HRIS Reporting Requirements – Higher Education –
Chapter 2 – Reporting Personnel and Payroll Data
Which Employees Must Be Reported to HRIS?
Higher education agencies and institutions must report personnel data for state employees who receive:
- Salaries and/or benefits directly from the Comptroller – Treasury Operations or through reimbursement of agency revolving funds
– or –
- Salaries and/or benefits from funds outside the Comptroller – Treasury Operations.
Temporary, casual and certain student employees, who are typically hired to work during short periods such as during registration and seminars, are not reported on the personnel system. Agencies and institutions of higher education must report payroll transactions for all employees, regardless of the funding source.
What Types of Data Must Be Reported?
Personnel Data
Higher education agencies and institutions report two types of personnel data to HRIS:
Employee Descriptive Information
An employee’s descriptive information includes name, race, sex, birthday, mailing address, etc. Higher education agencies and institutions must submit this information to HRIS for reportable employees,¹ regardless of the funding source from which they are paid.
Employee Job Status Changes
Job status changes include appointments and terminations and changes to job information.
Payroll Data
HRIS collects all payroll data from higher education agencies and institutions on actual payments, entitlements and deductions regardless of the funding source.
Employee Authorized Payroll Data Changes
Authorized payroll data changes include changes to employee entitlements and deductions.
¹These include (a) all employees whose salaries and benefits are issued directly from the Treasury or through reimbursement of agency revolving funds, (b) all employees whose salaries are paid from funds outside the Treasury but whose benefits are state-funded, (c) all employees whose salaries and benefits are paid by funds outside the Treasury but who contribute to the Employees Retirement System (ERS) or Teacher Retirement System (TRS), and (d) all employees who receive state-paid Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and are reported to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
How are Personnel and Payroll Data Reported?
Personnel and payroll data are reported to HRIS on personnel and payroll records. These records provide a standard format for entering an agency’s data into the HRIS database.
Personnel Records
HRIS provides the following personnel records for submitting your agency’s or institution’s personnel data:
| Record ID | Record Name |
|---|---|
| 10 | Header Record |
| 12 | Agency Classifications |
| 14 | Agency 403(b), ORP and 457 Carriers |
| 27 | Employee Descriptive Information |
| 67 | Employee Job/Appt Information |
| 76 | Employee SSN Change |
Payroll Records
HRIS provides the following payroll records for submitting your agency’s or institution’s payroll data:
| Record ID | Record Name |
|---|---|
| 81 | Voucher Information |
| 83 | Payment Information |
| 85 | Payment Entitlement Information |
| 87 | Payment Deduction Information |
| 89 | Fund Transfer |
What are Personnel and Payroll Transactions?
A personnel or payroll transaction is any addition, deletion or change made to personnel or payroll data in the HRIS database.
What are Reason Codes?
A reason code is a three-digit number used to perform a personnel transaction. For example, Reason Code 010 is entered on a personnel record to hire a new employee. Other reason codes are used to perform personnel transactions, such as moving an employee from one position to another, changing an employee’s Social Security number and giving an employee a promotion.
Appendix A – “Reason Codes and Records” provides a complete list of reason codes, a brief description and personnel records used to perform transactions.
Throughout this manual, the word transaction is used interchangeably with reason code. For example, “reversing a transaction” means the same as “reversing a reason code.”
What Types of Data Fields Are on a Record?
A personnel or payroll record is made up of data fields. These fields indicate employee data that must be entered to process the record and store it in the HRIS database. For example, the personnel record called Employee SSN Change (Record ID 76) contains five fields that must be completed before HRIS will process the record and store the new Social Security number in the database.
There are four categories of data fields for each personnel or payroll record:
- Key mandatory fields
- Available fields
- Mandatory fields
- Protected fields
Key Mandatory Fields
A record’s key mandatory fields are the fields that, when combined, distinguish it from any other record. For example, the key mandatory fields in the Employee Descriptive Information Record (Record ID 27) are RECORD-ID, SSN and EFF-DATE. The data within these three fields is the only data needed to distinguish one 27 record from all other 27 records. You must enter data in these fields to complete any type of transaction. If you do not, the system will reject the record during processing.
Mandatory Fields
A record’s mandatory fields must be completed before a record will process. For example, when completing an employee new hire record, the EMPLOYEE-LAST NAME field is mandatory. HRIS will not process the record when the field is blank.
Available Fields
A record’s available fields are used if a specific transaction requires additional information. For example, if an employee’s address is longer than the space available in the ADDR1 field, ADDR2 is available.
Protected Fields
Protected fields are fields in which information cannot be entered. If information is entered in one of these fields, the system will generate a warning message to inform you of the error.
How are Records Used to Enter Transactions
The procedure below explains how to determine which records to use to enter transactions into HRIS.
Action
- Use Appendix A – “Reason Codes and Records” to identify the mandatory records that must be completed for the appropriate reason code.
