Sage Abra SQL HRMS Setup. User Guide

Transcription

1 Sage Abra SQL HRMS Setup User Guide

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3 Table of Contents Set Up Code Tables... 5 Set Up Code Tables...6 Employee Codes...8 Set Up Employers for Abra HR...8 Setting up EEO Information...11 Set Up Benefits Set Up Benefit Rate Tables...16 Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans...19 Set Up Benefit Savings Plans...23 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans...27 Abra HR Code Table Descriptions Attachment Codes...33 Benefits Related Code Tables...33 Criteria Codes...33 Dependent Relationship Codes...34 Disability Codes...34 EEO Classification Codes...34 EEO 1 Classification Codes...35 EEO 4 Classification Codes...35 EEO Job Group Codes...36 EEO 4 Job Function Codes...36 Employee Note Author Codes...36 Employee Note Type Codes...36 Employee Type Codes...36 Ethnic ID Codes...37 Event Codes...37 FMLA Event Reason Codes...37 Job Codes...37 Job Family Codes...38 Job Status Codes...38 Language Codes...38 Setup i

4 Organization Codes OSHA Body Part Codes OSHA Injury Codes OSHA Injury Location Codes Pay Equity Job Group Codes Reason Codes...39 Salary Grades...39 Step Rates Shift Differential Codes...40 Skill Codes State / Province Codes...41 Union Codes User Defined Codes...41 Time Off Codes Set Up Employers for Time Off...43 Set Up Attendance Plans Add Attendance Plans...45 Modify Attendance Plans...49 Delete Attendance Plans Time Off Code Table Descriptions Absence Reason Codes...52 FMLA Event Reason Codes Understanding Plan Years...52 Understanding Calculation Methods...53 Training Codes Set Up Training Set User Defined Field Titles...59 Training Code Table Descriptions Attachment Codes...61 Certification Codes Class Ratings Codes Courses Codes...63 Course Type Codes...64 Criteria Table...64 ii Sage Abra SQL HRMS

5 Enrollment Status...65 Instructor Ratings Codes...65 Job Codes...67 Job Requirements...68 Organization Codes...68 Priority Codes...68 Programs Codes...68 State / Province Codes...70 Training Locations Codes...70 User Defined Codes...71 System Codes Set Ad Hoc Reporting Security...73 Change a Password...75 Set Up the Enterprise...76 Define Enterprise Options...76 Define Organization Titles Select the Enterprise Logo...78 Set Up the Audit Trail...79 Define User Defined Code Table Titles...81 Set Group Security...82 Modify an Employer...85 Rebuild System Files...85 Set User Security...85 Index Setup iii

6 Setup 4

7 Set Up Code Tables Sage Abra SQL HRMS uses codes to manage and store information in files. These codes provide abbreviated, standard references to specific information. Sage Abra SQL HRMS stores these codes and their associated descriptions in code tables. A list of state and province abbreviations is an example of a code table. Instead of typing or re entering a state name (such as Mississippi) in a field, you can select the appropriate code (MS) from a list of predefined codes contained in a code table. Instead of typing British Columbia, you can select the code BC. Code tables contain one column for the code and a second column for the code description. A drop down list provides information for a field related to a code table. For instance, if a page contains a field for the state, a drop down list provides a list of state codes, such as MO, IA, and FL, from which you can choose. Benefits of Using and Defining Code Tables Code tables provide several advantages. Using code tables allows you to: Customize information to meet your employerʹs needs. For example, you can define unique divisions, departments, and locations specific to your employer. Save time. When you enter information for hundreds of employees, it is much easier and more efficient to type or select RFT for each employee rather than type Regular Full Time Ensure accuracy and consistency. Without a uniform coding scheme, a data entry clerk might enter a department code in several different ways (ENGDEPT, ENGRDEPT, ENG, or ENGR) for several different employees. Even though the clerk describes the same department, Sage Abra SQL HRMS interprets the entries as four different pieces of information for four different departments. If the entries are inconsistent, Sage Abra SQL HRMS will not be able to calculate department totals accurately. Build Code Tables Most code tables in Sage Abra SQL HRMS are two column tables containing codes in the left column and brief descriptions in the right column. However, some tables are more complex (benefit plans, for instance) and contain more information than can fit in two columns. The instructions for copying, adding, editing, and deleting codes are identical, whether you work with two column or multi column tables. Most code tables have recommended default values. You can add, edit, or delete values to suit your employer s needs. All of the predefined code tables in Sage Abra SQL HRMS are enterprise code tables. You can adjust these code tables to contain the codes most frequently used by the employers in your system. These codes then become the standard for your system. Setup 5

8 Set Up Code Tables When you initially set up a code table, the codes are blank. As long as the Codes area is blank, an individual employer uses the codes from the enterprise code table. As soon as you add a new code, the system recognizes you are creating a code table that no longer references the enterprise code table. To add a code for a specific employer from the list of enterprise codes, copy the enterprise code table to the employer code table and then add the unique code to the employer s code table. For example, if two of three employers in your system use the same codes, edit the enterprise code tables to accommodate the two employers. When you then set up codes for the two employers who share common codes, they automatically use the enterprise codes unless you create new codes in their code tables. For the third employer who uses a slightly different set of codes, you can copy the enterprise code table and then make whatever minor changes are necessary to meet the third employer s coding requirements. Therefore, you save time by not having to create a whole new set of codes from scratch, yet you are still able to customize the code table to the third employer s specifications. Set Up Code Tables Sage Abra SQL HRMS allows you to quickly and easily add, edit, copy, and delete codes so you can meet each employerʹs specific coding requirements. For instance, you might want to change a previously defined code to reflect a change in your organization. Notes: After you save a code, the following fields are disabled. Benefit Rate Tables Benefit Savings Plans Attendance Plans Absence Reason Codes FMLA Event Reason Codes Working with Sage Abra SQL HRMS Code Tables Sage Abra SQL HRMS allows you to quickly and easily add, edit, copy, and delete codes so you can meet each employerʹs specific coding requirements. For instance, you might want to change a previously defined code to reflect a change in your organization. The following sections describe how to work with Sage Abra SQL HRMS code tables. To Copy Code Tables 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees, Time Off, Payroll, or Training > Click the link for the type of codes you want to work with. The code table you selected opens. 2. Select the employer with whom you want to work. 3. Click Copy. Only those employers with codes defined in the current table appear in the selection list. The employer with whom you are working does not appear in the list because you cannot copy codes from an employer to itself. 6 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

9 Set Up Code Tables 4. Highlight the enterprise or employer whose codes you want to copy and click OK. For most code tables, the Select Codes to Copy page opens. The Available list shows all the defined codes for that code table. The Selected list shows those codes you select. Note: When copying some codes you are first shown a dialog box informing you of the related codes which will be updated to correspond with those you are copying (see Job Codes below). Click Yes to continue or click No to return to the code table page. 5. From the Available list box, double click the codes you want to copy. The selected codes appear in the right list box. If you want to remove a code from the Selected list, highlight it and click Remove. 6. Click OK. The system checks to see if the codes to be copied are the same as any which already exist for the employer receiving them. If there are any duplicates, Sage Abra SQL HRMS asks whether you want the old code to be overwritten with the new. Select Yes or No. 7. The new codes are copied to the employer with which you are working. To adapt the code table to this employer s needs, you can add additional codes to the list. 8. Click the Close button after you finish making your changes. To Add Codes 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees, Time Off, Payroll, or Training > Click the link for the type of codes you want to work with. The code table you selected opens. 2. Select the employer with whom you want to work. 3. Click Add. The codes detail page opens. 4. Enter at least a code and description. Some code tables ask for additional information to be supplied for the added code. Other code tables contain a blank code described as None Specified. This allows you to leave a field blank when you are entering information. To provide this option for your own code tables, include a blank code along with the description None Specified. 5. Click OK. Sage Abra SQL HRMS checks for duplicate codes and saves the changes if no duplicate exists. If a duplicate is found, the system prompts you to enter a different code. To Edit Codes 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees, Time Off, Payroll, or Training > Click the link for the type of codes you want to work with. The code table you selected opens. 2. Select the employer with whom you want to work. 3. Highlight the code you want to edit and click More. The detail page for the code you selected opens. Codes that have been set up in the following code tables cannot be changed. If you need to change a code name, create a new code and delete the old one. Benefit Rate Tables Benefit Savings Plans Attendance Plans Absence Reason Codes Setup 7

10 Employee Codes 4. FMLA Event Reason Codes 5. Edit the information and click OK. To Delete Codes 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees, Time Off, Payroll, or Training > Click the link for the type of codes you want to work with. The code table you selected opens. 2. Select the employer with whom you want to work. 3. Highlight the code you want to delete and click Delete. Sage Abra SQL HRMS prompts you to confirm the deletion. Also, deleting a code could affect history files and reports that contain the code. 4. Click Yes to delete the record, or click No to cancel the deletion. 5. Click the Close button when you finish. Add Codes From Details You can also directly add codes to a code table when you are working with details pages. For every field that references a code table, Sage Abra SQL HRMS provides a drop down list of codes. For example, on the Current Job page, the Job Code field accesses the Job Codes table. Sage Abra SQL HRMS provides an option that enables you to add a new code while you are entering information on the page. When working with Abra HR, you can add codes from pages for all Abra HR code tables except for the Benefit Insurance Plans, Benefit Savings Plans, and Benefit Rate Tables. You must access these code tables in Rules to work with them. To Add a Code From a Detail For more information about using drop down lists, see Using pages. 1. Open the drop down list for the field that references the code table you want to update. 2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Add New Code. A page opens so you can add a new code. 3. Enter the information for the new code and click OK. Sage Abra SQL HRMS adds the code to the list and selects the new code for the field. Employee Codes Set Up Employers for Abra HR Abra HR allows you to manage information for multiple employers. However, because the system stores the data for each employer in separate databases, you must set up information for each employer separately. Abra HR identifies each employer with a unique employer code you assign when you add a new employer to the system. Abra HR uses this code to store and access information. For example, the system stores sample employer data for Z Systems, Inc., whose company code is ZSI. You should have already set up your enterprise and added your employers to the enterprise. After you add your employers, you are ready to set up the employers for Abra HR. This procedure includes 8 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

11 Employee Codes defining the options for your employers and determining the user defined fields on employee pages your employers might want to use to hold specific information not stored elsewhere in Abra HR. For detailed information about how to set up your enterprise and how to add employers to your enterprise, refer to Getting Started. For each employer you added, you must complete the HR Setup information. Note: Each Abra software program creates and maintains its own databases. Therefore, if you use other Abra programs with Abra HR, you must set up each employer for each applicable product. To Set Up an Employer for Abra HR 1. Log in to Sage Abra SQL HRMS. 2. Select the company you want to work with. 3. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > HR Setup. 4. The list includes all the employers you added to your system. Scroll through the list, select the employer set up, and click OK. 5. The HR Setup page opens for the employer you selected. Fill in the appropriate information using the tabs on this page: HR Options, EEO 1, and EEO 4. Completing the HR Options Tab Fields Descriptions Allow EEO 4 Reporting Enable this option if your employer must submit EEO 4 reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Do not enable this option if your employer must submit EEO 1 reports. Select Yes to enable the EEO 4 tab on this page. Select No to enable the EEO 1 tab on this page. Note: It is your responsibility to understand EEOC guidelines governing the submission of EEO 4 and EEO 1 reports. Job Code Validation When you enter a job code or job title for an employee, you have the choice of either selecting from a list of job codes or job titles (you establish the list when you set up your job codes and titles) or manually entering a job code or a job title. Select Yes to select from a list of job codes. Select No to manually enter a job code or job title. Note: If you enable job code validation (select Yes), when you create a custom detail and select job code as a field to add to the page, the job code will be used. If you disable job code validation (select No), when you create a custom detail and select job code as a field to add to the page, the job title will be used. Salary Grade Validation When you establish an employee s salary grade code or job code, Abra HR can detect whether or not the salary you enter or the salary associated with the job code you select is within the range Setup 9

12 Employee Codes Fields Numeric Employee ID Warning Age Description of Establishment User Defined Employment Fields User Defined Pay Fields Descriptions you set up for the selected job code. Select Yes to direct Abra HR to validate that the employee s salary is within the salary grade for the job. Select No to disable the validation. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change the Numeric Employee ID setting when an open enrollment or life event is in process, or if the open enrollment or life event has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. You can set up Abra HR to automatically assign the next available (and sequential) ID number when you add new employees. Select Yes to enable automatic numbering of employee IDs. Select No to disable automatic numbering. This means that when you add a new employee, you must manually assign an ID number to the employee. Abra HR reminds you if you accidentally assign a number that already exists. If you change your selection for this option after you first set up your employer, Abra HR asks you if you want to convert existing IDs into either character format (if you disable the option) or numeric format (if you enable the option). Select Yes to have Abra HR automatically convert all the IDs for you. You can enter the minimum legal employment age for your state or employer. Abra HR then warns you if you hire a person younger than the legal age. Leave the field blank if you do not want a warning. If your employer submits EEO reports, enter a brief description of the major business activity of the establishment. The information you enter here appears on the EEO 1 Headcount Summary report. You can define four fields that appear as Miscellaneous fields on the HR Status page. The text you enter is used for the miscellaneous field labels. If your employer has special needs not covered in Abra HR, you can define your own field labels and fields to meet these needs. For example, medical groups can define fields to track details about degrees, specialties, and certification dates. You might also want to use these fields to record information about drivers licenses, security clearances, uniform sizes, or the results of preemployment screenings. You can also track information unique to your employer by designing and creating custom pages. You can define four field labels that appear as Miscellaneous fields on the Current Pay page. The text you enter is used for the miscellaneous field labels. 10 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

13 Employee Codes Setting up EEO Information When you set up your employer, you need to determine whether to set up information for EEO 1 reporting or for EEO 4 reporting. It is your responsibility to comply with federal regulations and procedures governing the filing of EEO 1 and EEO 4 reports. To Set Up EEO-1 Information 1. On the HR Options tab, select No in the Allow EEO 4 Reporting field. The EEO 1 tab becomes enabled. Click the EEO 1 tab to display the EEO 1 setup options. 2. Enter the required EEO 1 setup information, as described in the following table. The information you enter appears on the EEO 1 Headcount Summary report. Field Label Establishment Parent Co CO Number Unit Number SIC Code EI Number Duns No NAICS Code Filing Requirements Type of Report Filed Last Year Employ Apprentices Field Description Enter the name and address of the establishment. Enter the name and address of the Parent Company. Enter the Company Number. Enter the Unit Number. Enter the Standard Industrial Classification code. Enter the Employer Identification Number. Dun and Bradstreet identification number, if applicable. Enter the North American Industry Classification System code. Select the check boxes to indicate Yes or clear the check boxes to indicate No for filing requirement tests 1 through 3. Indicate Headquarters (Type 3) or Establishment (Type 4) Report. Indicate Yes or No. Indicate Yes or No. To Set Up EEO-4 Information 1. On the HR Options tab, select Yes in the Allow EEO 4 Reporting field. The EEO 4 tab becomes enabled. Click the EEO 4 tab to display the EEO 4 setup options. 2. Enter the required EEO 4 setup information. The information you enter appears on the EEO 4 Headcount Summary report. Setup 11

14 Employee Codes Next Step After you set up your enterprise and add and set up all of your employers, you are now ready to set up your code tables. 12 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

15 Set Up Benefits Before you can enroll employees and their dependents in your employer s benefit plans, you must first set up your benefit rate tables and benefit plans. Sage Abra SQL HRMS calculates your benefits quickly and easily. After you define your plans, you can direct Abra HR to determine which employees are eligible for which plans and to calculate coverage, premium, and employee contribution information. To work with your employer s various benefit plans, you must first understand the following terms and their definitions: Coverage Coverage is the amount of benefits an insurance plan provides to eligible employees. In some insurance plans, coverage is the same for all participants. For other participants, coverage varies according to the participantʹs job group, salary, seniority, or benefit choices. Premiums Premiums are the monthly amounts paid for coverage. In Abra HR, employee premiums are the amounts paid to the insurance company for the individual employee s coverage, no matter how those amounts are distributed between employee and employer. Dependent premiums are the amounts paid to the insurance company for dependent coverage. Premiums are always monthly amounts. Contribution A contribution is the amount paid by the employee for the benefits received. Abra HR calculates the appropriate employee contribution based on the information you enter. Follow these steps when you set up benefit plans: Step 1 Set Up Benefit Type Code Tables Step 2 Set Up Benefit Rate Tables Step 3 Set Up Insurance Plans (referencing rate tables, if appropriate) Step 4 Set Up Savings Plans (referencing rate tables, if appropriate) If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, follow these additional steps: Step 5 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Step 6 Set Up Open Enrollment Savings Plans Step 7 Set Up Open Enrollment Rate Tables After you set up your benefit plans and plan rates, you are ready to enroll employees and their dependents using one of the following methods: Setup 13

