Archived 24 January 2023 People and Money updates
This page sets out updates to our new HR and finance processes, supported by the People and Money system.
It aims to give everyone a clear view of improvements and changes that have recently been made or are being actively worked on.
We’ll update this page every two weeks. To ensure this page reflects current information, we’ll add updates to this page once they’ve been made and remove them one month later.
Guidance and suggestions
My Knowledge, People and Money’s inbuilt bank of guidance, should be your first port of call if you have any queries about our new processes.
We’ll aim to update My Knowledge and relevant user guides in line with any updates.
If after searching My Knowledge you still have an issue you need support with, you wish to make a suggestion or an improvement listed here is not working as described, please raise a service request in People and Money.
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People and Money-wide updates
23A Quarterly Update
The next quarterly update will take place on Monday 20 February 2023. There will be a period of system downtime from approx 9pm Friday 17 February to approx midday on Saturday 18 February. Further details will be provided closer to the time.
HR Reports in Development - Recruiting at a Glance
Our development and testing work on the Recruiting at a Glance dashboard continues. We will update via this page when the report is ready for launch.
Finance
Remittance Advice Notices
Over recent weeks we have identified intermittent issues with remittance advices not being sent to suppliers. This has prevented some suppliers from reconciling payments from the University with the appropriate invoice. We have been working to rectify this issue as quickly as possible as we realise the inconvenience caused and apologise for this.
We have resolved the remittance issue and have sent out retrospective remittance advices for the period from 23rd September until 18th November 2022.
Research collaborations
We continue to work on the process for establishing Research collaborations. Further details will follow in due course.
Time lag between requisition approval and purchase order being generated
It is taking up to two days for the purchase order being generated for requisitions following their approval. Please note, where a new supplier's details need to be added it takes at least 5 further days for the procurement team to go through its due diligence steps. This can be further extended depending on the time taken for the new supplier to provide the details required.
Charging of Staff Salary Change Form (Form 13)
The cut-off date for submission of all Charging of Staff Salary Changes (Form 13) is the 10th of the month, the form has been updated and the latest version is available on the HR A-Z of forms webpage.
January Timecard submission deadline extended
In response to feedback from colleagues in schools/departments, the payroll cutoff for submissions and timecard approvals has been extended. The deadline for approved timecards is now end of day on Thursday 12th January. As a result, the timecard freeze for editing January timecards will be between the 13th and 20th January. Submission of bulk upload spreadsheets will remain at Monday 9th January. Please refer to the pay dates and payroll deadlines on the finance webpages for cut off dates until the end of March 2023.
Timecard processing - Viewing, editing and risks of non-payment
Following feedback on recent timecard processing, we are sharing the results of a short investigation into the system behaviour of timecards and risk of non-payment. Thank you to colleagues who raised this issue and apologies that this timing issue was not identified sooner. We will update all relevant guidance documents.
Please share this update with timecard users within your area.
Viewing approved/submitted timecards
Employees, line managers and timekeepers can view timecards, which have been approved/submitted for payment to Payroll at any time, including the time between approval/submission and the time at which Payroll transfers the hours as ready for payment.
It is vital however, that once you have viewed the timecard, you press the ‘Cancel’ button. By cancelling, you will exit out of the screen without changing the status of the timecard and the timecard will be paid as expected. If the user exits the screen by pressing the ‘Submit’ button, the timecard status will change back from approved to submitted and will go back through the approval workflow, even if there has been no change made to the record. This will prevent the timecard from being paid as expected. The system is working as designed, but those previously approved hours will now require another approval – in time for the next available payroll date - before they are paid. This means that hours approved in time for one month’s payroll date can miss that payroll date, without it being apparent that they have been effectively deferred to the next payroll date.
Editing timecards
As has been previously communicated, timecards must be submitted and fully approved/submitted in schools/departments by the 10th of the month for payment to the employee on the 28th of that month (with the exception of December when the deadline is the 5th of December 2022 due to the earlier pay day, and January when the deadline has been extended to 12 January 2023).
Once the timecard has been approved/submitted for payment, the Payroll team have further work to undertake, including data loads and checks, before the timecard is ‘transferred ready for payment’, which takes place on the 20th of the month for payment to the employee of the 28th of the month.
If the employee, line manager or timekeeper edits a timecard, between the 11th and 20th inclusive of each month, the full timecard will need to go back through the approval workflow. If the timecard is not re-approved, this will prevent the original hours on the timecard, which had previously been submitted/approved, from being transferred for payment as originally actioned. Such edits and approvals, during that time, would also mean that the hours originally approved for payment in that month would have effectively missed the deadline for payment in that month.
