Simplifying hiring, submitting hours and job changes for unaffiliated casual assignments

In response to community frustrations about the current manual processes to hire, submit hours worked, and make job changes for employees¹ in unaffiliated casual assignments, York University is digitizing and automating the Employee Transaction Form (EFT) and expanding Time Reporting Tool (TRT) processes.

These solutions allow time worked and job changes to be entered directly into York’s Human Resources Information System, PeopleSoft. This change will result in a simplified and more accurate process with fewer fields and forms to complete, eliminating manual calculations and duplicate data entry.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS

Click on the process improvement below to learn more about the benefits of this change

Automating Employee Transaction Forms (ETFs)

Current: At present, to hire or make changes to an unaffiliated casual assignment, a completed Employee Transaction Form (EFT) – typically a Word document – must be submitted. This process may include the passing of information between the unaffiliated casual employee to a departmental employee to fill out all relevant fields on the ETF. The filled ETF may be sent to a separate departmental employee to review the form, then to the manager or cost centre owner to approve the form. Once approved, the ETF is emailed to hrhelp@yorku.ca for review by the Records team, who must manually input the form contents into PeopleSoft.

Improvement: The automated ETF will allow departmental administrative employees to complete the ETF in the HR Self-Serve portal, which pulls information from existing job records, requiring less data entry. The completed form will automatically be sent to the appropriate manager or cost centre owner for approval. Once approved, the changes will be applied to PeopleSoft, avoiding the inefficiencies and potential errors of duplicate data entry.

The automated ETF will be able to accept these changes:

Hiring, rehiring and extending an unaffiliated casual assignment

Changing budget code information (e.g., where wages are changed)

Changing the rate of pay for the unaffiliated casual assignment

Changing who the unaffiliated casual assignment reports to

The ETF automation will be implemented in a phased approach, starting with hire and job change transactions for unaffiliated casual assignments, with the intention of expanding to more employee groups over time.

Expanding the Time Reporting Tool (TRT)

Current: At present, to get paid, unaffiliated casual employees must complete a record of hours and a timesheet, filling all fields including name, employee ID, social insurance number, rate of pay, budget codes and the number of hours worked. The record of hours is typically stored in the local department and the timesheet may be reviewed by a departmental administrative employee, who may use the information to calculate statutory holiday pay, if needed. Then, the timesheet is sent to the manager or cost centre owner for approval, after which it is emailed to hrhelp@yorku.ca. The submitted timesheet is reviewed by the Payroll team, who must manually input the information into York’s Human Resources Information Management system, PeopleSoft.

Improvement: The Time Reporting Tool (TRT) in HR Self-Serve is already used to successfully pay most hourly paid employees at York University. By expanding the TRT to be used by unaffiliated casual assignments, it allows employees to enter their hours directly into the system, which will auto-populate most data fields and automatically calculate statutory holiday pay, where applicable. By using the TRT, the record of hours form no longer needs to be completed or stored, unless the local department requires it. The manager or cost centre owner may choose to have the hours reviewed by a departmental administrative employee before they review them for approval. Once approved, the hours worked information is submitted for payment on the next pay date. In addition to reducing effort and errors with fewer forms and fields to enter, the TRT will also allow for better financial control with increased visibility for approvers into the work changed to your cost centre.

TIMELINE

YOUR ROLE IN THE CHANGE

Your participation is needed to support the success of this project. Click on your role to see how you will contribute and how this change will affect you.

In preparation for the launch of the Time Reporting Tool (TRT), you will need to make sure your Employee Passport York account is set up and your personal information is up to date.
Once available, you will need to review the training resources to understand how to use the new system.
Once launched, you will be using the TRT to enter your hours worked to be paid every two weeks. The TRT will make your time entry easy by being pre-populated with information about the assignments you hold, such as the rate of pay and budget details. You will no longer need to complete a record of hours, unless requested by your department.
Ongoing, you will have flexibility to update your personal information and banking details as required.

For any job changes before the launch, please use the updated Employee Transaction Form (ETF) (Note: The form will download when the link is clicked) when preparing an ETF for an unaffiliated casual assignment, as it captures additional required information such as personal email.
Once available, you will need to review the training resources to understand how to use the new system.
Once the Time Reporting Tool (TRT) is launched, you will use it to review reported hours for unaffiliated casual assignments in the area you support. You will be able to push entries back for correction or correct them directly in the system, such as changing the hours worked or the budget code to be charged. If needed, you will also be able to enter time on behalf of employees on unaffiliated casual assignment. After you complete your review, the hours will be automatically sent to the approver. No need to email for approval or submission. If statutory holiday pay is owed, it will be calculated automatically. No need to manually calculate and submit holiday pay.
Once the automated ETF is launched, you will be able to search for the relevant causal workers based on social insurance or York employee ID number. Matches who currently or previously held an assignment at York will appear, allowing you to review and update their personal information, where needed, rather than filling in all personal information anew. Once completed, it will be sent directly to the approver (or an additional reviewer, based on local departmental processes). Again, no need to email for approval or submission.
You will be able to add attachments, such as contracts, to the ETF so all records are kept in one place. You will also be able to add additional reviewers and/or approvers to ETF submissions, if needed, based on University guidance and departmental rules.

In advance of the launch, you will need to ensure all members of your team have set up their Employee Passport York account and updated their personal information. They will need an active Employee Passport York account to enter their hours worked in the Time Reporting Tool (TRT) once it is launched.
In preparation for setting your team up on the TRT, you may be requested to provide information about your current unaffiliated casual assignments, and, if needed, make job record changes.
For any job changes before the launch, you need to ensure the updated Employee Transaction Form (ETF) is used (Note: The form will download when the link is clicked), as it captures additional required information such as personal email.
You will be asked to provide details about how you are currently supported by local administrative employees in your department, in the preparation and review of ETFs and timesheets.
Once available, you will need to review the training resources to understand how to use the new system.
Once the Time Reporting Tool (TRT) is launched, you will use it to approve reported hours for unaffiliated casual employees in your area. You will be able to push entries back for correction or correct them directly in the system, such as changing the hours worked or the budget code to be charged. If needed, you will also be able to enter time on behalf of workers on casual assignment. After you approve, the hours will be automatically submitted for payment on the next pay date.
Once the automated ETF is launched, you will be able to prepare and approve prepared ETFs directly in the system without emailing documents. You will also be able to add additional reviewers and/or approvers to ETF submissions, if needed.

Contact Us

Please email us at hrhelp@yorku.ca if you have any questions.

¹ Employee refers to all users whose payroll and records are administered by York University, including those working for principal investigators and third-party organizations