16 Employee Codes Complete the Benefit Enrollment step in the Record New Hire or Rehire Employee action. Open the Insurance Benefits and Savings Benefits pages and enter enrollment information. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, complete the open enrollment setup steps in Abra Workforce Connections and notify your employees that they can start the open enrollment process. Abra HR provides a sample employer, Z Systems, Inc., so you can experiment with the many features of Abra HR. We recommend you experiment with benefit setup using Z Systems, Inc. to gain an even better understanding of benefit plans and rate tables and how to design each plan to best serve your employerʹs needs. Rules for Benefit Plan Data and Calculations Benefit plans often require complex calculations depending upon a number of different factors. Coverage, premiums, and contribution calculations can vary according to an employee s age, income, years of service or other variables. For example, employees life insurance coverage might vary based upon the employees salary. In another case, an employee s monthly dependents premium amount can depend on the number of enrolled dependents. You can determine data and calculations for coverage, employee and dependent premiums and contributions using fixed amounts, or you can calculate them using formulas. You can also refer to a rate table if you created one for the particular field with which you are working. When you set up your benefit plans, Sage Abra SQL HRMS provides the following options you can use to define insurance coverage and premium information: Leave the field blank. If you leave the field blank, Abra HR does not use automatic benefit calculation for this field and you can manually enter an amount for each employee on the employees Insurance Benefits page. Or, leave the field blank if the field does not apply to this type of insurance (such as coverage for a dental plan or a dependent premium for employee life insurance). Enter zero If you enter a zero, the fixed amount is zero (0). For example, the dependent premium for employee life insurance is always zero. Note: A zero (0) does not disable automatic benefit calculation. If you enter a zero, automatic benefit calculation replaces any number you previously entered on the employees benefit pages with a zero. Enter a fixed dollar amount Each affected employee benefit record automatically receives this amount. If the amount changes (as it would, for example, whenever your insurance company raises rates), you can correct the amount on the page for the insurance plan; then all employees who have the benefit will update automatically. 14 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

17 Employee Codes To enter a fixed dollar amount, such as $10,000 of coverage, enter the amount without a dollar sign or comma: Enter a mathematical formula using the data in your systems databases. For example, you can specify two times the employees annual pay with the formula2*annual(). To insert expressions using items from the Personnel or Benefits database, click the Expression Builder button. The Expression Builder opens so you can build an expression for the insurance plan calculations. For more information, see Expressions and Functions. Set up rate tables to help you test for specific conditions and to perform complex calculations. Rate tables allow you to define calculations once and then reference the information instead of repeatedly typing the calculations. Use rate tables to define coverage, premium, and contribution amounts. For example, you might want to set up a rate table that charges different monthly premiums for employees based on age, gender and whether or not they smoke. To use a rate table you previously set up, select it from the list of Available Rate Tables. Enter a conditional formula using the IIF function. If you are familiar with expressions, you can type them directly or use the Expression Builder to help you when you set up your insurance plans. For example, you can use an expression to calculate 20% of an employee s salary for the coverage amount of a disability insurance policy. For more information regarding expressions, see Expressions and Functions. Note: You must precede any referenced data from the employee Benefit database with ʺBE.ʺ to signify it originates from the Benefits database rather than the Employee Personnel database. Set Up Benefit Type Code Tables Benefit type codes define the type of benefit. For example, you could use M to define a medical type plan or D to define a dental type plan. The Benefit Type code table should contain codes and descriptions for each type of benefit plan your employer offers. For more information about maintaining code tables, see Set Up Code Tables. Set Up Benefit Rate Tables Rate tables allow you to test for specific conditions and to perform complex calculations. You define the calculations once and then reference this information for other plans that you define. For example, you can set up a rate table that calculates different premiums based on whether the employee coverage includes a spouse or dependent children. Rate Tables Must be Unique Each benefit plan must reference a unique rate table. That is, you cannot have more than one benefit plan reference the same rate table. For example, if you set up an ʺHMOʺ rate table and you know you will want Setup 15

18 Set Up Benefit Rate Tables five benefit plans to reference it, set up five separate rate tables with the same values, naming them HMO, 1HMO, 2HMO, 3HMO, and 4HMO. Use the Copy Table button on the Benefit Rate Table Setup Detail page to copy a rate table with the same values and then enter a different code and description for the rate table. Abra Workforce Connections If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change or remove a rate table that is currently in use in a life event or attached to a life event that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. Set Up Benefit Rate Tables 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > Benefits > Rate Table Setup. 2. From the Employer drop down list, select the employer with whom you want to work. 3. Click Add (or select an existing table, click More and then click Copy Table to copy the original rate table to a new rate table). The Benefit Rate Table Setup Detail page opens. 4. Enter the Code and Description for the rate table. When you set up a benefit plan, you reference the rate table by this code. 5. Enter a column heading for the first condition you want to check. Abra HR can check for a condition by the following methods. These methods are called Column Match Types. Select one of the following: Exact Match Abra HR looks at the condition it is checking for and if it exactly matches a condition in the rate table, Abra HR will use the associated rate. Up To and Including Abra HR looks at the condition it is checking for and if it falls within a range defined in the rate table, Abra HR will use the associated rate. Use Up To and Including for a coverage, premium, or contribution amount since they usually fall within a range. Cumulative Cumulative is normally used for savings plans. You can define an employer match for different percentages the employee contributes to the plan. For example, an employer matches dollar for dollar employee contributions up to the first 4% of their salary. If an employee contributes 6%, then the employer still matches dollar for dollar up to 4% but only matches $.50 on the dollar on the remaining 2%. Going one step further, if an employee contributes 8% of their salary, the employer matches dollar for dollar on the first 4%, $.50 on the dollar for the next 2%, then $.25 on the dollar for the remaining 2%. 6. In the Column Expression field, enter a function. The Column Expression field enables you to enter a function or expression. To define the expression as an amount, enter the amount in the field. To define the expression as a function or formula, select Expression Builder. The Expression Builder opens so you can define the expression for the rate table. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections and are defining a rate table expression to be used in a benefit plan for life events or open enrollment, please note that Abra Workforce Connections can only support benefit calculation expressions that reference records from the following tables: 16 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

19 Set Up Benefit Rate Tables Table Name Table Alias Benefit Plan Set Up HBePlan BT Employee Benefit Plan HBene BE Employee Personnel HRPersnl PE Dependent Benefits HDepben DB Employee Dependents HDepend DE 7. Repeat steps 5 6 for each condition you want to check. 8. Click the Rate Table tab to enter the rates. Enter Rate Table Data When you set rates for the conditions you are checking for, you specify the order in which Abra HR checks the conditions and the rates it should use for those conditions. For example, a rate table for a medical plan defines the following rates for enrolled dependents: $0 for no spouse and no children $100 for a spouse and no children $75 for no spouse and one child $150 for a spouse and one child $250 for a spouse and two or more children The order and conditions for this rate table are illustrated by the following table. Order Insured Spouse Insured Child Rate On the Rate Table tab, click Add. Abra HR automatically inserts the number 1 in the Order column of the first row. 10. Click Tab to move to the first column. 11. To set up the first rate, enter a value for the first column. Click Tab to move to the other columns and enter the appropriate values. Setup 17

20 Set Up Benefit Rate Tables 12. Click Tab to move to the Rate column and enter a value. 13. Click Enter to save your rate and move back to the Order column. 14. Click Add to set the next rate. Abra HR inserts the number 2 in the Order column. 15. Repeat the process, clicking Add for each new rate, until you have completed the rates for the benefit plan. Note: Do not exceed 251 characters in the Rate column. 16. Click OK to save your rate table. Abra HR returns you to the Benefit Rate Table Setup page. Note: As you set up your own plans, remember your insurance provider sets your rates. 18 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

21 Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans After you set up your benefit types and the optional benefit rate tables, you are ready to set up your insurance plans. The Insurance Plans page contains codes, descriptions, and data for every insurance plan your employer provides. Examples might include AD+D for Accidental Death and Dismemberment, HMO for HMO Health Care Insurance and PPO for PPO Health Care Insurance. Before you set up an insurance plan, we recommend you review Rules for Benefit Plan Data and Calculations. Abra Workforce Connections If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change or delete an insurance plan that is currently in use in a life event or attached to a life event that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. To Set Up a Benefit Insurance Plan 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > Benefits > Insurance Plans. 2. Select the level at which you want to set up the plan. Select Enterprise or a specific employer from the Employer list. Use the following information to help you decide: If you want the plan to only be available to a specific employer, select the Employer. If you want the plan to be available to all employers, select Enterprise. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment and you want the same plan to be available to multiple employers, but you want different open enrollment periods for each employer, you must set up a separate employer level plan for each employer. 3. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, we recommend you set all insurance and savings plans at the employer level (not the Enterprise level). 4. Click Add (if the setup interview dialog box displays, click No). The Benefits Insurance Plans Detail page opens. If you want to create a new insurance plan from an existing plan, click Copy. 5. In the Code field, enter a code to represent the plan. This code uniquely identifies the group benefit plan. Note: Do not use special characters to define the code, specifically single quote ( ʹ ), percentage sign ( % ), and underscore ( _ ). 6. In the Description field, enter a longer description of the plan you are setting up. This description will appear as a selection on the employeesʹ Insurance Benefits page. It will also print on benefit statement reports, such as the Benefit Enrollment by Plan and Benefit Premium Totals by Plan. Setup 19

22 Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans From the Benefits Insurance Plans Detail page you will: Define General Information This will include general information about the plan, including the code and description, employee contribution frequency, plan type, and COBRA continuation. Field Label Benefit Type Employee Contribution Frequency Benefit Continuable Under COBRA Plan Is In Effect Current Amounts Went Into Effect On Field Description Select a benefit type. These types originate from the Benefit Type code table. Indicate the frequency at which employee deductions are made. Select a default value from the drop down list: weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly. Note: The frequency at which the employee pays the contribution might differ from the frequency at which premium charges are paid. Premium charges always appear as monthly figures in reports and on other pages. Indicate whether or not your employer offers this benefit to employees according to COBRA guidelines. When you terminate an employee, Abra HR gives you the opportunity of entering a date on which COBRA and non COBRA benefits will expire for the employee. Indicate when this plan is being offered. Employee coverage in the plan cannot start before the beginning of the planʹs Effective Period, and employee coverage will automatically expire at the end of the planʹs Effective Period. If you do not want any restrictions as to when employees can be covered by this plan, leave the dates blank. Note: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must provide a From and To date, regardless of whether the plan will be used for open enrollment or life events. Enter the date the new amounts should go into effect. On this date, all employees enrolled in the benefit plans will be updated with the current amounts. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, this date will automatically be updated when the new plan year takes effect. Define the Coverage Per Employee and Dependents Coverage is the amount of benefits an insurance plan provides to eligible employees. In some insurance plans, coverage is the same for all participants. For other participants, coverage varies according to the participants job group, salary, and seniority or benefit choices. Dependent coverage is the amount of benefits an insurance plan provides to the dependents of eligible employees. Note: If coverage is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the coverage in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. 20 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

23 Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans Define the Employee Premium The monthly employee premium is the amount of the monthly bill from the insurance company for the employeeʹs benefit. It includes both the employees and the employers contribution. For self insured plans, this amount is the premium equivalent and is always paid monthly, which is not necessarily the same period as the employee contribution. Note: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the employee premium in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. Define the Dependent Premium The monthly dependent premium is the amount of the monthly bill from the insurance company for the employeeʹs dependents. It includes both the employees and the employers contribution toward the dependent premium. For self insured plans, this amount is the premium equivalent, paid monthly, which is not necessarily the same period as the employee contribution. Note: If a dependent premium is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the dependent premium in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. Define the Employee Contribution This is the amount the employee contributes toward the total premium charges. The Employee Contribution Frequency determines how often the employee pays their contribution for the plan. The selection in this field defaults to the selection you made on the General tab. Note: If an employee contribution is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the employee contribution in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events Define Eligibility Requirements Not every employee is eligible to participate in every plan. The eligibility requirements you set up for an insurance plan define which employees are eligible and which are not. After you define eligibility, you can direct Abra HR to automatically add the benefit to all eligible employees. If all employees are eligible for the plan, leave the fields blank. Refer to your employerʹs policies and the particular insurance policy for eligibility requirements. Note: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for open enrollment, you do not need to define eligibility requirements here. Rather, you will define them in the Abra Workforce Connections module when you set up your plans for open enrollment or life events. Setup 21

24 Set Up Benefit Insurance Plans The Standard Eligibility tab contains the following fields. Field Label Salaried/Hourly Employee Type Minimum Age Minimum Hours Minimum Days Employed Automatically Add To Eligible Employees Field Description Indicate which employees are eligible for this plan. Select a default value from the drop down list: Salary, Hourly, or Salary and Hourly. Use this field to limit eligibility to Regular Full Time, Regular Part Time or any other employee type you defined in the Employee Type code table. If you select None Specified, the benefit plan applies to employees of all status codes. The start date for the benefit becomes the date on which the employee reaches the minimum age. This field can limit a benefit plan to employees who work at least a specified number of hours or units per pay frequency. Abra HR compares this field to the Hours/Units field on the Current Pay page. The effective start date for the benefit is the date the employee reaches the minimum number of days employed. Entering zero means the benefit requires no minimum days employed and employees are eligible on the first day of the following month. Indicate whether to have Abra HR add the benefit to all active employees who meet all the eligibility requirements (both Standard and Custom). When you have finished setting up the plan and click OK to save all your data, Abra HR proceeds to add the benefit to eligible employees. Some points to consider: An active employee has an employee status of Active (defined on the Current Job page). Abra HR does not automatically add benefits to employees who are terminated, on leave of absence or classified as COBRA dependents. When you add new active employees to the system, Abra HR assigns the benefit if they meet the eligibility requirements. If you define eligibility criteria incorrectly and direct Abra HR to automatically add the benefit to the wrong group of employees, delete the benefit code from all employees. You can then re enter the benefit code and specify a different group of employees. Use <Date> to Start Benefit Use these fields to define a waiting period for eligibility after the employee meets all other requirements. You can use the Original Hire Date, Last Hire Date, or the Adjusted Seniority Date to determine when to start the benefit. Choose to start the benefit on the first day (click the Day radio button) following a specific number of months or on the first day of the month (click the Month radio button) following a specific number of months. If you need to enter additional eligibility criteria, click the Custom Eligibility tab. You can enter an expression or use the Expression Builder to specify even more precisely those employees eligible for the benefit plan. For instance, Abra HR will exclude Regular Part Time employees if you enter the expression, PE.P_EMPLOY<>"RPT". 22 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

25 Set Up Benefit Savings Plans Defining custom criteria does not affect the start date of the benefit. For more information, see Expressions and Functions. Complete the Process After you have entered all your insurance benefit plan information, click OK. Abra HR asks if you want to update the employee benefit file with the new calculations. Click Yes to update the employee benefit file and then click OK when Abra HR completes the update. To enroll an employee in an insurance benefit plan, open the employeeʹs Insurance Benefits page, click Add, then enter the appropriate information for the employee. Set Up the Plan as an Open Enrollment Plan If you also use Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment and you want this plan to be available to your employees for open enrollment or life events, go to Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans for instructions. Set Up Benefit Savings Plans After you set up your benefit types and the optional benefit rate tables, you are ready to set up your savings plans. The Benefit Savings Plans page contains codes, descriptions, and data for every savings plan your employer provides. An example is a 401(k). After you set up the plan, Abra HR will automatically calculate both the employee contributions and the employer matches. When the employee s contribution falls between the ranges, Abra HR will use the next rate in the table for the employer match. For example, an employer matches 100% of the first 4%, 50% of the next 2%, and 25% of the remaining 2%. If an employee contributes 7%, Abra HR uses 100% for the match on the first 4%, 50% on the next 2% and 25% on the remaining 1%. Before you set up a savings plan, we recommend you review Rules for Benefit Plan Data and Calculations. Abra Workforce Connections If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change or delete a savings plan that is currently in use in a life event or attached to a life event that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. To Set Up a Benefit Savings Plan 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > Benefits > Savings Plans. 2. Select the level at which you want to set up the plan. Select Enterprise or a specific employer from the Employer list. Use the following information to help you decide: If you want the plan to only be available to a specific employer, select the Employer. If you want the plan to be available to all employers, select Enterprise. Setup 23