- Use Appendix B – “Record Descriptions and Field-Entry Tables” to complete the mandatory and available fields required for the reason code selected. Appendix B shows the HRIS record descriptions and identifies whether the record’s fields are key mandatory (KM), mandatory (M), available (A) or protected (•).
What are Payroll Action Codes?
Action codes, in conjunction with reason codes, are used to add, change, stop or delete classification code and carrier number records. All other types of personnel records are manipulated with reason codes. For payroll records, however, only action codes (not reason codes) can be used to make additions, changes or deletions. The action codes are:
Add (A)
Action code A is used to add a classification code, carrier number or payroll record.
Change (C)
Action code C is used to change data on an existing classification code, carrier number or payroll record. You can change a record by: (1) entering all the key fields and changing only the fields that require changing or (2) re-entering all the fields. We recommend the first method. It is more efficient and there is less chance for error.
Stop (S)
Action code S is used to stop a classification code or carrier number record.
Delete (D)
Action code D can be used to delete a classification code or carrier number that is set for a future effective date. Action Code D can also be used to delete a payroll record that is not posted.
Data Entry Guidelines
Entering Effective Dates
The EFF-DT, EFF-START-DT or EFF-END-DT field must be the date the transaction became or will become effective.
Example:
On 12/10/2008, Jane’s supervisor approved Jane’s promotion for 01/01/2009. Jane was informed of the promotion 12/15/2008. The payroll clerk key-entered the promotion transaction into the agency’s system on 12/17/2008, and the agency’s programmer produced an HRIS personnel maintenance tape on 01/05/2009. The effective date reported to HRIS for the promotion transaction must be the date the promotion was effective, which was 01/01/2009.
Entering Job/Appointment
Job/Appointment Numbers
The job/appointment number (JOB/APPT-NO) is a unique number assigned to each job/appointment of an employee and enables HRIS to identify the different appointments for an employee. Every employee must have at least one job/appointment number.
The same number can be used only one time per employee during a fiscal year unless the employee is terminated and rehired during the same fiscal year or a job/appointment is reversed.
In either case, the same job/appointment number may be used twice during the same fiscal year because the edits are reset after each of these situations. For employees who hold multiple jobs/appointments, the payroll information must be allocated to each individual job/appointment and may not be combined into one job.
Institutions must report all payroll transactions for casual and task employees. Use job/appointment number 000 and Pay-Trans-Type TP (task payment) for the following entitlement codes:
TSK – Task Payment
SSP – Student Status Payments (College Work Study/Student Status only)
HLY – Hourly (Temporary Hourly only)
OTP – Overtime Pay
Setting up New Jobs/Appointments
Use reason codes 900–932 to set up all job appointments.
You must use reason codes 900–932 on record ID 67 to submit all new jobs/appointments or reappointments that begin the following fiscal year.
Example:
John Doe was hired on 09/01/2008 as the Dean of Business and as a professor for an Accounting I class. During the spring semester, Doe was also hired to teach the Accounting III summer session classes. This scenario would require three separate HRIS transactions, which would be performed as follows:
Action
- Establish Doe’s job/appointment as the Dean of Business using the following reason codes and dates:
- Reason code 010 (record ID 27)
- Effective date of 09/01/2008
- Reason code 900 (record ID 67), effective date of 09/01/2008
- Job/appointment end date of 08/31/2009
- Job/appointment number 001
- Establish Doe’s second job/appointment as an Accounting I professor using the following reason codes and dates:
- Reason code 900 (record ID 67)
- Effective date of 09/01/2008
- Job/appointment end date of 05/31/2009
- Job/appointment number 002
- Establish Doe’s third job/appointment as an Accounting III professor using the following reason codes and dates:
- Reason code 900 (record ID 67)
- Effective date of 06/01/2009
- Job/appointment end date of 08/31/2009
- Job/appointment number 003
In this scenario, all job records end on or before 08/31/2009. But, if Doe is reappointed for FY 2010 to the same job/appointments held in FY 2009, three separate HRIS transactions are again required. John Doe, however, is no longer a new employee. Instead of using reason code 010 (record ID 27), you must use reason code 900–932 (record ID 67) for his job reappointment.
Entering Payroll Sign Fields
The ACT-GROSS-PAID-SIGN and the PAY-AMT-SIGN on the Payment Information Record (Record ID 83) and the ENT-ACTUAL-AMT-SIGN on the Payment Entitlement Information Record (Record ID 85) must be entered as + for positive or – for negative. If left blank, the fields will default to +.
The PAY-AMT-SIGN on the Payment Information Record (Record ID 83) must be entered as Z when reporting 0 (zero) in the PAY AM field. If left blank, the field will default to +, and the record will not process.
The DED-ACTUAL-AMT-SIGN on the Payment Deduction Information Record (Record ID 87) must be entered as + for positive or – for negative. If left blank, the field will default to +. The DED-ACTUAL-AMT-SIGN applies to the entire record.
