Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

This frequenctly asked questions (FAQ) section will continue to grow as our project continues. Please check back for additional questions and answers!

FAQ Topics include

  • Overview
  • Oracle Time and Labor
  • Oracle Performance Management

Overview

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What is Oracle?

Oracle is a database management system that helps users see data in new and simple ways. The Oracle Cloud HCM solution will allow users to transform HR, using systems and business processes that are simple and intuitive to use. Oracle is focusing on market leading development to ensure capabilities evolve at an unprecedented pace and enable institutions to meet their needs.

What is Oracle Cloud HCM?

Oracle Cloud HCM is a complete cloud solution offering everything you need, including a best-in-class employee experience, cloud-native infrastructure, and continual innovation, which leads to a more productive workforce and happier clients.

How will this new system benefit USF?

Our employees will have a more intuitive and digitally-enabled working experience, with access to the type of technology many are accustomed to in their daily lives.

Our managers and HR Partners will have the space to effectively manage their teams, build enduring capability, inspire others and create an environment where leaders of tomorrow can develop and thrive.

Our leaders will be able to make more informed, data-driven decisions about their business and the people within it​.

Our HR Community will deliver greater value, improved services and employee support as we continuously evolve and as a result, provide more fulfilling careers​.

What does Project Drive mean for you?

Ability to create digitally enabled, and personalized employee experiences from application to career development, empowered leadership making more informed, data-driven decisions, and an inspired HR community delivering greater value to strengthening employee connections and creating a more sustainable system.

When will Oracle HCM become available to employees?

According to the current implementation schedule, employee availability will begin in 2025. Please refer to the timeline and updates page for more details.

How will I be able to access the platform?

In addition to accessing Oracle HCM via laptop or desktop, many modules will also be available for mobile devices. 

How can I share questions, concerns, or feedback with the Project Drive Team?

You can share questions, concerns, feedback by . Someone from the Project Drive Team will follow-up with you accordingly. 

Will GEMS sunset when Oracle implementation takes place? 

GEMS will not be accessible upon implementation of Oracle. We will have access to the data, but all GEMS users will lose access to GEMS once Oracle goes live.

What tools or information can help us explain to our stakeholders the ‘why’ behind implementing Oracle Cloud?

The Project Drive site is your go-to resource for helpful videos and impact statements that summarize what Oracle brings to USF. Use this information to explain the 'why' to your audience!
 


Time and Labor

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What is the Oracle Time and Labor module? 

Oracle Time and Labor is a time management application that helps businesses record and manage time for their employees and contingent workforce. It's part of Oracle's Human Resources Management System (HRMS) and is integrated with other Oracle applications, including Global Human Resources, Absence Management, Global Payroll, and Project Costing.

Here are some features of Oracle Time and Labor

  • Time entry interface: A calendar-based interface that can handle both simple and complex time recording needs  
  • Time card layout: A fully configurable time card layout  
  • Rule templates and real-time rules engine: These tools can validate time entries and automatically apply pay rules, such as overtime calculations  
  • Mobile timecards: Employees can track their time using a smartphone or tablet  
  • Web clock: A configurable web clock that can help ensure the authenticity of time capture  
  • Compliance alerts and attestations: These tools can help determine if employees are complying with time policies and regulations 

How are missed clock-ins/out corrected? Is there a due date for the timecard? Are they approved daily, weekly, or biweekly?

There will be a notification to the line manager for punches made through the web clock. Additionally if someone did not punch out for the day and tries to punch in for the next day they may not be able to because that missing punch would need to be resolved first. Corrections can be made in Oracle Time and Labor for up to 90 days. The time card can be reviewed the next day for punches captured the prior day. Once the time card is approved by the line manager the employee will need to request changes and resubmit so the practice will be to approve the time card at the end of the pay period to allow the employee to review and submit their time.

Will all employees still have to request leave through Oracle?