26 Set Up Benefit Savings Plans If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment and you want the same plan to be available to multiple employers, but you want different open enrollment periods for each employer, you must set up a separate employer level plan for each employer. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must set up all insurance and savings plans at the same level, either Enterprise or Employer. 3. Click Add (if the setup interview dialog box displays, click No). The Benefits Savings Plans Detail page opens. To create a new savings plan from an existing plan, click Copy. 4. In the Code field, enter a code to represent the plan. This code uniquely identifies the group benefit plan. Note: Do not use special characters to define the code, specifically single quote ( ʹ ), percentage sign ( % ), and underscore ( _ ). 5. In the Description field, enter a longer description of the plan you are setting up. This description will appear as a selection on the employees Savings Benefits page. It will also print on benefit statement reports, such as the Benefit Enrollment by Plan and Benefit Premium Totals by Plan. 6. Set up the following on the Detail page: Define general information about the plan; including the type of employer contribution and the amount of the employer contribution (see the table below) Define the Coverage Per Employee and Dependents. Coverage is the amount of benefits an insurance plan provides to eligible employees. In some insurance plans, coverage is the same for all participants. For other participants, coverage varies according to the participants job group, salary, and seniority or benefit choices. Dependent coverage is the amount of benefits an insurance plan provides to the dependents of eligible employees. Note: If coverage is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the coverage in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. Define eligibility requirements (see the table below) Define the Employee Premium. The monthly employee premium is the amount of the monthly bill from the insurance company for the employeeʹs benefit. It includes both the employeeʹs and the employerʹs contribution. For self insured plans, this amount is the premium equivalent and is always paid monthly, which is not necessarily the same period as the employee contribution. Note: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the employee premium in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. Define the Dependent Premium. The monthly dependent premium is the amount of the monthly bill from the insurance company for the employeeʹs dependents. It includes both the employeeʹs 24 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

27 Set Up Benefit Savings Plans and the employerʹs contribution toward the dependent premium. For self insured plans, this amount is the premium equivalent, paid monthly, which is not necessarily the same period as the employee contribution. Note: If a dependent premium is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the dependent premium in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events. Define the Employee Contribution. This is the amount the employee contributes toward the total premium charges. The Employee Contribution Frequency determines how often the employee pays their contribution for the plan. The selection in this field defaults to the selection you made on the General tab. Note: If an employee contribution is applicable to this plan and you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must define the employee contribution in order to make this plan available for open enrollment or life events Define General Information Field Label Employer Contribution Type Employer Contribution Per Pay Period Plan Is In Effect Field Description Indicate whether your employer expresses its contribution to the savings plan as a percentage or a dollar amount. Some points to consider: If your employer contributes a dollar amount, select Amount. If the employee contribution is a fixed amount, enter the amount in the field. If the employer contribution varies with the percentage the employee contributes, select Expression Builder and build an expression for the savings plan, or you can select Rate Table and choose which rate table defines the benefit plan. If your employer contributes a percentage, regardless of the employee contribution, select Percent. Then if the employee contribution is a fixed amount, enter the value in the field. If the employer contribution varies with the percentage the employee contributes, select Expression Builder and create an expression for the savings plan, or select Rate Table and choose which rate table defines the benefit plan. From the list of Available Rate Tables, double click the appropriate rate table. Abra HR displays it in the Employer Contribution Per Pay Period field. Indicate when this plan is being offered. Employer contributions to the plan cannot start before the beginning of the planʹs Effective Period, and will automatically expire at the end of the plans Effective Period. If you do not want any restrictions as to when employees can be covered by this plan, leave the dates blank. Note: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment, you must provide a Setup 25

28 Set Up Benefit Savings Plans Field Label Employer Match Went Into Effect On Field Description From and To date regardless of whether the plan will be used for open enrollment or life events. Enter the date the employer match goes into effect. Define Eligibility Requirements Perhaps not every employee is eligible to participate in every plan. The eligibility requirements you set up for a savings plan define which employees are eligible and which are not. After you define eligibility, you can tell Abra HR to automatically add the benefit to all eligible employees. If all employees are eligible for the plan, leave the fields blank. Refer to your employer s policies for eligibility requirements. The Standard Eligibility tab contains the following fields. Field Label Salaried/Hourly Employee Type Minimum Age Minimum Hours Minimum Days Employed Automatically Add to Eligible Employees Field Description Indicate which employees are eligible for this plan. Select a default value from the drop down list: Salary, Hourly, or Salary and Hourly. Use this field to limit eligibility to Regular Full Time, Regular Part Time, or any other employee type you defined in the Employee Type code table. If you select None Specified, the benefit plan applies to employees of all status codes. The start date for the benefit becomes the date on which the employee reaches minimum age. This field can limit a benefit plan to employees who work at least a specified number of hours, or units per pay frequency. Abra HR compares this field to the Hours/Units field on the Current Pay page. The effective start date for the benefit is the date the employee reaches the minimum number of days employed. Entering zero means the benefit requires no minimum days employed, and employees are eligible on the first day of the following month. Indicate whether to have Abra HR add the benefit to all who meet all the eligibility requirements (both Standard and Custom). When you have finished setting up the plan, click OK to save the data. Abra HR then proceeds to add the benefit to eligible employees. Here are some points to consider when you check this box: An active employee has an employee status of Active (defined on the Current Job page). Abra HR does not automatically add benefits to employees who are terminated, on leave of absence, or classified as COBRA dependents. When you add new active employees to the system, Abra HR assigns the benefit if they meet the eligibility requirements. 26 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

29 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Field Label Field Description If you define eligibility criteria incorrectly and direct Abra HR to automatically add the benefit to the wrong group of employees, delete the benefit code from all employees. You can then re enter the benefit code and specify a different group of employees. If you need to enter additional eligibility criteria, click the Custom Eligibility tab. You can enter an expression or use the Expression Builder to specify even more precisely those employees eligible for the benefit plan. For instance, Abra HR will exclude Regular Part Time employees if you enter the expression, PE.P_EMPLOY<>"RPT". For more information, see Expressions and Functions. Complete the Process After you have entered all your savings benefit plan information, click OK. Abra HR asks if you want to update the employee benefit file with the new calculations. Click Yes to update the employee benefit file and then click OK when Abra HR completes the update. To enroll an employee in a savings benefit plan, open the employee s Savings Benefits page, click Add, then enter the appropriate information for the employee. Set Up the Plan as an Open Enrollment Plan If you also use Abra Workforce Connections for benefits enrollment and you want this plan to be available to your employees for open enrollment or life events, go to Set Up Open Enrollment Savings Plans for instructions. Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans This information applies only if you are using Abra Workforce Connections This step enables you to select the insurance plans you want to be available for open enrollment in Abra Workforce Connections. Before you can select the plans, make sure you have entered all the necessary information for the plan. Refer to Setting Up Insurance Plans for detailed instructions. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > Open Enrollment > Insurance Plans. The Open Enrollment Insurance Plans page opens for the enterprise and lists all benefit insurance plans you have already added for open enrollment. The effective from and to dates are also displayed to show each planʹs open enrollment period. To add a plan The steps below enable you to add a plan for open enrollment. 1. Click Add to open the Select Current Benefit Plans two list chooser. The Available column lists active benefit insurance plans that have not yet been made available for open enrollment. Note that if the plan does not have an Effective From and Effective To date (entered on the General tab of the Benefit Insurance Plans Detail page), the plan will not display in this list. Setup 27

30 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans 2. Double click the plans you want for open enrollment. 3. Click OK when you are finished selecting. Sage Abra SQL HRMS saves the selected benefit plans and their associated rate tables so they will now be available for open enrollment in Abra Workforce Connections. If a benefit plan set up at an employer level, it will be saved as an open enrollment benefit plan at the same employer level. Similarly, if it was set up at the enterprise level, it will be saved at the enterprise level. If you are adding a benefit plan that uses the same rate table that a current open enrollment plan uses, the system will not save the plan and a message will display. In this case, you must assign a unique rate table to the plan before you can add it. 4. Review the plans and verify that their Effective From and Effective To dates are correct. If you need to change a planʹs code, description, benefit type, employee contribution frequency, COBRA continuation or plan effective dates, go to the Benefit Insurance Plans Detail page and make the necessary changes. After making changes, return to this Enrollment Insurance Plans page and start at step 1 to add the plan. To delete a plan The steps below enable you to delete a plan that is not available for open enrollment. Important! You should never delete an insurance plan if it is currently being used in an open enrollment that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. 1. Select the plan and click Delete. A message displays reminding you that the plan and associated rate tables will be deleted. It is important to note that if the open enrollment period for the plan is currently in progress and employees have already made selections, the system will delete all employee selections. 2. Click OK to delete the plan and associated rate tables. Otherwise, click Cancel. To edit plan rates Important! You should never edit an insurance plan if it is currently being used in an open enrollment that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. The steps below enable you to edit plan amounts only if the amounts do not use a rate table. If a plan uses a rate table and you need to change the rates for the new plan year, use the Open Enrollment Rate Table Setup page to adjust rate table values. 1. Select the plan and click More... to open the plan amounts page. 2. Change the following plan amounts as necessary. Coverage Amount Dependent Coverage Amount Employee Contribution Employee Premium 28 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

31 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Dependent Premium Other Calculated Amount If you use an expression for the plan amounts above, Abra Workforce Connections can only support benefit calculation expressions that reference records from the following tables: Table Name Table Alias Benefit Plan Set Up HBePlan BT Employee Benefit Plan HBene BE Employee Personnel HRPersnl PE Dependent Benefits HDepben DB Employee Dependents HDepend DE 3. Click OK. To Set Up Open Enrollment Savings Plans This information applies only if you are using Abra Workforce Connections. This step enables you to select the saving plans you want to be available for open enrollment in Abra Workforce Connections. Before you can select the plans, make sure you have entered all the necessary information for the plan. Refer to Setting Up Savings Plans for detailed instructions. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Employees > Open Enrollment > Savings Plans. The Open Enrollment Savings Plans page opens for the enterprise and lists all benefit savings plans you have already added for open enrollment. The effective from and to dates are also displayed to show each planʹs open enrollment period. To add a plan The steps below enable you to add a plan for open enrollment. 1. Click Add to open the Select Current Benefit Plans two list chooser. The Available column lists active benefit savings plans that have not yet been made available for open enrollment. If the plan does not have an Effective From and Effective To date (entered on the General Information tab of the Benefit Savings Plans Detail page), the plan will not display in this list. 2. Double click the plans you want for open enrollment and OK. Sage Abra SQL HRMS saves the selected benefit plans and their associated rate tables so they will now be available for open enrollment in Abra Workforce Connections. If a benefit plan was set up at an employer level, it will be saved as an open enrollment benefit plan at the same employer level. Similarly, if it was set up at the enterprise level, it will be saved at the enterprise level. Setup 29

32 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans If you are adding a benefit plan that uses the same rate table that a current open enrollment plan uses, the system will not save the plan and a message will display. In this case, you must assign a unique rate table to the plan before you can add it. 3. Review the plans and verify that their Effective From and Effective To dates are correct. 4. If you need to change a planʹs code, description, or plan effective dates, go to the Benefit Savings Plans Detail page and make the necessary changes. 5. After making changes, return to this Enrollment Savings Plan page and start on Step 1 to add the plan. To delete a plan Important! You should never delete a savings plan if it is currently being used in open enrollment or for an enrollment that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. 1. Select the plan and click Delete. A message displays reminding you that the plan and associated rate tables will be deleted. It is important to note that if the open enrollment period for the plan is currently in progress and employees have already made selections, the system will delete all employee selections. 2. Click OK to delete the plan and associated rate tables. Otherwise, click Cancel. To edit plan rates The steps below enable you to edit plan amounts only if the amounts do not use a rate table. If a plan uses a rate table and you need to change the rates for the new plan year, use the Open Enrollment Rate Table Setup page to adjust rate table values. Important! You should never edit a savings plan if it is currently being used in open enrollment or for an enrollment that has not yet been transferred to Abra HR. 1. Select the plan and click More... to open the plan amounts page. 2. Change the following as necessary: Amount/Percent Indicator Employer Contribution If you use an expression for the plan amounts above, Abra Workforce Connections can only support benefit calculation expressions that reference records from the following tables: Table Name Table Alias Benefit Plan Set Up HBePlan BT Employee Benefit Plan HBene BE 30 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

33 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Table Name Table Alias Employee Personnel HRPersnl PE Dependent Benefits HDepben DB Employee Dependents HDepend DE 3. Click OK. Automatic Benefit Calculations Automatic benefit calculation is the system s method of using the formulas and rate tables you create and store in the Benefit Rate Tables to automatically calculate coverage, premiums, or contributions for all eligible employees who are in your employer s database. After you set up Sage Abra SQL HRMS, the system automatically updates employee benefits whenever you perform the following tasks: Change any benefit data on the Demographics or HR Status pages. Add a job or salary change to the Current Job or Current Pay page. Add, edit, or delete a dependent. Add an employee. Click OK on the Current Job page. If you enter or change any data, including a fixed amount, an expression, or a rate table for the Coverage, Premiums, or Contributions on the Benefit Insurance Plans and Benefit Savings Plans pages, Abra HR uses this data to recalculate benefits for all employees in the plan. You can also add any employee to any plan and manually update an employee s benefit. However, automatic benefit calculations save time. Disabling Automatic Benefit Calculations You might choose not to use automatic benefit calculations. If so, you can disable automatic benefit calculations using one of two methods: 1. Leave the Coverage, Premium, or Contribution fields blank when you set up the benefit plans. Note: If you enter zero (0) in these fields, you do not disable automatic benefit calculations; you simply update the fields to zero. 2. Turn automatic benefit calculation off for an individual employeeʹs savings plan. To turn it off, open the employee s Savings Benefits detail page, then go to the Benefit Plan tab and choose No for Automatic Update. Setup 31

34 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Tip: If you want to disable the automatic benefit calculation feature for selected employee groups, you can use the Mass Update process to change the Automatic Update field to No. 32 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

35 Abra HR Code Table Descriptions Abra HR includes both predefined code tables and code tables you create yourself. The predefined tables can be used as they are or modify them to suit your employerʹs needs. Attachment Codes Use this code table to categorize and monitor the various types of attachments, such as résumés, social security cards, and so on. Also, attachments can be designated as ʺRequiredʺ or ʺNot Required.ʺ Benefits-Related Code Tables Benefit type codes define the type of benefit. For example, you could use M to define a medical type plan or D to define a dental type plan. The Benefit Type code table should contain codes and descriptions for each type of benefit plan your employer offers. Criteria Codes Use this code table to define your own sort and selection for running reports. For example, you can use these codes to select specific employees or to include selected groups of employees in a report. For each criteria code, you define an associated expression. Abra HR uses this expression when you enter a criteria code in a field. Because this information is unique to each employer, this code table does not contain sample codes. Define the Criteria code table on an as needed basis. If you use an expression frequently, you can use the Expression Builder to define a code and save it for future use. Then you can reference the entire expression by selecting the code. For example, you might want to add a code that includes only out of state employees. From the Criteria Table, click the Add button. The Criteria Table Detail page appears. Add the Description for Out-ofstate employees. There are two methods to fill in the Criteria Expression. You can type in the expression yourself if you are familiar with the expression terms as detailed in Expressions and Functions. In addition, to aid you in creating expressions Abra HR offers an Expression Builder which is activated by clicking the Expression Builder button. The following steps show you how to create an expression for employees outside the state of Florida. To Use the Expression Builder For more information about the Expression Builder, see Expressions and Functions. 1. In the From table drop down list, select the database alias that contains the field you want in your expression. In this case, select PE to access the fields within the Employee Personnel database. (See Appendix A, ʺData Dictionary,ʺ for a complete list of alias definitions.) 2. In the Fields drop down list, select ʺp_hstateʺ as your state code field. Setup 33

36 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans 3. From the Logical drop down list, select < and > to indicate ʺnot equal to.ʺ 4. Type ʺʺFL to complete the expression. According to this expression, the system will include all employees whose home state is not Florida. As another example, you might want to add a criteria code to include all line supervisors in the organization. 5. In the From table drop down list, select Jh for Job History. (See Data Dictionary, for a complete list of alias definitions.) 6. In the Fields drop down list, select ʺj_jobtitle.ʺ 7. Select = from the Logical list. 8. Type ""LINESUP to complete the expression. In this example LINESUP is the job title for Line Supervisor (in the Job Code table). According to this expression, the system will include all line supervisors. Tip: To help avoid data processing errors, wait until you are comfortable using expressions and are more knowledgeable of the Abra HR databases before you create these codes. Dependent Relationship Codes Important: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change or delete any dependent relationship code if dependents or beneficiaries are in use for an open enrollment or life event. You can track the type and number of the employeeʹs dependents and beneficiaries by using the codes in this table. Each code corresponds to a brief description. For example, CHILD could represent a child living at home as a dependent, while LIVEIN could represent a domestic partner as a beneficiary for life insurance. You select a Relationship code when you enter information on the Dependents and Beneficiaries page. Disability Codes These codes help you track and report on employees with disabilities. EEO Classification Codes Use this code table to define EEO Classifications for your employer. Even if you do not currently have to report this information, consider collecting this data in case you must produce the information later. 34 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