Timecard freeze
To minimise the risk of this serious difficulty arising, we will instigate a timecard freeze on editing between the 11th and 20th inclusive of each month (apart from December). This means employees, line managers and timekeepers must not edit the approved timecard before it has been transferred for payment. For example, January timecards approved/submitted by cut-off on 10th February, should not be edited between 11th and 20th February inclusive to ensure payment on 28th February.
The system cannot prevent a change being made so we will clearly and routinely communicate to users.
We appreciate that this freeze may prove challenging for timekeepers and other colleagues, but, on balance, we believe this is the most sensible way of safeguarding against serious risk of non-payment.
November pay
Where Payroll have been notified of instances of editing of timecards prior to 20th November these have been addressed to ensure the employee is not impacted in their November pay.
December pay
Please remember the cut-off for submission of timecards in December is 5th December so the timecard freeze will be 6th to 12th December inclusive.
Human Resources
2023 Public Holidays and Closure days now uploaded
We’ve now uploaded the 2023 public holidays and Christmas closure days into People and Money for all staff. For colleagues in Edinburgh Innovations, we've also loaded the Easter closure (7th and 10th April 2023) as public holidays in line with their terms and conditions.
We’ve increased your annual leave entitlement by one additional day for the King’s Coronation. You don’t need to take this additional entitlement on the day of the bank holiday itself, 8 May 2023. You can request to use it at any point during the annual leave year through the normal annual leave request process via People and Money. Further information is available on the staff news webpage.
Any staff who were not employed at the University after 12th December 2022 will need to book the remaining 2023 public holidays and closure dates as leave through People and Money themselves.
No further action is required by anyone who had booked the public holidays or closure dates before 12 December 2022 when the bulk upload completed. The Absence Reports Dashboard will also be updated to ensure all public holidays and closure days are showing correctly.
Carry forward
People and Money automatically carries forward up to the equivalent of one week unused leave from 2022 to 2023 as per the Annual Leave Policy. This is different from the exceptional two week equivalent carry over which was in place last year as a result of the pandemic. This leave must be used by 31 March 2023 or it will be lost (exceptions apply as per the annual leave policy).
Line managers should check that carryover into 2023 is correct for all their staff. If this is incorrect due to 2022 annual leave hours taken not being recorded in People and Money, then these leave dates should be added retrospectively. Please ensure any changes are made by 31 January 2023 to ensure staff are confident about their remaining 2023 balance.
Line managers and SDAs can see the leave booked and remaining balances for their staff in the Absence Reports Dashboard. Guidance is available in the Guide to how to view the Absence Reports Dashboard.
Our Annual Leave Policy states that in exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of your manager, you may be able to carry forward more than the equivalent of one week of leave - for example, if you have been on maternity leave or long-term absence. In these cases, SDAs can also adjust carryover when the employee returns from their absence, please see the Guide to how to adjust absence balances for details of how to do this.
Where a department doesn’t have an SDA, line managers can raise a service request using the category “Annual Leave” and the carryover will be adjusted by HR Operations in these cases only.
All staff must book annual leave in People and Money
In line with the University’s position, all staff must book their annual leave in People and Money. Please refer to the Guide to Annual Leave or demo videos for further information.
Change to Onboarding Tasks - Importance of entering bank details and tax information for new starts
Anyone who is new to the University must provide their UK bank details and anyone returning to the University must check that the bank details provided previously are still correct. It is also necessary for them to provide their tax information for HMRC. Hiring teams should encourage new starters to do this on their first day, especially staff on guaranteed hours contracts who must have entered or checked these details by the next available payroll processing day. It is important they do not to wait until they make a claim for hours worked as doing so may result in a delay to their first pay being received.
This information must be supplied by following the instructions within the preboarding and onboarding tasks in People and Money. These tasks are part of the enterprise onboarding checklist, this is auto provisioned for new pending workers (those that have never worked for the University before) but must be manually allocated for a rehire by the hiring manager or school/department administrator, further guidance is available in ‘How to Assign and Manage Checklists and Tasks’.
What’s changing?