Yes, employees will request leave with Oracle through the Absence Management module, similiar how time may be submitted in GEMS or Alt. Those absences feed over into the timecard on the payroll side of the Oracle Time and Labor module. 

What about employees who don't use computers? Will there be kiosks? Will they be required to use their personal phones?

Employees who do not have computers will have the option of using a computer or their personal mobile device. We cannot require an employee to use their personal mobile device. Departments who choose not to have employees their personal device will have to have an alternate method for their time capture - ie laptop/ipad, etc. for their staff's use.

Will there be physical timeclocks, or all web based?

It will all be web punch, there will be no physical time clocks, so you won’t see an actual punch card.

Will employees be able to use their cell phones to clock in and out?

It'll be a web based, so you'll see the Oracle application and the employee will log in and be presented with this interface for clock in and clock out so there won't be any swipe card biometric anything like that. It'll be on an actual computer, or potentially on their phone.

How are minutes calculated?

Everything is going to be rounded as is noted in the (Hours of Work > FLSA > Timesheets). So for example, if it’s 7 minutes or less, it rounds down. If it’s 7 minutes or more, it rounds to the nearest quarter hour, which is primarily how it is done today. 

Since administrative will not clock in and out, will they have to record their hours in another type of way in Oracle?

No, administrative employees who are salaried, they're going to get paid their salary just like they do now without a time clock, but they are responsible for keeping in their absences and the Oracle Absence Management module when they're not there.

Will on-call pay be tracked in Oracle HCM, as well?

Absolutely! On call pay, shift, all absences, holiday, etc. All those things have been set-up and we’re testing them now.

If employees are at-sea and without internet connection, is there a way that shore-side managers can enter hours for employees?

Absolutely. Their line manager can enter time for that, or depending how long at sea, they may be able to use their phone. If the cell phone is used, then an employee can save it offline and then when the employee is back online, it can be uploaded and/or submitted.

Regarding entering leave in Oracle and reconciling leave; we currently have leave coordinators that make sure whoever requested leave is in GEMS currently in Alt and reminding them/supervisors so that will go away? How do we make sure that you, you know it’s accurate and someone is reconciling and the department.

There will be a responsibility on managers and designees to ensure that the time that is being approved is accurate. We’re still looking at the process to ensure the time being approved is accurate as well as still looking at the process for coordinators and HRBP and how it connects to Oracle Absence Management. There will be notifications and plenty of messages that they will receive that says there is time that needs to be approved. They can click right into the notification that it’s approved. It isn’t a lengthy process but it’s going to be back on the managers to ensure that the time entered is correct.

What if the time wasn't requested off/forgot to enter it, sup forgets, etc.?

We aim to avoid this by having training in place to clearly portray the responsibilities required for these steps. We have relied on triple checks, and you know somebody sitting around double-checking what managers should be doing/not doing, it is going to be a training issue. We are really going to bulk up Time and Labor & Absence when we train everyone, so they understand what their responsibilities are within the system.

If HR is notified of problem payroll, when will we be notified and who in HR will get that notification?

There will be notifications of errors or warnings of timecards. That will go to the line managers. It won’t be an HR blast like it is now that everyone is notified of every error and every warning. Line managers will need to resolve. Line managers will have a page where it showcases their team, and they can clock on individual and select it by day and by person. It will show you each timecard and its status (approved, submitted, error, incomplete). The line manager can act on that if it’s not in the submitted status.

Will supervisors approve hours by pay period?

Yes. They will approve the hours like they do now per pay period.

If there is a discrepancy in hours entered by an employee – how is it fixed?

An employee can request an adjustment and it goes through a workflow. They’ll need to provide a reason either a missed punch or something like that. There will be a list of five reasons that we have gotten guidance from legal on.

Will Holidays show up in Oracle automatically or do they need manually added?

Holidays will show up automatically in Oracle. 

Will WhenToWork (W2W) be integrated in Oracle?