37 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans EEO-1 Classification Codes All employers covered by Title VII who employ 100 or more employees and all government contractors covered by Executive Order who employ 50 or more employees and engage in contracts of $50,000 and over must file annual EEO 1 reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Sage Abra SQL HRMS provides the following EEO 1 Classification codes. 1.1 = Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers 5 = Administrative Support Workers 1.2 = First/Mid Level Officials and Managers 6 = Craft Workers 2 = Professionals 7 = Operatives 3 = Technicians 8 = Laborers and Helpers 4 = Sales Workers 9 = Service Workers EEO-4 Classification Codes All state and local governmental jurisdictions with 100 or more employees must file annual EEO 4 reports to the EEOC. To produce EEO 4 reports instead of EEO 1 reports, first remove EEO 1 codes 1.1, 1.2, and 9. Then, refer to the table below to add code 1 (Officials/Administrators) and change the remaining codes to their EEO 4 classifications. 1 = Officials/Administrators 5 = Para Professionals 2 = Professionals 6 = Administrative Support 3 = Technicians 7 = Skilled Craft 4 = Protective Service 8 = Service/Maintenance When you complete the Current Job page during the Record New Hire action, you only need to fill in the job code. Sage Abra SQL HRMS automatically selects the correct EEO classification. Warning! After your EEO classification codes are properly set up for EEO 1 reporting (as shipped) or EEO 4 reporting (as described above), we strongly recommend you do not change or delete the EEO 1 or EEO 4 codes. If you change the codes, Sage Abra SQL HRMS cannot run EEO 1 or EEO 4 reports correctly. You also might not be in compliance with the EEOC s provisions for submitting computer printouts of these reports. The submission of EEO 1 and EEO 4 reports in computer printout form involves special reporting procedures subject to the approval by the EEOC. It is your responsibility to comply with federal regulations and procedures governing the filing of annual EEO 1 or EEO 4 reports. Setup 35

38 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans EEO Job Group Codes EEO job groups, represented by letters rather than numbers, are narrower job categories within EEO classifications. ENGR, for example, represents engineers. SECY represents secretaries. These codes are found in the EEO Job Group Codes page. EEO-4 Job Function Codes Inclusion of EEO 4 function codes is optional. You turn this option on (or off) when setting up an employer. The EEO 4 Job Function code table contains numeric codes with corresponding job descriptions performed by state and local government jurisdictions. For example, 01 corresponds to Financial Administration and 08 corresponds to Health. The Job Function code table contains all the required codes for filing EEO 4 reports. Sage Abra SQL HRMS incorporates the EEO 4 Job Function codes in EEO 4 headcount reports. State and local government jurisdictions can submit these reports rather than use EEOC Form 164, State and Local Government Information (EEO 4). Warning! We strongly recommend you do not change the codes in the EEO 4 Job Function code table. If you change the codes, Sage Abra SQL HRMS cannot run EEO 4 reports properly. You also might not be in compliance with the EEOC s provisions for submitting computer printouts of EEO 4 reports. The submission of the EEO 4 report in computer printout form is a special reporting procedure subject to the approval by the EEOC. It is your responsibility to comply with federal regulations and procedures governing the filing of annual EEO 4 reports. Employee Note Author Codes When you add an employee note, use this code table to identify the author of the note. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, select the AWCMANAGER note author code if you need to add a note that will be available to the employeeʹs manager. Employee Note Type Codes When you add an employee note, use this code table to specify the note type. Examples of note type codes you might use include COMMEND for commendation and DISC for disciplinary. Employee Type Codes Important: If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, you should never change or delete any employee type that is associated with an employee who is currently working in an open enrollment or life event, or associated with an open enrollment or life event that has not been transferred to Abra HR. 36 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

39 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Each employee has an employee type. To help you quickly record that information, this table provides descriptions and codes for the employee type. The standard codes shipped with the program are: LOA for Leave of Absence, RFT for Regular Full Time, RPT for Regular Part Time, TMP for Temporary Employee, and a blank code for None Specified. You can add, edit, or delete any other recommended codes. Ethnic ID Codes Ethnic ID codes provide ethnic identification for each employee. Abra HR requires these codes to generate certain government reports. You provide an ethnic ID for each employee when you fill out the Demographics page during the Record New Hire action. The standard codes shipped with Abra HR are: A for Asian, B for Black or African American, H for Hispanic or Latino, I for American Indian or Alaska Native, N for Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, T for Two or More Races, and W for White. Note: If your company files annual EEO 4 reports to the EEOC, the ethnic codes N (Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander) and T (Two or More Races) should not be used as they do not apply to EEO 4 reporting. If they exist in your companyʹs ethnic ID code table, remove them. Warning! We strongly recommend you do not change these codes. If you change the recommended code values, some of the standard reports do not function as designed. Event Codes Use this code table to record events such as pay bonuses (BONUS), certifications (CERTIF), memberships in professional organizations (MEMBERSHIP), or stock purchases (STOCKPUR). The Event code table contains recommended values you can change as necessary. FMLA Event Reason Codes Abra HR allows you to track different types of leaves of absence for your employees, including leave covered by the Family Medical Leave Act. When you place an employee on FMLA leave, you assign a reason code for the FMLA event from the FMLA Event Reason code table. For example, you can track absences due to maternity leave (BIRTH), the adoption of a child or foster child (ADOPTION and FOSTER), and medical leave for the illness of the employee or the employee s child, spouse, or parent (ILL EMP, ILL CHILD, ILL SPOUSE, or ILL PARENT). Job Codes This code table allows you to establish job codes for your employer and the rules that govern those codes. Validation of the Job codes table is optional. You turn this option on (or off) when setting up an employer. Setup 37

40 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans From the Job codes page, click Add to add a new job code or select a job code and click More to edit it. The Job Codes Detail page opens. Refer to Job Codes Detail page for field definitions. Direct / Indirect Codes Use Direct / Indirect Codes to indicate if the job is a line (direct) or staff (indirect) job. Click Add to add a new direct or indirect code or select a code and click More to edit it. In addition to the Code and Description fields, the page contains the Direct / Indirect field to indicate if the code is direct or indirect. Job Family Codes Job Family codes group positions that are part of the same job family and require similar skills. Job Status Codes Job Status codes indicate if the Job code is ready to be applied to a requisition in erecruiter. The available selections are: Active, Inactive, or Pending Approval. Language Codes Use this table to define languages that are spoken by the employees in the organization. You select the employeeʹs language on the Personal tab of the Demographics page. Organization Codes When you set up the enterprise in Sage Abra, you set up titles for your Organization levels. The levels you enter during setup represent the Code Types for an employer or your enterprise. When you select Organization Codes, the Organization Codes page opens, displaying the list of code tables you have established for each code and type. The Division code list, for example, contains codes and descriptions for each division in your company. The Department code list contains codes and descriptions for each department in your company. In the Code Type field, select the level you want. Then select Enterprise or an employer from the Employer field. With Division selected in the Code Type field, all the division codes and descriptions for the selected employer appear. Add codes to your Organization Codes table using the same method you use with other code tables: Select the Employer for which you want to add an organization code; select a code type, or organizational level; and click Add. A codes detail page opens, into which you can enter a Code and Description. Click OK when you are finished. OSHA Body Part Codes When you enter accident and injury information on the OSHA pages, you can indicate the injured body part from the OSHA Body Part code table. This table contains recommended values, but you can add or 38 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

41 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans edit these codes as necessary. For example, you could enter UARM for Upper Arm or BSPINE for Back Spine. OSHA Injury Codes When you enter accident and injury information on the OSHA pages, you can indicate the type of injury that occurred. This table contains recommended values, but you can add or edit these codes as necessary. For example, CONCUS represents Concussion and FRACTU represents Fracture. Note: The OSHA Injury code table includes codes ILL 7A through ILL 7G, along with their descriptions. You must not change these particular codes or Abra HR cannot print the OSHA 200 Log correctly. OSHA Injury Location Codes When you enter accident and injury information on the OSHA Incident pages, you can indicate the location where the injury occurred from the OSHA Injury Location code table. A few examples are SHIP for Shipping, CAFE for Cafeteria, and OFF P for Off Premises Location. Pay Equity Job Group Codes Use this table to define Pay Equity Job Group Codes to use in Pay Equity Reporting. Rating Codes On the Pay and Performance tab in the Current Pay page, you must enter a Rating code to describe the employee s performance. Use this table to provide performance Rating codes for employee performance evaluations. This table includes sample codes such as: 1 for Outstanding, 2 for Exceeds Requirements, 3 for Meets Requirements, 4 for Below Requirements, and 5 for Unsatisfactory. Reason Codes The Pay and Performance tab in the Current Pay page contains a Reason field to indicate the reason an employee received a pay change. Use the Reason code table to define explanations for job or salary changes. These codes also define why a dependent receives COBRA benefits directly. This code table contains codes such as PROMO for Promotion, MERIT for Merit Increase, and RETIRE for Retirement. Salary Grades Validation of the Salary Grade code table is optional. You turn this option on (or off) when you set up your employer. The Salary Grade Range is useful for determining which employees are above and which employees are below the salary range. Setup 39

42 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans Click Add to add a new code or select a code and click More to edit it. The Salary Grades Detail page opens. Refer to Salary Grades and Step Rates for field definitions. Step Rates Step rates are used in conjunction with Salary Grades. You can define steps within a salary grade range; each step indicating job service (number of months) and the pay rate for an employee when they reach a step in the salary grade range. Step rates are often used in union organizations and government entities. Click Add to add a new code or select a code and click More to edit it. The Step Rates Detail page opens. Refer to Salary Grades and Step Rates for field definitions. Shift Differential Codes The Shift Differential code table provides a list of codes for each shift employee s work. The table also includes the factors used to determine the incremental pay employees receive in addition to their regular pay for working on shifts other than the first shift. The first shift might be a code of 01, while the second shift might be a code of 02. The Shift Differential can be either a flat amount of money or a percentage. Click Add to add a new shift code or select a shift code and click More to edit it. The Shift Differential Codes Detail page opens. In addition to the Code and Description fields, the page contains the additional fields described in the following table. Field Label Shift Amount Percentage/Amount Shift Differential Earning Code Field Description Indicate the amount or percentage of the shift differential. In the above example, ʺ0.0500ʺ means 5%. A shift differential of $1.00 per hour would be represented as ʺ01.000ʺ. Specify whether the differential is a percentage or an amount. An example of an amount entry might be $1.00 more per hour; a percentage might be 10% more per hour. Select a shift differential earning code such as 0001, 0002, or Skill Codes The Skill code table provides a list of skills from which you can choose to enter information on the Skills page. A few examples are: MBA for Masters in Business, SPANISH for Spanish Language proficiency, TYPE 50 for Types 50 WPM, and WELDING/M for Welding/Master. 40 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

43 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans State / Province Codes Use the State/Province code table to define the states, provinces, or territories that relate to the location of the employer and employees. This code table contains sample codes for the United States and Canada. If you have version 8.1 of the system and you want your State/Province codes to exist at the employer level, you must copy the code table from the enterprise level to the employer level. Union Codes Use the Union code table to define the labor unions associated with each employee (if applicable). For example, TEAM represents the Teamsters Union, MACH represents the Machinist Union, and AFL CIO represents the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. This information appears in the Union Affiliation field in the Military and Union Tab on the HR Status page. User-Defined Codes You can create up to 35 user defined code tables to use in conjunction with the custom pages you create. After you define the code table titles for the enterprise, you can add, edit, and delete codes for them, much the same way you add, edit, and delete codes for standard Abra HR code tables. Abra HR references the user defined code tables when you add custom fields to your custom pages. Setup 41

44 Set Up Open Enrollment Insurance Plans 42 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

45 Time Off Codes Set Up Employers for Time Off Before you set up your attendance plans, you must define some general information about the plan. First, if your employer uses a fiscal year plan, you must define the start of the fiscal year. As the year progresses, employees absences accrue and the system updates their absence transaction files. At the close of the fiscal accrual year, Time Off calculates the year end carryover hours and resets all year to date totals to zero. In addition, you must set up the absence units your employer uses to track time. Most employers track absences in terms of hours. This manual supports this basic assumption. However, your employer might want to track absences in terms of days. Note: You must provide this setup information for each employer, even if you set up your attendance plans for the enterprise. Additionally, if you set up an attendance plan for the enterprise, the setup information must be the same for all employers in the enterprise. To Set Up an Employer for Abra Attendance 1. Log on to Sage Abra SQL HRMS and select the company you want to work with. 2. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Time Off > Attendance Setup. If you have more than one employer set up, the Employer Selection dialog box opens. 3. Double click the employer to open the Attendance Setup dialog box. 4. If your employer operates on a fiscal year, enter the date on which the fiscal year starts. At the end of the fiscal year, Time Off performs year end carryover calculations on the same date for each employee and for all plans based on the fiscal year. For example, if you want the system to perform all carryover calculations on June 30 each year, set the Fiscal Year Start to July Note: If you set up a plan based on an annual or anniversary year, you do not have to enter a Fiscal Year Start. 5. Choose the Absence Units, either Hours or Days, by which Time Off accrues time. You enter absence transactions in this same type of absence unit. 6. Select from zero to five Decimal Places for the accrual hours. When the accrual rate is multiplied times the number of hours worked, the resulting calculation is rounded to this number of decimal places. For example if an employee works hours and the accrual rate is , the hours accrued are If the number of decimal places was set to 2, the hours accrued are rounded to 8.33 hours. Note: An employee might have more than one vacation, more than one personal, or more than one illness plan (for example, an employee has two illness plans: Illness excused and Illness Setup 43

46 Set Up Attendance Plans unexcused). In this case, when the system updates accruals, it only updates the first vacation, the first personal, and the first illness plan it encounters. In our example, it would update only Illness excused because that plan is listed alphabetically before Illness unexcused. 7. Click OK when you have completed your setup. Set Up Attendance Plans Attendance Plan code tables are more detailed than regular code tables. You can set up an unlimited number of accrual plans at the enterprise level for all your employers or set up plans specific to each employer. However, just as with any other code table, you can add, copy, edit, and delete attendance plans as necessary. Note: If you set up attendance plans at the enterprise level, you must set up absence reason codes at the enterprise level. Likewise, if you set up attendance plans at an employer level, you must set up absence reason codes at the same employer level. The ability of Abra Attendance to maintain various attendance plans gives you the flexibility to accrue and track time in as many different ways as you require. To Set Up Attendance Plans 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Time Off > Attendance Plans 2. From the Employer drop down list, select the enterprise or a specific employer. The page lists all the attendance plans you set up for the enterprise or the employer. 3. Add, change, or delete plans as necessary. 4. Click Close. Note: If you copy an attendance plan, the number of decimal places in the copied plan might be incorrect. For example, a plan set at the Enterprise level is set up with two decimal places. A plan set up for the ZSI company is set up with five decimal places. Before you copy the plan, you must ensure that the decimal structure of the plan you are copying is the same decimal structure as the plan to which you are copying it. This requires manually adjusting the amounts so that the decimal places are consistent from one plan to the other. To Set Up an FMLA Attendance Plan If you want to track your employees FMLA by setting up an FMLA attendance plan, you need to take some extra steps. This is because an FMLA plan year begins when an employee s FMLA occurrence begins; that is, the start of the plan year is different for each employee on FMLA leave. Follow these steps to set up the plan and track your employees FMLA. 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Time Off > Attendance Plans. 2. From the Employer drop down list, select the enterprise or a specific employer. 3. Click Add. 44 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

47 Add Attendance Plans 4. On the General tab, select FMLA as the Plan Type. 5. Enter the remaining information for the plan. Refer to adding attendance plans for details. 6. When you are finished entering the information, click OK to save the plan. 7. Enroll the employee in the plan. 8. On the employeeʹs HR Status page, record the beginning date of the employee s FMLA occurrence in the Adjusted Seniority Date field. 9. When the employee returns from FMLA, change the Adjusted Seniority Date to the end date of the FMLA occurrence. Add Attendance Plans When you add an attendance plan, the Attendance Plans Detail page opens. In the Code field, enter a code to uniquely identify the plan, and then enter the planʹs Description. You refer to the plan by its code and description throughout Time Off. All of the Time Off reports include the plan description. General You can use the fields on the General tab to define general plan information such as the plan year, calculation methods, accrual periods, and hours available for carryover. Field Label Plan Type Plan Year Calculation Method Accrual Period Absence Transactions Affect Perfect Attendance Field Description The type of attendance plan. For example, if you set up several vacation plans, the plan type should be Vacation for each of the plans. The system provides plan types: FMLA, LOA (Leave of Absence), Illness, Other, Personal, and Vacation. The type of plan year for the attendance plan. Select Fiscal, Annual, Anniversary, or Rolling 12 month (only available if the plan type is FMLA). The method for calculating employee accruals. Abra Attendance calculates earned time using one of the following methods: Accrual, Lump Sum, or None. If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this field defaults to Lump Sum and is disabled. The interval at which time is accrued. If Lump Sum is selected as the calculation method, you can choose to accrue time by the week, month, quarter, or year. Time Off allocates the lump sum at the beginning of the selected interval. If Accrual or None are selected as the calculation method, this field is disabled. If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this field defaults to Year and is disabled. Indicate whether the absence transactions incurred for this attendance plan count against employees perfect attendance records. For example, absences incurred under a standard vacation plan probably do not count against an employee s perfect attendance record; however, absences due to unexcused Setup 45

