Frequently Asked Questions for Consultants and Temporaries FAQs are grouped by tasks, consistent with the quick reference guides. Contents Access ST Payment 1 Select a Task 1 Complete a Payment Request 2 General 3 Access ST Payment PassKey How does a consultant or temporary access ST Payment outside of the Bank? For security reasons, the Short-Term (ST) Payment site is passkey protected. Follow these steps to activate your passkey: 1. Go to http://strequest.worldbank.org. 2. On the Sign In page, click Forgot/Request Password. 3. Enter the E-mail address you provided to the World Bank Group in the Enter Email Address field. 4. Enter the characters displayed for Registration Verification. 5. Click Submit. You will receive an E-mail that provides a temporary passkey with instructions. Reset your password immediately for security reasons. For additional assistance, contact the service center. IBRD/MIGA consultants and temporaries may call the ISG Global Support Center at (202) 473-2121. IFC consultants and temporaries may call the IFC Helpdesk at (202) 522-3000. These call centers are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Helpdesk representatives will ask: a series of personnel-related questions to authenticate the caller s identity. your UPI to activate the account. Your UPI is provided in your Letter of Appointment (LOA). Select a Task Contract Extensions How do contract extensions display in ST Payment? A contract extension displays as a new line item with details of the task team leader (TTL)/reviewer and effective dates. 1
Description How does a consultant or temporary know which line item under Current Assignments refers to a particular task? Complete a Payment Request Under the Current Assignments section, the Description column provides a concise picture of the assignment (s) or task(s) to be performed. Charge Codes Can one contract or appointment have multiple charge codes? Yes, an appointment in SAP can be charged to one or more charge codes. A separate line item is created in the appointment for each charge code. Change in Charge Codes What happens if a charge code changes in the middle of the fiscal year? The administrative contact amends the purchase order in SAP with the correct charge code. The valid charge code is then automatically uploaded in ST Payment. The administrative contact alerts the consultant or temporary of the change in charge code to avoid confusion when submitting payment requests. Contract End Date Will ST Payment alert consultants or temporaries before their contract ends within the current fiscal year? An E-mail notification is automatically sent to the consultant or temporary 30 days (for contracts in Days) or 200 hours (for contracts in Hours) before the end date of a contract. The E-mail notification is also sent to the administrative contact. Access to the online Payment Request Form is revoked when the contract ends, preventing a consultant or temporary from entering the payment request. Deliverables Who identifies the types of deliverables? The TTL/reviewer determines the required deliverables and timeline. This information is in the Terms of Reference (TOR) that is issued along with Letter of Appointment (LOA). 2
Submitting Deliverables File Size of Deliverables How are deliverables submitted online? As ST Payment runs on a secure server, deliverables (for example, reports, assessments, and case studies) are submitted online as attachments. Files are uploaded to the Bank s electronic records management system. What is the maximum file size for deliverables that are submitted online? ST Payment allows three attachments for each payment request. The combined size of the files cannot exceed 10 MB. Error Messages Will ST Payment flag errors in data entry for consultants or temporaries, for example, number of days entered exceeding the available balance? For each project or contract, system controls are in place to display errors. For example, the system displays an error if: Time entered exceeds available balance either in hours or days depending on how the contract is set up. Time entered falls outside of the contract start and end dates. Duration of payment request either overlaps or duplicates previous payment requests. General Advance Payments How are travel advances processed? Both HQ and CO consultants and temporaries are eligible for travel advance. The administrative contact needs to create an SES for a travel advance after the consultant or temporary submits Form 2370 or Request for Payment (RFP). Advisory Services Who will provide technical support? For system-related queries: - IBRD/MIGA staff and consultants/temporaries should contact ISG Global Support Center at (202) 473-32121. - IFC staff and consultants/temporaries should contact the IFC Helpdesk at (202) 522-3000. For payment-related queries, call or send E-mail to the administrative contact, whose name and E-mail address are available in ST Payment under your PO. Bank Account Is a bank account required for a consultant or temporary to get paid? 3
A bank account is mandatory only for HQ-based consultants. The bank account is required when you need to use the online Payment Request Form. The bank account information along with the mailing address is entered in the vendor master record (VMR) in SAP and then uploaded in ST Payment. To update the records, contact the administrative contact. E-mail Account Why is an E-mail account important to submit payment requests online? Notifications are transmitted by E-mail, for example, updates on the status of a payment request or delegation of TTL/reviewer and administrative contact. Only one personal E-mail address must be submitted to the administrative contact. If the hiring unit activates a Lotus Notes account, then this account overrides the personal E-mail account. Holidays and Weekends Informing Consultants/ Temporaries Internet Access Will ST Payment recognize time entered on a holiday or weekend? As the policy does not restrict consultants and temporaries working on holidays or weekends, there is no system check. How will consultants and temporaries be informed of the new payment process? Letters of Appointment issued by Human Resources Service Center (HRSSC) or the Country Office Human Resources Administrator or Officer will highlight the new payment process. In addition, administrative contacts, serving as desk-side coaches, will inform consultants and temporaries about this payment process when they come on board. What happens if a consultant or temporary in a country office does not have internet access? In this case, the current practice of manually creating service entry sheets (SESs) in SAP using Form 2370 - or Request for Payment will be accepted. Note that this is an exception and not the standard procedure. 4
Learning How will consultants/temporaries and TTLs/reviewers learn to use ST Payment? ST Payment has a user- friendly and intuitive interface. Quick reference guides, with step-by-step instructions, are posted on the Help page in ST Payment. Administrative contacts can also help the consultants/temporaries and TTLs/reviewers. 5
User profile What are the different tasks that a consultant or temporary, TTL/reviewer, or administrative contact can perform in ST Payment? The UPI determines the type of access and actions you can perform in ST Payment. Access is confined to active projects in the current fiscal year. (a) Consultants or temporaries can: verify mailing address and bank account review project details complete a payment request attach a deliverable submit overtime (for temporaries only) display a submitted payment request (b) TTLs/reviewers can: review project details approve or reject a payment request download a deliverable reassign TTL display a submitted payment request (c) Administrative contacts can: view submitted payment requests track status for monitoring purposes reassign TTL 6