No, WhenToWork is going to be a stand-alone system since that scheduling system is not able to integrate into Oracle. We partnered with Marie Bowen and we did have access to the system and saw how it worked. We’re continuing to look for a solution –

Marie Bowen: Specific for team, since WhenToWork is not going to be able to integrate with Oracle, we will still need to do the duplication for scheduling purposes. We’ll still follow the same process: we would enter it in WhenToWork first and then transfer it to Oracle. It will be a double step unless we find a scheduling system that does integrate with Oracle.

Can Qualtrics be integrated with Oracle?

Qualtrics cannot be integrated into Oracle. We had talked about that with the standardized patients and we’re reviewing options. I know we presented to you guys, so we must go back and present other options to you guys because I know you have the folks who can be physically unable to clock in/out as well as multiple locations for your patient portrayal.

Can someone else sign in for an employee?

No, due to audit concerns. A line manager can submit time on behalf of an employee on their team if they are unable to.

Will faculty and student workers also receive training on Oracle Time & Labor?

We are finalizing our end-user enablement plan at this time. Once it is prepared, it will be communicated to the masses around when to expect training, demo, etc.

We appoint students 'late' all the time there is a way to give someone back pay?

We will not be able to report time prior to their hire date similarly to how we do this now.

Will the system recognize if an employee is trying to enter more time than what they are authorized?

Rules are in the system around this but the line manager should be monitoring the hours worked for accuracy.

Is the Oracle Time and Labor Admin within CHR or in the departments?

The Oracle Time and Labor Admin will be part of the CHR Payroll team.

Will there still be something like RSA CHECK?

This will be part of the costing discussion at a later date. 

Is there any update on how easily an employee will be able to access Oracle? Will it be housed in MyUSF and require sign in to that?

There will be an indicator on the MyUSF page to access Oracle, but we have not created that tile yet and are working with IT currently. The mobile app is available as an app in the app store.

How can we ensure that the process of approving leave and signing timesheets, which supervisors handle weekly, supports employees effectively? What measures can be taken to prevent any delays in payment if time is not approved within one or two weeks?

The deadlines will be communicated and it is a huge change for the university to have an official Oracle Time and Labor system so it will take a little bit of a learning curve. 

Does the delegation change go into effect immediately?

The Payroll Team believes so based on then when the update is made.

When will University Police Department see a demo?

Once the rules are finalized, and our first iteration of testing is done and we are confident that everything is completed, we will be doing specific demos to units.

Is it required for hourly employees to sign out for lunch? We have a group assigned a lunch period and they all go together.

If they do not punch out for lunch, their time worked will be overstated unless that is not factored into their schedule. For example, 8 am - 5 pm = 9 hours working hours

Will depts be able to modify pay distributions? Is that still being reviewed? We currently have a system of review and approvals for Accountable Officers, for projects.

Yes - this will be part of the costing discussion at a later date but there are chart fields that are available on the timecard.

Does the person who you delegate signing authority to have to be up the chain of leadership, or can you delegate to a peer?

At the moment, there will be a full list of approvers who can be delegated to. USF and Oracle are reviewing the organization and departments to align approvers. 

Can a delegation be managed/escalated if the line manager is out abruptly and did not have the ability to delegate?

If a supervisor is on unavailable and they did not assign a delegate, an Oracle Time and Labor Administrator can assign delegation.

What if a supervisor is out unexpectedly? Will their supervisor automatically have delegate access?

Not automatically, but there are two ways to do that. The line manager themselves or the  Oracle Time and Labor Administrator can do the delegation.

What will happen if a supervisor is on vacation and did not assign a delegate, will the employee get paid?

If a supervisor is on vacation and they did not assign a delegate, an Oracle Time and Labor Administrator can assign delegation.

How do we adjust time for salaried folks who are taking unpaid leave?

Unpaid is an absence type in the new/future world and that absence can be entered in by the line manager.

What if the wrong leave was used?

The line manager will be the primary approver of their direct report's timesheet - the line manager can delegate their approval authority to a delegate.