48 Add Attendance Plans Field Label Field Description illness might. Maximum Available Maximum Carryover Per Year Maximum Total Carryover The maximum hours or days employees can have available for this attendance plan. Time available equals Carryover + Time Accrued Time Taken. After this maximum number is reached, the system stops accruing time. For example, if you enter 240 (hours), the system stops accruing when the employee s available time reaches 240 hours. The system does not start accruing hours again until the employee takes some time off that is credited to the plan. If the plan does not have a maximum, set the value to If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this field defaults to 0 and is disabled. The maximum additional number of hours that can be carried into the next plan year, not counting the previous year s carryover. For example, an employee has 40 available hours in 1997 and gains an additional 60 hours in If the maximum carryover per year is 40, the employee will carry over only 80 into If the plan has no maximum, enter If the plan does not permit carryover hours, set this value to 0. If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this field defaults to 0 and is disabled. The maximum number of hours an employee can carry into the next plan year. For example, an employee has 40 available hours in 1997 and gains an additional 60 hours in If the maximum total carryover is 40, the employee will carry over only 40 hours into If the plan has no maximum, enter If the plan does not permit carryover hours, set this value to 0. If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this field defaults to 0 and is disabled. For more information, refer to Understanding Plan Years and Understanding Calculation Methods at the end of this chapter... Seniority Levels Time Off uses seniority levels to calculate accrued time. For example, one seniority level might be: after five years of service, begin accumulating time at the rate of 15 days per year. The calculation method determines how time accrues. If you use an Accrual calculation method, all amounts earned are per year. If you use a Lump Sum calculation method, all amounts earned are per period (week, month, quarter, or year). Note: Abra Attendance bases an employee s seniority on the Seniority Start Date on the Accrual Summary tab of the employee s Attendance Detail page and not on the Adjusted Seniority Date on the HR Status page in Abra HR. 46 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

49 Add Attendance Plans From the Attendance Plans Detail page, click the Seniority Levels tab. (If the plan is FMLA Rolling 12 month, this tab is disabled because seniority levels are not used for this type of plan.) For each seniority level, enter the number of months after which an employee earns time and the number of hours (days) earned at each seniority level. Each plan permits up to ten seniority levels. For plans with more than ten seniority levels, set up two or more plans: for example, set up one plan for employees with less than ten years of seniority and another plan for employees with five years or more of seniority. Plan Example with More Than Ten Seniority Levels The following tables provide an example of an employer who sets up multiple plans to accommodate plans with more than ten seniority levels. In addition, this sample employer provides one extra vacation day per year of service. Plan ID VAC2 For Employees with Less than 10 Years Seniority After Months Hours Earned Plan ID VAC3 For Employees with Five or More Years Seniority Setup 47

50 Add Attendance Plans After Months Hours Earned Absence Reason Codes Abra Attendance allows you to associate specific Absence Reason codes with each of your attendance plans. This association determines which attendance plan to charge when you enter absence transactions on an employee s Absence Transactions page. For example, you might want to associate the absence reasons Personal Leave Paid and Personal Leave Unpaid with the Standard Personal Leave plan. Now, each time you create an absence transaction for an employee that uses one of these absence reason codes, Abra Attendance charges the absence hours to the employee s Standard Personal Leave plan. Note: You must first set up your absence reason codes before you can associate them with an attendance plan. From the Attendance Plans Detail page, click the Absence Reason Codes tab. This tab displays a two list chooser which is used to indicate the absences reason codes associated with the attendance plan. The Available list shows all absence reasons set up in the Absence Reason codes table. Select the codes you want to add to the Selected list and remove the codes you want to remove from the list. Tip: To avoid the possibility of Abra Attendance posting the absence to the wrong attendance plan, ensure you do not enroll employees in attendance plans that share the same absence reason codes. However, you do have the option of associating the same absence reason codes to multiple attendance plans (see the next section). 48 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

51 Add Attendance Plans For more information, refer to Associating the Same Absence Reason Codes with Multiple Plans. Point System As employees incur absences, they can also accrue absence points. Using the Absence Points report, you can monitor these absence points to highlight attendance problems. The Point System tab of the Attendance Plans Detail page is used to define a threshold value and how points are accrued for the attendance plan. For example, your employer wants to take disciplinary action for any employee who incurs over three absence points within 90 days. In this case, set the threshold to three points, define that one point equals one occurrence, define the minimum number of hours required for the absence to count as an occurrence and set the time range to 90 days. Field Label Field Description Threshold Value One Point = occurrences and HOURS (or DAYS) per Enter the maximum number of absence points at which your employer takes disciplinary action. Assign how many occurrences equal one absence point. Assign the minimum number of hours (or days) required for the occurrence to count toward absence points. Normally, this would be the duration of one shift or day, such as eight hours. For example, if an employee has an absence transaction (one occurrence) but he or she is only two hours late, the occurrence would not count toward absence points. However, if the employee misses eight hours (or the length of the shift), the occurrence would count toward absence points. Specify the period for which you want to track absence points. For example, if you want to track points over a period of 90 days, enter 90 days. Note: This field is for your reference only. It is not used by the system for any calculations. Modify Attendance Plans As Time Off accrues employee absences and attendance benefits during the accrual year, you might find it necessary to modify one or several attendance plans. For example, the maximum number of accrual hours or seniority levels might change from year to year. For such occasions, Time Off allows you to change the attendance plans in which you enrolled your employees. To Modify an Attendance Plan 1. Log in to Sage Abra SQL HRMS and select the employer you want to work with. 2. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Time Off > Attendance Plans. Setup 49

52 Add Attendance Plans 3. From the Employer drop down list, select Enterprise or a specific employer. The page lists all the attendance plans you set up for the enterprise or the employer. 4. Select the attendance plan to modify and click More. The Attendance Plans Detail page opens. 5. Change the information as required. 6. Remember to use the Accrue Time process to update the accruals for the plans you change. Warning! If you are editing an active plan in which employees are enrolled, do not change the plan year, the calculation method, or the associated absence reason. If you need to change this information, add a new attendance plan with the new information, and then use the Change Attendance Plans process. Delete Attendance Plans If you have accidentally entered a plan, you might need to delete the plan. To Delete an Attendance Plan 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Codes > Time Off > Attendance Plans. 2. From the Employer drop down list, select the enterprise or a specific employer. The page lists all the attendance plans you set up for the enterprise or the employer. 3. Select the attendance plan to delete. 4. Click Delete. A message displays if the plan is associated with at least one employee. 5. Do one of the following: 6. Select Yes to confirm deletion of the plan from all employees associated with it. Time Off removes the plan from each employeeʹs Attendance Summary page. 7. Select No to delete only the plan code. This enables you to switch from using plan code tables defined at the employer level to ones defined at the enterprise level. Notes: If your attendance plans and Attendance Plan code tables were originally set up at the employer level, you can copy them to the enterprise level to make code maintenance easier. Copy all of the attendance plans from the employers to the enterprise. Then, delete all of the plans at the employer level. When the confirmation message is displayed, click No to delete the plan code from each employee record. Time Off replaces the employer level plan code with the identical plan code from the enterprise level Attendance Plans code table. Add Attendance Plans This process allows you to quickly and easily add attendance plans to one or more employees. You can add a plan to all employees within a particular employer or to just one employee. 50 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

53 Add Attendance Plans If the plan you are adding is an anniversary plan, the start date for all the employees to whom you are adding the plan defaults to their adjusted seniority date (by which seniority levels are calculated). If, after you perform the Add Attendance Plans process, you want to change an employeeʹs start date to a date other than their adjusted seniority date, delete the plan from the employee, then add the plan to the employee separately. To Add an Attendance Plan 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Time Off > Processes > Add Attendance Plans. Fill in the appropriate information on the two tabs on this page: Employee Criteria and Attendance Criteria. 2. On the Employee Criteria tab, select the employer from the Employer drop down list. If there is only one employer, that employer is selected as the default employer. Tip: To select all employees within the employer, leave the remaining fields blank. 3. Use the organization title drop down lists to select specific organization levels. 4. Use the Changed Since field to select all employees whose records have changed since a specified date. 5. Determine whether you want to assign an attendance plan for those employees who have a status of Active or LOA. Select each box that applies. 6. To assign an attendance plan for specific employees, use the buttons provided to select the employees to include. Otherwise, leave this box blank. 7. You might choose to enter additional selection criteria in the Custom Criteria field. From the dropdown list, select the Criteria Table, the Criteria Builder, or the FoxPro Expression Builder. 8. You can choose to include either Exempt or Nonexempt employees. Leave this field blank to select both Exempt and Nonexempt. 9. On the Attendance Criteria tab, click the All Employee Types box to include employees assigned any employee type code. To include only employees with a specific employee type code, deselect the All Employee Types box and select an employee type code from the specific Employee Type drop down list. 10. After you make all of your selections, you can save them as default settings so Abra Attendance can use them the next time you close the accrual year. Click the Save as Default button. 11. To use the previously saved default settings, click Restore Defaults. 12. Click OK after you make all of your selections. The New Attendance Plan dialog box opens. 13. Select an attendance plan from the list. Time Off automatically provides the ID, Type, and Description. 14. Click OK. Abra Attendance asks for an effective date to assign the attendance plan. The default is today s date. 15. Click OK to continue the process. Time Off asks if you want to assign the plan to all employees who match your selection criteria. Setup 51

54 Time Off Code Table Descriptions 16. Click Yes to continue. As the process continues, a status bar shows its progress. Abra Attendance displays the employees names as the system enrolls them in the attendance plan. 17. When the process is complete, each selected employee s Attendance Summary page displays the new attendance plan. Time Off Code Table Descriptions Since Time Off is an additional option, you should have already set up your code tables in Abra HR. These code tables help you speed up, simplify, and maintain consistency during data entry by providing abbreviated, standard references to specific information. Like Abra HR, Time Off uses codes to manage and store information. Abra Attendance stores these codes and their associated descriptions in the Absence Reason code table and the FMLA Event Reason code table. These code tables let you accurately track and maintain information about employee absences and attendance benefits. Absence Reason Codes When you record an absence transaction for an employee, you must also enter the reason for the absence. To ensure consistency and to prevent errors in data entry set up the Absence Reason code table. This code table contains predefined absence reasons such as Jury Duty, Military Leave, Tardy, and so on. Modify or add codes as necessary. Note: If you set up attendance plans at the Enterprise level, you must define absence reason codes at the Enterprise level. Likewise, if you set up attendance plans at an employer level, you must set up absence reason codes at the same employer level. FMLA Event Reason Codes Time Off provides the functionality to track different types of leave including leave covered by the Family Medical Leave Act. When you place an employee on FMLA leave, you must assign a reason for the event from the FMLA Event Reason code table. The code table contains predefined codes including: Birth, Adoption, and Major Illness Child. If you also use Abra HR, you should have already set up the FMLA Event Reason code table. You can access the code table from either Abra HR or Abra Attendance. Understanding Plan Years A plan year is a twelve month period during which an employee earns benefits for a plan for example, vacation time. At the plan year s end, Abra Attendance subtracts vacation time used from vacation time earned, calculates carryover units, and sets to zero the year to date figures to start a new plan year 52 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

55 Time Off Code Table Descriptions Fiscal Plan Year. A fiscal plan year is a twelve month period whose start date you enter on the Attendance Setup page when you set up each employer in your enterprise. Abra calculates year end carryovers on the last day of the fiscal year. In the subsequent years, the system automatically increments the year, using the same month and day. If you set your fiscal year start date to July 1, 2007, the fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30 in 2008 and in every following year. On June 30 each year, Time Off calculates all carryover units. Annual Plan Year. An annual plan year is identical to a calendar year. That is, January 1 is the start date and December 31 is the end date. The system calculates all carryover hours on December 31 each year. Anniversary Plan Year. An anniversary plan year is a twelve month period whose start date defaults to the adjusted seniority date in the employeeʹs record. However, if you need to start the plan for this employee on a date other than the adjusted seniority date, enter the date when you enroll the employee in the plan. Abra calculates year end carryovers on each employeeʹs anniversary date. The system automatically increments the year, using the same month and day. If you set your anniversary year start date to April 1, 2007, the anniversary plan year runs from April 1 through March 31 in 2008 and in every following year. On March 31 each year, Time Off calculates all carryover units. FMLA Rolling 12 month Plan Year. This type of plan year is available only when the plan type is FMLA. The 12 month rolling period determines an employee s balance of FMLA leave by measuring backwards 365 days from the date the employee starts taking FMLA leave. This is called the 12 month lookback period. Each day the calendar moves forward, the 12 month lookback period ʺrollsʺ forward one day. Note that the lookback period includes the date to which you are accruing. For example, if you accrue to 11/29/2008, 365 days back is 11/29/2007 with 11/28/2007 as the 366th day which is outside of the lookback period. If you accrue to 3/15/2009, 365 days back is 3/15/2008 with 3/14/2008 as the 366th day which is outside of the lookback period. In leap years, the extra day is included in the lookback. The basic method of calculating an employeeʹs available FMLA leave is as follows: Time taken before the first day of the 12 month lookback period is not used in the calculation because it was taken outside of the lookback period. Time taken within the 12 month lookback period is counted as time that is not available for the current FMLA leave request. Understanding Calculation Methods Accrual. The Accrual method accrues time on a daily basis. For example, an employee receives 80 vacation hours per year. Because time is earned on a daily basis, 80/365 (80/366 in a leap year) equals 0.22 hours earned per day. An employee working for your company accrues.22 vacation hours every day. Ten days into the year an employee has earned two hours and twelve minutes (2.20) of vacation time at a rate Setup 53

56 Time Off Code Table Descriptions of.22 hours per day. The Accrual Period field on the Attendance Plans Detail page automatically changes to Year when you choose the Accrual calculation method. Lump Sum. The Lump Sum method gives employees a lump sum of accrued time at regular intervals. Time Off allocates the lump sum at the beginning of the selected interval. You can choose to allocate time by the week, month, quarter, or year. The type of plan year and the selected accrual period determine how lump sums are allocated. Also, the seniority levels defined for the plan determine the amount of time employees receive in each lump sum allocation. For example: If the attendance plan year is fiscal with a start date of July 1 and the lump sum period is year, Time Off allocates a lump sum to each employee on the start of the fiscal year. The year closes on June 30 and available time is carried over to the next year. On July 1, they receive their lump sum allocation for the new fiscal year. If the attendance plan year is annual and the lump sum period is year, Time Off allocates a lump sum to each employee on the start of the calendar year. The plan year closes on December 31 and available time is carried over to the next year. On January 1, they receive their lump sum allocation for the new year. If the attendance plan year is anniversary and the lump sum period is year, Time Off allocates a lump sum to each employee on their start date. The plan year closes one day prior to their start date and available time is carried over to the next year. On the first day of their new anniversary year, they receive their lump sum allocation for the new year. If the attendance plan year is rolling 12 month, the calculation method defaults to lump sum. The Rolling 12 month calculation method is used only for FMLA leave plans. When you initially add this type of FMLA leave plan to an employee, the system calculates their default eligibility for FMLA leave. For hours based attendance plans, the system uses the Hours / Units value (from the Abra HR Current Pay page) to determine the number of FMLA Leave hours the employee can take during the 12 month lookback period. For days based attendance plans, the system uses 60 days and assumes a five day workweek. Calculation details The system calculates the leave time (eligibility) only when the plan is added to the employee the first time, although you can change it at any time. The calculation is as follows. When Attendance Setup Absence Units = Hours Accrued = (pe.p_normunit * V) / 52 * 12 Pe.p_normunit is the hours/units from the Abra HR Current Pay page. V is the value associated with the pay frequency (W = 52, B = 26, S = 24, M = 12). This formula converts the hours/units to an annual amount (2080), divides this amount by 52 (weeks in the year), and multiplies the quotient by 12 (FMLA weeks) to derive the number of hours available for the employee s FMLA (eligibility). 54 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