Determining Employee Types
Employee types are based on the total number of hours an employee has worked in all jobs/appointments at one higher education agency or institution. Employee types and corresponding codes were defined so that employee benefits audited by HRIS can be monitored. The employee types are defined as follows:
| Employee Type | Code | Definition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Full-Time | RF | An employee scheduled to work 40 hours/week for at least 4 1/2 months. | ||||||
| Regular Part-Time | RP | An employee scheduled to work less than 40 hours/ week for at least 4 1/2 months. | ||||||
| Temporary Full-Time | TF |
|
||||||
| Temporary Part-Time | TP |
|
If an employee type code changes as a result of a change in position, the code(s) must be updated on the Employee Descriptive Information Record (Record ID 27).
Processing Reappointment and Salary Action/Position Status Change Transactions
Salary action and position status change transactions (see Appendix A – “Reason Codes and Records”) may be processed using the employee’s current applicable job/appointment number or a new job/appointment number.
If the current job/appointment number is used to process a salary action or position status change transaction, the appropriate reason code and effective date must be submitted.
Example:
Jane Doe is assigned job/appointment 001 effective 09/01/2008 with a job/appointment end date of 08/31/2009. Doe is awarded a promotion effective 04/01/2009. The agency submits a transaction for job/appointment 001 with an effective date of 04/01/2009 and uses reason code 920.
If a new job/appointment number is assigned to an employee for a salary action or position status change transaction, the previous job/appointment number must be updated to reflect the appropriate job/appointment end date and reason code.
Example:
John Doe is assigned job/appointment 001 effective 09/01/2008 with a job/appointment end date of 08/31/2009. Doe is awarded a promotion effective 11/01/2008. The agency determines that a new job/appointment number should be assigned due to the promotion. A job/appointment end date of 10/31/2008 is submitted for job/appointment 001 with reason code 038. A new job/appointment number of 002 is assigned and submitted with an effective date of 11/01/2008. The job/appointment end date is 08/31/2009 and the reason code is 920.
Important: Your HRIS interface program must be set up to automatically send a reason code 038 transaction to modify the job/appointment end date. If the correct action is not taken, the HRIS database will reflect more active jobs than actually exist.
All salary actions with reason codes 923–932, excluding 926, must be reported with the actual amount of the monthly increase or decrease within the SALARY-ADJUSTMENT-AMT field.
All actions with reason codes 920–922 and 926 may or may not involve a change in the salary rate. Therefore, if a change in the salary rate occurs, report the appropriate value in the SALARY-ADJUSTMENT-AMT field. If a change does not occur, do not report a value in the SALARY-ADJUSTMENT-AMT field.
Erasing Field Values
To erase a field value on a record in the HRIS database, follow these steps:
Action
- Enter the key fields of the record that contains the fields you want to erase.
- Enter + at the far-left side of the fields you want to erase.
- Submit the record to HRIS.
Example:
You submitted an Employee Descriptive Information Record (Record ID 27) with a P.O. box number in theMAILING-ADDR-2field. Later you learn that the employee no longer has a P.O. box number. To erase the old P.O. box number, you must:
Action
- Enter the key fields of the 27 record for the employee.
- Enter + in the left-most side of the MAILING-ADDR-2 field.
- Submit the record to HRIS.
Note: You do not need to re-enter the data for the other fields.
Reversing Transactions (Reason Codes)
Reversing transactions² is possible on the Employee Job/Appt Information Record (Record ID 67) and the Employee Descriptive Information Record (Record ID 27). Reversing a transaction is possible only after HRIS has processed the transaction. The following reason codes can be reversed:
| 018 | Institutional across-the-board lump-sum payment |
|---|---|
| 043 | Leave without pay |
| 044 | Faculty development leave |
| 051–069 | Employee terminations |
| 900–932 | Salary action codes |
²Reversing a transaction restores the record to its previous state except for the JOB/APPT END DATE field on reason codes 900–932 This date can be reset using reason code 038.
Two situations may require you to reverse a transaction:
| A | A record is submitted with incorrect information, such as an incorrect effective date on LWOP Status Change (Reason Code 043). |
|---|---|
| B | A record is submitted for a retirement transaction (Reason Code 068) and the employee decides not to retire. |
In either of these situations, a reversal record must be submitted to correct the original record.
When creating a reversal record, be sure to enter the same reason code and the same effective date as on the original record being reversed.
To reverse and correct situation A:
Action
- Enter Y in the
REVERSAL-INDfield of the Employee Job/Appt Information Record (Record ID 67) you wish to reverse. This creates a reversal record. - Access a new 67 record and enter the corrected transaction.
- Submit both records (the reversal record and the new record) to HRIS.
To reverse situation B:
Action
- Enter Y in the
REVERSAL-INDfield of the original Employee Descriptive Information Record (Record ID 27). - Resubmit the record to HRIS. This reversal returns the employee to an active status.
Note: When reversing a termination:
- if termination date is greater than job/appointment end date, upon reversal, job/appointment end date stays the same as set originally when job gets restored.
- if termination date is less than job/appointment end date, upon reversal, job/appointment end date returns to either 5/31 or 8/31 depending on if the contract basis was 9 or 12.