We have updated the preboarding and onboarding checklist tasks to provide clearer detail for new starts emphasizing when and how these tasks must be completed. The most common reason for staff not being paid on time is the failure to add bank details or select a payment method in People and Money (not selected the account their salary should be paid to, for example). The most common reason for staff not being paid as expected is their failure to provide their tax details or complete their new starter declaration within People and Money. If new employees do not provide their P45 or complete the in-system new starter declaration form prior to the first payroll run after they join (usually around the 17th of the month), they will be put on emergency tax. Further information about employment tax can be found on the Tax matters page of the Finance hub.
A summary of the updated tasks is below. Please note that this change will only apply to anyone who becomes a pending worker from Monday 12th December 2022. Anyone who became a pending worker before this date will still have the old tasks to follow but these are similar tasks and just as important to complete.
Task Name |
When is this available in People and Money? |
When should this be completed by? |
Guidance |
|
|
New pending worker |
Rehire |
|
|
Getting Paid – Enter your bank details |
Upon creation of pending worker record (after offer accepted) |
Manually assign enterprise onboarding checklist after pending worker record created |
ASAP – no later than day one of employment |
This is a two-step process to enter bank details and select the payment method. Both steps must be completed to ensure payment. Task must be marked as complete once actioned. |
Check your bank details for your salary are correct
|
On start date |
On start date if checklist has been manually assigned |
On day one of employment |
Opportunity to check bank details provided previously or enter them if not yet provided and select the payment method. Both steps must be completed to ensure payment. Failure to provide these on or before day one may result in a delay in payment or the new start not being paid. The task must be marked as complete once actioned. |
Provide your tax information for HMRC |
On start date |
On day one of employment |
This task asks for a copy of a P45 to be uploaded or if this is not available the new starter declaration MUST be completed to ensure the new start is put on the correct tax code. The task must be marked as complete once actioned.
|
What you need to do
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If your new start is a rehire: Check that they have the enterprise onboarding checklist allocated to them in People and Money (follow the guidance ‘How to Assign and Manage Checklists and Tasks’.
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Encourage all new employees to ensure this information is completed on their first day and the tasks are marked as complete in People and Money. It is particularly important that Guaranteed Hours staff complete this task on Day 1 and not when they make their first claim.
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Line Managers and SDAs can check this in People and Money via My Team/My Client Groups: Click on ‘Onboarding’ tile and then click ‘Employees’ from the left of the screen. You can then select the employee whom you wish to view.
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If you are notified that the bank details are missing or need to be updated for an existing employee they can add or update these by following the ‘How to Add or Change Bank details’ user guide (see the payroll section of this webpage).
Change to Onboarding Tasks in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Information
The University has a long-standing and continuing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for all in our community. We gather a range of data and information to ensure that we are meeting our legal responsibilities, developing supportive policy and practice, and assessing our progress toward achieving our strategic ambitions for EDI.
To help the University gather this information we have updated the current onboarding tasks. The new tasks will now direct users to the relevant self-service area in People and Money to update this information directly to their record.
What's Changing?
We have removed the pre-boarding tasks “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion information and HESA questions” and “Are your personal details and contact information still up to date?”, instead we will have the 2 newly worded tasks in the Day 1-90 checklist as follows:
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Review your personal details and complete Equality, Diversity and Inclusion information
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Complete further questions relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Please note that this change will only apply to anyone who becomes a pending worker from Monday 12th December. Anyone who became a pending worker before this date will still have the old tasks to complete.
Please see EDI Onboarding Tasks for the content of these tasks. To find out more about the work we are doing to meet the requirements of the Equality Act and what we do with your data please visit our Staff Equality Data Collection and Monitoring webpages.
New Mandatory Field - HESA Level
We recently communicated about a new field in People and Money titled 'Level', as a result of user feedback this has been renamed HESA Level. The information entered here is used to categorise staff for Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) (and REF) reporting. HESA are the experts in UK higher education data and they collect, assure and disseminate data about higher education (HE) in the UK for statutory reporting.
From Monday 12th December, this field was made mandatory and must be entered during the recruitment process by SDAs or line managers at the offer/add pending worker stage. For transfers and secondments, this should also be updated at offer stage by the SDA/line manager. HR Operations will update this information for additional posts, and for transfers and secondments roles not advertised in People and Money.
The ‘How to Create and Manage a Job Offer’ and ‘How to Add a Pending Worker’ user guides have been updated to include some guidance on how to complete this field. These are available on the People and Money user guide webpage.
Removal of the campaigns and candidate pool icons for non HR roles.
We have removed access for non HR roles to Campaigns and Candidate pools within the Hiring App in People and Money. Hiring Managers, Recruiters and SDA's will now only have access to two icons within the Hiring app; Job Requisitions and Job Offers.