57 Time Off Code Table Descriptions When Attendance Setup Absence Units = Days Accrued = 60 This assumes a workweek is defined as five days. None. You can establish an attendance plan that does not accrue any time for the employees. The purpose of a non accruing plan is to only track and accumulate absence transactions. When you set up an attendance plan with no accrual method, Time Off sets both the time available and the year end eligibility to zero and only tracks time taken. Setup 55

58 Time Off Code Table Descriptions 56 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

59 Training Codes Set Up Training Before beginning to use Training, you need to set up the system to meet your needs. Setting up Abra Training involves these two steps: Determine whether you want to select a Training Employer. If you have multiple employers set up in your Enterprise, you can choose to store all training specific information in one employer, called the Training Employer. Set up code tables. Code tables are files in which Abra Training stores information. Whether or not you select a Training Employer will impact how you build and use your code tables. Select a Training Employer If you set up more than one employer in your system, you can decide how code tables will be shared by those employers. If you have training specific codes such as courses, programs, and certifications that are the same for all your employers, you can select one of your employers as the Training Employer. All your trainingspecific code tables will be set up once but will be available for all employers. If you have training specific codes such as courses, programs, and certifications that are different for each employer, you do not want to select a Training Employer. You can then set up different training specific code tables for your different employers. Notes: In Training, the Training Employer functions similar to the way the Enterprise does in Sage Abra SQL HRMS. Training specific code tables include all code tables except for job codes, organization codes and state codes. If you are using Abra Workforce Connections, the courses, programs, and certifications that apply to the training employer will be available in Abra Workforce Connections. If you change from a training employer to specific employers, you must reset courses, programs, and certifications to the correct employers. For this reason, we recommend that once you establish a training employer, you should continue with it and not change back to specific employers. Recommendations for Selecting a Training Employer Use the following guidelines to determine whether or not you should select a Training Employer. Setup 57

60 Set Up Training Note: The following recommendations apply only if you have multiple employers set up in your system. If you have only one employer in your system, you do not need to select a Training Employer. Simply leave None Specified selected in the Training Employer field on the Enterprise Setup page. If You Are Using Sage Abra SQL HRMS and Training If all your employers will share the same classes, courses, instructors, training locations and other training specific information AND your job codes are set up at the Enterprise level in Sage Abra SQL HRMS, we recommend you select a Training Employer. All the code tables you set up for your Training Employer will be available for all your employers. If your different employers will have different classes, courses, instructors, training locations and other training specific information AND your job codes are set up at the Enterprise level in Sage Abra SQL HRMS, we recommend you do not select a Training Employer. Copy your job codes to the employer level in Training and set up your code tables at the employer level. If all your employers will share the same classes, courses, instructors, training locations and other training specific information AND your job codes are set up at the employer level in Sage Abra SQL HRMS, we recommend you select a Training Employer. All the code tables you set up for your Training Employer will be available for all your employers. If You Are Using Training Only If all your employers will share the same classes, courses, instructors, training locations and other training specific information, we recommend you select a Training Employer. All the code tables you set up for your Training Employer will be available for all your employers. If your different employers will have different classes, courses, instructors, training locations and other training specific information, we recommend you do not select a Training Employer; simply leave None Specified selected in the Training Employer field on the Enterprise Setup page. You can then set up different code tables for your different employers. Before Selecting a Training Employer If you have codes already set up in the training specific code tables of your employers, you need to consider the following: When you select one of your employers as the Training Employer, any codes present in the training specific code tables of other employers are automatically moved to the Training Employer and are no longer available in the original employer. Classes that are set up in other employers are also moved. If you later select None Specified as the Training Employer, codes and classes that were originally set up in the other employers will not be restored; all codes and classes will remain in the employer previously selected as the Training Employer. 58 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

61 Set User-Defined Field Titles Tip: If you have training specific code tables set up in multiple employers and you would like to keep a copy of the original code tables, back up your data before selecting a Training Employer. If you have training specific code tables set up in multiple employers and you decide to select a Training Employer, first determine whether any of your employers have duplicate codes in their training specific code tables. If there are any duplicate codes with different descriptions or detail information, change the codes to unique ones. For example, you have a course set up in Employer ABC with the code TAX100. You have an entirely different course set up in Employer DEF that also has the code TAX100. Before selecting ABC as your Training Employer, change the TAX100 code in DEF to a different unique code. If you do not, when you select ABC as the Training Employer, the system cannot determine that the course called TAX100 in DEF is a different course; therefore, any information specific to that course will not be moved to the Training Employer. To Select a Training Employer 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Setup > Enterprise Setup. 2. On the Enterprise Options tab, click the arrow next to Training Employer to store all your training information in the same employer. From the Training Employer drop down list, select the employer. Or If you want to keep training information separate for your different employers, select None Specified. Note: If you have training specific code tables set up in other employers, the system will notify you and ask whether you want to continue. Click Yes to select the Training Employer or No to return to the Enterprise setup page without selecting a Training Employer. 3. Click OK. Set User-Defined Field Titles Several pages in Abra Train contain miscellaneous, or user defined, fields. These fields enable you to track information not recorded elsewhere in Abra Train. Once you decide how you would like to use these fields, you can define your own titles for them. Characteristics of User-Defined Fields The first three user defined fields on each page are text fields containing up to 25 characters. The fourth user defined field on each page is a numeric field containing up to 9 digits with 2 decimal places. Setup 59

62 Training Code Table Descriptions To Define Titles for User-Defined Fields 1. Log into the company you want to work with. 2. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > Training > Training Setup. The Employer Selection page opens. The list includes all the employers you have added to your system. 3. Scroll through the list to find the employer for which you want to define titles. Click OK. The Training Setup page opens for the employer you selected. This page includes eight tabs, each corresponding to a page that contains user defined fields. 4. Select the tab for the page on which you want to define fields. Enter the titles that you want to appear next to each user defined field. For example, let s say you want the first user defined field on the Current Job page to be labeled Comments. Enter Comments in the field labeled 1 on the Current Job page tab and click OK. The next time you access the Current Job page, the new field title will appear. 4. When you are finished entering titles on the Training Setup page, click OK. Locations of User-Defined Fields The following table shows where the field titles that you define on the Training Setup page will appear in Abra Train. Training Setup Label Appears On Location Current Job Detail Current Job page Details Required Courses Detail Required Courses page; Employees Requiring the Class page Detail Courses Taken Detail Courses Taken page; Class Roster page Detail Certifications Detail Certifications page Detail Training Programs Detail Training Programs page Detail Class Information Detail Class Information page (Additional Class Information) Detail Instructor Detail Instructor Code detail page Rules Training Location Detail Training Locations Code detail page Rules Training Code Table Descriptions Abra Train includes both predefined code tables and code tables you create yourself. These code tables help you administer and manage your training information. The predefined tables can be used as they are or modify them to suit your employerʹs needs. 60 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

63 Training Code Table Descriptions The Abra Train code tables are: Attachment Codes Use this code table to categorize and monitor the various types of attachments, such as résumés and social security cards. In addition, attachments can be designated as Required or Not Required. Certification Codes Certifications can be used in a number of ways. They can represent milestones or qualifications that employees have received, they can represent training that needs to be renewed on a regular basis, and they can be used to track training that is not linked to specific courses. Use certification codes to identify specific certifications, indicate how many courses, credits, or Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are required for initial receipt and renewal and specify the renewal period. If you are also using Abra HR, you can also identify the skills associated with this code. Specify Certification Requirements If you do not specify the number of courses, credits, or CEUs required to obtain a certification, then Abra Train will indicate that an employee has received the certification when they complete a single course associated with the certification. If you specify the number of courses, credits, and CEUs required to obtain a certification, then Abra Train checks to see whether an employee has completed the necessary combination of courses and credits or the necessary combination of courses and CEUs. For example, the detail page for certification code CPR indicates that three courses, nine credits, or nine CEUs must be obtained in order to receive the certification. That means an employee must complete three courses for a total of at least nine credits or three courses for a total of at least nine CEUs. If an employee completes three courses for a total of only eight credits, they will not receive the certification. Note: When you edit a certifications requirement and click OK to accept the changes, Abra Train asks whether the new certification requirements apply to everyone with the certification. Click Yes if you want the certification requirements to be updated in the records of all employees with the certification. Click No if you want the new certifications requirements to apply only to employees who are assigned the certification in the future. To Add or Edit a Certification Code From the Certification Codes page, click Add to add a new certification code or select a code and click More to edit it. The Certification Codes Detail page opens. It has two tabs: Requirements and Associated Skills. After entering information in the fields on a tab, click OK to return to the Certification Codes page or click another tab label to continue entering information. Setup 61

64 Training Code Table Descriptions Define Certification Requirements Use the Requirements tab to enter certification information. This tab has the following fields. Field Label Courses (Initial) Credits (Initial) CEU (Initial) Courses (Renewal) Credits (Renewal) CEU (Renewal) Renewal Period Field Description Number of courses required to initially receive the certification. Number of credits required to initially receive the certification. Number of CEUs required to initially receive the certification. Number of courses required to renew the certification. Number of credits required to renew the certification. Number of CEUs required to renew the certification. Number of months in which the certification must be renewed. For example, for a certification that must be renewed every year, enter 12. Associated Certifications and Skills If you are also using Abra HR, you can identify skills associated with the certifications. When an employee receives a certification associated with a skill, the employees Skills page in Abra HR is updated to include the skill: the Years Experience field is calculated from the difference between the current date and the Originally Received date of the certification; the Comments field displays the certification associated with the skill. Note: If you delete a certification from an employees Certifications page that has already been received and that has a skill associated with it, the skill will not be removed from the Skills page in Abra HR. To remove the associated skill from the employee record, go to the employee Skills page in Abra HR and delete the skill. To link a certification to a skill, click the Associated Skills tab. A two list chooser opens, listing all the skills available in the Skills code table in Abra HR for the employer whose certification you are editing. Select the skill or skills you want to link to the certification and click OK. Class Ratings Codes Class ratings codes enable you to keep track of the ratings given to classes by the students who attend them. You can enter the overall rating given to a class on the Class Information page. 62 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

65 Training Code Table Descriptions The following class ratings codes are shipped with Abra Train: 1 for Outstanding, 2 for Exceeds Expectations, 3 for Meets Expectations, 4 for Below Expectations and 5 for Unsatisfactory. Courses Codes A course is a training activity covering specific content. A course might be a traditional classroom training activity, such as Workplace Safety or a course could represent on the job training or a test. Use the courses codes to identify specific courses, enter course information, and set prerequisites. You can identify default information about courses that can be used for setting up classes, updating employee course history and specifying required courses for employees. If you are also using Abra HR, you can also link courses to skills. To Add or Edit a Course Code From the Courses page, click Add to add a new course code or select a code and click More to edit it. The Courses Detail page opens. It has four tabs: Course, Course Content, Prerequisites, and Associated Skills. After entering information in the fields on a tab, click OK to return to the Courses page or click another tab label to continue entering information for the course. Note: When you edit a course and click OK, Abra Train asks if you want all class and employee records to be updated with the changes. Click Yes if you want existing records to reflect the changes. Click No if you want the changes to apply only to future records. The Code field displays the unique identifier for the course. The Description field displays a brief text description of the course. Define Course Information Field Label Course Type Total Sessions Total Hours Certification Overall Rating Credits CEU Field Description Type of course. Total number of times the course meets. Total number of hours the course takes to complete. The certification associated with the course, if any. Overall rating given to the course by employees who have taken the course. Number of credits received by each employee completing the course. Number of Continuing Education Units received by each employee completing the course. Setup 63

66 Training Code Table Descriptions Field Label Course Fee Other Fees Field Description Fee charged to each employee (or employee organization) that takes the course. Other fees charged to each employee (or employee organization) that takes the course. Define Course Content The Course Content tab contains a text box into which you can enter a detailed course description. Select Course Prerequisites The Prerequisites tab displays a two list chooser, which is used to indicate the prerequisites for the selected course. The Available Courses list shows all courses defined in your Courses codes table. Select the course or courses you want to add as prerequisites. Associate Courses and Skills If you are also using Abra HR, you can link courses to specific skills. When an employee completes a course associated with a skill, the employees Skills page in Abra HR is updated to include the skill: the Years Experience field is calculated from the difference between the current date and the course end date; the Comments field displays the course associated with the skill. Note: If you delete a completed course from an employees Courses Taken page that has a skill associated with it, the skill will not be removed from the Skills page in Abra HR. To remove the associated skill from the employee record, go to the employees Skills page in Abra HR and delete the skill. To associate a skill with the course, click the Associated Skills tab. A two list chooser opens, listing all the skills available in the Skills code table in Abra HR for the employer whose course you are editing. Select the skill or skills you want to associate with the course. Course Type Codes Use these codes to categorize courses. Enter both a Code and a Description. Examples of course types codes are COLLEGE (College Course), IN HOUSE (In house Course), and OJT (On the Job Training). Criteria Table Use this code table to define your own sort and selection when running reports and assigning courses and programs to employees. For example, you can use these codes to select specific employees or groups of employees to include in a report or be assigned to a course or program. 64 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

67 Training Code Table Descriptions For each criteria code, you define an associated expression. Abra Train uses this expression when you enter a criteria code in a field. Because this information is unique to each employer, this code table does not contain sample codes. Define the Criteria code table on an as needed basis. If you create an expression you use frequently, define a code and save it for future use. Then you can reference the entire expression by selecting the code. For example, you might want to add a code that includes only out of state employees. From the Criteria Table page, click Add. The Criteria Table Detail page opens. Add the Description, Out of State Employees, and then enter the Criteria Expression, PE.P_HSTATE <> ʺFLʺ (assuming your employer is in Florida). The system includes all employees outside the state of Florida. As another example, you might want to add a code to include only those employees within the Sales department. In the Criteria Table Detail page, add the Description, Sales Employees, and then enter the Criteria Expression, PE.P_DEPT = ʺSALESʺ. Tip: To help avoid data processing errors, you might want to wait until you are comfortable using expressions and are more knowledgeable of the Abra Train databases before you create these codes. Use the Expression Builder to help you build expressions for your criteria codes. Enrollment Status Use these codes to indicate an employeeʹs enrollment status in a particular course or class. Enter both a Code and a Description. The following enrollment status codes are shipped with Abra Train: CANC (Canceled), COMP (Completed), ENROLL (Enrolled), FAIL (Failed), INPR (In Progress), NOSH (No Show) and WAIT (Wait List). Note: You cannot change or delete the codes COMP, ENROLL or INPR because they are used by the system. In addition, we recommend you do not delete or change the other pre shipped enrollment codes because they are used for report selection criteria. Instructor Ratings Codes Instructor ratings codes enable you to keep track of the ratings given to instructors by the students who take their classes. Enter both a Code and a Description of the code in the detail page. You can enter the overall rating given to an instructor on the Class Information page. The following codes are shipped with Abra Train: 1 for Outstanding, 2 for Exceeds Expectations, 3 for Meets Expectations, 4 for Below Expectations and 5 for Unsatisfactory. Instructors Codes Use these codes to identify course instructors and enter instructor information. Setup 65

68 Training Code Table Descriptions To Add or Edit an Instructor Code From the Instructors page, click Add to add a new instructor code or select a code and click More to edit it. The Instructors Detail page opens. This page has three tabs: Instructor, Address, and User Defined. The Code field at the top of the page displays the code for the instructor. The Description field displays additional information, such as the instructor name. Tip: If you are adding an instructor who also happens to be an employee of the employer with which you are working, click the Find Employee button and select the employee. The employee personal information appears so you do not have to re enter it. Define Instructor Information Field Label First Name Middle Last Name Nickname Profession Rating Phone Extension Hourly Rate Field Description Instructor first name. Instructor middle name. Instructor last name. Instructor nickname. Instructor professional title. Overall rating given to course by employees who have taken the course. Instructor telephone number. Instructor telephone extension. Fee charged by instructor on hourly basis. Enter the Instructor Address Use the Address tab to enter the instructor s address. This tab has the following fields. Field Label Company Field Description Name of the instructors company. Street 1 First line of instructor s street address. Street 2 Second line of instructor s street address. 66 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