What is the troubleshoot method? The help desk? I mean if a similar error message occurred not allowing a function you should have permission to complete after this was launched, would you put in a help ticket or reach out to your HR team/ CHR?

This is currently being worked on however we are planning on having a ticket system. 

Will the employee get a notification if the forget to clock out?

Yes! The system will automatically send a notification. 

So would this then cut the role of the preparer? Currently we have the supervisors sign the timesheets then we have the preparer submitting the time and then we have the certifier to complete the process.

This would be approved by the line manager and then that time would be sent to payroll for processing.

So, each pay period, the employee must set up their own assignment details on timesheet?

The assignment is the person's job in Oracle Cloud - they have to select the assignment on the timecard if they use another pay type.

Can you clarify the role of the supervisor vs. the role of a delegate in approving time, please?

Yes! The line manager (supervisor) will be the primary approver where as if the line manager will be on vacation or unavailable, they can delegate their approval authority to someone with the appropriate authority.

Currently, we have a certain date by which time has to be reported to meet payroll deadlines. How will these deadlines change with Oracle?

Yes those deadlines will change and we do not have that processing schedule solidified yet as we are still finalizing the processes.

Usually timesheets could be submitted in advance, in the event a supervisor would not be available to sign it later. How would that translate to this system?

The time currently cannot be submitted in advance since the punches are being captured and the supervisor would have to delegate their signature approval to someone else.

Who verifies the pay distribution amounts?

There are fields on the timecard that allow for costing and can be entered by the line manager or delegate.

If student employees work on a holiday and should only receive normal pay, will that be allowed?

Yes rules are built into the absence and if the person is not eligible for the holiday it will not appear on their timecard.

If exempt employees work on a holiday and they don't normally log in hours, how will they be given the Special Compensation hours?

The new delayed holiday option will be in effect with those rules.

If someone is working outside of normal business hours, are they then being paid a shift differential rate? We have many OPS that work evenings, an example 5 pm - 12 am.

The shift is defined as punches between 7pm and 7am which is the only shift time we are aware of that exists for shift premium at the university.

Do the punched hours not pull into a timesheet?

Yes, but it takes a process to 'pull/poll' the punches into a timesheet.

Will exempt hourly employees need to clock in/out?

Yes - PEU paygroups/staff employees and any employee paid by the hour will be punching in and out via the Web Clock.

Will there be something similar to RSA check?

This is a costing question and it will be addressed at a later time.

How will OPS hours be reported?

Anyone who is paid by the hour will be required to use the Web Punch.

Will someone at the department level approval the entire department once each supervisor has approved?

No - the line manager will be approving their direct report;'s time. We will no longer have a certifier/approver required after the paper timesheet is approved.

How will shift differential hour work?

The shift differential rules are programed into Oracle Time and Labor and based on the punch time entered through the Web Clock - with rules for the 7pm - 7am shift.

What happens if the rounded causes more or less than 40 hours for the week for a 1FTE?Example 40.25 hours - do they get paid 40.25 hours?

Yes, we have to pay for all hours worked.

How will data entry look like for OPS employees with multiple appts/multiple pay rates/ in multiple depts? i.e. Standardized Patients

UPD and Standardized Patients are being addressed currently.

Would it be possible to send automated reminders for those who work standard hours?

If the person is non-exempt or hourly they will have to use the web clock to punch in and out daily. The elapsed hours of 8 will not exist for hourly employees, they will have punches.

How are line managers supposed to handle situations where Directors take employees to lunch but also discuss business related items where the staff who are paid hourly which would be considered a meeting. How do you account if that meeting took 2 hours or longer?

Those punches can be adjusted by the line manager for that purpose, or the employee can request those punches to be adjusted.

When will various departments be able to test the web clock from a staff and student employee perspective?

Yes, we are hoping to have that ability once all of the rules have been configured and we do actual training/testing.

Can a designee approval be added to this system?

