability to navigate to all of the pages currently used.

Agencies need to adhere to the new processing schedule for Pay Periods 4A and 5I.

Paychecks, direct deposit advice statements and report availability will be on the same dates as regularly scheduled.

Questions

For issues related to logging into the Training Sandbox or accessing the PayServ 8.9 system, please contact the OSC BITS Help Desk at 518-486-6745.

For issues regarding Application Security in the Sandbox and the Upgraded PayServ application (i.e. user access is not the same as it is currently in Production), please email [email protected].

Questions regarding issues related to the upgrade should be directed to [email protected].