69 Training Code Table Descriptions Field Label City, State, Zip Field Description Instructor city, state, and zip code Country Instructor country. Specify User Defined Fields Use the Notes field on the User Defined tab to enter notes about the instructor. Use the four User Defined fields to record additional instructor information. You can specify titles for these fields on the Training Setup page by selecting Setup > Training > Training Setup from the Navigation Pane. Job Codes This table allows you to establish job codes for your employer and the rules that govern those codes. If You Are Also Using Abra HR Consider the following if you are also working with Abra HR. If you are also using Abra HR, the job codes in Abra Train are identical to the job codes in these other products. You must turn validation on when you set up Abra HR. This enables Abra Train to associate training requirements with job codes. To turn validation on, select Human Resources, Rules, and HR Setup from the Activity Center. Click Yes for Job Code Validation. If your job codes in Abra HR are set up at the Enterprise level, you must select a Training Employer in Abra Train in order to establish job requirements. When you add or edit a job code, you can enter Salary Grade, Exempt Status, EEO Class, and Job Group as well as the Code and Description. (If you are not integrated with Abra HR, you enter only a job code and description.) To Add or Edit a Job Code From the Job Codes page, click Add to add a new job code or select a job code and click More to edit it. The Job Codes Detail page opens. If you are working only with Abra Train, the Code and Description fields do not appear. Field Label Code Description Field Description Enter a code, such as CONSUL. Enter a description, such as Consultant. Setup 67

70 Training Code Table Descriptions Field Label Salary Grade Job Group Exempt Field Description This description is necessary only if you enabled Salary Grade validation when you set up your employer. The Salary Grade code table provides the list from which to select. The field is blank if it does not apply. Select the specific Job Group, such as Executives. Indicate if job is exempt. Job Requirements The Job Requirements code table contains courses, training programs and certifications as requirements for specific jobs. From the code table detail page, you can change any of these requirements. However, we recommend you use the Establish Job Requirements action to initially set up the training requirements for specific jobs. Organization Codes When you set up the Enterprise, you define the titles for your organization levels. These levels represent the organization Code Types for the Enterprise or an employer. For more information, refer to set up your Enterprise and employers. When you select the Organization Codes table, the Organization Codes page opens. Select an employer from the drop down list. Click the arrow next to Code Type to display the organization levels defined for that employer. Select a level to display the organization codes for that level. Note: If you are also using Abra HR, the organization codes in Abra Train are identical to the organization codes in these other products. Add codes to your Organization Codes table using the same method you use with other code tables: click Add and then provide a Code and Description in the dialog box that opens. Priority Codes Use these codes to prioritize courses required by employees. Priority codes help you to schedule classes based on need. The following priority codes are shipped with Abra Train: 1 for Critical, 2 for Normal and 3 for Optional. Programs Codes A program is a set of courses that must be completed in order to achieve a certain level of competency. 68 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

71 Training Code Table Descriptions Use programs codes to define the specific set of courses, called the curriculum, that make up a program. When you assign a training program to an employee, Abra Train adds all courses in the programs curriculum to the employees list of required courses. As the employee completes courses in the programs curriculum, you can track their progress on the Training Programs page. If you are also using Abra HR, you can also associate skills with the program. To Add or Edit a Programs Code From the Programs page, click Add to add a new program code or click More to edit a selected code. The Programs Detail page opens. This page has three tabs: Program, Curriculum, and Associated Skills. The Code field at the top of the page displays the code for the program. The Description field displays a brief description of the program. After entering information in the fields on a tab, click OK to return to the Programs page or click another tab label to continue entering information for the program. Define the Program Field Label Total Courses Total Hours Credits CEU Field Description Number of courses in the programs curriculum. Automatically calculated. Total number of hours for the courses in the programs curriculum. Automatically calculated. Total number of credits for the courses in the programs curriculum. Automatically calculated. Total number of CEUs for the courses in the programs curriculum. Automatically calculated. The Program Content text box allows you to enter descriptive information about the program. Select the Programs Curriculum The Curriculum tab displays a two list chooser. The Available Courses list box shows all courses defined. Select the courses you want to add to the programs curriculum and remove the courses you want to remove. Associate Programs and Skills If you are also using Abra HR, you can associate skills and programs. When an employee completes a program associated with a skill, the employees Skills page in Abra HR is updated to include the skill: the Years Experience field is calculated from the difference between the current date and the program end date; the Comments field displays the program associated with the skill. For more information about skills, see Abra HR. Setup 69

72 Training Code Table Descriptions Note: If you delete a completed program from an employees Training Programs page that has a skill associated with it, the skill will not be removed from the Skills page in Abra HR. To remove the associated skill from the employee s record, go to the employees Skills page in Abra HR and delete the skill. To associate a skill with the program, click the Associated Skills tab. A two list chooser opens, listing all the skills available in the Skills code table in Abra HR for the employer whose program you are editing. Select the skill or skills you want to associate with the program. State / Province Codes Use these codes to identify the states, provinces, or territories in which employers and employees are located. This code table contains sample codes for the United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Puerto Rico. You can add additional codes to reference foreign territories. Note: If you are also using Abra HR, the state/ province codes in Abra Train are identical to the state/province codes in this other product. Training Locations Codes Use these codes to identify training locations and enter training location information. From the Training Locations page, click Add to add a new training location or select a training location code and click More to edit it. The Training Locations Detail page opens. This page has three tabs: Location, Address, and User Defined. The Code field at the top of the page displays the code for the training location. The Description field displays a brief description of the location. After entering information in the fields on a tab, click OK to return to the Training Locations page or click another tab label to continue entering information for the training location. Define the Training Location Use the Location tab to define the location of the training. This tab has the following fields. Field Label Capacity Hourly Rate Daily Rate Disabled Access Field Description Number of people the training location can accommodate. Fee charged to use the location on hourly basis. Fee charged to use the location on daily basis. Indicates whether the training location can accommodate disabled participants. 70 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

73 Training Code Table Descriptions Field Label Contact Phone Extension Field Description Person to contact to reserve the location. Phone number for the training location. Phone extension for the training location. Enter the Address Use the Address tab to enter the training locations address. This tab has the following fields. Field Label Company Street 1 Street 2 City, State, Zip Country Field Description Company in charge of the training location. First line of locationʹs street address. Second line of locationʹs street address. Locationʹs city, state, and zip code Locationʹs country. Specify User Defined Fields Use the Notes field on the User Defined tab to enter notes about the training location. Use the four User Defined fields to record additional training location information. You can specify titles for these fields on the Training Setup page by selecting Setup > Training > Training Setup from the Navigation Pane. User-Defined Codes You can create up to 35 user defined code tables to use in conjunction with the custom pages you create. After you define the code table titles for the enterprise, you can add, edit, and delete codes for them, much the same way you add, edit, and delete codes for standard Abra Train code tables. Abra Train references the user defined code tables when you add custom fields to your custom pages. For more information about creating user defined codes, see Using Custom pages. Setup 71

74 Training Code Table Descriptions 72 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

75 System Codes Set Ad Hoc Reporting Security Crystal Reports for Sage and Abra Secure Query enable you to design and generate your own queries and reports using system database files. Any user who has access to Crystal or Abra Secure Query can view any field without restrictions. Ad Hoc Reporting Security lets you restrict the database files and fields available to a security group using Crystal or Abra Secure Query. When you set up security for a group, you can assign an Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level to each security group. To further restrict access to the user, Ad Hoc Reporting Security lets you assign an access level to each field included in your Abra databases. Note: The access levels you assign here affect access only in Crystal and Abra Secure Query and do not impact the rest of the system. How Access Levels Work Before changing access levels, you need to understand how access levels work. This section illustrates why you would change access levels for your database fields. The Ad Hoc Reporting Security page displays. Setup 73

76 Set Ad Hoc Reporting Security Each field in each database file contained in your Abra system is listed on this page. The fields are grouped alphabetically by database file. Each line item displays the database file name, the field description, and the field s access level. There are nine access levels (one through nine). Initially, all fields are set to the same access level, one. Allow All Users Access to All Fields Working in conjunction with Ad Hoc Reporting Security is the Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level feature on the Security Group page. Initially, when you set up security for a group, the Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level is set to one, just as each field in Ad Hoc Reporting Security is set to one. This means the group s users can access all the fields set to one. If you want all users to have access to all fields when they generate reports using Crystal or Abra Secure Query, maintain one as your Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level and you do not have to change anything in Ad Hoc Reporting Security. Note: The MASTER user ID has an Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level of nine and can access all fields. Restrict User Access to Fields To restrict a user s access to specific fields in a database, change the field s access level as well as the Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level for the user s security group. The combination of a group s Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level and a field s access level set in Ad Hoc Reporting Security determines if the field is accessible by a user. Consider the following example: We have two security groups and one user in each group. The first group, Data Entry, has a user called DE. The second group, Pay Manager, has a user called PM. Except for one restriction, we want these users to have the same capabilities generating custom reports in Crystal and Abra Secure Query. However, we do not want DE to have the capabilities to generate a custom report containing the Earnings/Deductions Code field. In Ad Hoc Reporting Security, we change the access level for the Earnings/Deductions code to five. We leave the Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level at one for the Data Entry group, and change it to five for the Pay Manager group. Now, when DE (a member of the Data Entry group) accesses Crystal or Abra Secure Query, DE cannot create a report containing the Earnings/Deductions Code field. DE s security group is set at access level one, which prohibits DE from accessing any Abra fields with an access level higher than one. 74 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

77 Change a Password In order to access the Earnings/Deductions Code field, a user s group must have an Ad Hoc Reporting ADA Security Level of at least five. Consequently, user PM can access this field. In addition, if we set the Ad Hoc Reporting Security access level to six for the Earnings/Deductions Code field, even PM is unable to use that field in Crystal or Abra Secure Query, because PMʹs access level is only five. To Set Access Levels The Ad Hoc Reporting Security page has the means to quickly and easily change access levels for fields in your databases. Before setting access levels, determine to which fields you want to restrict access. You can set the access level of all fields in all database files, all fields within one database file or one field at a time. The database files and the fields within the files are listed alphabetically. Use the product s Data Dictionary to help you locate a specific field within a database file. 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > Ad Hoc Reporting Security. 2. Set the access levels as necessary. 3. To set all fields in all database files, enter a number from one to nine in the All Fields number box at the top of the page. You can also use the arrows to set the level. All fields change to the access level you set. 4. To set all fields within one database file, locate the database file and click any line item within the file. Enter a number from one to nine in the Fields for Selected File number box at the top of the panel. You can also use the arrows to set the level. All fields within the selected database file change to your selected access level. 5. To set one field at a time, use the scroll bar to locate the field. To set the access level, click the line item to select it and enter a number from one to nine. Tip: Set the access level for all fields in all database files first. If you want a different access level for specific files, set them next. Remember, setting an access level for all fields overrides any previously established field settings. Change a Password As system administrator, you might want to change a user s password. Individual users can also change their own passwords unless it is restricted by their security. If you are the system administrator, log on to the system as MASTER, and change the password of a system user by accessing the User Security dialog box. See the section Setting User Security. If you are a non administrator, follow the next set of instructions. To Change a Password 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Maintenance > Change Password. 2. Enter up to ten characters (this includes alphanumeric upper and lower case characters, as well as special characters). Setup 75

78 Set Up the Enterprise Note: Spaces are not permitted when creating or changing a password. 3. Click OK. To help maintain security, the password does not appear on the page as it is entered. 4. Enter your new password again for verification. Click OK. The system records your new password. 5. Click OK. Set Up the Enterprise Log on to Sage Abra SQL HRMS. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Setup > Enterprise Setup. After you define the enterprise setup information, click OK to accept your changes and close the Enterprise Setup page. You can also click Apply to save your changes but remain on the page. For example, you may want to enter information on the Enterprise Options tab, click Apply to save your changes, and then move to the Organization Titles tab. Define Enterprise Options The Enterprise Options tab of the Enterprise Setup page contains general setup information for your system. Country. Select the country that represents the employers in your enterprise. The country you select determines what information is displayed in your Sage Abra SQL HRMS system. For example, if an 76 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

79 Set Up the Enterprise entire Detail page or a particular field on a Detail page does not apply for a country, it either does not display or it is disabled for an employer in that country. Select U.S. if all employers in the enterprise are United States employers. Select Canada if all employers in the enterprise are Canadian employers. Select Both if there are both United States and Canadian employers in the enterprise. The first time you log on to Sage Abra SQL HRMS, the system asks you for a country setting for your employers. If you need to change the country setting after the initial setting, you can do so on the Enterprise Setup page. When you change the country setting, you must exit Sage Abra SQL HRMS and log on again to complete the country setting change. Note: After initial setup of your enterprise, if you re register with a new installation code to either add U.S. payroll to a Canadian payroll system or add Canadian payroll to a U.S. payroll system, you must change the Country setting to Both after re registering and restarting Sage Abra SQL HRMS. Field Enterprise Name Address and City State/Province and Zip/Postal Code Phone Training Employer Fed Tax ID/Business Number Phone Number Format Report Footer Show SSN/SIN on Detail Headers Show Union Data Description Enter the name of the enterprise. This name is shown on reports and forms Enter up to two street addresses and the city. If the country setting is set to U.S., select the state and enter the zip. If the country setting is set to Canada, select either State or Province, select the appropriate state or province from the next drop down list, and then enter the Zip code or postal code. The State/Province is a required field. Enter the telephone number If you are using Training, you can select a Training Employer. If you are not using Abra train, this field is disabled Enter either a Federal Tax Identification number (for a U.S. company) or a Business Number (for a Canadian company) Select the format in which you want the employee telephone numbers to display. When you generate reports, the date appears at the bottom of each page. You can choose to display both the date and time, or only the date. Choose to show or hide the employeeʹs social security number (for U.S.) or social insurance number (for Canada) in the top section of each employee Detail page. Choose to show or hide an employeeʹs union affiliation. Setup 77

80 Set Up the Enterprise Field Benefit History Automatically Recalculate Benefits Description Choose to enable or disable historical benefit information for employees. Choose to automatically calculate benefits: Daily to update benefits only when the user logs into Sage Abra SQL HRMS. If you select this option, Sage Abra SQL HRMS will not update benefits when the user changes Employee pages. By Employee to update benefits only when the user makes changes on Employee pages that trigger Sage Abra SQL HRMS to update benefits. If you select this option, Sage Abra SQL HRMS will not update benefits when the user logs into Sage Abra. Daily and By Employee to update benefits when the user logs into Sage Abra and when the user makes changes on Employee pages that trigger Sage Abra SQL HRMS to update benefits. Never to manually update benefits. Tip: When setting up your system, select Daily or Never to prevent the system from updating after every change. Define Organization Titles The Organization Titles tab of the Enterprise Setup page enables you to define up to five organization levels for your enterprise. Use these levels as a way to organize your employees. For example, Richard Miller accepts a marketing position with Multimedia Communications. You add the new employee (Richard Miller) to one of your employers, Multimedia Communications. You specify the department as Marketing and the division as Central. For this example, you define two Organization Titles: Department and Division. After defining the organization titles, set up the codes for each organization title in your Organization code tables. In the above example, Marketing is a code under the Department organization title and Central is a code under the Division organization title. Enter titles for up to five organization levels. When you set up your Organization code tables, you can choose from this list of titles for your enterpriseʹs organization levels and then set up the codes for each organization level. Select the Enterprise Logo The reports you generate within Sage Abra SQL HRMS can include the name and address of your employer as well as a logo for your enterprise. The Logo Setup tab of the Enterprise Setup page enables you to select your logo. 78 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

81 Set Up the Enterprise Before selecting a logo, you must be able to access it as a bitmap file, a file with the.bmp extension. A bitmap is a collection of picture elements arranged in a pattern resembling a picture. Note: You can create a bitmap file from scratch using any graphic editing package, such as Microsoft Paint. You can also scan your logo and save it as a bitmap file. If you are working with live data (rather than sample data), the Logo Setup tab is blank the first time it is opened. If you are working with sample data, the Logo Setup tab contains the ZSI logo the first time it is opened. To Select a Logo To select a logo, click Select. A dialog box opens so you can select the appropriate logo. Select the correct path and name of your logoʹs bitmap file. Only those files with a.bmp extension appear. Click Select. The bitmap appears on the Logo Setup tab. To Remove a Logo To remove a logo from your system, click Remove on the Logo Setup tab. When you remove a logo, you do not remove the bitmap file from your disk, only from the Sage Abra SQL HRMS database. You can select the file again any time you want. Set Up the Audit Trail The Audit Trail Setup tab of the Enterprise Setup page enables you to set up the audit trail. The audit trail provides the ability to track changes a user makes to an action or page. This is an extremely useful tool for safeguarding Sage Abra SQL HRMS data. Auditing changes enables you to: Check who is making changes to the system and if the correct changes are being made Measure users performance Determine the number of changes users make and how often corrections are being made The audit trail provides a before and after image of changes. It also keeps track of the date and time and the user who made the change. The following standard reports are available to monitor the audit trail. To access the audit trail reports, select Reports > Audit Trail Reports from the Navigation Pane. The Audit Trail Report by User provides a list of audit trail records sorted by the users who implemented the changes. The Audit Trail Report by Date provides a list of audit trail records sorted by the date on which the changes were made. Setup 79