Yes, we will have delagatory authority enabled so someone if they are out or on vacation can be escalated to or delegated to for approvals.

With Oracle rollout beginning with pay period December 20, 2024, when can department managers expect training to begin?

Our End-User Enablement leads are working to finalize our training plan for USF. You can keep up to date with the progression of it on our project website for now. Once it is prepared, it will be communicated.

One of our staff employees works remotely 2 days a week. Will they be able to clock in/out from their house or will they be blocked by geofencing?

They will be able to record their time via a mobile device or their laptop.

If its a staff that works standard hours/schedule (ex. 8 to 5pm Monday to Friday), can all time be be loaded at the beginning or end of a pay period? Or does it have to be logged day by day?

Unfortunately no, if they are paid by the hour they will be punching in/out on the Web Clock.

Will you run both systems for at least one payroll to ensure payroll is the same on both?

We are performing three parallel payroll tests which is why we have asked the departments on the CERTS list serv for hourly time for three prescribed pay periods.

Can supervisors have delegates for approving on their behalf, such as if supervisor is on annual leave and cannot approve?

The line manager will be the primary approver of the Web Clock entries on the timecard.

Our employee's' shift changes regularly, how will we be able to adjust an employee's schedule in Oracle?

This will be covered in the training, how to adjust an employee's shift/work hours.

Will HRBPs be able to keep track of which supervisors have approved/not approved timecards to send reminders?

The line manager will be the primary approvers of their direct report's Web Clock punches.

Who will approve the type of leave that is to be used to make the employee whole to their FTE?

There is a warning message when timecards are submitted where if the leave takes the employee into an overtime status the amount of leave has to be adjusted to correct this condition before it is approved.

Could review and approval of time be delegated to another person?

There will be a delegation process that will be available for supervisors to delegate to peers/others.

What about with the FTE, what if the FTE 12 hours but they work 20 hour?

If an employee has an FTE with 12 hours and they work 20 hours they will be paid 20 hours. That management of the hours worked will need to be controlled by the department scheduling and monitoring. We have to by law pay all hours worked.

So the last set of actual timesheets for student employees will be in December 2024. No new timesheets will be required for January 2025?

Correct, the pay period that begins December 20, 2024, will be done in Oracle Time and Labor. No paper time sheets will be produced in a spreadsheet form by the Attendance and Leave employees.

How does this fit into the larger payroll structure for a department? If time is going straight to payroll for these employees, what about those salaried employees within the department?

Salaried employees will not be required to complete a time card.

How can a manager set up a delegate in the system or through payroll?

This will be part of the training so that everyone knows how to assign a delegate. 

What if an employee has one assignment is salaried and one is hourly?

They will have to punch in/out for their hourly position, not their salary position.

Will the system automatically grant special comp leave for those employees that work holidays? Example: health employees that work holidays when clinics are still open. Hourly and supervisors that are required to work holiday when clinics are open.

There will be a delayed holiday rule in place where the employee will have the leave to use in the future.

Is this going to change the new leave rule for admin to only enter leave in 4 or 8 hours increments?

Yes, however that rule will be built into the Oracle Absence Management module for exempt employees.


Performance Management

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What is the Oracle Performance Management module?

Oracle Performance Management (OPM) is a collection of integrated applications that help organizations manage their performance in a variety of ways. OPM is part of Oracle Cloud Human Capital Management. It uses Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) and Oracle Fusion Middleware products to integrate data from multiple sources and provide dashboards, reporting, and analysis. 

  • Objective setting and management: OPM allows organizations to set objectives, track them, and allocate them to individuals based on their roles.
  • Appraisals: OPM helps organizations evaluate an individual's competencies and progress on their objectives.
  • Questionnaire administration: OPM allows organizations to administer questionnaires. Performance conversations: OPM supports a range of performance conversations, from informal feedback to more structured reviews.
  • Flexible performance processes: OPM provides a flexible, configurable template-driven setup that can be tailored to an organization's specific needs.
  • Real-time communication: OPM enables real-time communication between managers and employees, including regular check-ins, goal updates, and coaching sessions.
  • Goal alignment: OPM allows organizations to align individual goals with organizational goals and objectives.

