The spring Workday Release coming soon
As part of Workday’s biannual “release” schedule, a bundle of comprehensive updates to the Workday software will be made available to the Iowa State community on March 13, 2021. While minor fixes and security updates are provided by Workday on a weekly basis, the twice-yearly releases are larger in scope and offer user experience and functionality enhancements.
In preparation for the release – also called “2021R1,” – WorkCyte functional and technical support teams have been busy previewing and testing features to ensure the upgrade functions as expected. Please note, access to Workday will be interrupted for approximately eight hours from 1 a.m. – 9 a.m. CDT on Saturday, March 13 as the upgrade is implemented. As a result, managers and timekeepers should plan to inform employees checking in or out for work this day of the change and make appropriate time updates when the system is available again. Note: this will not affect workers using time clock devices.
Highlighted features that bring improvements to Workday for our campus include:
- Streamlined headers in the user interface to improve consistency and increase page space
- New table view options to let you see data the way you need. This release also adds pagination to tables, so you can quickly jump to a page of results and avoid lengthy scrolling.
- Format changes to the Enter Time screen for non-exempt employees required to track time, and their managers. The existing knowledge articles (formerly called “Job aids”) are being updated to reflect the changes. Questions can be sent to timeandabsence@iastate.edu should you need additional assistance in navigating the update.
- Improved purchase order usability that displays additional statuses to identify invoicing status at the header and purchase order line level.
- When working with a business process such as an expense report, Workday will now provide a summary of the submitted transaction through a mini conclusion showing the step completed, the next step to be worked, and the ability to view details of the transaction.
To learn about more new features in Workday 2021R1, please see the knowledge base article: Updates in Workday 2021 Release 1 (2021R1). You will be able to review the functionality of interest to you including Workday user experience improvements, updated HCM functionality and Financial changes.
Debut of new Spend Category for job advertisements
A new Spend Category – SC10894 Advertising - Job Posting – has been created to identify job posting advertisements and is ready for use.
Spend Categories are used to identify or describe what is being purchased on various documents like a purchase order (PO), expense report or supplier invoice within Workday. Historically, job posting advertisements have been placed in a variety of Spend Categories such as “Advertising-Other” or “Advertising-Newspaper,” which made tracking their cost across the university challenging. Now, the new Spend Category offers the ability to easily compile data relating to job advertisement costs.
Any member of the Iowa State community who is purchasing a job advertisement in a newspaper, a journal or an online job site can begin using the Spend Category. Please note, SC10894 should not be related to Admissions or Athletics events. To learn more about Spend Categories, please visit the Procurement Services web page.
Want to save time in Workday? Use these new finance and planning requests!
On March 22, Finance Delivery will release 17 unique “service requests” in the Finance and Planning Portal, to be used by Iowa State faculty and staff. The service requests will be available as online fillable forms, for actions like:
- Completing a Procurement Card Verification (PCV)
- Requesting a Change or Update to a Costing Allocation
- Requesting a Payroll Accounting Adjustment
- Requesting a Travel Reimbursement
- And more
The goal in providing finance service requests is to streamline finance processes, allowing for a better customer experience with all necessary information submitted in one place, routed automatically and trackable by the submitter. To locate a service request form in the Finance and Planning Portal, you can browse for services by category or simply search for what you need using the search bar. For example, if you need assistance with a travel reimbursement, you can search “travel” and the Request a Travel Reimbursement form automatically populates.
Check out the new service requests as they become available March 22! Please reach out to your Finance Delivery specialist if you have any questions, finance_delivery@iastate.edu. The use of finance_delivery@iastate.edu will continue to be available for all users to submit requests.
|
|
|
JM support webinar: Improved change job template demonstration
University Human Resources (UHR) will begin hosting monthly webinars for all job management (JM) support staff and managers. Scheduled for the second Thursday of every month, the webinars will be 40 minutes in length with dedicated time for questions. Webinars may also feature a highlighted topic and invited speaker or be used to review current hiring guidance.
The first webinar will be held on Thursday, March 11 at 11:00 a.m. to demonstrate the improved Change Job Template process in Workday and garner feedback. The new template process is intended to streamline the entry for renewals, Work Study profile changes, job title changes or updates to the employment record by eliminating unnecessary steps. Feedback collected will be used when making final decisions on implementing the template process in Workday. Please also note, the webinar will review spring term guidance for student employment.
JM support, graduate assistant (GA) support and managers who process student employment transactions are welcome to attend, and calendar invitations are being sent to JM and GA support staff. If you would like to receive an invite, please email mitchell@iastate.edu.
Salaried effort certification transaction changes
The salaried effort certification for the period of July 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 will be performed in Workday in late March or early April 2021. While Workday updates have changed the “look” of this transaction, the process itself remains the same as previous effort certifications.
Regarding the updates, the Summary tab is being replaced by a new tab labeled Aggregate (see below). This will show each Worktag’s distribution by pay period versus the previous view which showed each Worktag’s total for the reporting period.
|
|
|
The effort* certification process, owned by Sponsored Programs Accounting (SPA) at the university-level, helps maintain compliance with federal regulations that stipulate institutions must have a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that salary charges are accurate, allowable and properly allocated to federal awards. To meet this federal requirement, the effort certification process is required for employees who are paid from federal or federal flow-thru awards and/or their pay contributes to a cost share commitment for federal and federal flow-thru awards.
Anyone paid on a monthly basis on federal, federal flow-thru or cost share commitment towards a federal or federal flow thru award will receive an effort certification action. Please review this Workday action and reach out to your grants finance specialist (GFS) or finance_delivery@iastate.edu if you have any questions. A job aid for salaried effort certification is available. For more information about effort reporting, please consult the Handbook for Effort Reporting.
|
|
*Effort is defined as the proportion of time spent on a compensated activity and expressed as a percentage of the total activity for which an individual is compensated by the base salary. (Base salary is the total annual guaranteed compensation the employee receives from ISU, excluding the Faculty Incentive Salary Increment Program (FISIP) increment, and includes all research, teaching, outreach, and administrative duties). Source: http://www.controller.iastate.edu/controller/easemanual.pdf
|
|
Student employment updates: Spring term guidance and support forums
University Human Resources (UHR) has provided additional spring term guidance to job management (JM) support staff. All student employees are restricted to 20 hours per week through the end of spring semester and must be registered for at least one credit hour in the semester of employment. During breaks, student employees must also be registered for the next semester.
The latest allowable end employment date for all student employees is May 31, 2021, including graduating seniors. The last day for Work Study eligibility for students enrolled this semester is May 15. Renewals may be processed after April 5 for students extending their employment through summer or returning for the fall semester.
Additionally, UHR will be hosting a spring JM Support Forum to be delivered virtually in mid-April. Two 90-minute sessions will be offered, but attendees need only attend one. More information will be distributed to JM support staff later this month.
|
|
|
|