82 Set Up the Enterprise The Audit Trail Report by File/Field provides a list of audit trail records sorted by the files and fields in which the changes were made. To Set Up the Audit Trail 1. Click the Audit Trail Setup tab on the Enterprise Setup page. 2. In the Enable Auditing field, select Yes to turn the Audit Trail on and to enable the rest of the fields on the tab. Note: Turning the Audit Trail on or off does not affect the audit status of your selected files and fields. You can choose to audit any files and fields by setting their Audit Status to Yes or No. If you turn the Audit Trail on, the selected files and fields will be audited. If you turn the Audit Trail off, the files and fields will not be audited, but their audit status is maintained. 3. In the Select File to Audit field, scroll through the list of databases and click a database containing the fields you want to audit. As you select databases, the list of fields in the lower portion of the page changes to display the fields in the selected database. 4. If you want the system to audit the selected database file, select the Enable File Audit check box. Otherwise, clear the check box. The database file is preceded by a Yes (the file will be audited) or No (the file will not be audited), depending on whether you chose to audit the file. 5. The system provides three ways in which you can enable or disable auditing for the fields in the selected database file. a. To enable auditing for all the fields in the selected database file, select Yes from the Audit All Fields in File drop down list. A check appears in the Audit column next to each field in the file to indicate the audit status is Yes. b. To disable auditing for all the fields in the selected database file, select No from the Audit All Fields in File drop down list. The check is removed from the Audit column next to each field in the file to indicate the audit status is No. c. To enable or disable auditing for individual fields in the selected database file, select or clear the check box in the Audit column next to the field for which you want to change the audit status. Note: You can set audit status to Yes for any editable field in a database. However, the system only audits the field if you have enabled auditing on the database file that contains the field. For example, you set your audit status to Yes for the Performance Review Rating field in the Employee Personnel database file. However, you did not enable file audit for the Employee Personnel database file. In this case, the system will not audit the Performance Review Rating field (or any field in the Employee Personnel file). 6. When you have finished your audit trail setup, click OK to save your changes and close the page, or click Apply to save your changes and remain on the page. The system proceeds to modify the audited fields list. 80 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

83 Set Up the Enterprise Define User-Defined Code Table Titles The User Defined Code Table Titles tab enables you to define titles for your user defined code tables. Setup 81

84 Set Group Security Set Group Security A security group is a collection of one or more users with the same access rights. Each security group has a name (assigned when you create the group), and each user (other than the system administrator) is a member of a group. As the system administrator, you assign access rights to the group and not to an individual user. The group a user belongs to determines the access rights of an individual user. As the system administrator, you automatically have access to all functions. Note: The sole purpose of the security system is to restrict access to various areas within Sage Abra. The system does not keep track of failed attempts to access system features or report on the functions accessed by users. Security Levels When you (as the system administrator) set up security for a group, you can establish access rights at the following levels: Employer Product Activity Task Step Field The employers include all the employers you set up in your enterprise. You assign access rights to products depending on the products you have installed and set up on your Abra system. The System is treated as a separate product to help organize tasks. Note: You must first select N/A for the employer before you can select System as a product. The activities you can assign access rights to include: Action, Analysis, Detail, Process, Report, and Rule. There is a different set of tasks for each activity and a different set of steps for each task. You can also set view and update rights for groups of specific fields in an employee s record, such as address and phone, salary, or EEO information. Setting the Ad Hoc Reporting Security Level enables you to establish an access level for Crystal and Abra Secure Query. This access level determines which fields in the Abra system databases are able to be accessed by the security group s users whenever they use Crystal or Abra Secure Query. To Add a Group 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > Group Security. 82 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

85 Set Group Security 2. To add a group, click Add. In the New Group Name field enter the name of the group you are adding (up to 20 letters and numbers). Click OK. 3. Click Yes to verify you are adding the group. The program builds the access rights structure for this group. The Security Group page opens. 4. Initially a new group has no access rights. Accordingly, the page has no entries in any of the columns. The Modify button at the bottom of the Employer column is enabled, indicating you can modify access rights at the employer level. All other Modify buttons are disabled. 5. Click Modify. The Employer Selection dialog box opens. The Allow Access column for each employer is initially set to No. Note: The Employer list also contains the N/A option. Change the access to Yes for N/A in order to access System in the Product column on the Security Group page. 6. Double click the employer to change the access to Yes. Warning: If you allow a security group to access Group Security under System Rules, users in that group can change their own security access rights. They can let their security group (and any other security group) access all features, which is the same as no security at all. We recommend limiting the access rights of all security groups to only one security feature: Change Password. The MASTER user ID has access to all Abra system features. 7. Click OK. The system rebuilds the information on the Security Group page. 8. Click Modify in the Product column to open the Product Selection dialog box. The Allow Access column for each product is initially set to Yes. Note: If you have U.S. Payroll and Canadian Payroll installed and want to restrict access to either U.S. Payroll or Canadian Payroll, you must set the security in two steps. Letʹs say you want to restrict access so that users will only be able to access Canadian Payroll. In the Product Selection dialog box, set the Allow Access to Yes for Canadian Payroll. Then set the Allow Access to No for Payroll (which is U.S. Payroll). It is imperative that you set the access correctly for both U.S. Payroll and Canadian Payroll. 9. Double click the products to change the access to No. 10. Click OK to return to the Security Group page. 11. Select the product for which you are setting security. All activities, tasks, and steps appear in the related columns. 12. Click Modify in the Activity column to open the Activity Selection dialog box. The Allow Access column for each activity is initially set to Yes. 13. Double click the activity to change the access to No. 14. Click OK to return to the Security Group page. 15. Select the activity for which you are setting security. The tasks and steps appear in the related columns. Setup 83

86 Set Group Security 16. Click Modify in the Task column to open the Task Selection dialog box. The Allow Access column for each task is initially set to Yes. 17. Double click the task to change the access to No. 18. Click OK to return to the Security Group page. Note: If a user has a task assigned on their Scheduler, the security system does not allow you to restrict that user s access to that task. Therefore, because the user is a member of a security group, the security system does not allow you to restrict that group s access to that task. 19. Select the task for which you are setting security. 20. Click Modify in the Step column to open the Step Selection dialog box. The Allow Access column for each step is initially set to Yes. 21. Double click the step to change the access to No. If you selected Detail in the Activity column, double click the steps to change access to View, Update, or None. 22. Click OK to return to the Security Group page. 23. Repeat steps 4 through 22 to set access rights for another employer, product, activity, task, or step. 24. Click OK to return to the Security Groups dialog box. To Edit a Group 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > Group Security. 2. Select the group with whom you want to work. 3. Click More. The Security Group page opens. 4. Edit information as necessary. 5. Click OK. To Delete a Group 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > Group Security. 2. Highlight the group you want to delete and click Delete. 3. Confirm the deletion. a. If there are no users in the group, the system deletes the group b. If there are users in the group, the system alerts you and asks you to confirm the deletion again. If you select Yes, the group and any users within the group are deleted. c. If a user within the group has tasks scheduled on their Organizer, the system alerts you and does not allow you to delete the group. Click OK to display the user s task schedule. Note: Before deleting the group, remove the scheduled tasks from the user s Organizer. Delete the user or assign the user to another security group. Repeat the above procedure to delete the group. 84 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

87 Modify an Employer Review the list of tasks. To print the tasks for easy reference, click Print. Click the Close button to return to the Group Security dialog box. Modify an Employer To Modify an Employer 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Setup > Modify Employer. If you have more than one employer defined, you must select the employer you want to modify. 2. Review and edit the information as necessary. You cannot change the employerʹs Country or Code. 3. If you are using Sage Abra SQL HRMS Payroll, you must enter the ID for the payroll database you created in SQL Enterprise Manager, in the Payroll Database ID field. 4. Click OK to save your changes or Cancel to discard them. Rebuild System Files When you first install Sage Abra SQL HRMS or start Sage Abra SQL HRMS, the system automatically initializes your system and rebuilds your system files for you. This ensures you can access the features that you are registered to use. There might be times, such as with a power failure, when you need to rebuild your system files to ensure you can access your installed options. Note: Press Ctrl + U on the Logon page if you want to rebuild system files before logging on to Sage Abra SQL HRMS. To Rebuild System Files 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Maintenance > Rebuild System Files. 2. Click Yes. The process begins and requires no other action on your part. When the process is complete, you are returned to the log in page. Set User Security Each security group contains one or more users assigned to the group. You provide a user name, ID, and password for each user. Before beginning to assign users to groups and access rights, collect the IDs, names, and passwords of the employees. To Add a User 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > User Security. 2. Click Add. The User Security dialog box opens. Setup 85

88 Set User Security 3. Enter up to ten characters for the User ID. You can enter the user s initials, the first name, and the first letter of the last name or any other suitable abbreviation. The system converts all characters to upper case. 4. Enter up to 25 numbers or characters for a user name. It can be any combination of upper case and lower case letters and numbers. The user name should contain the userʹs full first and last name. It is used in the scheduler for task assignments. 5. Enter up to eight characters for the user s password. For security reasons, you will not see the password that you enter. Only asterisks appear in the field. The system automatically converts all characters to upper case. 6. Enter up to 64 characters for the e mail address assigned to the user. 7. From the Group drop down list, select the group to which you are assigning the user. 8. If you are also using Abra Link (a separate product), the Allow Access to Abra Link radio buttons are enabled. If you do not want this user to have access to Abra Link, click No. Otherwise, click Yes. 9. Click OK. The Password Verification dialog box opens. 10. Enter the userʹs password again for verification and click OK. The system records the password and returns to the User Security page. 11. Repeat steps 2 through 10 to set up additional users. When you finish, click the Close button to close the Security Groups dialog box. To Edit a User 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > User Security. 2. Select the user with whom you want to work. 3. Click More. The User Security dialog box opens. 4. Edit information as necessary. Note: If you are editing a user and changing the security group to restrict the user s access, make sure you reassign the tasks this user is no longer able to perform due to restricted access. For information about assigning tasks, see Use the Scheduler. 5. Click OK. To Delete a User 1. From the Navigation Pane, select Setup > System > Security > User Security. 2. Select the user you want to delete. 3. Click Delete. If the user is not scheduled to perform any tasks, confirm the deletion. If the user has tasks scheduled on their Organizer, the Abra system alerts you and does not allow you to delete the user. Click OK to display the user s task schedule. 4. Review the list of tasks. To print the tasks for easy reference, click Print. Click the Close button to return to the User Security dialog box. Before deleting the user, remove the scheduled tasks from the user s Organizer. After deleting the tasks, repeat the above procedure to delete the user. 86 Sage Abra SQL HRMS

89 Index A Absence Reason code table, 52 Ad Hoc Reporting Security page, 73 Add Attendance Plans process, 51 adding an attendance plan, 50 Attachment code table, 33, 61 attendance plans adding, 45 assigning Absence Reason codes, 45 deleting, 50 enrolling employees in plan, 50 FMLA plan setup, 44 modifying, 49 setting up, 44 audit trail audit status, 79 setting up, 79 automatic benefit calculation, 31 disabling, 31 setup, 31 B Benefit Insurance Plans code table, 33 benefit plan setup automatic benefit calculation, 31 Benefit Insurance Plans, 19 Benefit Rate Table Setup, 16 insurance plans, 19 linking to payroll, 19 Benefit Rate Table code table, 33 Benefit Savings Plans code table, 33 Benefit Type code table, 33 C calculation methods lump sum, 45 none, 45 carryover maximum per year, 45 maximum total, 46 previous year, 46 total hours, 45 Certification code table, 61 Class Ratings code table, 62 code tables, 6 Absence Reason, 52 adding codes from pages, 6 adding: editing and deleting codes, 6 advantages of using, 5 Attachment, 33, 61 Benefit Insurance Plans, 33 Benefit Rate Table, 33 Setup 87

90 Index Benefit Savings Plans, 33 Benefit Type, 33 building, 5 Certification, 61 Class Ratings, 62 copying codes, 6 Course Type, 64 Courses, 63 Criteria, 33, 64 defining titles for user defined code tables, 81 defining titles for user defined code tables, 81 Dependent Relationship, 34 Direct / Indirect, 38 EEO Classification, 34 EEO Job Function, 34 EEO Job Group, 34 Employee Note Author, 36 Employee Note Type, 36 Employee Type, 36 Enrollment Status, 65 Ethnic ID, 37 Event, 37 FMLA Event Reason, 37 Instructor Ratings, 65 Instructors, 65 Job, 37, 67 Job Classifications, 33 Job Family, 38 Job Requirements, 68 Job Status, 38 Organization, 38, 68 OSHA Body Part, 38 OSHA Injury, 39 OSHA Injury Location, 39 overview, 5 Pay Equity Job Groups, 33 Priority, 68 Programs, 68 Reason, 39 setting up, 6 sharing by employers, 57 Skill, 40 State, 41, 70 Step Rates, 40 Training Locations, 70 Union, 41 User Defined, 41, 71 User Defined, 41, 71 company logo removing, 78 selecting, 78 contributions, 19 defining for employees, 19 Course Types code table, 64 Courses code table, 63 Criteria code table, Sage Abra SQL HRMS

91 Index Criteria Table code table, 64 D Dependent Relationship code table, 34 details adding codes from, 6 setting user defined field titles, 59 setting user defined field titles, 59 E EEO Classification code table, 34 EEO Job Function code table, 34 EEO Job Group code table, 34 EEO setup, 8 eligibility requirements defining for insurance plans, 19 Employee Note Author code table, 36 Employee Note Type code table, 36 Employee Type code table, 36 employer match, 19 employer setup, 8 employee ID format, 8 entering information, 8, 43 user defined fields, 8 validating data, 8 employers modifying, 85 enterprise advantages of setting up, 76 defining organization titles, 78 Enterprise Setup, 76 removing the logo, 78 selecting the logo, 78 setting up, 76 setting up the audit trail, 79 enterprise logo removing, 78 selecting, 78 Ethnic ID code table, 37 Event code table, 37 F FMLA Event Reason code table, 6, 37 FMLA leave attendance plan setup, 44 G group security, 82 overview, 82 setting up, 82 H HR code tables, 33 enrolling employees in attendance plans, 50 Enrollment Status code table, 65 Setup 89

92 Index I Instructor Ratings code table, 65 Instructors code table, 65 insurance plans, 19 adding supplemental life, 19 O Organization code table, 38, 68 OSHA Body Part code table, 38 OSHA Injury code table, 39 OSHA Injury Location code table, 39 J defining contribution amounts, 19 defining dependent coverage, 19 defining eligibility requirements, 19 defining plan information, 19 defining premiums, 19 linking to Payroll, 19 P password assigning, 86 changing, 75 plan years anniversary, 45 annual, 45 Job code table, 37, 67 Job Requirements code table, 68 L logo removing, 78 selecting, 78 Lump Sum calculation method, 46 M maximum carryover per year, 46 maximum total carryover, 46 N None calculation method, 45 fiscal, 45 point systems for attendance plans, 45 premiums, 19 defining for dependents, 19 defining for employee, 19 Priority code table, 68 processes Add Attendance Plans, 50 Programs code table, 68 R rate tables defining for insurance plans, 19 Reason code table, 39 rebuilding system files, Sage Abra SQL HRMS

93 Index S security changing a user password, 75 deleting a group, 82 deleting a user, 85 group security, 82 password, 75 security groups, 82 setting ad hoc reporting security, 73 user ID, 75 user name, 75 user security, 85 security groups adding, 83 deleting, 84 Setting up ad hoc reporting security, 73 setting up insurance plans, 19 setting up Sage Abra ad hoc reporting security, 73 audit trail, 79 code tables, 6 defining organization titles, 78 employer setup, 8, 43 group security, 82 insurance plans, 19 overview of enterprise setup, 76 selecting enterprise logo, 78 setting up the audit trail, 79 user security, 85 validating data, 8 Skill code table, 40 State code table, 41, 70 system files, 85 rebuilding, 85 system setup, 57 T Train code tables, 60 Training Locations code table, 70 Training Programs associating certifications with skills, 61 associating programs with skills, 68 defining a program, 68 defining certification requirements, 61 defining course information, 63 defining instructor information, 65 U Union code table, 41 User Defined code table, 41, 71 user defined field titles, 59 user defined fields Certifications, 60 Class Information, 60 Courses Taken, 60 Current Job, 60 Setup 91

94 Index Instructor Detail, 60 overview, 8 Required Courses, 60 Training Location Detail, 60 Training Programs, 60 user name assigning, 86 ID and password, 85 user security, 75 changing a password, 75 deleting a user, 85 overview, 85 User Defined code table, 41, 71 user defined fields Class Information, 60 Courses Taken, 60 Current Job, 60 Instructor Detail, 60 overview, 8 Required Courses, 60 Training Location Detail, 60 Training Programs, 60 using payroll accruals, 43 V validating codes, 8 Job codes, 9 Salary Grade codes, 8 Certifications, Sage Abra SQL HRMS