Question about this year/next year performance management, how is HR involved? What does the process look like for the specific unit HR reps? 

Reporting in our future state is going to be very robust and will be generated to show completions. These reports will be shared with the unit leaders and the respective HR partners. It will clearly portray who’s doing it, who’s not, and we’ll be able to address those individuals. 

How is Compensation included in the discussion or performance reviews as it relates to calibration? The way that the workflow was presented for the performance management process and kind of including and approval step during calibration from the compensation team.

Calibration ensures equitable performance evaluation, not tied to compensation. After calibration, leaders manage their budgets to determine merit increases. Compensation discussions occur post-calibration, allowing leaders discretion to reward individuals with higher visibility projects or responsibilities, despite similar performance ratings.

In budget management and merit-based employee movement, discretion plays a key role, especially when two employees share the same performance level. For instance, if both are rated at level three, but one has handled more responsibilities or high-profile projects, they may receive a slightly higher compensation increase. This decision is typically made outside of calibration discussions.

How will budget change happen if the budget comes from each college, not HR?

To ensure better compensation for high performers without changing budget allocations, we need to stop rewarding underperformers. Currently, some leaders inflate performance ratings to give everyone merit increases. By aligning merit with actual performance, we can allocate funds more effectively to reward true performance. This is why we are diligent in our calibrations to maintain equitable rating standards.

How many people will be reviewing all of these evaluations in CHR? How will compensation be able to handle this volume and how will this work?

During the Oracle HCM Workforce Compensation merit planning cycle, all members of the Compensation team will be 100% fully dedicated to partnering with managers and business units with technical support, answering any questions, and overall guidance.  In addition, before Oracle HCM Workforce Compensation module is in a LIVE environment, and to accommodate busy work schedules, there will be multiple live training sessions on a multitude of dates and times. 

To ensure our eligible employee salaries and predetermined allocated budgets amounts remain unchanged, Central HR will adopt what are commonly referred to as “Black Out Dates”. Black Out Dates refer to a specific time period (normally 30 days) before the annual Workforce Compensation cycle is officially open for managers to plan, and then continues through a specific time period (normally 30 days) after the planning cycle has ended.  During this time period, Central HR and Compensation will communicate there will be no changes to base annual salary, stipends, bonus payments, etc.  To allow the business units ample time to prepare, Central HR will be communicating these dates months in advance to allow the business units time to prepare. 

In our department, we've traditionally used a performance evaluation system to determine merit increases fairly. This involved the department chair and myself and was based on set achievement levels correlating with specific raise percentages. Recently, we've been asked to submit documentation on this process. However, there's uncertainty about whether we should develop a new matrix for compensation, especially when individuals with the same performance rating may receive different raise percentages. We need to consider if adjustments are necessary and how to justify these variations to HR, particularly why someone might receive a 1.5% increase instead of the full 2%.

In the current state, existing processes within divisions can continue as usual. However, with the implementation of Oracle, significant changes will occur, streamlining operations into a more electronic and transparent system. This will enhance visibility throughout the performance management process, with automated reminders for incomplete tasks, ensuring all steps are completed in a timely manner. There's no need to adjust current practices until the transition to Oracle is in effect.

In the new compensation model, executive leaders will have visibility of performance distributions. This transparency allows for realistic budget planning and merit increases, ensuring employees are rewarded fairly. The system also provides flexibility and accountability within organizational leadership, separating performance evaluations from compensation discussions.

The 9-box grid is a tool used to evaluate an employee's current performance and potential. It helps in determining compensation, identifying talent for succession planning, and guiding development discussions. This framework ensures equitable performance assessments and informs leadership discussions about talent placement and growth within the organization. Upcoming training sessions will provide further guidance on utilizing the 9-box grid effectively.


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